Racism is one of the most pernicious problems of the human society. It sustained on the prejudices of the whites. Racial hierarchy has come to be maintained with the rise of the modern world system

Chapter I

Socio-political History of South Africa

 The early history of South Africa dates back nearly 3 million years to Australopithecus africanus, one of the earliest human ancestors. Archaeological evidence indicates that people resembling the San (bush people) and the khoi khoi inhabited South Africa thousands of years ago. The San, traditionally hunters and gatherers, spoke click language, and were spread all over with no fixed boundaries. They lived in small groups around a source of food and water as long as it could sustain them. Khoi khoi, on the other hand, were mainly pastoralists and agriculturalists, who lived in relatively large groups and came to occupy areas suited to their way of life. They spoke Bantu Languages. By virtue of being in bigger patrilineal groups, Khoisans had better political structure. One who could acquire greater number of cattle and sheep became the political leader. They used to grow crops and rear cattle in the fertile land and river valleys in KwaZulu-Natal and Transvaal.

On 7 April 1652, Dutch East India Company official Jan Van Riebeeck arrived at the Cape of Good Hope with orders to establish a fort and a provision station for company ships on long journeys around Africa to Asia (Hahlo and Maisels 1). The Dutch started to cement their roots in South Africa by taking away land from the San and the Khoi Khoi. By the 1660s most of their land was taken away by the Europeans. The Dutch East India Company also encouraged French, German and Dutch immigration between 1680 and 1707 to what later came to be known as Cape Colony. The colonists were known as Boers (Dutch for ‘farmers’) or Afrikaners. They developed their own distinctive culture and language known as Afrikaans and practiced their own form of Calvinism, a protestant religion. Slowly and gradually the natives were conquered in wars by European settlers. Many died and those left were placed in a position of servitude.

In 1795, the British conquered the Cape as part of their general campaign to secure hegemony over the world’s seas. In 1803 the colony was returned to the Batavian Republic, as the Dutch state was then called. Three years later, after war had broken out again and with the Netherlands still under French influence, the British once again captured the colony. The coming of the British profoundly altered the balance of the colony and the Africans. In the earliest clashes between the AmaXhosa and the European settlers, neither party was clearly the master. The frontier between the colony and the Africans were still undefined spatially and socially. Once, from 1811 onwards, the British army was used in the conflicts on the eastern frontier, this parity was shattered.

The British were able to win their wars by reducing the AmaXhosa to poverty, by burning the fields and huts and by driving off their cattle. However in the war of 1834-35 the Xhosa forces managed to capture Grahamstown, and a wide swath of farmhouses were laid to waste. However, this victory was short-lived and very soon the European troops successfully crushed the Xhosa resistance. After the war, the British took many steps that caused displeasure among the other settlers, mainly the notion that the authorities were supporting gelykstelling (equalization) of blacks and whites. This became the cause of what is known as ‘The Great Trek’, the movement out of the colony of several thousand Dutch speaking inhabitants, now known as Afrikaners (Lovell 311). The Great Trek resulted in the expansion of European population in South Africa and was thus one of the crucial events in the formation of the country.

By 1850 the main contours of the colonial society had been set. New states of Transvaal and Orange Free State were formed and it was ensured that the dominance of the people of European descent remained. In 1840s and 50s, the demand for native laborers and Xhosa land increased, thereby, worsening the situation which was accompanied with a series of droughts that further deteriorated the condition. Eventually War of the Axe broke out in 1846 which resulted in the subjugation of large population of South Africa under colonial rule. A big population of the AmaXhosa, both east and the west of kei was brought under colonial control. Since a Chief’s influence was decided by the number of cattle he had in his possession, it decreased because over 40000 cattle were seized by the colonists. Moreover, the whites, especially the governor, Sir Harry Smith, were against their indigenous customs like belief in witchcraft, and included uprooting it on their agenda. Whites expanded their own values as the only truth much to the dislike of Xhosa rulers.

