HDS 307 - 1507199279

COURSE MANUAL
Southern Africa 1800-1914

HDS 307
University of Ibadan Distance Learning Centre

Open and Distance Learning Course Series Development
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Copyright © 2002, Revised in 2016 by Distance Learning Centre, University of Ibadan,
Ibadan.
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval
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ISBN 978-021-676-6
General Editor: Prof. Bayo Okunade
University of Ibadan Distance Learning Centre

University of Ibadan,
Nigeria
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Tel: +234 (80775935727)
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Website: www.dlc.ui.edu.ng
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Vice-Chancellor’s Message
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Prof. Abel Idowu Olayinka

Vice-Chancellor
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Foreword
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We would like to thank all our authors, reviewers and production staff for the high
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Best wishes.
Professor Bayo Okunade

Director
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Course Development Team
Content Authoring Olaniyi R.O.
Content Editor Prof. Remi Raji-Oyelade
Production Editor Ogundele Olumuyiwa Caleb
Learning Design & Technologist SchulPortal Technology
Managing Editor Ogunmefun Oladele Abiodun
General Editor Prof. Bayo Okunade
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Course Introduction
HDS 307 focuses on a survey of internal developments in the region. It also looks into the
migrations and economic organizations of the African ethnic groups. It examines the changes in
the development and consolidation of nation states like Zulu, Xhoza and others. It also focuses
on Mfecane a military, socio-cultural phenomena will be closely studied together with the
incursion of the Europeans into the area, all laying the foundation of the multiracial societies and
the imposition of colonial rule.
HDS 307 aims at how you can understand the complexity of the internal development in
southern Africa in order to acquaint you with the major developments in the region from 1800 -
1914.
It is a unique course because learning about southern Africa is also a good approach to learning
about Africa. This is because southern Africa was a unique country in African political
experience within the continent.
Southern Africa is by far the sub-division of Africa which experienced the hottest political
trauma in Africa and in the 20th century suffered political crises than any part of the world.
Perhaps for that reason alone, we need to study and understand the internal developments in the
region. It is important that you study Southern African History to alert your consciousness and
awareness of the internal developments of South Africa from 1800 – 1914 which later affected
the political history of the region against the blacks in the 20th century.
Therefore, every lecture must be effectively handled with total commitment and renewed
dedication.
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Table of Contents
Study Session 1: Background Analysis of Southern Africa ..........................................................1
Introduction.............................................................................................................................1
Learning Outcomes from Study Session 1 ...............................................................................1
1.1 Geographical Features of Southern Africa .........................................................................2
In Text Question ..................................................................................................................4
In Text Answer ....................................................................................................................4
In Text Question ..................................................................................................................6
In Text Answer ....................................................................................................................6
1.2 Arrival of the Europeans to the Cape .................................................................................6
In Text Question ..................................................................................................................7
In Text Answer ....................................................................................................................7
In Text Question ..................................................................................................................9
In Text Answer ....................................................................................................................9
1.3 Major Ethnic Groups in Southern Africa.......................................................................... 11
In Text Question ................................................................................................................ 12
In Text Answer .................................................................................................................. 12
1.3.1 Language Groups...................................................................................................... 14
Summary............................................................................................................................... 16
Self-Assessment Questions (SAQs) for Study Session 1 ........................................................ 16
SAQ 1.1 (Testing Learning outcomes 1.1) ......................................................................... 16
Reference .............................................................................................................................. 16
Study Session 2: The Growth of White Settler Society at the Cape ............................................ 17
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Introduction........................................................................................................................... 17
Learning Outcomes from Study Session 2 ............................................................................. 17
2.1 The Growth of Settler Society at the Cape ....................................................................... 18
In Text Question ................................................................................................................ 19
In Text Answer .................................................................................................................. 19
2.2 The Effects of the Settlement on the Khoisan................................................................... 21
Summary for Study Session 2 ................................................................................................ 24
References............................................................................................................................. 25
Study Session 3: The Mfecane .................................................................................................. 26
Introduction........................................................................................................................... 26
3.1 Mfecane .......................................................................................................................... 26
3.1.1 Origin of Mfecane..................................................................................................... 27
3.1.2 Deforestation ............................................................................................................ 28
In Text Question ................................................................................................................ 28
In Text Answer .................................................................................................................. 28
3.2 Major causes of the Mfecane ........................................................................................... 28
3.2.1 The Effects of Mfecane on the People ....................................................................... 30
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References............................................................................................................................. 33
Study Session 4: Shaka the Zulu................................................................................................ 34
Introduction........................................................................................................................... 34
4.1 Shaka the Zulu................................................................................................................. 34
In Text Question ................................................................................................................ 35
In Text Answer .................................................................................................................. 35
4.1.1 Shaka usurps the Zulu Chiefdom .............................................................................. 35
4.1.2 Dingiswayo's Death .................................................................................................. 35
4.1.3 The defeat of the Ndwandwe .................................................................................... 36
4.1.4 Shaka's Supremacy ................................................................................................... 36
4.2 His military Tactics ......................................................................................................... 37
In Text Question ................................................................................................................ 38
In Text Answer .................................................................................................................. 38
In Text Question ................................................................................................................ 40
In Text Answer .................................................................................................................. 40
4.3 His Achievements............................................................................................................ 42
References............................................................................................................................. 43
Study Session 5: White Power inthe Cape Colony ..................................................................... 45
Introduction........................................................................................................................... 45
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5.1 White Power in the Cape colony ...................................................................................... 45
In Text Question ................................................................................................................ 46
In Text Answer .................................................................................................................. 46
In Text Question ................................................................................................................ 48
In Text Answer .................................................................................................................. 48
5.2 White Settlement in South Africa .................................................................................... 48
In Text Question ................................................................................................................ 49
In Text Answer .................................................................................................................. 50
Summary for Study Session................................................................................................... 50
References............................................................................................................................. 51
Study Session 6: The Xhosa Wars ............................................................................................. 52
Introduction........................................................................................................................... 52
Learning Outcomes for Study Session 6 ................................................................................ 52
6.1 The Xhosa wars ............................................................................................................... 53
In Text Question ................................................................................................................ 54
In Text Answer .................................................................................................................. 54
6.2 Effects of the Xhosa wars ................................................................................................ 54
In Text Question ................................................................................................................ 55
In Text Answer .................................................................................................................. 55
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References............................................................................................................................. 57
Study Session 7: The great Trek ................................................................................................ 58
Introduction........................................................................................................................... 58
7.1 The Great Trek ................................................................................................................ 59
In-Text Question ............................................................................................................... 60
In-Text Answer ................................................................................................................. 60
7.2 Causes of the Great Trek ................................................................................................. 60
In-Text Question ............................................................................................................... 62
In-Text Answer ................................................................................................................. 62
7.3 Effects of the Great Trek ................................................................................................. 62
In-Text Question ............................................................................................................... 63
In-Text Answer ................................................................................................................. 63
References............................................................................................................................. 66
Study Session 8: The Afrikaner Republics................................................................................. 67
Introduction........................................................................................................................... 67
Learning outcomes for Study Session 8 ................................................................................. 67
8.1 Afrikaner Republics......................................................................................................... 68
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In-Text Question ............................................................................................................... 70
In-Text Answer ................................................................................................................. 70
8.2 Features of Afrikaner Republics ...................................................................................... 70
In-Text Question ............................................................................................................... 72
In-Text Answer ................................................................................................................. 72
8.3 The effects on blacks in South Africa .............................................................................. 73
References............................................................................................................................. 76
Study Session 9: The Discovery of Minerals ............................................................................. 77
Introduction........................................................................................................................... 77
9.1 South Africa before the discovery of minerals ................................................................. 78
In-Text Question ............................................................................................................... 79
In-Text Question ............................................................................................................... 79
9.2 Minerals discovery .......................................................................................................... 79
In-Text Question ............................................................................................................... 81
In-Text Answer ................................................................................................................. 81
9.3 Effects of Mineral discovery............................................................................................ 84
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References............................................................................................................................. 87
Study Session 10: The Jameson Raid......................................................................................... 88
Introduction........................................................................................................................... 88
Learning Outcomes for Study Session 10 .............................................................................. 88
10.1 The Jameson Raid.......................................................................................................... 89
In-Text Question ............................................................................................................... 91
In-Text Answer ................................................................................................................. 91
10.2: Reasons for the Jameson Raid....................................................................................... 91
In-Text Question ............................................................................................................... 92
In-Text Answer ................................................................................................................. 92
10.3 Why the raid failed ........................................................................................................ 92
In-Text Question ............................................................................................................... 92
In-Text Answer ................................................................................................................. 92
10.4 Effects of the Jameson’s raid ......................................................................................... 93
In-Text Question ............................................................................................................... 93
In-Text Answer ................................................................................................................. 93
Summary for Study Session 10 .............................................................................................. 93
Self-Assessment Questions (SAQs) for Study Session 10 ...................................................... 94
SAQ 10.1 (Testing Learning outcomes 10.1) ..................................................................... 94
References............................................................................................................................. 94
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Study Session 11: The Anglo-Boer war 1899-1902 and its aftermath......................................... 95
Introduction........................................................................................................................... 95
Learning outcomes for Study Session 11 ............................................................................... 95
11.1 The Anglo-Boer war 1889-1902 .................................................................................... 96
In-Text Question ............................................................................................................... 97
In-Text Answer ................................................................................................................. 97
11.2 Underlying causes of the Anglo-Boer war...................................................................... 98
In-Text Question ............................................................................................................... 99
In- Text Answer ................................................................................................................ 99
11.3: The Aftermath of the Anglo-Boer war .......................................................................... 99
In-Text Question ............................................................................................................. 100
In-Text Answer ............................................................................................................... 100
Summary for Study Session 11 ............................................................................................ 100
Self-Assessment Questions (SAQs) for Study Session 11 .................................................... 101
SAQ 11.1 (Testing Learning outcomes 11.1) ................................................................... 101
References........................................................................................................................... 101
Study Session 12: Prelude to apartheid in South Africa ........................................................... 102
Introduction......................................................................................................................... 102
Learning outcomes for Study Session .................................................................................. 102
12.1 Pre apartheid –Original South Africa dwellers ............................................................. 103
In-Text Question ............................................................................................................. 104
In-Text Answer ............................................................................................................... 104
12.2Apartheid in South Africa ............................................................................................. 104
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In-Text Question ............................................................................................................. 106
In-Text Answer ............................................................................................................... 106
12.3 Origin of Apartheid in South Africa ............................................................................. 106
In-Text Question ............................................................................................................. 110
In-Text Answer ............................................................................................................... 110
Summary for Study Session 12 ............................................................................................ 110
Self-Assessment Questions (SAQs) for Study Session 12 .................................................... 110
References........................................................................................................................... 111
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Study Session 1: Background Analysis of Southern Africa
Introduction
In this study session, you will be introduced to the geographical features of southern Africa and
its people, which is a general overview of the region which attracted white settlers to the area.
You will also be introduced to some of the clarifications on the people of southern Africa-the
Hottentos/Khoikhoi, Bushmen/San, Bantu and Afrikaner.
Source
Learning Outcomes from Study Session 1

At the end of this study session, you should be able to:
1.1 Discuss the geographical features of southern Africa;
1.2 Explain the arrival of the Europeans to the cape.
1.3 Highlight on the major ethnic groups in southern Africa.
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1.1 Geographical Features of Southern Africa
A clear understanding of the geography of Southern Africa throws much light on its historical
development. For instance, the attraction of the Europeans to the cape as well as their subsequent
settlement, there was a response to the geography of Southern Africa. For any discussion of
Southern African history, one should take adequate cognizance of its geography, as it influences
the course of its historical development.
Southern Africa is the southern part of the African plateau. It has coastal strips along the west
coast. It does not enjoy adequate rainfall because of its geographical factors. The eastern part
enjoys more rainfall than the western part due to the influence of the Drakensberg mountain.
The cold Benguela current lowers the temperature of westward blowing wind, which becomes an
offshore wind on the west coast. The resultant effect is the Kalahari-Numib desert of the west
(where the Bushmen and the Hottentots had been driven to. The cold Benguela current is also an
important cause of the presence of birds whose droppings, the guano, form an important
fertilizing product.
Vegetation is most abundant to the eastern coast and it grows sparser towards the western
part.There are many rivers in South Africa. Most of them are found on the eastern part. They
include the Great fish River, Limpopo River and the Zambezi River.
Figure 1.1: Great Fish River

Source
2
The Cape colony enjoys the Mediterranean type of climate. It has winter rainfall and hot and dry
summer. The climate favors the cultivation of grapes, wheat, fruits, barley, tobacco and other
cereals. The absence of tsetse fly also favors the rearing of cattle.
The geography of Southern Africa encouraged the settlement of the white elements at the cape. It
is also a major factor to explain Pastoralism and the Bantu groups of South Africa. The pattern of
settlement of the Bantu groups and their merchants in southern Africa could be explained
through geographical factors.
Geography is also responsible for the reason why the Bushmen and Hottentots were pushed to
the Kalahari –Numib desert by the white settlers. Geographical factors can best explain why
certain occupations like Pastoralism, agriculture and mining are done in certain part of southern
Africa. The expansion of the white settlers into the interior was also necessitated by the
geography.
Figure 1.2: Geographical Location of South Africa

Source
The major indigenous people of southern Africa are the Khoikhoi/Hottentots, Bushmen/San and
the Bantu. Other settlers are the Afrikaners/White settlers from Europe, colored and slaves from
Madagascar and Indonesia.
3
The Bushmen/San, are one of the world’s most well-known indigenous groups. They are slightly
built, short of stature, having a tawny yellow skin were the earliest known human inhabitants of
Southern Africa. They were essentially hunters.
Many of those who identify themselves as San are those living in and around the Kalahari Basin
of Namibia and Botswana. There are those who live in South Africa, Zimbabwe, Angola and
Zambia. Individual San groups refer to themselves as Hai//om, Ju/’hoansi, !Kung, Kxoe or !Xo
among other names. The San groups speak either Khoe or San languages, and they share similar
social organization, religion and historical experiences.
The Khoikhoi or Hottentots resemble the Bushmen or San; they were a set of pastoral people.
They lived in larger communities which enabled them to have their social and political
organization more sophisticated than that of the Bushmen or San. The Khoikhoi originated in the
northern part of modern Botswana and later migrated southwards.
In Text Question
The Bushmen/San, are one of the world’s most well-known indigenous groups.True/False
In Text Answer
True
Khoikhoi subgroups are the Korana of mid-South Africa, the Namaqua to the west, and the
Khoikhoi in the south. In modern day southwest Namibia, the majority of Khoikhoi is mixed
with a Bantu subgroup- the Damara. They now have a mixed-light skin tone resulting from the
light color of the Khoikhoi and the darker skin of the Bantu. The European immigrants referred
to the Khoikhoi derogatorily as Hottentots.
Figure 1.3:Khoikhoi
Source
4
The Bantu practice agriculture and they are equally cattle rearers. They lived in larger
communities than the Bushmen and the Hottentots.
Under the Apartheid regime, Black South Africans were officially referred to as “Bantu.”
Groups of Bantu speakers migrated southwards and two main groups emerged: The Nguni
(Ndebele, Swazi, Zulu and Xhosa) who occupied the eastern plains and the Sotho-Tswana who
lived in the interior of the plateau.
Bantu speaking groups were organized into different clans. Bantu groups include the Zulu and
Shona. Bantu speaking groups built the famous Great Zimbabwe complex on the Zambezi river.
They were also prominent in KwaZulu-Natal, Transvaal and other parts of Southern Africa.
Figure 1.4: Bantu Speaking Group

