200 - A History Lesson… sort of (South Africa)
I MUST CONFESS THAT BEFORE VISITING SOUTH AFRICA, I knew little about its demographic origins. I’d assumed its rainbow configuration arose from Great Britain’s centuries-old strategy to dominate the planet. Nuh-uh. The Brits played their part, but the reality is more complex. Allow me to oversimplify…
A long time ago, perhaps 40,000 years, the first people migrated to Southern Africa from other parts of the continent. They’re known today as the San, but since they didn’t write shit down, nobody knows much about their early history. The San split into two major categories—the pastoralist Khoekhoe and the hunter-gather Bushmen.
“The San refer to themselves as their individual nations, such as ǃKung (also spelled ǃXuun, including the Juǀʼhoansi), ǀXam, Nǁnǂe (part of the ǂKhomani), Kxoe (Khwe and ǁAni), Haiǁom, Ncoakhoe, Tshuwau, Gǁana and Gǀui (ǀGwi), etc… Representatives of San peoples in 2003 stated their preference for the use of such individual group names where possible over the use of the collective term San.
‘Bushmen’ is the older cover term, but ‘San’ had been widely adopted in the West by the late 1990s. "San" is a pejorative Khoekhoe appellation for foragers without cattle or other wealth, from a root saa "picking up from the ground" + plural -n in the Haiǁom dialect.The term Bushmen, from 17th-century Dutch Bosjesmans, is still widely used by others and to self-identify, but in some instances the term has also been described as pejorative.” (Wikipedia)
Some two thousand years ago, give or take, Bantu peoples made their way down the Niger River Delta from parts of West/Central Africa. They spread it out over a thousand years or so, which fostered different cultures, languages, etc., and saw denizens separating into different regions in Southern Africa. I’m sure they (as in the descendants of the San and Bantu peoples) were fine fighting amongst themselves with sticks and stones, but along came Whitey.
“The Bantu peoples, or Bantu, are an ethnolinguistic grouping of approximately 400 distinct native African ethnic groups who speak Bantu languages. The languages are native to 24 countries spread over a vast area from Central Africa to Southeast Africa and into Southern Africa. There are several hundred Bantu languages. Depending on the definition of "language" or "dialect", it is estimated that there are between 440 and 680 distinct languages. The total number of speakers is in the hundreds of millions, ranging at roughly 350 million in the mid-2010s (roughly 30% of the population of Africa, or roughly 5% of the total world population). About 60 million speakers (2015), divided into some 200 ethnic or tribal groups, are found in the Democratic Republic of the Congo alone.” (Wikipedia)
The Portuguese were the first to drop in when Bartolomeu Dias “discovered” the Cape of Good Hope in 1488, followed by Vasco da Gama’s circumnavigation of South Africa’s coast on his way to India in 1497. Portugal didn’t give a rat’s ass about the area. Its attention focused on the allure of the Orient and its vast riches.
In 1647, after wrecking their ship, a group of Dutchmen set up the first fort on the cape. (What else was there to do?) After being rescued a year later, the Dutch East India Company established a permanent settlement as a resupply station for ships going in either direction. Some folks were permitted to set up farms as a way of supplying the ever-increasing population at the Cape Colony (present-day Cape Town). Not sure how the local Khoekhoe tribe felt about this, but I think it’s safe to say they were less than thrilled.
People started pouring in. Germans, Scandinavians, and Frenchies all found reasons to explore. Prospective farmers came to farm and supply the Dutch East India Company. Operations expanded, leading to an inevitable labor shortage. They needed cheap labor, and they found it… but not where you’d think. The vast number of slaves that flooded the Cape Colony didn’t come from South Africa or even Africa. Most were imported from Indonesia, Madagascar, Sri Lanka, and other areas far away.