Prophet Mlanjeni set up ways to outdo witches and malevolent forces so that the Xhosa nation could be purged of the evil. He devised and setup poles as gateways through which evil people could not pass. He, therefore, purged the land of its evil forces. Thus revitalized and purified they gathered all their strength to combat the Europeans. They were joined, in their effort, by the Khoi rebels from the Kat River and the colony of the British. These rebels were trained in fighting as they had worked for the British. Hence, led by Maqoma, one of the senior chiefs and an able strategist of amaXhosa, Xhosians were able to put up a strong resistance and fight against the white forces only to be outgunned and defeated by them. Although they tried their best but the British army did not let it happen. “It could not last. The British army finally smashed its way through Xhosaland,…burning crops and seizing cattle,…they seized much of their land and, on what remained, installed magistrates in an attempt to control the chiefs and to bring what they saw as civilisation to the amaxhosa…”(Ross 51).

After the large scale destruction caused by the white forces, the black rulers suffered an irreparable loss. According to the age old belief of the natives their land had become polluted and required cleansing. Sifuba-Sibanzi and Napakade, the two Gods of Xhosa, provided the solution by appearing to a young girl and telling her that if they sacrificed their cattle and destroyed their grains they would ward off any evil, especially the whites. Acting thus, amaxhosa killed almost ninety percent of their cattle and destroyed all their grains in the hope that ancestors will bring happiness. Nothing happened though; in fact, thousands died of starvation. Colonists were overjoyed as they had got the reason to force people into wage labour. Taken as a metaphor, the cattle killing marked the end of the beginning of South African history. Africans began moving out as laborers, and the process was to be repeated throughout the rest of the country.

Very soon South Africa emerged as a major diamond mining Industry and hence attracted a lot of attention. In 1867, on the banks of Vaal River, just above its confluence with the Gariep, the Boers and Griquas began to find diamonds, and from then on mining and the associated industry became the centre of South African economic, social and political life. The mines then were annexed by whites in the Cape Colony. With the development of the mining industry the demand for laborers increased and it was fulfilled by African laborers who came from every community in South Africa. The whites started thriving on the mining industry and with each passing year new methods and ways were devised to make it as profitable as possible.

The town of Kimberly developed rapidly and there was an influx of around 50000 African men by the mid 1870s. However, in order to increase the profits that accrued from the mining, small and varied units had to be unified. Thus in 1889, Cecil John Rhodes consolidated diamond mines under De Beers which eventually resulted in the increase of profit. Further, the solution to losses incurred due to diamond thefts was found by building of closed barracks where all the laborers were expected to live. They worked under strict discipline and were not allowed to move out except for work. It resulted in diminution of wages as the employers were relatively free from the fear that their workers would leave them for higher wages. No attention was paid to the unhygienic and inhuman conditions of the compounds. There was a lot of discrimination between white laborers and the black laborers. The white laborers were relatively free and were paid higher salaries as compared to their black counterparts. Hence it led to the development of two characteristic features of South African society-racial bifurcation, or division of labor force, on the basis of race and the housing of migrant laborers in compounds. With the expansion of railways in other parts of South Africa which resulted in the connectivity between various parts, South Africa was well on its way to becoming a single economic entity.

The vision of the white Britons expanded and they wanted to make South Africa a single political entity as well. So, from 1875 onwards, Lord Carnarvon, British colonial Secretary, launched his attempts to unite South African colonies, ignited by a number of factors including the dispute over ownership of the diamond fields between the British and the Orange Free State. It was undertaken to achieve safer conditions for investment in land and labour but basically it was being done to advance the general interest of the British Empire. There was no single control of the territories in South Africa and attempts on the part of the British further augmented the conflict. Transvaal residents, also known as ‘Burghers’, were increasing their claims over land, owing to the Gold rush in the area of the Pedi Polity which led to a war in 1876.The Burgher army was defeated leaving Transvaal into debt. The British then seized the opportunity and annexed Transvaal in 1877. Transvaal with the help of the British forces successfully defeated Pedi polity. If, on one hand Transvaalers were happy about the defeat of Pedi Polity they were dissatisfied with their new rulers.