Source
The Boers are the offspring of Europeans (the Dutch and many other nationals) that settled in the
cape colony in South Africa. The Boer is the Dutch and Afrikaans word for farmer. Boers
included descendants of the Dutch speaking settlers of the eastern Cape frontier in Southern
Africa during the 18th century and those who migrated from the Cape colony during the 19th
century to settle in the Orange Free State, Transvaal (which are together called the Boer
Republics) and also Natal.
From all we have said about the background analysis of Southern Africa, one thing comes out
clearly as being the fundamental justification for the study of Southern African history. That
5
geography played an important role which influenced the peoples of Southern Africa in their
socio-political and cultural relationships from our period 1800 to 1914.
This further explained why South Africa remained under the white control of the Boers until
1991 when apartheid was finally dismantled.
In Text Question
The ----------- are the offspring of Europeans that settled in the cape colony in South Africa.
(a) Zulu
(b) Khoikhoi
(c) Boers
(d) Hottentots
In Text Answer
The answer is (c) Boers
1.2 Arrival of the Europeans to the Cape

Although human settlement in the subcontinent extends back thousands of years, racial conflict
dates from the Dutch arrival at the Cape of Good Hope in 1652, when the Dutch East India
Company [Vereenigde Oost-IndischeCompagnie or VOC, existed 1602-1798] established a
resupply station at Cape Town for its fleets traveling between Holland and its empire in South
and Southeast Asia.
During the first 150 years of European control of the Cape, the company, a commercial
operation, established some of the most enduring features of colonial society. The company was
not interested in expanding European settlement across Africa, but only in acquiring goods (fresh
water, foodstuffs, and replacement masts) to resupply its ships.
When local Khoisan peoples refused to provide these goods on terms set by the company, the
Europeans took up arms and drove most of the local population into the interior. In place of local
producers, the company relied on a combination of European farmers (mostly former employees
of the company) and imported African slave labor to work the land that had been seized from
local residents.
6
Figure 1.5: Europeans Settlers in Cape
Source
When the European farmers (known as Boers) attempted to escape the monopolistic trading
practices and autocratic rule of the company by moving into the interior, the company prohibited
further expansion, ended the emigration of Europeans to the Cape, and expanded the use of slave
labor.
By the end of the eighteenth century, society in the Cape was marked by antagonism between the
local white community (mostly descended from the same small group of seventeenth-century
Dutch, French, and German settlers) and a largely disinterested and exploitative metropolitan
ruler. The racial divide was reflected in the pattern of land ownership and the authoritarian
structure of labor relations, based largely on slavery.
British acquisition. British acquisition of the Cape at the beginning of the nineteenth century
accentuated the divisions between local settlers and metropolitan rulers and widened the racial
divide between whites and blacks. The British conquered the Cape largely to prevent it from
falling into the hands of Napoleon, and thus to protect their only sea route to their empire in
South Asia.
In Text Question
Toward the end of the eighteenth century, society in the Cape was marked by hostility.
True/False
In Text Answer
True
7
Like the Dutch East India Company, the British were not interested in expanding settlement, but
wanted to keep down the expense of maintaining their strategic resupply station at Cape Town.
Initially, they continued to import African slaves to meet the labor needs of white farmers, and
they did not interfere with the farmers' harsh treatment of black workers.
But the British also tried to prevent further white expansion in South Africa--with its attendant
costs of greater levels of colonial government and the risk of wars with Africans--by closing the
borders of the Cape and importing British settlers to create a loyal buffer in the east between
expansionist Boers and densely settled African communities.
Moreover, the British, influenced by strong humanitarian groups at home, took steps to eliminate
the racially discriminatory features of colonial society, first by reforming the judicial system and
punishing white farmers who assaulted black workers, and later by freeing all slaves throughout
the British Empire.
Figure 1.6: TheVoortrekkers [pioneers]

Source
The Great Trek Desperate for more land and fearful of losing all of their black labor, many Boer
families in the 1830s marched into the interior of South Africa on the Great Trek, skirting the
densest African populations. These Voortrekkers [pioneers], or trekkers, hoped to establish their
own communities, free of British rule.
8
Prevented by the British from establishing a republic on the Indian Ocean coast, where the
British colony of Natal helped protect the sea route to India, the Boers formed two republics in
the interior, the South African Republic (the region known as the Transvaal) and the Orange Free
State.
Both republics' economies were based on near-subsistence farming and hunting, and both limited
political rights to white males. Thus, white settlement expanded across the region, but almost
entirely into areas with few local inhabitants. The majority of black Africans still lived in their
own autonomous societies.
The Discoveries of Gold and Diamonds. The discovery of minerals in the late nineteenth
century--diamonds in 1867 and gold in 1886--dramatically altered the economic and political
structure of Southern Africa.
In Text Question
The Boers formed two republics in the interior, they are orange free State______
(a) The British empire
(b) British colony of Natal
(c) Cape Town Colony
(d) The Orange Free State.
In Text Answer
(d) the Orange Free State
The growing mineral industry created ever-greater divisions between British and Boer, white and
black, rich and poor. At the turn of the century, for the first time, South Africa had an extremely
valuable resource that attracted foreign capital and large-scale immigration.
Discoveries of gold and diamonds in South Africa exceeded those in any other part of the world,
and more foreign capital had been invested in South Africa than in the rest of Africa combined.
In the Transvaal, the site of the gold discoveries, the white population expanded eightfold, while
hundreds of thousands of Africans sought work each year in the newly developed mines and
cities of industrializing areas. Yet not all shared equally in this newfound wealth.
9
Figure 1.7: Discovery of Gold and Mining Worksin South Africa
Source
Diamond and, in particular, gold mining industries required vast amounts of inexpensive labor in
order to be profitable. To constrain the ability of African workers to bargain up their wages, and
to ensure that they put up with onerous employment conditions, the British in the 1870s and
1880s conquered the still-independent African states in southern Africa, confiscated the bulk of
the land and imposed cash taxation demands.
In this way, they ensured that men who had chosen previously to work in the mines on their own
terms were now forced to do so on the employers' terms. In the new industrial cities, African
workers were subjected to a bewildering array of discriminatory laws and practices, all enforced
in order to keep workers cheap and pliable.
In the much diminished rural areas, the wives and children of these migrant laborers had to
survive in large part on the limited remittances sent back by their absent menfolk. In short, many
of the discriminatory features so typical of twentieth-century South Africa--pass laws, urban
ghettos, impoverished rural homelands, African migrant labor--were first established in the
course of South Africa's industrial revolution.
10
Figure 1.8: Force Labor in South Africa
Source
1.3 Major Ethnic Groups in Southern Africa

South Africans represent a rich array of ethnic backgrounds, but the idea of ethnicity became
highly explosive during the apartheid era, when the government used it for political and racial
purposes. Whites in South Africa often attributed the recent centuries of warfare in the region to
the varied origins of its peoples, rather than to the increasing economic pressures they had faced.
Government officials, accordingly, imposed fairly rigid ethnic or tribal categories on a fluid
social reality, giving each black African a tribal label, or identity, within a single racial
classification.
Apartheid doctrines taught that each black population would eventually achieve maturity as a
nation, just as the Afrikaner people, in their own view, had done. Officials, therefore, sometimes
referred to the largest African ethnic groups as nations.
The government established language areas for each of these and, during the 1950s and 1960s,
assigned them separate residential areas according to perceived ethnic identity. Over the next
decade, portions of these language areas became Bantustans, and then self-governing homelands;
11
finally, in the 1970s and the 1980s, four of the homelands--Transkei, Bophuthatswana, Venda,
and Ciskei--were granted nominal "independence".
In Text Question
____ was used by government for political and racial purposes.
(a) Ethnic Group
(b) Apartheid system
(c) Tribalism
(d) Social Group
In Text Answer
(b) Apartheid system
Although the independent homelands were not recognized as separate nations by any country
other than South Africa, people assigned to live there were officially "noncitizens" of South
Africa. Apartheid policies also empowered the government to remove black Africans from cities
and to preserve the "ethnic character" of neighborhoods in the African townships that were
created, legally and illegally, around the cities.
Many township neighborhoods were given specific "tribal" designations. Township residents
generally ignored these labels, however, and reacted to the divisiveness of the government's
racial policies by minimizing the importance of their ethnic heritage, or disavowing it entirely.
A few South Africans embraced the notion that ethnicity was an outdated concept, a creation of
governments and anthropologists, invoked primarily to create divisions among people of a
particular class or region. The word "tribe" assumed, especially pejorative connotations during
the apartheid era, in part because of the distortions that were introduced by applying this concept
to society.
12
Figure 1.9: Residents in South Africa
Source
Technically, no tribes had existed in South Africa for most of the twentieth century. The term
"tribe," in anthropology, is often defined as a group of people sharing a similar culture--i.e.,
patterns of belief and behavior--settled in a common territory, and tracing their ancestry to a
common perhaps a mythical ancestor.
But none of South Africa's black peoples shared a common, ancestral territory; they had been
uprooted and relocated by warfare, by the search for new land, or by government action. Few
rural residents could trace their descent from an ancestor shared with many of their neighbors.
Then in 1993 and 1994, as the country emerged from the apartheid era, many South Africans
appeared to reclaim their ethnic heritage and to acknowledge pride in their ancestry. The new
13
political leaders recognized the practical advantage of encouraging people to identify both with
the nation and with a community that had a past older than the nation.
So the interim constitution of 1993 reaffirmed the importance of ethnicity by elevating nine
African languages to the status of official languages of the nation, along with English and
Afrikaans.
1.3.1 Language Groups
The most widely spoken of South Africa's eleven official languages in the mid-1990s are Zulu
(isiZulu), Xhosa (isiXhosa), Afrikaans, and English (for Bantu prefixes, see Glossary). The
others isi-Ndebele, sePedi (seSotho sa Leboa), seSotho, seTswana, SiSwati, tshiVenda (also
referred to as luVenda), and xiTsonga--are spoken in large areas of the country (see fig. 12).
Each of the eleven includes a number of regional dialects and variants.
Despite the diversity of these language groups, it is nonetheless possible to begin to understand
this complex society by viewing language groupings as essentially the same as ethnic groupings.
This is possible because, in general, most South Africans consider one of the eleven official
languages, or a closely related tongue, to be their first language; and most people acquire their
first language as part of a kinship group or an ethnically conscious population.
Nine of South Africa's official languages (all except Afrikaans and English) are Bantu languages.
Bantu languages are a large branch of the Niger-Congo language family, which is represented
throughout much of sub-Saharan Africa. Bantu languages are spoken by more than 100 million
Africans in Central Africa, East Africa, and southern Africa. Four major subgroups of Bantu
languages--Nguni, Sotho, Tsonga-Shangaan, and Venda--are represented in South Africa.
14
Figure 1.10: Xhosa People and their Tradition
Source
The largest group of closely related languages in South Africa is the Nguni. Nguni peoples in the
country, number at least 18 million. About 9 million Sotho (BaSotho) and 2 million Tswana
(BaTswana) speak seSotho or a closely related language, seTswana. More than 2 million Tsonga
and Shangaan peoples speak xiTsonga and related languages; at least 600,000 Venda (VaVenda)
speak tshiVenda (luVenda).
Each of these language groups also extends across South Africa's boundaries into neighboring
countries. For example, Nguni-speaking Swazi people make up almost the entire population of
Swaziland.
At least 1.3 million SeSotho speakers live in Lesotho, and more than 1 million people in
Botswana speak seTswana. Roughly 4 million speakers of xiTsonga and related languages live in
Mozambique, and tshiVenda is spoken by several thousand people in southern Zimbabwe.
Language boundaries are not rigid and fixed, however; regional dialects often assume
characteristics of more than one language.
15
Summary
In study session 1, you have learnt that:
1. Geography of Southern Africa played a prominent role which affected the indigenous
peoples and the new settlers of South Africa. This explains why the Bushmen and the
Hottentots were driven to the western part.
2. The Mediterranean climate also influenced the permanent settlement of the Dutch and the
white elements (the Boers) into the Southern Africa. This same geography also explains
the Pastoralistic nature of the Bantus, the Hottentots and later the Boers in South Africa.
Self-Assessment Questions (SAQs) for Study Session 1

Now that you have completed this study session, you can assess how well you have achieved its
Learning outcomes by answering the following questions.
SAQ 1.1 (Testing Learning outcomes 1.1)
Discuss the geographical features of southern Africa
Explain the arrival of the Europeans to the cape.
Highlight on the major ethnic groups in southern Africa
Reference
Elizabeth Isichei, 1998, A History of African societies to 1870. Cambridge pp 409-412
Philip Curtin et al, 1995, African History from earliest times to Independence; Edinburgh Gate,
Harlow Essex Cm202 JE, England, pp. 294 – 297
16
Study Session 2: The Growth of White Settler Society at the Cape
Introduction
In study session one, you have learnt briefly about the people of southern Africa. In this study
session, you will be introduced to the growth of white settler society at the cape. You will also
learn about the slaves that landed in southern Africa, their relationship with the indigenous
people and the effects of these settlements on the Khoisan.
Source

At the end of the study session, you should be able to:
2.1 Explain the reasons why Europeans settled at the Cape in South Africa.
2.2 Discuss the effects of the settlement on the Khoisan.
17
2.1 The Growth of Settler Society at the Cape
The European appearance at the cape began as a resting place on the long sea route to India, and
opportunity to replenish supplies of water, grain, fruit and vegetables. In 1652, the Dutch East
India Company founded a station there that is the cape. The company was taken over by the
British from 1795. It was restored back to the Dutch in 1803-6, and then reverted to Britain.
In 1858, the first shipload of slave was landed. Two-thirds of them were to come from
Madagascar and many of them from Indonesia. By 1798, there was a slave population of 25,754,
a free one (excluding the Khoikhoi and San) of 21,746.
The first white farmers were the company’s farmer employees, who were soon joined by
immigrants, and although many of the later are Germans or Huguenots, they became absorbed in
a dominant Dutch culture. The trekboers adopted a pastoral lifestyle. They migrated ever further
in search of new pastures.
Figure 2.1: Settler Society at the Cape

Source
To the Northwest, they were to come into conflict with another body of advancing Pastorialists-
the Xhosa. In the 17th century, the San and Khoikhoi lived together with the new settlers-
Europeans amiably or peacefully. They were happy to exchange sheep and cattle for tobacco,
copper and iron. But as time went on, the Khoi lost over more of their land, livestock and
political autonomy.
18
They fought several wars against the company to regain them, but in vain. Many came to work
for white farmers, who relied heavily on their pastoral skills. In 1713, laundry brought ashore
from a passing fleet introduced small pox, and the Khoikhoi were decimated. By the end of the
18th century, much Cape Khoikhoi culture had been eroded, including the language, which gave
way to Dutch.
Figure 2.2: Drakensberg Mountains

Source
By the 1770s, the Trekboers had arrived the Drakensberg Mountains, peopled by the San. Here,
adults were killed on a scale approaching genocide, and children captured for a life of virtual
enslavement. Khoi fought in the Drakensberg on the settler side, later they served in the cape
army.
The last area of San settlement in cape colony was in its most desert path, south of the modern
boundary with Namibia. It is still called Bushman land. In 1850s, trekboers commandos waged
wars of extermination here.
The Khoikhoi and the slaves were sometimes hostile to each other and Khoikhoi sometimes
assisted in the recovery of fugitives. But because there were so few women in the slave
community there was increasing intermarriage between them. The Khoikhoi and the slaves were
the offspring of the modern “Cape colored”- a term first used in the 19th century.
In Text Question
The zone of San settlement in cape colony was in its most Mountain path. True/False
In Text Answer
False (Desert Path)
19
In the 18th century, there was a considerable amount of living together across “racial” lines. But
gradually, social life was rigidly segregated, a development noticed by the creation of a separate
branch of the Dutch Reformed church for the “colored” in 1857.
Many of those who were oppressed, cheated and discriminated against by white settler society
endured it for lack of an alternative. Some Khoikhoi, former slaves, and people of mixed
descent, sought freedom beyond the settler frontier.
The new frontier societies were called Grigua, they engaged in cattle herding, hunting and trade
like the trekboers, some turned to africulture. A number of small independent Griqua settlements
were founded, all of which, in time, were swallowed up by the advance of colonialism.
Figure 2.3: Dutch Reformed church

