New Contree: 2020 No 84
http://hdl.handle.net/10394/36496
2024-03-29T02:18:05ZResistance and survival: Demolishing myths of disappearing people, minor chiefs and non-existent boundaries in the early 19th century Zuurveld of the Cape Colony
http://hdl.handle.net/10394/36508
Resistance and survival: Demolishing myths of disappearing people, minor chiefs and non-existent boundaries in the early 19th century Zuurveld of the Cape Colony
Wells, Julia C.
Starting with fragments of information from the archives about a rebellious young man designated a “Ghona [Xhosa]” in 1820, the study constructed a plausible biography to be used in a dance performance. This uncovered several myths and omissions in historical writings about the western part of the historic “Zuurveld” area of today’s Eastern Cape. While many writers pronounced the Gonaqua to have disappeared from about 1750, they remained visible as a special category of versatile and innovative people at least through the 1850s. The imiDange Xhosa chiefs of this era were in the forefront of defending African interests against colonial encroachment, as occupants over a fifty-year period of the land north, south and west of the Fish River. The
geographical location of the imiDange meant their fate was intimately linked to the colonial designation of the Fish River as a boundary between white and black. Their consistent role as resisters has been marginalised in historical writing, especially the strong defence they made in the Zuurberg mountains in the war of 1812. They challenged colonial practices not only militarily but also by trying to define the terms and conditions of labour relations. The disregard of boundaries reveals the complex dynamics of the contested frontier zone of encounter between Europeans and Africans prior to the defeat of the amaXhosa in late 1819. The study demonstrates the gains made by asking personal questions about marginal historic figures.
2020-01-01T00:00:00Z“The idea of beautifying the surroundings” : Bloemfontein’s (Mangaung) Batho location a “garden location”? (ca. 1918-1939)
http://hdl.handle.net/10394/36507
“The idea of beautifying the surroundings” : Bloemfontein’s (Mangaung) Batho location a “garden location”? (ca. 1918-1939)
Du Bruyn, Derek; Oelofse, Marietjie
In 1918, the Municipality of Bloemfontein saw the establishment of Batho as the new location for the town’s black and coloured people as an opportunity to not only establish a so called model location but also a garden location. Batho’s founding must be viewed within the historical context of Britishstyle town and urban planning, as well as the racist and segregationist policies implemented by the Union Government. The model location ideology not only encompassed proper layout and improved amenities but also meant striving towards aesthetic ideals. Such ideals implied the beautification of Batho by means of laying out domestic and public gardens, as well as the mass planting of trees. In order to turn Batho into a garden location, the Town Council implemented certain initiatives which included efforts to secure a reliable water supply and to introduce special water tariffs; the allocation of allotment gardens; the provision of a fresh-produce market for location residents; the distribution of trees free of charge, and other tree-planting initiatives; and, finally, the provision of a public “park” for Batho. While some of the motivations behind these initiatives were, indeed, driven by aesthetic ideals, others were deeply rooted in segregationist thinking and ideology. The municipality’s efforts and initiatives, as well as the Batho residents’ reactions to these, were key factors in the quest to turn Batho into a garden location. These efforts, initiatives, and reactions are investigated and critically assessed in order to determine whether the municipality’s attempts to create a garden location were “successful”. This article focuses on the period considered to be Batho’s “golden age”, that is, 1918-1939.
2020-01-01T00:00:00ZReformulating identity in post war Mozambique: Sexuality and initiation of women in the Pafuri Triangle
http://hdl.handle.net/10394/36506
Reformulating identity in post war Mozambique: Sexuality and initiation of women in the Pafuri Triangle
Connor, Teresa K.
This paper explores the initiation of women – or Vukhomba – in Pafuri, Mozambique. As historical literature illustrates, this is an event that is linked to the repression and regulation of sexuality by colonialists, missionaries and independent state rule. However, the paper forwards the proposition that initiation and sexuality are crucial for the self-expression and authority of women, and that it is in fact, central to the way in which people re-orientate themselves after events of war and displacement. Sexuality is part of the allure of the Pafuri as a border region, particularly for residents in South Africa and Mozambique, who share common linkages with each other over international boundaries. The paper argues that Vukhomba is an important
aspect of indigenous knowledge that is central to the way in which people manage disruption.
2020-01-01T00:00:00ZA case study of four South African War (1899-1902) Black concentration camps
http://hdl.handle.net/10394/36505
A case study of four South African War (1899-1902) Black concentration camps
Benneyworth, Garth
On 11 October 1899, the South African War commenced between the British Empire and the South African Republic and Orange Free State Republic. This conflict saw the targeting of civilians by all sides throughout the conflict and a harbinger of 20th century “Total War”, when civilians and their resources were harnessed to support military objectives. Set against the prior use of concentration camps in Cuba and the Philippines, the war was followed by a genocidal campaign undertaken by Imperial Germany against the Herero people in German South West Africa in 1906. Although civilian internment in South Africa was not genocidal by design
and purpose, it caused a high loss of life and lasting bitterness amongst Boer descendants. Black concentration camps, however, were far more lethal to their internees and designed along a completely different model. Their role was to coerce labour while supporting the British war effort in defeating the Republican forces. Through a work or starve policy, combined with withholding food, medical support and shelter, many perished from systemic neglect. Yet the memory of this experience of the black concentration camps has entered historical discourse only recently, in the last three decades. The area of study, examined by this article, is those black concentration camps established during 1901 to 1902, at Klip River Station, Witkop, Meyerton and Vereeniging, in the former South African Republic (ZAR). Contemporary tangible evidence of these camps remains fleeting. However, this article identifies where these camps existed and how they were integrated into the British military’s counter-guerrilla warfare strategy. This in turn enables further research into these camps that may conclusively establish their historic locations.
2020-01-01T00:00:00Z