Paul Kruger led the nationalist dislike of the British rule. Transvaalers overthrew the British in a revolt and the British too, without much ado, recognized the independence of the South African Republic in 1881. Another bone of contention was the kingdom of Zulu, where Mpande and later his son Cetshwayo were ruling, albeit with the help of Europeans. Natal government on the other hand wanted to overpower the Zulu Kingdom and cashed in on the opportunity when there was a territorial dispute between Zulu and Transvaal. By resolving the disputes in favour of the Transvaalers, in 1879 the British High commissioner, Sir Battle Frere started a war between the British empire and the Zulu Kingdom. The Zulus lost and the British weakened them further by dividing the country into thirteen chiefdoms. Thus effecting their divide and rule policy, the British worked their way out and declared Zululand as their colony which was later absorbed into the Natal. Slowly and gradually for one reason or the other, many regions came under the British Empire except for the Mountain kingdom. By 1880 and more so by 1898 colonialism spread everywhere.

In the mid 1880s things changed once again with the discovery of Gold on the hills of Southern Transvaal and on the slope of the hills known as Witwatersrand with the richest gold deposit found in the centre of the sixty-five kilometer reef which quickly developed as Johannesburg. With the development of the new town and the increase in the mining activities, the demand for laborers increased further. Despite all the health hazards the workers kept pouring in and consequently the wages of the black workers kept on decreasing.

Paul Kruger, the president of South African Republic since 1881 was disliked by the Britons. He employed Jan Smuts to help him execute various policies. The development of the Republic was a challenge to British dominance and it was felt that they should exert their influence at any cost. Thus it was understood that the conflict in South Africa was between the British and the Boers. In 1899, Paul Kruger chose to fight with the British Empire when the demand of the latter increased. Henceforth, the Boer war ensued and after a pitched battle in June 1900 the British captured Pretoria and Kruger went in exile to the Netherlands. For the next two years the unrest persisted and the British dealt with it with iron hands. All the war that occurred was between European powers only, where blacks and colored people were used only as “servants” and “baggage carriers” and so on (Ross 73).

British treated blacks in a much harsher way than they treated the whites. Although they fought with Afrikaners to establish their preeminence in South Africa, it never meant change in the circumstances for blacks. Blacks were discriminated against no matter whosoever they favoured. The British had no intention of giving blacks the treatment which they deserved as humans. Hence, after acquiring Transvaal and the Orange Free State in 1902, they slowly disarmed blacks who were pro-British and supported them during the war. The British also protected land ownership of the whites. The Whites, for long and through gradual process, had been acquiring land from Africans, but they allowed share cropping in alliance with the blacks, which was curbed and discouraged by both the republics, whether Transvaalers or Britishers. It was a step to deprive the blacks of their equitable relationship with the whites. Hence, laws were introduced to limit the number of Africans on one farm. During this time African peasants were doing well on their own especially those who converted themselves into Christianity, known as amakholwa in Natal and amagqoboka in Eastern Cape. After the wars, the Africans avoided working for whites which invited sharp reaction from the latter. Hence in Natal the government introduced Poll tax in order to discourage Africans’ dependency on farm and returning to labour market. Introduction of poll tax caused resistance amongst the Africans which precipitated into Bambatha rebellion crushed easily as it was the last struggle of blacks against the white colonial empire.

In the goldmines of Witwatersrand however, shortage of labour was felt and was initially compensated with the induction of white skilled labourers, entailing high costs because low wages could not be paid to the whites. In the words of Ross “…because racial hierarchy could not survive the sight of white men exposed to indignities and poverty which blacks were expected to endure” (78). It resulted in importation of indentured Chinese labour between 1904 and 1907. Thus a clear cut division of labour was formed between the skilled supervisors (exclusively whites) and unskilled labourers (either Chinese or Africans). The British wanted the immigration of whites in order to increase the British vote bank but it did not happen.