Source
20
2.2 The Effects of the Settlement on the Khoisan
The Khoisan, an indigenous population in Namibia, may once have comprised the majority of
living humans on the planet, for much of the past 150,000 years. The Khoisan population
declined about 22,000 years ago and again during the 17th century's European colonialists'
incursions into Africa.
The new study by geneticists published in Nature Communications , reviewed by the journal
Science, revealed that the Khoisan, now numbering about 100,000, are a genetically diverse
group because of a large ancestral population in the distant past.
The name ‘Khoisan’ generally refers to the hunters and herders of a number of ethnic groups that
speak a distinctive click language, although it is not the name that the population use for
themselves. Historically, there were two groups of peoples in the Khoisan language family, the
Khoi Pastoralists or herders, and the San, who were hunters and gatherers. Today, they are
known collectively as the Khoisan.
Figure 2.4: The Khoisan Settlement

Source
21
Adverse climatic conditions in Africa caused by glaciation in the Northern Hemisphere prior to
22,000 years ago reduced human populations, but Southern Africa maintained a good climate,
which also reviewed the new genetic study. Good weather results in easier living conditions and
plentiful food, so populations known collectively as the Khoisan thrived.
Khoisan, people known for their rare click language, may have been the most numerous humans,
but they remain genetically distinct from Europeans, Asians and other Africans. Some of these
other groups moved out of Africa and populated Europe, Asia and the rest of the planet around
the same time that Khoisan people were in the majority.
"Khoisan hunter-gatherers in Southern Africa always have perceived themselves as the oldest
people," said Stephan Schuster, a former Penn State University professor, now at Nanyang
Technological University in Singapore and a leader of the research team.
Figure 2.5: Khoisan hunter-gatherers in Southern Africa

Source
The study looked at 420,000 genetic variants across 1,462 genomes from 48 ethnic groups.
“These analyses reveal that Southern African Khoisans are genetically distinct not only from
Europeans and Asians, but also from all other Africans.”
Previous research has also suggested that Khoisan people may be directly descended from
mankind's oldest common paternal ancestors. DNA studies in the 1990s, found that the Y
chromosome of San men, one of the indigenous populations, making up the Khoisan, share
certain patterns of genetic variation that are different from those of all other populations.
22
It was theorized that the San are one of the first populations to have differentiated from the most
recent common paternal ancestor of all extant humans, estimated to have lived 60,000 to 90,000
years ago.
Researchers found that through history Khoisan intermarried little with other ethnic groups,
which helped preserve their genetic uniqueness.
"This and previous studies show that the Khoisan peoples and the rest of modern humanity
shared their most recent common ancestor approximately 150,000 years ago, so it was entirely
unexpected to find that this group apparently did not intermarry with non-Khoisan neighbors for
many thousand years," said Webb Miller, professor of Bioinformatics at Penn State and a
member of the research team.
"The current Khoisan culture and tradition, where marriage occurs either among Khoisan groups
or results in female members leaving their tribes after marrying non-Khoisan men, appears to be
long-standing."
Figure 2.6: Khoisans People of South Africa

Source
The study looked at 420,000 genetic variants across 1,462 genomes from 48 ethnic groups.
“These analyses reveal that Southern African Khoisans are genetically distinct not only from
Europeans and Asians, but also from all other Africans,” reports Phys.org.
23
Previous research has also suggested that Khoisan people may be directly descended from
mankind's oldest common paternal ancestors. DNA studies in the 1990s, found that the Y
chromosome of San men, one of the indigenous populations, making up the Khoisan, share
certain patterns of genetic variation that are different from those of all other populations.
It was theorized that the San are one of the first populations to have differentiated from the most
recent common paternal ancestor of all extant humans, estimated to have lived 60,000 to 90,000
years ago. Researchers found that through history Khoisan intermarried little with other ethnic
groups, which helped preserve their genetic uniqueness.
"This and previous studies show that the Khoisan peoples and the rest of modern humanity
shared their most recent common ancestor approximately 150,000 years ago, so it was entirely
unexpected to find that this group apparently did not intermarry with non-Khoisan neighbors for
many thousand years," said Webb Miller, professor of Bioinformatics at Penn State and a
member of the research team, as reported on Phys.org.
"The current Khoisan culture and tradition, where marriage occurs either among Khoisan groups
or results in female members leaving their tribes after marrying non-Khoisan men, appears to be
long-standing."
Summary for Study Session 2

1. The white settlers migrated from Europe and settled at the cape just for the purpose of
resting, refueling their ship and later for the growth of vegetables.
2. The relationship with the khoisan and the slaves were cordial initially but from the
beginning of the 19th, social life produced racial segregation that led to the establishment
of the Dutch Reformed church for “colored” in 1857.
3. Many who were oppressed by the white settlers sought for freedom by establishing the
frontier societies called Orlam or Bastards and later Griqua in Khoikhoi language. The
Griqua were later swallowed up by the advance of colonialism.
24
Highlight the reasons why Europeans settled at the Cape in South Africa.
Explain the effects of the settlement on the Khoisan
References
Elizabeth Isichei, 1998, A History of African societies to 1870. Cambridge, pp 409-412
Philip Curtin et al, 1995, African History from earliest times to Independence; Edinburgh Gate,
Harlow Essex Cm202 JE, England, pp. 294 – 297
25
Study Session 3: The Mfecane
Introduction
There are many series of wars fought by the Bantus in search of land. Different historians have
given it different definitions. In this lecture, we shall examine the meanings of Mfecane, the
main characters in the Mfecane and the causes of Mfecane among the Bantu.
Source

3.1 Define the different interpretations that have been given to Mfecane.
3.2 Discuss the major causes of the Mfecane.
3.1 Mfecane
Mfecane in the Nguni languages are the series of disturbances among the Bantus African farming
communities. The literal meaning of the word is “crushing”. It can also mean the process of
political change and the accompanying wars and the movements which began in the later part of
the 18th century. This resulted in the founding of new states in present day Lesotho, Zimbabwe,
Mozambique and Tanzania.
26
3.1.1 Origin of Mfecane
Mfecane has its origin in the late 18th century, in the conflicts between three northern “Nguni
Communities, the Ndwandwe, Mthethwa and Ngwane.
In 1817, some Ngwane were driven from their homeland by the Ndwandwe led by Zwide.
Sobhuza’s Ngwane fled to what later became Swaziland. Conflicts among northern ‘Nguni
groups continued and Dingiswayo leader of the Mthethwa was killed fighting the Ndwandwe, the
Vacuum created by the Mthethwa’s defeat and disintegration was filled by Shaka the Zulu.
His forces defeated the Ndwandwe who later incorporated in the new Zulu state. This was the
genesis of a dramatic chain of events which was to change ethno-linguistic groupings and
political history of not only in Africa South of the Limpopo, but in modern Zambia, Zimbabwe,
Malawi and Tanzania.
The effect of external trade- the export of Ivory from Delagoa Bay (now Maputo) created the
chain of events found in ecological factors and in social disturbances.
The pressure of an increasing population on the limited grazing and arable land between the
Drakenbergs and the sea was also a factor for the Mfecane. Also, the need for land for growing
crops rather than rearing cattle by the southern Bantu people was also a factor for the series of
social, political and economic disturbances.
Figure 3.1: The Nguni Communities

Source
27
3.1.2 Deforestation
Tree falling to make room for houses and cultivated fields, and wood was needed for building,
firewood and smelting furnaces. All this meant that different areas were deforested when their
locations were periodically shifted.
The introduction of maize may also have increased greater population densities. This was
followed by a succession of droughts, producing killing famines in 1800 – 1803, 1812 and 1816 -
18 the very period when militarized Kingdoms emerged.
Trade in ivory, at its Delagoa Bay from 1750 on initiating the Mfecane its nature is a rapidly
diminishing resource and it seems likely that its depletion increased existing political rivalries.
Both Dingiswayo and Shaka showed a position interest in the trade of Delagoa Bay, Shaka tried
to develop trade links lives with the Cape as well. Beads, brass and cloth were the main imports
valued as a source to win political support, and as famine insurance. Later guns became of
uppermost importance.
In Text Question
Different areas of the Mfecane were deforested when their locations were periodically shifted.
True/False
In Text Answer
True
3.2 Major causes of the Mfecane

Mfecane was an Ngoni word used to describe times of trouble, forced migration of various
people from southeastern parts of present South Africa to other parts of south, central and East
Africa. A Sotho- Tswana word for describing the mfecane is Defecane.
It was characterized by severe punishments that caused untold bloodshed and fortune of the Zulu
people and other parts of central and East Africa begun from the northern Zululand and then to
rest of the Bantu area in South Africa.
28
The causes of the mfecane were not very clear; however the proposed causes for its
occurrence included:
1. The rise of Shaka who was a great Ngoni and Sotho leader, he believed in the
expansion of the Zulu kingdom. Between 1817 and 1826, he fought wars of expansion
against the Pedi, Sengu, Ndwandwe societies which forced them to move north and
eastwards.
2. The Advance of the Boers northwards increased land shortage, particularly in the
South Eastern region of South Africa; they started fighting the Zulu, Xhosa. And Ndebele
causes a lot of suffering.
3. Lack of sufficient land for grazing that generated conflicts among theindigenous tribes
such as the Zulu, Xhosa Shona, and Tswana etc.
4 .Military innovations that involved the emergence of regimental forces, i.e. the
innovation of short stubbing spears, shields, cow homed system resulted into Mfecane.
5. Conflicts between chiefdoms and their leaders for example Z wide of the Ndwandwe,
Sobhuza of the Ngwane and Dingiswayo of the Mthethwa.
6. The existence of strong communities alongside weak ones. The strong ones like the
Ngwane, Zulu and Mthethwa resorted to engulfing the weak ones which caused wars,
displacements etc.
7. A Growing desire to control the profitable trade, for example Shaka and Dingiswayo
who fought various wars in order to control Oelagoa Bay to get modem weapons in
exchange for locally produced goods i.e. gold, ivory, animal skins etc.
8. The regimental system which involved recruiting young men for war and equipping
them to teeth. It was copied by Dingiswayo in a bid to implement the system it caused
Mfecane
29
9. Population explosion, necessitated expansionist wars (mfecane). This is supported by
Donald Denon and Nyeko Bala in their book "South Africa since 1800". They claim that,
"Shaka and Dingiswaya went into this war as a solution to get land for settlement of their
subjects"
10. Need to engage in the prosperous trade Shaka and Dingiswayo wanted to control.
A woman historian known as Monica contends that, "Shaka and Dingiswayo began to fight
expansionist wars to control this Bay and trade with the aim of defeating the competitors leading
tomfecane’.
The existence of strong communities alongside weak ones led to the Mfecane as strong
communities wanted to absorb the weak ones. The penetration of the Boer trekkers into the
interior.
3.2.1 The Effects of Mfecane on the People

It's pertinent to note that the Ngoni invasion which swept across Southern, central and East
Africa left an impact which was both positive and negative on the political, social and economic
institution.
They included the following:
1. Emergency of strong and well developed states, i.e., formation of the Ndebele kingdom by
Mzilikazi, Gaza state by Shoshangane.
2. The Rise and growth of defensive states, they were multi-ethnic states , they were multi-ethnic
built to defend themselves against the Ngoni imperialism , they included Nyamwenzi empire of
Miramb,Nyunguamawe,Urambo,Ukimba,in central Tanganyika and thekolclo state in central
Africa.
3. There were military innovations like regimental system, resulting into standing armies by most
states i. e. The Rugaruga of the Nyarnwezi, Machaka of the Ndebele.
4. There were spread and use of a common language.
30
5. As a result of interaction there were intermarriages which created unity among the Ngoni
communities.
6. The Rise of strong personalities who mobilized communities and becameimportant figures in
history of caste and central Africa i.e. Shaka, Mirambo, Nyunguyamawe.
7. There was a transformation of cultures and languages by either some people adopting other
people's language they came into contact i.e. Kololo imposed their language on the Lozi and the
Zulu did the same.
8. The Mfecane led to the evolution of strong centralized governments I.e. created kingdoms
under kings with a lot of authority i.e.Ndcbele under Mzilikazi
9. The Rise and growth of those nations were multi-clan and multi-ethnic in nature, for example,
Zulu nation, Ndebele state, the Gaza state.
10. There was change of loyalty from councils of elders, clan heads to state or individuals who
initiated them like Mzilikazi, Shaka, and Mirambo.
11. New methods and weapons of fighting were introduced which increased insecurity i.e. the
introduction of short stabbing spears, cow hommethod, fighting bare footed, surprise attacks etc.
12. There was massive loss of life and destruction of property, i.e. Shaka Zulu attacked the
Basuto, the Tswana, and Tonga which wars claimed the lives of the natives.
13. It resulted into increased slave trade as such attacks were used by slave traders to carry out
raids for slaves it was common among the N Goni. Ndebele.etc
14. The Mfecane created a state of insecurity which affected agriculture since people abandoned
agriculture and famine set in.
15. There was a moral transformation among African people more so in South and central
Africa, for instance degrading practices like petty theft and bogging, some communities’
elevated i.e. Zulu and Ndebele.
31
16. There was an abandonment of some traditional practices such as circumcision. This was
because the long wars could not permit them.
17. As a result of many wars between indigenous people there was Chaos. Panic, human
suffering, the Fengu for instance became cannibals because they lost land, cattle and destruction
of settlements
18. Due to untold suffering many people migrated into other parts of South, East and Central
Africa, resulting in displacement of nations.
19. It created a way for European penetration i.e. British, Boers into the interior of South Africa
because of weakened and depopulated areas by Mfecane.
20. Most states united to form strong kingdoms for security purposes, e.g. the Kololo kingdom
of Sebitwane and Ngwato of Pedi.
21. Demographic changes occurred as peaceful areas became densely populated while unsafe
areas became depopulated.
22. In conclusion, therefore Mfecane constituted a period of trouble and. violence to many of the
Bantu speaking people in south, cast and central Africa

1. Mfecane is a series of disturbances among the Bantu African farming communities; it
also means “crushing”; it also means the process of political and the accompanying wars
and movements which began in the late parts of the 19th century.
2. The major characters of the Mfecane include: Zwide of Ndwandwe, Sobhuza of Ngwane
and Dingiswayo of Mthethwa and shaka the Zulu who succeeded Dingiswayo.
3. Mfecane was an Ngoni word used to describe times of trouble, forced migration of
various people from southeastern parts of present South Africa to other parts of south,
central and East Africa. A Sotho- Tswana word for describing the mfecane is Defecane.
32
Learning outcomes by answering the following questions. You can check your answers with the
Notes on the Self-Assessment questions at the end of this Module.
Explain different interpretations that have been given to Mfecane
References
Elizabeth Isichei (1998), A history of African societies to 1870, Cambridge University Press pp
412-413.
2. Philip Curtin, Steven Feirerman, Leonard Thompson & Jan Vansina (1985), African
History from Earliest Times to Independence, Edinburgh Gate, England, pp 268-273.
33
Study Session 4: Shaka the Zulu
Introduction
There were many warlords during the era of Mfecane in southern Africa. Shaka the Zulu was
outstanding among these warlords. In this study session, you will examine the life history of
Shaka the Zulu, his war tactics in the Mfecane and his achievements.
Source

