A short history of South Africa
Usually, when people think of the history of South Africa, they start at the point where the Europeans arrived. However, there is another story that is as old as humanity itself. The cradle of
humanity was probably at and around the Sterkfontein caves just west of Johannesburg. There the skull of Mrs. Pless, an Austrlopithicus africanus (dating to about 2 million years ago), was discovered by Dr Broom and his team in 1947. This
is perhaps the most famous skull in the world! Then there is the much more recent species homo Naledi (about 300 000 years ago) from the same area. Their descendants are the Khoisan people. They were hunter-gatherers that moved with
the seasons following migrations of wild animals across the country and they left examples of their rock art all over southern Africa.
About 1500 years ago the Bantu people, who were migrating south from West- and Central Africa, arrived in what is now South Africa. They were farmers and kept cattle. By contrast, the Khoisan neither cultivated land nor domesticated any animals. Conflict between these two groups was inevitable. The Khoisan hunters obviously saw the cattle of the Bantu people as easy prey. Ultimately, the Khoisan were completely displaced by the Bantu. About 1300 years later the only sign that the Khoisan once lived there is in their rock art. However, some Khoisan culture was absorbed by some of the Bantu tribes,
especially the Xhosa. They use some of Khoisan-like tongue clicks in their language
So, as we showed in the post about the geography, the southwestern part of the country had a Mediterranean climate. The Bantu people had no crops that grew in this climate, so their
southward migration was halted round about where Port Elizabeth is now.
Now enter the Europeans. In the early 15th century a Portuguese nobleman, Prince Henry the Navigator, started equipping ships to explore south along the African coast. In 1488 Barholomeus Dias first sailed around the cape at the southern end of Africa.
He called it the Cape of Storms for the terrible weather. The name was changed to Cape of Good Hope by the Portuguese as they realised that this was the gateway to the Far East. 10 years later Vasco da Gama completed the first journey around the southern tip of Africa when he arrived in India.
A replica of Portuguese carvel similar to that used by Dias and Da Gama.
Ships at that time were terribly small and uncomfortable. The food was all dried or salted and many sailors got very sick, and died, of scurvy (escorbuto). This was due to a vitamin deficiency
caused by a lack of fresh fruit and vegetables in their diets.
Fast forward 150 years. The Portuguese were no longer a major force in world trade. They were superseded by the Dutch. As stated earlier, in order to lessen the effects of scurvy, it was decided to start supply
station where ships on their way to or from the Far East could get fresh produce. They decided on the Cape of Good Hope as there was a steady supply of drinking water. Many Dutch farmers were sent to the Cape of Good Hope. This was not an attempt at colonising, but only to supply the merchant navy. However, the Dutch farmers quickly realised
that life at the Cape was far better than windy, rainy, overcrowded Holland. Most never went back to the Netherlands.
When the Dutch arrived at the Cape, the Khoisan people were living there. As in the north of South Africa, the Khoisan found it much easier to hunt cattle and sheep than wild animals, and
conflict with the Dutch was inevitable. The Khoisan were driven from the Cape into the dry interior.
About another 150 years later, the Dutch were no longer a world power. Britain and France had overtaken it. The British were worried that Napoleon, emperor of France, would occupy the Cape, cutting off the
British from their possessions in the Far East.
To preempt this, they sent a naval force and annexed the Cape. This was in 1806. The Dutch settlers were not very happy about this, but continued living there under more and more burdensome British rule and taxation. In 1836 a movement, known as the Great Trek, started. They packed their wagons and started moving north to get away from the British.
First they moved into Natal, but the British soon annexed Natal. Then they moved back over the Drakensberg into the Transvaal. The British again tried to annex this area but they were defeated in what became known as the First Boer War. The British grudgingly accepted the independence of the two independent Dutch Republics (1880). Now, by this time, these farmers had lost all contact with the Netherlands and started calling themselves Afrikaners, not Dutch. They were also known by the name of 'Boer' which simply means farmer in Afrikaans.
Then, what should have been a bonanza for the Afrikaners, gold was discovered in what is today Johannesburg. This was the biggest gold strike in history - about half of all the gold EVER mined came from South Africa! However, Britain wanted the gold... so they invaded the two independent republics again. A terrible war ensued that lasted three years and cost 100 000 lives. It was called the Second Boer War (1899-1902). The might of the British Empire prevailed, and Britain got hold of the gold mines. South Africa was now four separate British colonies.
It was during the Second Boer War that the city of Mafeking was besieged by the Boer forces. The commander of the British army in the town was General Baden-Powell. He got the idea to use local children to spy (scout) on the Boer soldiers. After the war, he founded the Boy Scout movement based on his experiences during this war.
Baden-Powell
In 1910 a union was formed between four of the British colonies in South Africa and this became the Union of South Africa. It fought alongside Britain during the World Wars in the 20th century. In 1961 South Africa became a republic.
Apartheid.
No history of South Africa can escape the mention of Apartheid - translated as 'separateness' in English. In context, when the British came to south Africa in 1806, slavery was still practised around the world. When the Afrikaners left the British Cape Colony in the 1830s, freeing of slaves was one of the factors that contributed to the Great Trek to the north. It also brought the Afrikaners in conflict with the Bantu people that were living in the north.
Strict racial separation was not only the policy of the British Empire, but also of the Afrikaners. This evolved into a policy that was called Apartheid. In essence that meant that each of the Bantu tribes had their on area where they could rule themselves, maintain their culture and be educated in their own language.
However, the reality was that white people selected some of the best parts of the country for themselves and denied the black people political rights in the "white" areas. This lead to unhappiness amongst the black people and a campaign of resistance was started.Today we will probably call it terrorism. (Bomb attacks on stations, car bombs etc. affecting government targets as well as innocent civilians.) The leader of this armed resistance was Nelson Mandela.
Finally, in 1992 negotiations between the various population groups were started and a new constitution was written and Nelson Mandela became the president of the Republic of South Africa in 1994.
President Mandela with the Springbok captain after winning the World Rugby Cup in 1995.
In the next post we will look at the constitution making process used in South Africa.
Comments