The elections of 1907 in Transvaal resulted in the victory of Het Volk party led by Boer Louis Botha and Jan Smuts which also revealed to the British that their imperialist program will not be successful and without Afrikaner support no government would be possible. Moreover, the British ideal was the subjugation of Black Africans in their very own country. Thus the Union of South Africa was inaugurated on 31 May 1910 with Louis Botha as its first Prime Minister. The English had to work out a few compromises as it was impossible for British Imperialism to dominate fully. One of them was the decision regarding right to vote. A consensus was reached. The existing franchise of the four colonies meant-only men were allowed to vote and only white men were allowed to become Members of Parliament. The decision was met with protest by the white-collared educated blacks of east and west cape colony, so much so that the matter was taken to Britain, but in vain. The British Parliament was happy to have South Africa as a white dominion with the Afrikaner support, and the opinions and reactions of blacks were not thought to be important.

Once the union was formed all possible measures were taken to segregate the blacks from the whites, and to effect this the Natives’ (later Black) Land Act of 1913was passed which made it unlawful to buy and sell land between Blacks and Whites(Ross 88; Landis, “Apartheid Legislation I” 18). It also made illegal the practice of blacks working with whites on their farms as sharecroppers. Blacks could work in the farms of whites only as laborers, propagating the master servant relationship. Segregation was followed, and the Land Act was one of the ways to control the natives and their growth and the assertion of their rights.

Educated Blacks had this idea that the workings of White South African Nationalism as propagated by Hertzog and Smuts was more English and middle class and its intention was to exclude blacks from the politics which would result in their permanent subordination. In order to counteract the treatment meted out to blacks, the South African Native National Congress was inaugurated in 1912 at a conference in Bloemfontein with John. L. Dube as its president. The same organization after thirteen years came to be known as African National Congress (ANC) inspired by the Indian National Congress, a parallel wing in India.

The decision of White Union regarding taking away land rights from the blacks did not go unchallenged and they (blacks) joined Industrial and Commercial Workers Union of Africa (ICU). The blacks had been coming and settling in towns since the middle of the nineteenth century. In Durban and Port Elizabeth they lived in separate quarters whereas in Cape Town they came to settle in the poor districts. However, towards the end of the nineteenth century they were increasingly driven out of the towns and forced to settle in separate townships on the outskirts of the cities as the whites considered them to be the carriers of deadly diseases. The fact, that the slums thus created were infested with deadly diseases like tuberculosis, was hardly a point of botheration to the lawmakers for it was confined to the poorest sections of the community.

In 1923, Natives (Urban Areas) Act was passed under the Smuts Government which unified the regulations regarding the land holdings and also made possible the clearing of slum areas enunciating Colonel C.F. Stallard’s thought that South African towns were for the whites, and that blacks were only to be there in so far as “they were ministering to the white man’s needs” (Ross 98). At the time of the elections in 1924, Jan Smuts was the head of the South African party, Hertzog headed of the Nationalist Party, and the other major party was the Labour Party which mostly represented the white working class of the Witwatersrand. The Smuts’ South African Party had lost its impact on Whites due to its disappointing reaction during Rand Revolt in 1922. Consequently, it lost to the combined Nationalist Party and Labour Party, which came to be called as pact Government, with J.B.M. Hertzog as its Prime Minister. The goal of the party was to protect the rights of the white labour. The coming of Afrikaner Government brought in its wake an attempt to further the Afrikaner South Africa.

The Great Economic Depression in 1929 had its effect worldwide, including South Africa. By 1933 it was decided that coalition of the two parties was the way out to achieve stability in South Africa. Thus, a coalition government of the National Party and the South African Party was formed. Hertzog remained Prime Minister and Jan Smuts became his deputy. The party came to be known as United South African National Party. However D. F. Malan, a sixty year old Dutch formed a new party known as Purified National Party, as it was seemingly impossible for him to cooperate with Smuts Government.