4.1 Explain the nature of Shaka the Zulu
4.2 Highlight Shaka’s war tactics
4.3 Discuss Shaka’s achievements
4.1 Shaka the Zulu
Historians are now not ready to endorse historical interpretations which stress the role of Great
men, but there were few more outstanding examples of the achievements of personality on
events in their lifetime. Such men was Shaka the Zulu.
34
Shaka was the son of the Zulu chief named Senzanqakona. Shaka was born in 1787. Shaka was
in fact born out of wedlock and with this social stigma, other boys of his age mocked and bullied
at Shaka.
According to Anene and Brown “His mother’s bad temper led to her being driven away from her
husband’s household and taking refuge with her people. Shaka went with her and spent an
unhappy childhood.” Omer-Copper supported this claim when he too said “when Shaka was
born….he was an unwanted, unrecognized child…”
Shaka served under Dingiswayo’s army. Dinsigwayo made Shaka the leader of one of his
regiments. The experience which Shaka gained under Dingiswayo enabled him to improve
considerably on the latter’s military tactics, following the death of his father, Shaka was able to
use the influence of Dingiswayo to fight Sigujana, his half-brother and hair to the throne as
Shaka had no claim to the royal throne.
In Text Question
Shaka was the son of the Zulu chief calledDingiswayo’s.True/False
In Text Answer
False(Senzanqakona)
4.1.1 Shaka usurps the Zulu Chiefdom

On the death of Shaka's father (1816), Dingiswayo lent his young protégé the military support
necessary to oust and assassinate his senior brother Sigujana, and make himself chieftain of the
Zulu, although he remained a vassal of Dingiswayo.
But, as a Dingiswayo's favourite, he seems to have been granted an unusual amount of freedom
to carve out a bigger principality for himself by conquering and assimilating his neighbours,
including the Buthelezi clan and the Langeni of his boyhood days.
4.1.2 Dingiswayo's Death

According to the diary of Henry Francis Fynn, Dingiswayo's death (c.1818) was the result of
Shaka's treachery, though firm testimony of this is lacking. However, it is known that when
35
Dingiswayo fought his last battle, Shaka did not arrive at the scene until after his overlord's
capture. He thus retained his forces intact.
Zwide later murdered Dingiswayo, and, when the leaderless Mthethwa state collapsed, Shaka
immediately assumed leadership and began conquering surrounding chiefdoms himself, adding
their forces to his own and building up a new kingdom.
4.1.3 The defeat of the Ndwandwe

Zwide decided to smash his new rival. After a first expedition had been defeated by the superior
control and strategies of the Zulu at Gqokoli Hill, Zwide, in April 1818, sent all his army into
Zululand. This time Shaka wore out the invaders by pretending he was retreating and drawing
Zwide's forces deep into his own territory; then, when he had successfully exhausted the
invaders, he flung his own regiments on them and defeated them conclusively at the Mhlathuze
river.
This defeat shattered the Ndwandwe state. Part of the main Ndwandwe force under
Shoshangane, together with the Jere under Zwangendaba, the Maseko under Ngwane, and the
Msene led by Nxaba, fled northwards. The survivors of the main Ndwandwe force settled for a
time on the upper Pongola River.
In 1826, under a Zwide's successor, Sikhunyane, they again fought the Zulu, but were totally
routed. The majority then submitted to Shaka. He was able to recruit additional warriors from
these sources and proceeded to train them in his own methods of close combat.
4.1.4 Shaka's Supremacy

By then, Shaka had no major rival in the area of present day KwaZulu/Natal. During his brief
reign, which lasted only ten years after his final defeat of the Ndwandwe, his regiments
continuously went on campaign, steadily extending their assaults further afield as the areas near
at hand were stripped of their cattle.
If a chiefdom resisted, it was conquered and either destroyed or, like the Thembu and Chunu,
driven off as landless refugees. When chiefdom submitted, he left the local administration in the
36
hands of the reigning chief or another member of the traditional ruling family appointed by
himself.
Figure 4.2: Shaka Supremacy

Source
4.2 His military Tactics

With the death of Dingiswayo, Shaka was able to nurse his growing political ambition into full
maturity. He embarked on military reforms. Shaka’s use of the stabling rather than throwing
spear, the “head and horns” battle formation, and above all the Buddhaages-grade regiment made
Shaka to defeat other Nguni-speakers such as the Ndebele.
It is now accepted that these practices developed earlier among other northern Nguni groups- the
butho date from the mid-18th century and that these fixed battle formations were often
distractions when used against horsemen with firearms.
Once in power Shaka began reorganizing the forces of his people in accordance with the ideas he
had developed as a warrior in Dingiswayo's army the Assegai. He had seen that the traditional
type of spear, a long-handled assegai thrown from a distance, was no good for the regulated
fighting in close formation he had in mind.
A group of warriors who held on to their assegais instead of hurling them, and who moved right
up to the enemy behind the shelter of a barrier of the shields would have its opponents at its
mercy and would be able to accomplish complete victory.
37
Having proved the advantages of the new tactics, Shaka armed his warriors with short-handled
stabbing spears and trained them to move up to their opponents in close formation with their
body-length cowhide shields forming an almost impenetrable barrier to anything thrown at them.
In Text Question
Shaka usually uses the traditional type of _____ thrown from a distance
(a) Arrow
(b) Gun
(c) Spear, a long-handled assegai
(d) Axe
In Text Answer
The answer is (c) Spear, a long-handled assegai
The formation most generally used to be crescent-shaped. A number of regiments extending

several ranks deep formed a dense body known as the chest (isifuba), while on each side a
regiment moved forward to form the horns. As the horns curved inward around the enemy, the
main body would advance killing all those who could not break through the encompassing lines.
Discipline. By means of much drilling and discipline, Shaka built up his forces, which soon
became the terror of the land. Shaka prohibited the wearing of sandals, toughened his warriors'
feet by making them run barefoot over rough thorny ground and in so doing secured their greater
mobility.
His war cry was victory or death!' and he kept his empire on continuous military campaigns until
he thought they had earned the right to wear the hearing (isicoco) of manhood. Then they were
formally dissolved and allowed to marry.
The male amabutho. The young men were taken away to be enrolled alongside others from all
sections of the kingdom in an appropriate amabutho, or age-regiment. This produced a sense of
common identity amongst them. Each of these amabutho had its own name and was lodged at
one of the royal households, which became military communities as well as retaining their
traditional functions.
38
Each military settlement had a herd of royal cattle assigned to it, from which the young men
were supplied with meat. The hides of the cattle were used to provide the shields of the warriors
and an attempt was made to select cattle with distinctive skin coloring for each amabutho.
Figure 4.3: Zulu War

Source
The female amabutho. Numbers of the young women of the kingdom were assembled at the
military settlements. Officially, they were wards of the king. They were organized in female
equivalents of the male amabutho and took part in ceremonial dancing and displays.
When one of the male amabutho was given permission to marry, a female amabutho would be
broken up and the women given out as brides to the warriors. Until such time, however, sexual
intercourse between members of the male and female age regiments was forbidden.
Transgressions were punished by death.
The royal women. Each settlement contained a section of royal women headed by a formidable
woman, usually one of Shaka's aunts. Shaka, however, dreaded producing a legitimate heir. He
never married and women found pregnant by him were put to death.
His households were thus not dominated by wives but by stern senior women of the royal family.
In the king's absence, administrative authority was wielded jointly by the female ruler of the
settlement and by an Indiana who was usually a favorite of the king. The military system, thus
helped develop a strong sense of identity in the kingdom as a whole.
39
In Text Question
Sexual intercourse between members of the male and female age regiments was forbidden.
True/False
In Text Answer
True
The traditional leaders of the subject chiefdoms still held local administrative authority, and on
the dissolution of the amabutho the young men would return to live in their community of origin.
Thus, the sense of identity of these subject chiefdoms was not entirely lost, but remained an
important element in the later politics of the Zulu kingdom.
The military Indians or captains, as a trusted favorite of the king, received many cattle from him
and were able to build up large personal followings. These developments resulted in the
evolution of powerful figures in later reigns with strong local power bases that they had been
able to build up because of royal appointments and favors.
KwaBulawayo. Shaka's first capital was on the banks of the Mhodi, a small tributary of the
Mkhumbane River in the Babanango district. He named his great place KwaBulawayo (`at the
place of the murder'). As his kingdom grew, he built a far bigger KwaBulawayo, a royal
household of about 1,400 huts, in the Mhlathuze valley, some 27 km from the present town of
Eshowe.
Figure 4.4: Traditional in Zulu Kingdom

Source
40
Economic and social changes. The development of the military system caused major economic
and social changes. That so much youth was concentrated at the royal barracks resulted in a
massive transfer of economic potential to a centralized state.
However, the cattle wealth of the whole community throughout the kingdom was greatly
improved; even though most of the herdwas owned by the king and his chiefs and Indians, all
shared in the pride roused by the magnificence of the royal herds as well as the pride of
belonging to the unequaled military power of the Zulu.
Effects of Shaka's wars. His wars were accompanied by great slaughter and caused many
migrations. Their effects were felt even far north of the Zambezi River. Because they feared
Shaka, leaders like Zwangendaba, Mzilikazi, and Shoshangane moved northwards far into the
central African interior and in their turn sowed war and destruction before developing their own
kingdoms.
Some estimate that during his reign Shaka caused the death of more than a million people.
Shaka's wars between 1818 and 1828 contributed to a series of forced migrations known in
various parts of southern Africa as the Mfecane, Difaqane, Lifaqane, or Fetcani.
Groups of refugees from Shaka's assaults, first Hlubi and Ngwane clans, later followed by the
Mantatees and the Matabele of Mzilikazi, crossed the Drakensberg to the west, smashing
chiefdoms in their path.
Famine and chaos followed the wholesale extermination of populations and the destruction of
herds and crops between the Limpopo and the Gariep River. Old chiefdoms vanished and new
ones were created.
41
Figure 4.5:Gariep River
Source
4.3 His Achievements
Shaka won series of battles in Dingiswayo’s army, and succeeded his father as ruler of the Zulu-
than a small group. He did not permit the birth of offspring, reflecting a strong interest in
unpleasant death. His forces defeated the Ndwandwe, some of whom fled to Mozambique;
others, after a further unsuccessful struggle became incorporated in the new Zulu state.
This transformed the ethno-linguistic groupings and political history not only in Africa South of
the Limpopo, but in modern Zambia, Zimbabwe, Malawi and Tanzania.Shaka placed power in
his own hands, appointing Indiana officials, who were commoners and answerable to himself
alone. The traditional initiation ceremonies were given up, instead young men spent a period of
years in age, grade regiments, devoting themselves not only to wars but also to take care of the
royal herds.
During Shaka’s era, the burden of daily work in the homesteads fell heavily on women. The
butho (army) lived near one of a number of royal households, headed by royal women (not
Shaka’s wives, for he shunned marriage). This made the male warriors to marginalize women.
Men could not marry till they left the butho (army), and girls often resented their marriage to
older men and sometimes run away with somebody in order to marry them secretly.
Shaka instituted the traditional assembly of the people which gave the people the opportunity to
criticize any king or ensure any king was turned into a rubber stamp to confirm Shaka’s orders. It
was the failure of Shaka to continue to hold consultations with his army commanders or indunas
that finally led to his doom, because his power, in all ramifications was solely based on the army.
42
In study session 4, you have learnt the following:
1. The life history of Shaka the Zulu.
2. Shaka’s major military tactics that made him to win other Nguni speaking people of
Bantu.
3. Shaka’s achievements in the military area that made the various Bantu speaking people to
migrate to other areas like Zimbabwe, Malawi, and Zambia etc. This transformed the
ethno-linguistic and political history of Southern Africa.

Learning outcomes by answering the following questions. You can check your answers with the
Notes on the Self-Assessment questions at the end of this Module.
Highlight briefly on shaka Zulu
Explain the military tactics used by Shaka Zulu
Discuss on his achievement
References
J.C. Anene and Godfrey Brown, Africa in the 19th and 20th centuries.
J.D. Omer-Copper, the Zulu Aftermath. A nineteenth century Revolution in Bantu Africa.
Elizabeth Isichei (1998), A history of African societies to 1870, Cambridge University Press.
Howcroft, P. (undated). South Africa Encyclopaedia: Prehistory to the year 2000, unpublished
papers with SA History Online.
Who is Shaka Zulu? A short biography on a man with incredible vision Shaka, Zulu King
[online] Page wise [accessed 17 September 2009]
Anglo-Zulu War 1879. [Online] About.com [accessed 17 September 2009]
43
Further Reading:
1. Anglo-Zulu Wars 1879-1896
2. Kingdoms and Trade in Southern Africa: The Zulu Kingdom
3. Last updated : 28-Jan-2016
44
Study Session 5: White Power inthe Cape Colony
Introduction
British conquest and rule of Southern Africa was confirmed by the European peace settlement of
1815. Until 1870, British interest in southern Africa was primarily strategic. The European
settlement was proportion which chose the CapeColony as their new home.
While the population was increasing, the majority were the embryonic Afrikaners, descendants
of the settlers who had left Europe in the Dutch period. In varying degrees they were conscious
of forming a separate community under alien rule, like the French in Canada.
The British settlers, a cross section of early industrial British society, regarded themselves as
forming an overseas extension of that society. That ethnic division, sustained by linguistic and
cultural differences, persisted into the 20th century as a cleavage among white South Africans. In
this study, you will learn about the white power in the cape colony and the white settlement in
Southern Africa.