Racial co-mingling ensued. The Europeans humped other Europeans. They also humped the slaves. The diverse slave population humped each other. And everybody humped the local Khoekhoe tribes. This “humpfest” led to an impressive mixture of cultural and ethnic backgrounds. The descendants of the European/slave/Khoekhoe combos became known as “Cape Coloureds” and/or “Cape Malays.” Even today, many are designated “coloured.” (This doesn’t have the pejorative connotation it holds in America as a consequence of Jim Crow and racial injustice.)
If that wasn’t enough, in the second half of the 19th century, Britain imported some 150,000 indentured servants from India to work sugar plantations and mineral mines. It was to become the largest Indian community outside of India. And don’t forget the Chinese who immigrated en masse at the “behest” of Team Britain as well.
If the Cracker population has been known for one thing throughout history, it’s a penchant for breathing room. The Cape Colony was no different. The operation expanded. The indigenous population had two choices: work for “The Man” or get the fuck out of Dodge. Many chose the latter.
Nothing gold can stay, and so it was with the Dutch’s naval domination. Enter the British, who, fearing Napoleon might beat them to the punch, seized control of the Cape at the end of the 18th century. They weren’t much interested at first, but as the 19th century wore on, it was clear they were there to stay.
Until the British arrival, there was only one game in town. The Boers (i.e. Dutch descendants) were doing just fine controlling, suppressing, displacing, and otherwise imposing their will on locals and slaves alike. But then, the tea fanatics (i.e. the Brits) showed up and started imposing their version of control, suppression, and displacement. Too many cooks in the kitchen, upsetting the balance of white power.
Although the Brits didn’t enact any sweeping social reforms, they did have the audacity to abolish slavery, thus interfering with the Boer’s god-given right to subdue anyone not requiring sunscreen. That didn’t sit well. To make matters worse, gold and diamonds were discovered in the interior. Everybody and their mother rushed in from around the globe. You could say the Boers didn’t fancy all the intruders to “their” land. Who could blame them? They stole it fair and square.
As the Brits solidified their power, the Boers became more and more disgruntled. As a result, beginning in 1835, many Boers headed farther inland to seek independence and self-governance. Many took up a semi-nomadic, pastoralist lifestyle similar to the Khoekhoe. (Irony, anyone?) They’re known as Voortrekkers (pioneers) and their plight designated “The Great Trek.” Their revisionist history describes an “empty” savage land waiting to be tamed, ignoring scattered plains people and a dominant tribe known as the Ndeble.
Now, the Boers had a land of their own and could live in peace, right? Wrong. In addition to the British oppression of the oppressors, they now had to contend with the nearby Basotho nation (later, it became Lesotho) and those pesky Zulu. They also had their own internal disagreements. So, the Boers killed other Boers (some broke off and headed north). The Boers killed Zulus and Sothos. The Zulus and Sothos killed the Boers. Boers killed the British. Zulus and Sothos killed the British. The British killed everybody.
British encroachment became insufferable, so Team Boer instigated two conflicts, the First Anglo-Boer War (which they won) and the Second Anglo-Boer War (which they didn’t). After the first, the South Africa Republic was born under its first president, Paul Kruger. Their first victory made the Boers ballsy and defiant, so they started a second war. Oops. By the early 20th century, Team Britain was in control and could now suppress everybody. Yay.
(Ever heard of Afrikaans? Neither had I. It’s considered a daughter language of Dutch but has shavings of Malay, Portuguese, French, Bantu, and Khoisan. It was the language of the Boers and became the official language of Apartheid.)
The British united the colonies under the South Africa Act of 1909, and although officially a British territory, the act allowed Afrikaans (as they became known) self-governance. The Union of South Africa garnered respect when it gained equal status with the other British territories of Canada, Australia, and New Zealand. Thus began South Africa’s independent path and the foundation of Apartheid, the lynchpin of which was the Natives’ Land Act of 1913 (the first significant segregationist legislation passed by the SA Union Parliament).
And that, in an oversimplified nutshell, is how Whitey came to South Africa. Fight the power.