On the other hand, the African National Congress was also growing. So far it had been passive in its effort to fight for the rights of blacks. Therefore, educated young Africans were becoming disillusioned with the moderate approach of ANC. In 1944, Anton Lembede joined A.P.Mda to form the Youth league within ANC. One of the founder members was Nelson Rohihlahla Mandela, who was expelled from Fort Hare University and had come to Johannesburg to train as a lawyer. They sought to revitalize the moribund institution which was to become more than necessary after 1948. On 26 May 1948, the White elections were held and surprisingly National Party with D. F. Malan as the head emerged victorious. It allied with Afrikaner Party and jointly they swept seventy nine seats.

The Elections were held under the slogan of ‘Apartheid’. The National Party introduced apartheid as a part of their campaign in the elections. Apartheid, meaning ‘separateness’ or “apartness” in Afrikaans became the governing principle thereafter (Tiryakin 682; Lovell 308). In theory Apartheid aimed at “separate development” of various races in which there was no place for white supremacy (Landis, “Apartheid Legislation I” 2). Ironically, the practice was much different from the theory. The Government, on one hand, wanted to ensure its continued dominance and, on the other, wanted to remove coloureds from the position which could influence their grip on the country. To attain this end it enfranchised German and Afrikaans speakers and tampered with the size and borders so as to get an advantage in elections (gerrymandering). Although the meaning of apartheid was not very clear yet one thing was: that it was laced with intense racism. A liberal historian Keppel- Jones contended that it was an extension of the segregation practiced in South Africa before 1948 (qtd. in Giliomee 374). The Afrikaners wanted to protect their Afrikanerdom and ethnic purity over South Africa, which they thought was ordained by God. At the heart of the apartheid system was four ideas: First, there were four racial groups in African society-white, coloured, Indian and African each with its own set of culture. Second, out of these, whites are the civilized people and hence ordained to have control over the others. Third, since whites are to rule, their interests surpass all other races with no obligation to provide equality to the subordinate races. Fourth, whites (both English and Afrikaans speaking) formed one racial group and ‘one nation’ while Africans belonged to the other nation- to be specific, ten distinct nations demarcated for them known as Bantustans.

With this mind set the government implemented its ideas. It passed Population Registration Act in 1950, which resulted in individual sufferings, wherein, one family member was declared white while the other colored. The Prohibition of Mixed Marriages Act (1949) and the Immorality Act (1950) restricted interracial marriages and sexual relations across color line and any offence of the law entailed imprisonment for up to seven years. Later in 1953, Reservation of Separate Amenities Act was passed in order to legalize the existing inequalities. ‘Whites Only’ notices were to be found at each and every place: Buses, trains, elevators, taxis, parks, benches, church halls, cinemas, theatres, restaurants, beaches, hotels as well as schools and Universities.

Dr. Hendrik Verwoerd, the then Minister of Native Affairs materialized the apartheid dream of the National Party which wanted to make South African cities exclusively for Whites. The government created self-governed territories for Blacks under the guise of recreating African tribal identity and declared it as their Homelands or Bantustans under the Bantu Authorities Act (1951). These territories comprised a mere 13 percent of the total land in South Africa (Duckitt and Mphuthing 810). It brought about drastic changes in the administration of African Territories. With whites maintaining control over it, a Bantu chief was assigned as the head. These homelands were dependent on the White government even though in theory they were granted separate administration. Hence at the time when South African economy was growing at a rapid pace, these homelands remained economically backward. Almost all homelands contained several fragmented pieces of land separated by white farms in between. For instance, Bophuthatswana had nineteen fragments and Kwazulu had twenty nine major and forty one minor. These fragmented Bantustans relied greatly on whites as no foreign country recognized the sovereignty of the so called ‘independent’ homelands.