5.1 Highlight on white power in the Cape Colony
5.2 Discuss the white settlement in Southern Africa.
5.1 White Power in the Cape colony

While the Mfecane was taking place in east, White power was increased in the southwestern part
of Southern Africa. The British conquered it in 1795, returned it to the Dutch in 1803, and re-
conquered it in 1806, and British rule was confirmed by the European peace settlement of 1815.
45
Until 1870, British interest in southern Africa was primarily strategic. The British used the
harbours of the cape peninsula as bases for controlling the sea route between Europe and Asia.
The interest increased when wood became the main export and sheep farming the most profitable
enterprise. By 1870, Chambers of Commerce, banks and insurance companies had laid some of
the foundations of a modern economy in Southern Africa.
Figure 5.1: Cape Peninsula

Source
Few settlers from Britain chose the cape colony as their new home. The largest of such group
consisted of about 5000 men, women and children who settled in the eastern part of the colony in
1820 with assistance from the British government, which intended them to practice intensive
agriculture and form a compact barrier against the Southern Nguni Chiefdoms.
By 1865, the white population numbered only about 180,000, the majority the small Afrikaners,
(Boers) descendants of the settlers who had left Europe in the Dutch period.
Despite great regional and class differences among them, nearly all of them derived their means
of living from the land and spoke same variant of Afrikaans, which was emerging from the
interaction among the diverse inhabitants of the colony and included elements derived from the
languages of the Asian slaves and the Khoikhoi as well as a core vocabulary and syntax from
Dutch.
In Text Question
Few settlers from Britain chose the cape colony as their new home. True/False
In Text Answer
True
46
In a number of ways, they were conscious of forming a separate community under alien rule, like
the French in Canada. The British settlers regarded themselves as forming an overseas extension
of that society. That ethnic division, sustained by linguistic and cultural differences, continued in
the 20th century as a major difference between White South Africans.
After a cautious start, during the 1820s, the British regime imposed a series of reforms which
weakened the power of the Boers oligarchy. They appointed British magistrates to replace the
Dutch district courts, which had been controlled by the Boers. They also abolished many of the
Dutch concessions and monopolies and registered private property in land.
The British regime also gradually came to control the racial problem. Initially, it supported the
dominance of the white population, but gradually introduced the 50th ordinance of 1828 which
abolished all racially discriminatory registration and placed all the inhabitants of the colony in
the same legal footing.
Figure 5.2: The Boer 1899

Source
The abolition of slave trade in 1807 and slavery in 1833 by the British led to Emancipation.
When apprenticeship ended in 1833, the Cape slaves have stepped into the legal status already
acquired by “Hottentots and other free persons of color.
Nevertheless, freedom does not necessarily lead to economic or social equality. In the Cape
colony, he Boers retained effective control over economic resources, including most of the land,
and the “colored people” descended in varying degrees from Khoikhoi, Slaves and Whites
became a rural and urban proletariat dependent on working for wages in cash or in kind.
47
By 1851, the Boers had destroyed the Kat River settlement and dispersed its inhabitants. And
soon afterwards they brought their economic dominance by gaining control of the political
system.
In Text Question
Apprenticeship ended in ______
(a) 1876
(b) 1856
(c) 1833
(d) 1854
In Text Answer
The answer is (c) 1833
5.2 White Settlement in South Africa

White settlement of South Africa began in 1652, when the Dutch East India Company
established a station in Cape Town and soon introduced European settlers and black slaves. By
the time Britain annexed the Cape Colony in 1814, white farmers had occupied much of the
present-day Western and Eastern Cape. During the 19th century white settlement spread
unevenly over much of present-day South Africa and beyond.
The 17th- and 18th-century settlers were mainly of Dutch and German origin, ancestors of the
Afrikaners. In 1798 the white population was about 20,000, increasing to 43,000 by 1820. Some
5,000 British settlers were established in the Eastern Cape in 1820, and from the 1840s Natal
attracted English immigrants.
The discovery of diamonds in 1868 and gold shortly thereafter led to further white immigration,
including miners from Australia and the United States and Jews from Eastern Europe. In 1911
the white population of South Africa was 1,250,000 (to nearly 5 million blacks).
48
Figure 5.3: Dutch East India Company
Source
In 1899-1902 Britain defeated the South African Republic (Transvaal) and the Orange Free State
in the South African (or Boer) War, paving the way for the unification of South Africa in 1910
with a constitution excluding the black majority from the vote (except in the Cape Colony, where
there was a limited nonracial franchise, removed in the 1930s from blacks and in the 1950s from
the mixed-race Coloreds).
In the 1930s, drawing on a legacy of enmity toward British imperialism, English-speaking

capitalists, and African tribes and seeking to uplift impoverished whites, an exclusivist populist
nationalism took shape among the Afrikaner majority of whites. Organized as the National Party
(NP), it defeated the mildly reformist United Party government of Jan Smuts in 1948 and ruled
South Africa until 1994.
The NP implemented the notorious system of racial apartheid, a rigid form of social engineering
and repression of blacks that intensified the gap between white prosperity and black poverty. For
this policy the NP gained increasing, though never unanimous, support among whites. Apartheid
was fiercely resisted in the 1950s by the African National Congress (ANC), banned in 1960, and
its allies.
In Text Question
In 1879-1903 Britain defeated the South African Republic (Transvaal) and the Orange Free State
in the South African (or Boer) War, paving the way for the unification of South Africa in
1910.True/False
49
In Text Answer
False (1899-1902)
Apartheid reached its peak in the early 1970s, but then began to erode under its internal
contradictions and challenges from below: the rise of a trade-union movement of black workers
and the violent discontent of black youth.
In February 1990 Pres. F.W. De Klerk lifted the bans on the ANC and other organizations and
released from jail ANC leader Nelson Mandela. The negotiations that followed established a
constitution that for the first time in the country’s history removed power from the white
minority (now 5 million in a population of nearly 42 million) and gave a vote to all the people.
The new freedoms and opportunities were welcomed by nearly all South Africans--black and
white alike.
Summary for Study Session
In study session 5, you have learnt the following:

1. How the British and the Boers used their economic and social interests to establish a
white dominance in southern Africa. The Boers had the upper hand, having been able to
suppress some of the British policies against them.
2. The destruction of the Kat Rivers settlement and the driving away of its inhabitants
brought in the economic and social dominance of the Boers against the coloured people
of southern Africa.

Enumerateon white power in the Cape Colony
Explain the white settlement in Southern Africa
50
References
Philip Curtin, Stevan Feirerman, Leonard Thompson & Jan Vansina (1995), African History
from Earliest Times to Independence; Edinburgh Gate, England. Longman pp 273-276
Elizabeth Isichei (1998), A History of African Societies to 1870, Cambridge University Press,
England, pp 409-412
51
Study Session 6: The Xhosa Wars
Introduction
The Cape colony was faced with the Bantu –speaking African farming communities- the Xhosa
chiefdom beyond Algoa Bay, some four hundred miles east of Cape Town. The result was a
long, drawn-out struggle, that culminated in the conquest of the Xhosa and this determined the
fate of African farmers throughout the whole Southern African region. In this study you will
learn about Xhosa wars and its effects
Source
Learning Outcomes for Study Session 6

At the end of this study Session, you should be able to:
6.1 Discuss The Xhosa Wars
6.2 Discuss the effects of the Xhosa wars.
52
6.1 The Xhosa wars
Until 1811, Bantu speaking Africans and the CapeColonists were evenly matched in a frontier
zone on either side of the fish River, where the two societies began to overlap during the 18th
century.
The Xhosa chiefdom dominated the Boers in the eastern districts of the cape colony, and they
drove the colonists out of the area for the second time in 1802. But the colonists had more horses
and guns than the Xhosa, and they regained lost ground with the assistance of Dutch troops
during the short-lived regime of the Batavian Republic.
Power was given to the whites in 1811-12, when British troops drove the Africans out of the area
west of the Fish River and then built forts alongside the river. In 1820, the whites increased in
number with the settlement of 5000 British immigrants in the conquered territory.
Figure 6.1: The Tribe of Xhosa

Source
That was the beginning of the conquest of the Nguni Bantu- a process that resulted in wars, the
advances of the colonial boundary and forced removal of Africans from the land they had
occupied. Most of the war started with a Xhosa invasion of the colony aimed at regaining lost
territory. Most of these wars ended with a retaliatory attack staged by British troops.
Whites and colored colonial joined, and capturing large herds of cattle. The colonial forces won
each of these wars because of the resources they received from Britain, whereas the Xhosa had
no such backing and were always setback by their own disunity. Moreover, no clear leader to
unify the Bantu against the whites.
53
The endemic rivalries among chiefdoms and among opposing segments of chiefdoms were
increased in 1835. When the colonial government made allies of 17000 Mfengu Bantu who had
arrived in the area as refugees from the Zulu, the Cape government settled them on the land
conquered from the Xhosa.
In Text Question
The majority the war started with a Xhosa invasion of the colony aimed at regaining lost
territory. True/False
In Text Answer
True
Many of the British soldiers and settlers assumed that the Xhosa were not fully human and dealt
with them brutally. Nevertheless, the Xhosa put up a prolonged and often heroic resistance,
fighting desperately in 1819, 1834-5, 1846, 1850-3, and 1877-8 by which time they were
conquered people.
6.2 Effects of the Xhosa wars

As the conquest continued, the boundary of the British territory shifted further and further
eastward and incorporated more and more Xhosa territory.
Between the Fish and Kei, the colonial government divided up most of the conquered land into
farms for white settlers, leaving reserves that would form the “Ciskei” homeland under apartheid
in the 2nd half of the 20th century.
The Xhosa was exposed to three types of foreigners; officials, traders and missionaries.
Magistrates were appointed to district headquarters in the conquered territories. Traders, selling
commodities such as sugar, tea and iron pots that African rapidly came to regard as necessities,
created a chain of shops throughout the territories.
54
Figure 6.2: Ancient Eastern Districts of the Cape
Source
Missionaries of several denominations- Congregational, Methodist and Presbyterian-created

another chain of stations in which they taught Christian theology and British cultural values and
denounced local customs such as initiation, polygamy, and the transfer of cattle on marriage that
were fundamental to African social society.
The results for Africans were uneven. Many Africans received privileged status from the colonial
authorities, adapted most eagerly to the new order. But most Xhosa continued to resist this new
order.
As people reacted in different ways to their changing conditions, new cleavages applied up in
Nguni society. Rivalries among chiefdoms and ethnic groups increased by the differential
treatment they received from their conquerors. Notably the division between the Mfengu and the
rest Bantu. There were also differences among those who accepted the conquerors goods and
those who attempted to reject alien gods.
In Text Question
Many Africans received privileged status from the colonial authorities, adapted most eagerly to
the new order.True/False
In Text Answer
True
55
Few Africans who lived in the cape colony when the colonial reforms were enacted in the 1820s
and 1830s were not fully incorporated into the franchise of the cape parliament in 1853. Steps
were taken to ensure that few Africans became registered as voters.
By 1872, when the Cape colony received responsible government, the primary division in
colonial society was a correlation of racial and class criteria. The white colonists controlled the
economy and the politics and most of them- British settlers as well as Afrikaners were steeped in
a racist ideology. They depended on the labour of the Africans and colored inhabitants, but they
would not accept them as equals, however” civilized” they might be.

1. The Xhosa was driven out of their native land by the colonists when the population of the
colonists increased. This eventually led to series of resistance and wars from 1811 and
lasted to 1878 at intervals.
2. At the end, the Africans were defeated due to the superior weapons of the colonists which
had negative effects on Africa that resulted to racial and class society in southern Africa.
The whites controlled the economy and politics while Africans and the colored
inhabitants were not accepted as equals however civilized they might be.

Discuss the Xhosa wars.
What do you considered to be the causes and effects of the Xhosa wars in Southern Africa?
56
References
Philip Curtin, Stevan Feirerman, Leonard Thompson & Jan Vansina (1995), African History
from Earliest Times to Independence; Edinburgh Gate, England. Longman pp.276-280
Elizabeth Isichei, 1998, A History of African Societies to 1870. Cambridge pp 424-425
57
Study Session 7: The great Trek
Introduction
Having examined the Mfecane and the Xhosa wars in the last study, you will learn about the
Great Trek. The Great Trek is the mass migration of Afrikaners from the Cape colony to the
interior of Southern Africa due to the “oppressive” rule of the British colonist against them at the
Cape. In this study you will also learn about the causes of this movement and the effects on the
history of racial discrimination and apartheid in South Africa.
Source

At the end of this study you should be able to:
7.1 Explain the great trek
7.2 Identify the causes of the great trek
7.3 Discuss the effects of the great trek on the history of racial discrimination and apartheid
in South Africa.
58
7.1 The Great Trek
The Great Trek refers to the mass migration of the Boers (Afrikaners) from the Cape of South
Africa into the interior. Between 1834 and 1841, numerous Afrikaner men, women and children
trekked north eastward out of the cape. The pioneers were known as voortrekkers. They traveled
with their servants and their ox wagons, cattle, sheep and other movable property, determined to
establish new homes for themselves beyond the limits of British control either in Natal or the
Vaal River.
Figure 7.1: The great Trek

Source
The Great Trek was a movement of Boers up into the inland of southern Africa in quest of a land
where they could institute their own homeland, free from British rule. The movement was
however not peaceful has it was filled with great disturbances which lasted for at least half a
century.
The migrating Boers are called Voortrekkers (Afrikaans: “Early Migrants”). Theyleft their
communities with their kinfolks and neighbors with some prominent leaders leading them.
Together they all crossed the Orange River, afterwards they parted ways to chooses different
places of settlement.
In areas they chose, they were able to overthrow great African military kingdoms with the
proficient use of horses, guns, and defensive laagers. Though they couldn’t maintain this for a
long time. The Voortrekkers were later conquered by the British in 1843. In 1852 and 1854 the
59
British established independence to the trekkers in the Transvaal and Transorangia regions,
respectively.
In-Text Question
The migrating Boers are called Voortrekkers. True or False
In-Text Answer
True
7.2 Causes of the Great Trek

Most of the voortrekkers migrated out of deep dissatisfaction with conditions in the colony. Cape
colony fell into the hands of the British from 1806. The abolition of the slave trade in 1807-
though not slavery created labour shortage which the Khoikhoi were too few in number to fill.
From 1808 – 1828, farmers were not allowed to employ “Free” black labour.
Figure 7.2:voortrekker
Source:
They were short of labour since the 50th ordinance of 1828 had deprived them of legal authority
over Khoikhoi, many of whom had left the farms for the mission stations and the towns, while
others had become self-sufficient land holders in the Kat River settlement.
60
There was land-hunger as the Boers could no longer obtain possession of large landholdings
under the customary loan farm arrangement. The British administration had introduced a more
costly land tenure system, moreover, by 1830s there was no fresh land available for Afrikaners
within the colonial boundaries and the Xhosa chiefdoms blocked their expansion eastward.
Therefore, it was not easy for the new generation to acquire what they considered to be their
birthright –several thousand acres of land per family. The emancipation of slaves made masses
of Xhosa invaded the colony to start another frontier war; those events enhanced the scale of the
emigration of the Boers.
Figure 7.3: Xhosa tribe

Source:
The marginalization of the Afrikaners culture and language were bitterly rejected by the Boers
from the missionaries. One of the leaders Piety Relief published a manifest before his departure,
in which he complained of roaming about of the Khoikhoi, the abolition of slavery, conflict with
the Xhosa and the cheatings which has been placed upon them by interested and dishonest
persons, under the cover of religion.
The abolition of slavery caused serious financial loss to slave owners, since compensation was
inadequate and largely taken off by the British representatives handling claims in London. Boer’s
expansion was blocked by increasing desert to the north-west, and by the Xhosa to the northeast.
Most of the voortrekkers came from the Eastern Cape, where land shortage was most serious or
inadequate.
61
In short, the Boers emigrated because they wished to continue the freedom, expansive,
patriarchal way of life of their parents and grandparents, independent of a government that
seemed to have become hostile to them.
During 1834 and 1835, small parties of Afrikaners or Boers made expeditions to Natal and the
high Yield. They returned to report that both regions had spacious lands that were only thinly
populated. This was as a result of the raids from Zulu and Ndebele Kingdoms during the
Mfecane.
By 1838, however, majority of the Boers had decided to settle in Natal because its coastline
provided an opportunity for trade with continental Europe and the United State, in preference to
the landlocked high Veld, where they could only replace their supplies of arms and ammunition.
By the late 1840s, white settlements were scattered across the high Veld, from near the Orange
River in the southwest to the foothills of the SoutpansbergMountains near the Limpopo River in
the north.
In-Text Question
The Boers emigrated because they wished to continue the freedom, expansive, patriarchal way of
life of their parents and grandparents, independent of a government that seemed to have become
hostile to them. True or False
In-Text Answer
True
7.3 Effects of the Great Trek

One of the notable results of the Great Trek was the establishment in the interior of South Africa
of the Boer Republics of Transvaal and the Orange River Sovereignty (which was later known as
Orange Free State). In these two Boer Republics, the principle of inequality between the black
and the white, either in church or state was rigidly followed.
62
Figure 7.4: Orange Free State
Source
Some other effects of great trek include the following:
1. The Great Trek enabled the Boers to lay claim to a wide area of land. The Mfecane had
led to evacuation of Africans and provided very wide areas of land vacant in the interior.
2. The Great Trek led to deprivation of land belonging to the Africans. The Boers having
trekked into the interior occupied the wide areas of land left by the Africans.
3. The Great Trek produced armed confrontation between the Africans and the Boers in the
interior. The penetration of the Boers into the interior resulted in frequent conflict with
the Africans, most especially in the eastern coast where the Boers had settled.
In-Text Question
The Great Trek disallowed the Boers to lay claim to a wide area of land. True or False
In-Text Answer
False
4. The Great Trek equally brought many Africans under European control. It is in
consequence of this that the British government at the Cape declared protectorates over
African communities such as Basutoland, Swaziland and Bechuanaland.
63
5. The Great Trek created a gap and an enmity between the Boers and British in South
Africa. The Boers were suspicious of every British move in the administration of South
Africa. The Boers were not happy about British interest in Africans as shown in the
various ordinances which gave equality to both blacks and whites in South Africa.
6. The Great Trek was a source of concern for the British government at the Cape. The
Great Trek left Britain in Problems and also led Britain to become more involved in the
administration of areas beyond the Cape colony. It also led to conflicts and wars between
Britain and the Boers. Britain felt concerned especially when the Afrikaners or Boers got
hold of Natal.
7. Finally, the Great Trek apart from dividing European population of South Africa, equally
divided south Africa politically into British colonies Boer Republics and African tribal
lands. The resultant effects of this division which bred ill-feelings and discontent became
noticeable during the unification of South Africa, which was only made possible after
protracted difficulties.
Figure 7.5: South Africans

Source
64
In this study, you have learnt the following:
1. The Great Trek was invented by later Afrikaner or Boer nationalists. It started with the
small migration of about 5000 Boers in the 1830s and 1840s, following leaders who were
often bitterly divided.
2. The causes of the Great Trek is deeply rooted in the abolition of the slave Trade, the
shortage of labour which the KhoiKhoi were too few to fill, the suppression of Afrikaner
language and culture, the financial loss of the slave owners due to the suppression and
abolition of slavery and the shortage of land at the cape for the Boer. The Mfecane which
made land vacant at the cape was also a primary factor for the Great Trek.
3. The Great Trek led to the establishment of the Boer Republics with constitutions granting
no equality between the whites and the blacks. It also enabled the Boers to possess large
areas of land left behind by Africans as a result of the Mfecane. It also led Britain to be
more involved in the administration of South Africa as she annexed the two Boer
republics (Transvaal and Orange Free State) for strategic and national interests.
4. The Great Trek also led to open confrontations and armed conflicts between the Boers
and Africans on one hand and the Boers and the British on the other hand. It deprived
Africans of their customary lands and brought millions of Africans in South Africa under
European rule.

Explain the great trek
What do you consider to be the causes of the Great Trek of the Afrikaner?
65
Discuss the major consequences of the Great Trek on South African history.
References
Elizabeth Isichei pp 426 – 427
Philip Curtin and et al pp 280-284
Leo Margnard, The Story of South Africa
66
Study Session 8: The Afrikaner Republics
Introduction
The Great Trek according to the previous study was the movement of the Afrikaner-voortrekkers
from the Cape Colony to the interior of southern Africa where the Mfecane had already
displaced the blacks from their original home.
This Great Trek had great consequences on the history of southern Africa. One of the effects was
the establishment of the Afrikaner Republic of Natal and Transvaal. They also laid claims to
large areas of land; this of course produced armed confrontations between the whites and the
blacks.
The effect of those confrontation was that blacks were marginalized which created gap between
Blacks and Whites. Finally, the Great Trek apart from dividing the population of South Africa,
equally divided South Africa politically into British colonies, BoerRepublic and African Tribal
lands.
This study will examine the two Afrikaner Republics of the Orange Free State and the Transvaal
which eventually laid the foundation of apartheid in South Africa.
Learning outcomes for Study Session 8

At the end of this study, you should be able to:
8.1 Identify two Afrikaner Republics established by the voortrekkers
8.2 Discuss the features of these two Republics.
8.3 Explain its effects on blacks in South Africa
67
8.1 Afrikaner Republics
For a while, the British were sucked into the territory between the Orange and the Vaal. In 1843,
consistent with the policy they were then pursuing on the eastern frontier of the Cape
Colony,they made treaties with the East Griqun chief, Adam Kok, and the southern Sotho chief,
Moshoeshoe; and in 1848 an impetuous governor, Sir Harry Smith1 annexed the entire territory
between the Orange and the Vaal, including East Griqualand and Lesotho.
Figure 8.1: Adam Kok

Source
But he had overreached himself Smith’s annexation went against the grain of contemporary
British policy and although the government in London grudgingly accepted it as a fait accompli,
it refrained from providing sufficient funds for effective administration of the territory.
Moreover, the man Smith appointed as local administrator ineptly became involved in local
communal conflicts, eventually forming a military alliance with the Whites and the smaller
African communities against Moshoeshoe, who defeated him. The British government then sent
out corn— missioners to examine the situation on the spot.
In 1852, they signed a Convention at the Sand River with representatives of the Transvaal
Voortrekkers, recognizing their independence. Two years later, another British commissioner
made a similar agreement at the growing town of Bloemfontein with representatives of the White
population of the area that was to become the Orange Free State.
68
The Great Trek was a remarkable feat. Previously, white settlers had been confined to the
southwestern segment of southern Africa, where they had flourished at the expense of the
relatively weak and thinly spread Khoisan hunters and herders.
The voortrekkers broke through into the better-watered eastern half of the continent, taking
advantage of the fact that the African inhabitants had recently been scattered and disrupted by
the Mfecane stars. They were able to occupy vast areas.
Figure 8.2:Khoisan hunters and herders

Source
They defeated the Zulu and Ndebele kingdoms that had dominated the region and, although
Britain annexed Natal, they gained British recognition of their independence in the interior. More
than that: in the Conventions, the British permitted Whites to purchase arms and ammunition in
the colonies, prohibited such trade with ‘native tribes,” and revoked their treaty with
Moshoeshoe.
Figure 8.3: Ndebele tribe

Source
69
To later Afrikaners, the voortrekkers were heroic figures who had brought “White Christian
civilization” to darkest southeastern Africa. In the 1930s, the celebration of the centenary of the
Great Trek was exploited by politicians to intensify Afrikaner nationalism, and a massive
voortrekker monument was erected outside the city of Pretoria.
Figure 8.4:Voortrekker monument

Source
To Africans, on the other’ hand, the voortrekkers were ruthless conquerors who set the stage for
their systematic exploitation. There are ironies in both views Shaka, the symbol of African
power, was partly responsible for the disruption of the African peoples that paved the way for
voortrekker settlement. And, while the trek was taking place, most Afrikaners remained in the
Cape Colony and were skeptical of the voortrekkers’ achievements.
In-Text Question
Great Trek was exploited by politicians to intensify Afrikaner nationalism. True or False
In-Text Answer
True
8.2 Features of Afrikaner Republics

The White population of the territories the voortrekkets occupied in the interior grew slowly by
natural increase and immigration from the Cape Colony and Natal to number about 45,000
in1870 (at a time when the Cape Colony had nearly 200,000 white inhabitants). Most of them
were still semi-nomadic pastoral farmers; a few leaders owned many livestock and were patrons
of the least successful.
70
They claimed vast expanses of land without cultivating it, lived off their herds and flocks, and
produced little else for exchange. People of British and continental European origins sold them
colonial and imported goods obtained from merchants in the CapeColony. A few other White
foreigners were employed by the voortrekker governments as clergy, teachers, and officials.
Figure8.5: Map showing the cape colony, Orange Free State and the Transvaal
Source
The voortrekker communities remained fragmented. The extended family evoked more loyalty
than the regional group, the regional group more than any larger community. African chiefs as
well as British officials often manipulated these divisions, while Whites in turn exploited the
cleavages among Africans.
Two states gradually took shape in the interior: the Orange Free State between the Orange and
the Vaal, and the South African Republic (generally known as the Transvaal) Transvaal)
between the Vaal and the Limpopo.
External influences were somewhat stronger in the Orange Free State, which formed a cultural as
well as a geographical bridge between the British colonies and the Transvaal. Both republics
adopted constitutions that confined citizenship to White men; the Transvaal document bluntly
declared that “The people are not prepared to allow any equality of the non-White with the White
inhabitants, either in Church or State.’
71
The constitutions also provided for the election of presidents and unicameral legislatures.
Although there were a few salaried officials in each little capital town, Bloemfontein and
Pretoria, and one or more in each district headquarters, neither state had the means to create an
efficient bureaucracy, and local administration was mainly in the lands of unpaid, part time,
military officers, elected by the local citizens from among themselves.
In-Text Question
Name the two Republics set up by the Afrikaners in South Africa.
A. Natal and Orange Free State
B. Natal and Cape colony
C. Natal and Transvaal
D. Transvaal and Orange Free State
In-Text Answer
D. Transvaal and Orange Free State
After a shaky start (the first president was removed froth office by force), the Orange Free State
eventually achieved stability under President J.H. Brand (1864-1888). The Transvaal remained
chronically unstable; the White factions were not formally united until 1860, and even then they
fought among themselves occasionally for another four years.
Figure 8.6:PresidentJ.H. Brand

Source
72
8.3 The effects on blacks in South Africa
The voortrekkers never lived without the control of dark-skinned people as domestic servants
and herdsmen. Needing many more dependents than the servants they had brought with them
from the Cape Colony, they turned to the local African farming communities.
Commandos often made a point of capturing African children as well as cattle for distribution
when a campaign was over, as colonial commandos had formerly captured San children.
Voortrekkers also obtained African children by barter from adults who had no food.
Figure 8.7: Captured African children

Source
Captured and bartered African children were called apprentices and, as with Khoisan children
during the early years of British rule in the Cape Colon, they were meant to become free at the
age of twenty-five (twenty-one in the case of girls), but often did not do so.
In addition, many African adults as well as children simply stayed where they were as labor
tenants when Europeans assumed possession of their land. By methods such as these, the
voortrekkers secured an ample supply of African labor. Wherever they seined, in Natal and on
the Highveld, the voortrekkers soon found themselves confronted with a security problem.
Many northern Nguni who had lived south of the Tugela before the time of Shaka drifted back
to their home areas after the fall of Dingane; similarly, numerous Sotho-Tswana returned to their
home areas on the high veld after Mzilikaaa was driven northward across the Limpopo
73
The voortrekkers tried to deal with the influx by passing laws limiting the number of Africans to
four or five families on each farm; prohibiting Africans and coloured people from owning
firearms or horses, or being at large in White areas without a pass signed by a White employer;
and placing all “surplus” Africans in reserves under headmen who were made responsible for
their good behavior and for providing additional labor on demand.
The Republic of Natal began to formulate such a policy, but in attempting to cope with the
“surplus,” it set in motion the chain of events that led to British intervention. In the Transvaal,
too, the government lacked the means to enforce its laws systematically. The reserves were not
delimited and relations between Whites and Africans varied considerably from region to region
and over time.
Figure 8.8:Natal Republic

Source
Generally, Africans who lived in the reserves had security of life and limb and the opportunity to
produce their own food in return for the obligation to provide intermittent compulsory labor for
White farmers; but where the Whites were particularly capricious there was anarchy. This was
always the case in the northern Transvaal, where the White community lacked internal discipline
and the officials were themselves guilty of the most flagrant abuses.
Areas where Africans were effectively subjected to White control shaded off into areas where
they remained autonomous.
74
Initially, voortrekker leaders tried to acquire titles to land by negotiation with chiefs, and they
continued to make treaties when it seemed expedient; but after they defeated Mzilikani’s
Ndebele they saw themselves as big winners by conquering his entire Transvaal empire, which
they construed in the largest terms as embracing everything between the Vaal and the Limpopo
and between the Kalahari desert and the mountain escarpment.
They claimed to have liberated all the African inhabitants from Ndebele oppression and to be
justified in treating them as vassals.

In this study, you have learnt the following:
1. The Great Trek led to the establishment of the Afrikaner or Boer Republics of Orange
Free State and Transvaal in the interior of South Africa. It was in these two Republics
that the Boers produced constitutions that discriminated against the citizenship to
Whitemen. They made black people as domestic servants and herdsmen.
2. The security problems the Boers faced made them to confront blacks who attempted to
come back to their home areas. Areas where Africans were effectively subjected to by the
whites later became autonomous.
3. Commandos often made a point of capturing African children as well as cattle for
distribution when a campaign was over, as colonial commandos had formerly captured
San children. Voortrekkers also obtained African children by barter from adults who had
no food.

Identify two Afrikaner Republics established by the voortrekkers
Explain the basic features of the two Republic set up by the Boers. (Afrikaners).
75
What is the effect of the establishment of the Boer Republics of Transvaal and Orange Free State
on the Black people of South Africa.
References
Philip Curtin, Steven Feirerman, Leonard Thompson & Jan Vansina (1985), African History
from Earliest Times to Independence, Edinburgh Gate, England, pp 268-273.
76
Study Session 9: The Discovery of Minerals
Introduction
Southern Africans were not existing as a united country for a long time. They were existing as
different scattered communities in southern Africa. They engaged in trade among themselves
and other countries.
The discovery of minerals like diamond and gold has changed the landscape and the socio-
economical structure of the South African community. This study session will introduce you to
the state of South Africa before the discovery of minerals. You will also learn how minerals were
discovered and the effects on the South African state
Source
77
9.1 Discuss the state of South Africa before the discovery of minerals
9.2 Discuss the discovery of minerals in South Africa
9.3 Explain the effects of Minerals discovery
9.1 South Africa before the discovery of minerals

In the 19thcentury, South Africans main occupation was farming. They mainly farmed to take
care of their families. They also trade among themselves.
For most of the 19th Century almost all people in South Africa lived off the land. They farmed
for themselves and their families making nearly everything they needed. Societies that rely on
themselves in this way are known as subsistence societies.
Figure 9.1: Southern Africa in the 1800

Source
In early 100 AD Africans traded with Arabs who were travelling from Persian Gulf. There was
trade pathway between Southern African and Mozambique port. The people of South African
transacted ivory and gold in interchange for beads, ceramics and cloth.
South African have been trading with the Europeans right from the 15th century since their
arrival in South Africa. In the 19th century their trading increased. They traded also with British,
78
the Boers and the Portuguese. They bought guns, weapons,horses in exchange for their cattle.
They were poor but they consumed salt, sugar, tea, coffee, soap and candles, got from Britain
and other places
In-Text Question
The major occupation of Southern Africans before the discovery of minerals is medicine. True or
False
In-Text Question
False
9.2 Minerals discovery

South Africa, a country in the southernmost part of the Africa Continent is blessed with several
minerals such minerals include the following:
Diamond
Gold
Copper
Coal
Platinum
Figure 9.2: Some Minerals in South Africa
Diamond
Theses array of minerals were discovered in different times in the history of the country. Their
discovery has specific effects on the country .Diamonds was discovered in South Africa between
79
December 1866 and February 1867 when a 15-year-old Erasmus Jacobs found a crystal clear
rock on his father’s farm, on the south bank of the Orange River. By 1869, diamonds were found
far from any stream or river.
First in yellow earth and below in hard rock called blue ground, later called kimberlite, after the
mining town of Kimberley.
Figure9.3: Diamond
Source
In the mid nineteenth century, South Africa were divided into provinces which include Cape
colony and Natal, Orange Free State and Transvaal. They do not exist as a united country.
Mineral discovery started with the discovery of diamond in the town called Kimberly in 1867.
Kimberly is a town located 110km east of the confluence of the Vaal and Orange rivers.
The discovery of diamonds in Kimberly opened up the area for a wild rush where everyone is
rushing in to secure a fortune. As more diggers arrive, the mining diamonds became a battle of
the rich in capital as to dig you need large amount of workforce and machinery. This could only
be achieved by those who have access to credit.
80
In-Text Question
Diamonds was discovered in South Africa between December 1866 and February 1867. True or
False
In-Text Answer
True
Diamond became a major export of the cape colony accounting for large source of income
hereby developing the economy. By 1900 cape colony witnessed an influx of Europeans close to
400, 000 immigrants
Gold
Gold was discovered in 1852 in the Pardekraalfarm by J.H. Davis an English miner. He sold
£600 of gold to the Transvaal Treasury. Later gold was discovered in 1884 at Witwatersrand ore
fields by Jan GerritBantjes but was generally credited as a discovery by George Harrison in
1884. There was a gold rush, a similar pattern of the diamond rush.
Figure 9.4: Gold

Source
However after a while, diamond mining became monopolized. It became the sole duty of a
mining company called De Beers. The gold rand Orefield was also bought up by consolidated
Goldmines Inc. and other companies.
The early workforce in the mines were South African young men who normally come during
summer to earn wages. This didn’t go down well with the mining corporations after a while as
81
they requested for a permanent deal. They developed means of enticing these young men with
deals so as to make them work for a long period.
The rush for diamond and gold led to the urbanization and growth of the mining region.
Kimberley became developed. However it has some environmental disadvantages. Some of
which include the degradation of the soil, noise pollution and overpopulation.
Copper
The indigenous Nama miners were the users of the country’s copper. It was used to make spears,
weapons and ornaments that were usually traded in exchange of goods and services. They lived
in the neighbourhood of cape.
Figure 9.5: Copper

Source
In 1681, they visited Simon van der Stel in cape, a Dutch man who saw their samples of copper
goods and took some of them gave them to the directors of the Dutch East India Company in
Holland who told him to find the cause of the copper. Van der Stel sent eventually discovered
Copper Mountains of Namaqualand.
Coal
Coal was detected in the wake of discovery of gold where Witwatersrand in the nineteenth
century. The production of coal began in 1870 by giving out energy to the Kimberley
82
Figure 9.6: Coal
Source
Platinum
The first discovery of platinum in South Africa dates was in 1923 by Mr Adolf Erasmus in
central Transvaal. The follow up of geologist Hans Merensky’s follow-up work resulted in the
discovery of two deposits, each around 100 kilometres in length, which became known as the
Bushveld Igneous Complex.
Figure 9.7:Platinum
Source
83
9.3 Effects of Mineral discovery
Before the mineral discovery in South Africa, the following were the features of the country.
The country was technological backward

There was poor agricultural practice
There were no heavy industry
The country was experiencing financial challenge
There was little foreign investment
The country was not a unified state
The discovery of minerals in South Africa has huge impact in the socio-economic structure of
the country. It can be categorized into the following major ways.
Figure 9.8: Effects of Minerals discovery in South Africa.
1. Political Effects
a) The discovery of diamonds influenced the desire of the British to rule the hinterland parts
resulting inti the incorporation of diamonds fields of Kimberley.
b) There was a resultant effect of hostility between the British and the Boers
84
c) It birthed the apartheid policy that separate people into races
d) It created imbalance between the white and black
e) South Africa federation was formed as a result of this by the British in 1877
2. Social Effects
a) There was increase in the number of whites which led to downturn of the natives’ cultural
value
b) It bred social or racial segregation
c) There was population growth due to immigration
d) The immigration of people led to the spread of diseases and the nature of the mining
work also bring some illness or disease.
e) The quest for survival led to migration of people to seek employment in mineral mining
areas. This has led to separation of family
3. Economic Effects
a) The economy of the country got boosted in the wake of mineral revolution. The
agricultural sector also improved.
b) The mineral revolution boosted the transport system. There was rapid development.
c) It led to the expansion of community, towns and cities like Kimberley and
Johannesburg
d) There was increase in trade
e) There was increase in employment opportunities
f) It led to industrialization.
g) It led to labour migration
h) There was emergence of big mining companies
i) The agriculture sector became developed
j) It led to white people dominance
4. Environmental Effects
The mineral revolution has the following environmental effects:
a) Forest, landscape and were destroyed as a result of the mining.
b) Mineral mining brought deforestation.
85
c) There was increase release of waste from mines leading to environmental pollution
d) The quality of the land became reduced

In this study, you have learnt that:
1. In the 19th century, South Africans main occupations was farming. They mainly farmed
to take care of their families. They also trade among themselves.
2. South African have been trading with the Europeans right from the 15th century since
their arrival in South Africa. In the 19th century their trading increased. They traded also
with British, the Boers and the Portuguese.
3. Diamonds was discovered in South Africa between December 1866 and February 1867
when a 15-year-old Erasmus Jacobs found a crystal clear rock on his father’s farm, on the
south bank of the Orange River. By 1869, diamonds were found far from any stream or
river.
4. The discovery of minerals in South Africa has huge impact in the socio-economic
structure of the country.

Discuss the state of South Africa before the discovery of minerals
Explain the discovery of diamonds in South Africa
Outline the major effects of mineral discovery in Southern Africa
86
References
UK Essays. November 2013. Mining In South Africa History Essay. [online]. Available from:
https://www.ukessays.com/essays/history/mining-in-south-africa-history-essay.php?cref=1
[Accessed 28 November 2016].
Xaver M provost,’ESIAfrcia Issue 3’, South Africa Coal Industry’, pp1-3
C.W. de Kiewiet ‘A History of South Africa’, 1941
‘Barbara Johannesson’The final fall of the Pedi Kingdom, 1994
87
Study Session 10: The Jameson Raid
Introduction
Have you ever read about a coup or watch a movie about government overthrow. The Jameson’s
raid came on in similar manner. In a movie like manner, Jameson made a raid on the gold city of
Johannesburg in 1895 an attempt inspired by Cecil Rhodes, the cape prime minister at that time.
The invasion failed and they paid dearly for it. The question that may arise might be the reason
for the raid and why the raid failed. In this study, you will learn about the Jameson raid, the
reasons for the raid and the effects of the raid
Source

10.1 Discuss the Jameson raid
10.2 Identify the reasons for the Jameson raid
10.3 Explain the reasons for the failure of the Jameson raid
10.4 Outline the effects of the Jameson raid
88
10.1 The Jameson Raid
Jameson was a qualified medical doctor, well known to his friends as Dr Jim.The infamous
Jameson raid was called after the man who led the raid, Dr Leander Starr Jameson.Cecil Rhodes
was the chief architect of this raid. Jameson only led the raid. The raiders acted without the prior
notice of the British government. Though some senior British Officials in government knew
about these impending fiasco.
Figure 10.1:Dr Leander Starr Jameson

Source
The Jameson Raid was an unsuccessful attempt to overthrow President Paul Kruger of the
Transvaal Republic in December 1895.At the close of year 1895, about 500-strong volunteer
raiders, well mounted pass the Bechuanaland border into the Transvaal and travelled to
Johannesburg to offer backing for the dissatisfied British residents of the town, of whom they
anticipate their rebellion against the Transvaal Boers under President Paul Kruger.
Figure 10.1:President Paul Kruger

Source
89
The Colonial Secretary Joseph Chamberlain had the know –how at least to some extent of the
plot to overthrow President Paul Kruger. The fiasco considerably embittered Anglo-Boer
relations.
The Jameson Raiders were fooled as they were only reckless and stupid. The plan was that there
would be social uprising in the community and the British residents of Johannesburg would take
over the government once the attack takes place. But the uprising and the takeover did not
happened.
The raiders later discovered they were fighting against a very big obstacle .They were eventually
killed. The people who didn’t die had to surrender. The Jameson Raid triggered two massive
battles a few years later, the American Civil War and the Anglo-Boer War respectively.
Figure 10.3: The Jameson Raid

Source
Jameson and numerous suit lander leaders were given over to British authorities in the Cape and
ordered back to the UK for trial in London. At first, they were condemned for treason and
sentenced to death for their part in the plan, but the sentences were later reduced to heavy fines
and nominal prison time. Jameson served only four months of a 15 month sentence.
The international community became compassionate towards President Kruger after the incident.
Cecil Rhodes had to retire as prime minister of the Cape Colony, and never truly re-claimed his
reputation after the Jameson’s plot
90
Leander Starr Jameson came back to South Africa in 1900, and after the passing away of Cecil
Rhodes in 1902, he became the leader of the Progressive Party. He also became the prime
minister of the Cape Colony in 1904, retired from politics in 1914 and died in 1917
In-Text Question
Cecil Rhodes was the chief mastermind of the Jameson raid
In-Text Answer
True
10.2: Reasons for the Jameson Raid

The reasons for the Jameson Raid can be traced down to the disappointment of the British
immigrants of the Zuid Afrikaansche Republiek (ZAR) who were not taken in following their
influx after the discovery of the Witwatersrand goldfields in 1886.
The immigrants after settling down became uneasy and they started asking for full political
rights. Some of their grievances against Kruger include monopolies and nepotism. An attempt to
resolve these crisis failed. The immigrants known as uitlanders planned a violent revolution.
They got the financial support of Cecil John Rhodes, a multi-millionaire and prime minister of
the Cape Colony
Figure 10.4: Cecil Rhodes

Source
The Transvaal government was regarded to be extremely conventional over economic and
business strategy. The non-Afrikaner mining entrepreneurs in the area wanted a greater political
voice. There was a great level of misgivings or doubt between the Cape Colony government and
91
that of the Transvaal republic over Kruger's effort to exert control over Bechuanaland in breach
of agreement the 1884 London Convention.
In-Text Question
Some of their grievances against Kruger include the following except:
A. Monopolies
B. Nepotism
C. Poor economic policy
D. Lack of food
In-Text Answer
E. Lack of food
10.3 Why the raid failed

The Jameson raid led by Dr Leander Starr Jameson was ineffective due to several reasons. Here
are some of the reasons while the raid was ineffective.
1. There was shortage of men to carry out the raid. The number of men they anticipated for
were not available.
2. Their hope for creating uprising failed .Nobody was aroused for protest in Johannesburg
3. They lost men on their way to Johannesburg which made the raid difficult
4. They were not adequately equipped as their preparation was flawed
5. Jameson could got Cecil Rhodes message of postponing the raid before invasion.
In-Text Question
The Jameson raid was due to the following except
A. They lost men on their way to Johannesburg which made the raid difficult
B. They were not adequately equipped as their preparation was flawed
C. The economic situation of the country
D. Jameson could got Cecil Rhodes message of postponing the raid before invasion.
In-Text Answer
C. The economic situation of the country
92
10.4 Effects of the Jameson’s raid
The Jameson raid had some specific effects. They are the following:
1. The Cape government was humiliated. Cecil Rhodes as well was humiliated. This led to
his resignation as the prime minister.
2. There was increased enmity between the British and the Boers.
3. The peaceful coexistence between the British and the Boers became deteriorated as a
result of the raid
4. The raid revealed the ambitions of the British on the Boer territories.
5. President Paul Kruger became more famous which enhanced Boer nationalism.
6. The two Boer states of Transvaal and Orange Free State became closer in relationship as
they promised to work together against the British.
7. The Boers became relax .They thought they could defeat the British anyday anytime,
therefore they fought in the second Anglo-Boer war .The Utilanders were ill-treated by
the Boers more than ever because they discovered they were part of the conspiracy.
8. The defeat of the British made more Africans to rebel against the British
9. Joseph Chamberlain, the British secretary of colonies wrote a letter of apology to Paul
Kruger, regretting the incident.
10. The raid led to the creation of ‘British race Patriot ‘which was designed to energizethe
British power in South Africa.
In-Text Question
The defeat of the British in the Jameson raid made more Africans to rebel against the British.
True or False. True
In-Text Answer
True

1. The Jameson Raid was an unsuccessful attempt to overthrow President Paul Kruger of
the Transvaal Republic in December 1895.
93
2. The Jameson Raid triggered two massive battles a few years later, the American Civil
War and the Anglo-Boer War respectively
3. The reasons for the Jameson Raid can be traced down to the disappointment of the British
immigrants of the Zuid Afrikaansche Republiek (ZAR) who were not taken in following
their influx after the discovery of the Witwatersrand goldfields in 1886
4. The Jameson raid led by Dr Leander Starr Jameson was ineffective due to several reasons
which include the shortage of men to carry out the raid. The number of men they hoped
for were not available.
5. The Jameson raid caused the humiliation of the Cape government as well as Cecil
Rhodes. Cecil Rhodes eventually resigned as the prime minister.

Discuss the Jameson raid
Mention two reason why you think there was the Jameson raid
Identify the reasons for the failure of the Jameson raid
Discuss the effects of the Jameson raid
References
David Saks ‘Military History Journal’ The Jameson Raid, a failed rehearsal for the anglo-boer
war, vol 12, 2003,
Jameson raid of 1895 and the imperial ambition of Cecil Rhodes (November 30, 2016)
http://www.britishempire.me.uk/jamesonraid.html
94
Study Session 11: The Anglo-Boer war 1899-1902 and its aftermath
Introduction
In the last study session, you learnt about the Jason’s raid and the aftermaths of events that took
place. One of such reactions after this was the Anglo-Boer war called the second war of freedom.
This took place between the British and Boers in 1899 to 1902.
The British spent a whole lot of money to win this war. Unlike the Jason’s invasion which they
lost out. They won this war. In this study, you will learn about the Anglo Boer war. You will also
learn about the underlying causes and the aftermath.
Source
Learning outcomes for Study Session 11

11.1 Discuss the Anglo-Boer war

11.2 Identify the underlying causes of Anglo-Boer war
11.3 Discuss the aftermath of the Anglo-Boer war.
95
11.1 The Anglo-Boer war 1889-1902
The Anglo-Boer war that took place between 1899-1902 is a South African War, also called
Boer War, Second Boer War, or Second War of Independence. The war took place between
Great Britain and the two Afrikaner republics-Transvaal and the Orange Free State. The British
won the war.
Figure 11.1: The Anglo-Boer war

Source
It was an expensive war since it costed them a whooping amount of more than two hundred
million pounds. The total strength of the British Army in South Africa was nearly 500, 000 but
the Boers could only raise about 88, 000 soldiers. The British were fighting in a difficult
landscape but the Boers were quite familiar with the Landscape
The Boers were the first to attack. They attacked the Cape colony and Natal between October
1899 and January 1900. The Boers overwhelm the British garrisons in Ladysmith, Mafeking and
Kimberley. Within one week, the British had suffered a heavy loss and defeat in December 1899.
When there was eventual reinforcements by February 1900, the British Army eventually relief
the besieged Mafeking which was greeted by wild celebration in England.
96
This gave them the effrontery to takeover Bloemfontein on March 13 and the Boer capital,
Pretoria, on June 5. For two years the Boers fought fiercely as guerrillas. The British army
constructed blockhouses, breakdown houses and withdraw food from the reach of the Boers.
Their civilians were also put in concentration camps. The Boers turned down an offer of peace
from the British in March 1901, in the deal that required that the republics of the Boers became
that of the British.
Figure 11.2: Boers

Source
The Boers eventually surrendered in May 1902 and a treaty called Vereeniging was signed the
same month. The war witnessed an unprecedented loss lives. The British lost about22,000 troops
while the Boers lost about 25,000 civilians.
The result of the treaty was that the Transvaal and the Orange Free State no longer exist as Boer
republics as they exist within the British Empire. The Boers were given three million pounds in
compensation and were offered a future self-government. In the year 1910, the Union of South
Africa was born.
In-Text Question
The Anglo-Boer war took place between the Great Britain and the two Afrikaner republics-
Transvaal and the Orange Free State. True or False
In-Text Answer
True
97
11.2 Underlying causes of the Anglo-Boer war
The underlying causes of the war could be traced to several things. One of the underlying cause
is the fight for control of the rich Witwatersrand gold mining site in South Africa Republic. The
British were the main controller of the gold mining complex.
Another cause of the Boer war could be traced back to1795 when the British took over the Cape
Colony from the Dutch. This saw the arrival of the British troops to the Cape Colony. At first the
Dutch (Boers) would not be bothered. But it became a source of concern when the British started
enforcing some laws like the release of the slaves and the adoption of English language as
official language.
Figure 11.3:Cape colony, Kimberley, Mafeking

Source
The Boers didn’t want interference from the British as regards their living, they formed the
Transvaal and Orange Republic. The Boers had an underlying grief with the British because they
were destroying their economic livelihood. The Boers up till that time used slaves for their
farms.
98
With the liberation of the British slaves, it became impossible. That is why the Boers moved
away from the Cape Colony. With the discovery of diamond in 1867, Britain captured Transvaal
and the Anglo-Boer fiasco continued.
In-Text Question
The Boers were happy that the British liberated the slaves. True or False
In- Text Answer
False
11.3: The Aftermath of the Anglo-Boer war

The Anglo-Boer war of 1899-1902 has some eventualities or aftermath effects. There was
tremendous loss of lives and properties. A great number of about 100, 000 lives were lost in the
war. The British lost about 22, 000 troops while the Boer lost about 14 000 troops.
About 25, 000 civilian Boers death was witnessed while African death in the concentration camp
was about 13000-20000. The war created an aftermath of beef between the Boers and the British.
The British desired that the Boers join forces with them against the blacks in South Africa.
Figure 11.4: The casualties at the Anglo-Boer war

Source
The international world sympathised with the Boers and their minds were poisoned against the
British. Some African were caught in the web of the war. Some lost their jobs, farms and
businesses. Yet some made some gain .Some Africans overtook landed properties abounded by
the white settlers.
99
The Boers lost the war and peace discussions began in March 1902. By May 1902 the peace
agreement was official. The document was signed in Pretoria at Melrose House. The peace deal
is known as the treaty of Vereeniging. The treaty came with the following decisions:
a) It was agreed that the Uitlanders could return to the Transvaal
b) The weapons of the Boer had to be laid down.
c) In the school and court, Dutch will still be taught and used.
d) The military government will be replaced by a civil authority
e) Self-government would be promoted.
f) The poor citizens will be offered financial help
In-Text Question
The Boers were the eventual winner of the Anglo-Boer war. True or False
In-Text Answer
False

In this study, you have learnt that
1. The Anglo-Boer war that took place between 1899-1902 is a South African War, also
called Boer War, Second Boer War, or Second War of Independence. The war took place
between Great Britain and the two Afrikaner republics-Transvaal and the Orange Free
State. The British won the war.
2. The underlying causes of the war could be traced to several things. One of the underlying
cause is the fight for control of the rich Witwatersrand gold mining site in South Africa
Republic. The British were the main controller of the gold mining complex.
3. Another cause of the Boer war could be traced back to 1795 when the British took over
the Cape Colony from the Dutch. This saw the arrival of the British troops to the Cape
Colony.
4. The Boers lost the war and peace discussions began in March 1902. By May 1902 the
peace agreement was official. The document was signed in Pretoria at Melrose House.
The peace deal is known as the treaty of Vereeniging.
100
Discuss the Anglo-Boer war 1889-1902
Mention the causes of the Anglo-Boer war
Discuss the effects of the Anglo-Boer war
References
Encyclopaedia Britannica, Available at: https://www.britannica.com/event/South-African-War
(Assessed Dec1, 2016)
The Boer wars, Available at: http://www.boer-war.com/(Assessed Dec 1, 2016)
South Africa History Online. 2016.] Available at: http://www.sahistory.org.za/article/aftermath-
war). [Accessed 5 December 2016].
101
Study Session 12: Prelude to apartheid in South Africa
Introduction
A black boy was almost beaten to coma on the street of Johannesburg for trying to play on the
road dedicated mainly for the white. His surviving grace was the fact that the policeman on duty
was fatherly enough to help him. This is one of the numerous scenarios that took place during
apartheid.
The word ‘Apartheid’ loosely means ‘Apart-hood’ which signifies system of laws designed to
create segregation along the line of races where the whites dominated the blacks and other races.
This study session will introduce you to the meaning of apartheid. You will also learn about the
origin of apartheid in South Africa
Source
Learning outcomes for Study Session
12.1 Discuss about the original South Africa dwellers in the pre-apartheid era
12.1 Explain what apartheid means in South Africa
12.2 Discuss the origin of apartheid in South Africa.
102
12.1 Pre apartheid –Original South Africa dwellers
It is important to know the history and the lifestyles of the indigenous dwellers of South Africa.
What were they doing for a living? It is essential to know this, so as to destroy the erroneous
belief in some quarters that the African dwellers were lazy or didn’t live right which gave the
colonial masters right to segregate them.
The original dwellers of South Africa before the arrival of the Dutch include:
The San hunter-gatherers

(usually called ''Bushmen''
by Europeans
The Khoikhoi pastoralists

(dubbed ''Hottentots'')
The communities of farmers
Figure 12.1: Original South Africa dwellers
1. The San hunters –gatherers: The San people were hunters that fed on antelopes, plant
and gemsbok. They made arrows and bows. Their arrows were poisonous and could kill
the animals though in a gradual process. The San didn’t have a permanent house but they
had a temporary one.
It was their belief that the land belongs to nobody i.e. God owns the land. Sans had no
chief, ruler or leaders. No one was given special recognition. San women were very good
in usage of plants for medicinal purpose.
103
2. Khoikhoi pastoralists: They were the first pastoralists in South Africa. They were
animal breeders which made them different from the San hunters. The Khoikhoi were the
first indigenous people to meet with the Dutch settlers in the mid-17th century. The
Dutch took over their farms, killed or enslaved them. They were called ‘Hottentots’by the
Dutch because of their language difference as their words and sounds couldn’t be
pronounced.
3. Community of farmers: These are African natives that were land owners. They were
displaced from their farms by the Dutch settlers.
In-Text Question
Another name for the Khoikhois was Hottentots. True or False
In-Text Answer
True
12.2Apartheid in South Africa

Apartheid in South Africa was the socio-political structure in South Africa where racial
segregation was the order of the day. The process of racial segregation required that each races
lived far away from one another. It was enforced through the law by the National Party, the
governing party from 1948 to 1994.
Figure 12.2: South Africa

Source
104
Apartheid was banned in 1994. Under apartheid the rights, associations of the black majority was
truncated while that of the white minority was upheld. Apartheid disallowed social and cultural
integration. It was a system that gave room for prejudices. The term ‘apartheid has a Dutch
origin although the core issues apartheid which was racial discrimination and segregation had its
origin from the British industrialist.
Apartheid was created by the National Party (Governing Party) strategists to gain control of
South Africa’s economic and social space while maintaining white domination over other races.
There were several oppositions to the existence of apartheid. Apartheidwas reformed in 1980s
but this did not stop everyday opposition to it.
In the middle of 1980, there was a petition for the release of Nelson Mandela who was at that
time in the prison. The petitions gave the world a heroic view of Nelson Mandela even though he
was in prison. Governments all around the world, put pressure on the apartheid government to
end apartheid. They refused to do business with the South African government.
Figure 12.2: Nelson Mandela

Source
The South African business community realized that for this to continue means their prosperity is
not guaranteed. They also joined the list and groups of people who were calling for the end to
apartheid. The opposition party of ANC and other black groups also stood their ground against
105
apartheid. President Frederik Willem de Klerk started negotiation to end apartheid in 1990.
Apartheid eventually ended in 1994.
In-Text Question
Apartheid was created by _______
A. The National Party
B. The People’s Parliament
C. John Grey
D. Colonial Military
In-Text Answer
A. The national Party
12.3 Origin of Apartheid in South Africa

The policy of apartheid in South Africa started in 1948. Although the root of apartheid can be
traced to 1788 when the Dutch colonizers began the creation of laws that separate the minority
white from African natives.
Figure 12.3: The Dutch (Boers)

Source
This segregation continued till 1795 when the British took over the black neighborhoods and
began allocating homelands to the blacks. On independence in 1910, the South Africa white
community had a population of about 1.3 million people. These white community was composed
of mainly the Dutch and few British.
106
However contentions existed between the Dutch and the British. Both of them are the blacks’
colonial masters but they are still in contention with each other. This may not be far-fetched from
the fact the British displaced the Dutch in controlling the regions. They were all fighting for a
common cause, i.e. cheap labour from the black.
There were two other communities that contain about half a million people of colored race. The
colored race are people who had European and African heritage. It also contains about 180, 000
Asians who stayed as at that time in Natal. They came all the way from India to work in sugar
plantation in 1860s. They were brought in by the colonial masters. Each provinces had their own
restrictions.
The level of segregation varies from community to community. In cape colony for instance,
colored had the same classification and rights like the whites. They could vote. In some other
province, this was not so. Consequently it wasn’t the black alone that suffered discrimination and
segregation in the early years in South Africa, the Indians in Natalalso suffered similar faith.
The Indians surpassed the whites in number in Natal, despite that, they were still being
suppressed.
They were ordered to pay three million pounds as tax and were subjected to shameful act of
compulsory registration via thumb printing in 1906. These led to the resistance by the Indian
leader Gandhi. This policy was dropped afterwards. From the early 1900, government and
politics had been dominated by the whites.
Figure12.4:Ghandi
Source
107
The South African party –original known as the Afrikaner party was formed in 1910. The party
comprises of the British and the Dutch. They came together to form a common front. However
the Dutch had some reservations. They believed their identity could be eroded with their merger
with the British. This led to the formation of Afrikaner National party by J.B. M Hertzog in
1914.
South African party remained in power till 1924. National party came into power in 1924. With
their emergence in power, they began to put laws into place to protect the white minority. For
fifteen years they put laws in place that prevented the black and the Asians from engaging in
skill trade and limited their assess to towns.
Despite this, the Afrikaners were not satisfied. They believed that Hertzog’s laws were too mild.
For example they believed there was no distinction between the white and the colored in his
policies. These led to the formation of Purified National party in 1934 by Daniel Malan.
Figure 12.5:Daniel Malan

Source
There was economic chaos in the 1930s which made Hertzog to form alliance with Smut. By
1934, National party and South African party merged into what is called United Party. Hertzog
was the prime minister while Smuts was the deputy. However later, there was difference in
opinion when there was world war.
108
Figure 12.6:J.B. M Hertzog
Source
Hertzog preferred to remain neutral but Smut preferred they take sides with the British. The
Parliament voted and it favored Smuts. Hertzog was forced to resign. Smuts became the prime
minister. South African fought with the British in the war giving a large volume of soldiers
increase the British army.
Figure 12.7: Smut

Source
When the war was over, at the general election of 1943, Smuts returned to power but the
parliament seats went to the Purified National Party of Daniel Malan. These events made
apartheid to gain great margin. As each prime minister emerged in South Africa, segregation
thickens.
109
In-Text Question
The Afrikaners believed that Hertzog’s laws were too mild. True or False
In-Text Answer
True

In this study, you have learnt that:
1. Apartheid in South Africa was the socio-political structure in South Africa where racial
segregation was the order of the day. The process of racial segregation required that each
races lived far away from one another. It was enforced through the law by the National
Party, the governing party from 1948 to 1994.
2. The policy of apartheid in South Africa started in 1948. Although the root of apartheid
can be traced to 1788 when the Dutch colonizers began the creation of laws that separate
the minority white from African natives. This segregation continued till 1795 when the
British took over the black neighborhoods and began allocating homelands to the blacks.
3. Khoikhoi pastoralists were the first pastoralists in South Africa. They were animal
breeders which made them different from the San hunters. The Khoikhoi were the first
indigenous people to meet with the Dutch settlers in the mid-17th century. The Dutch
took over their farms, killed or enslaved them.

Discuss the origin of the original South Africa dwellers.
Explain what Apartheid means in South Africa
Discuss the origin of apartheid in South Africa
110
References
Gascoigne, Bamber. History World. From 2001, ongoing. http://www.historyworld.net
South Africa History Online. 2016.] Available at: http://www.sahistory.org.za/article/aftermath-
war). [Accessed 5 December 2016
111

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COURSE MANUAL

Southern Africa 1800-1914

University of Ibadan Distance Learning Centre

General Editor: Prof. Bayo Okunade

University of Ibadan Distance Learning Centre

In addition to provision of course materials in print and e-format, a lot of Information

Prof. Abel Idowu Olayinka

Professor Bayo Okunade

Production Editor Ogundele Olumuyiwa Caleb

Learning Design & Technologist SchulPortal Technology

Managing Editor Ogunmefun Oladele Abiodun

General Editor Prof. Bayo Okunade

Learning Outcomes from Study Session 1 ...............................................................................1

1.1 Geographical Features of Southern Africa .........................................................................2

In Text Question ..................................................................................................................4

In Text Answer ....................................................................................................................4

In Text Question ..................................................................................................................6

In Text Answer ....................................................................................................................6

1.2 Arrival of the Europeans to the Cape .................................................................................6

In Text Question ..................................................................................................................7

In Text Answer ....................................................................................................................7

In Text Question ..................................................................................................................9

In Text Answer ....................................................................................................................9

1.3 Major Ethnic Groups in Southern Africa.......................................................................... 11

In Text Question ................................................................................................................ 12

In Text Answer .................................................................................................................. 12

1.3.1 Language Groups...................................................................................................... 14

Self-Assessment Questions (SAQs) for Study Session 1 ........................................................ 16

SAQ 1.1 (Testing Learning outcomes 1.1) ......................................................................... 16

SAQ 1.2 (Testing Learning outcomes 1.2) ......................................................................... 16

SAQ 1.3 (Testing Learning outcomes 1.3) ......................................................................... 16

Learning Outcomes from Study Session 2 ............................................................................. 17

2.1 The Growth of Settler Society at the Cape ....................................................................... 18

In Text Question ................................................................................................................ 19

In Text Answer .................................................................................................................. 19

2.2 The Effects of the Settlement on the Khoisan................................................................... 21

Summary for Study Session 2 ................................................................................................ 24

Self-Assessment Questions (SAQs) for Study Session 2 ........................................................ 25

SAQ 2.1 (Testing Learning outcomes 2.1) ......................................................................... 25

SAQ 2.2 (Testing Learning outcomes 2.2) ......................................................................... 25

Study Session 3: The Mfecane .................................................................................................. 26

Learning Outcomes from Study Session 3 ............................................................................. 26

3.1 Mfecane .......................................................................................................................... 26

3.1.1 Origin of Mfecane..................................................................................................... 27

3.1.2 Deforestation ............................................................................................................ 28

In Text Question ................................................................................................................ 28

In Text Answer .................................................................................................................. 28

3.2 Major causes of the Mfecane ........................................................................................... 28

3.2.1 The Effects of Mfecane on the People ....................................................................... 30

Summary for Study Session 3 ................................................................................................ 32

Self-Assessment Questions (SAQs) for Study Session 3 ........................................................ 33

SAQ 3.1 (Testing Learning outcomes 3.1) ......................................................................... 33

SAQ 3.2 (Testing Learning outcomes 3.2) ......................................................................... 33

Study Session 4: Shaka the Zulu................................................................................................ 34

Learning Outcomes from Study Session 4 ............................................................................. 34

4.1 Shaka the Zulu................................................................................................................. 34

In Text Question ................................................................................................................ 35

In Text Answer .................................................................................................................. 35

4.1.1 Shaka usurps the Zulu Chiefdom .............................................................................. 35