Academic literature on the topic 'Lydenburg (South Africa) – History – To 1880'

AbstractThe main object of this article is to falsify the common historical portrait of South Asians in Zanzibar and East Africa. Most studies, a-priori, assume the outstanding business success of the Asian minority in East Africa. In explaining this success, they emphasize common explanations and theories for their economic success, like hard work, having a superior business mind, using their ethnic resources for capital accumulation and knowledge of (international) markets. In this article I attempt to explain the success of South Asians in Zanzibar, East Africa, from a historical point of view. My main argument is that South Asians started with a far more favorable socio-economic position as compared to their African counterparts. They were more than Swahilis, accustomed with a money economy and the concept of interest. In addition, they knew how to read, write and produce account books. Finally, they had access to the rulers, and were able to negotiate profitable terms of trade. Nevertheless, many were not successful at all and went bankrupt. Therefore, the success of South Asians in East Africa may be explained as the outcome of a 'trial and error' process. The successful remained in East Africa, whereas others left. India remained a safety net for those who did not make out as well as a source for new recruitment of traders, shopkeepers and clerks.

SummaryIn his article in the current edition of International Review of Social History, the Scottish historian, Billy Kenefick, argues against my thesis that the labour force of the United Kingdom and the settler colonies in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries can be understood as having constituted a linked “imperial working class” in which an ideology of racialized white labour protectionism predominated. Kenefick believes that in South Africa British socialists challenged white labourism, and that Scottish immigrants played a very prominent role in this anti-racist project. My reply traces the relationship between Scottish national identity, imperialism, and the labour movement. It then examines the evidence on the racial politics of Scottish trade unionists in South Africa and argues that, with a very few individual exceptions, they did buy into the ideas of white labourism. Finally, the article considers Scottish labour attitudes to race in the home country, and demonstrates that there was strong sympathy for the racial labour politics of the settler colonies.

This article contributes to the critique of a particular historiographical construction of the rural socio-intellectual world of the Afrikaner, which portrays that world as narrowly Calvinist and culturally circumscribed, with rigidly patrolled racial borders. This challenge is effected through an investigation into the world of the Bushveld Boer through the work of Eugène Marais (1871–1936) and Christiaan Frederick Louis Leipoldt (1880–1947). The article seeks to show that the practical workings of agrarian race relations allowed for a certain measure of cultural osmosis, facilitating Afrikaner interest in African and traditional healing practices. Afrikaner interest in the paranormal and psychic, with an emphasis on European trends, is also investigated, to demonstrate that the image of intellectual isolation has been exaggerated. This is a contribution to the ongoing project of historians interested in Afrikaner identity, who probe the image of a monolithic, Calvinist past and stress variety and often secular thinking.

From the late 1830s Boer settlers conquered and settled vast new lands outside the Cape Colony. Although they more than doubled the area of European domination, historians have categorised Boer society outside the British colonies as primitive and dismissed the Boer conquests as an abberation from the broader process of European expansion. Such a distinction is no longer tenable. This study, which focuses on the Obrigstad/Lydenburg area, shows that the Boers were an integral part of European expansion in southern Africa. Settler expansion did not occur in a vacuum. Booming demand for commodities sparked economic growth across the sub-continent; the Boers were part of this process and consistently strove to produce for the region's expanding markets. In tandem with the expanding regional system, the Boer economy grew constantly. This was reflected in the centralisation of power in the Z.A.R. as Boer producers created formal political and administrative structures to further their economic interests. (A parallel process culminated in the Cape with colonists receiving representative government in March 1853.) This correlation between political and economic development was evident in the creation of a coercive labour system by the Boer state. Through their control of state structures, the Boers employed measures ranging from brute force to punitive taxation, legally enforceable contracts and pass laws to procure and control workers. It is important to note that the creation of a coercive labour system by the Boers paralleled similar developments in the Cape Colony. The speed with which the Boer economy expanded in comparison to the Cape, however, meant that stages in the development of an unfree labour force which had been chronologically distinct in the Cape coexisted within the Boer coercive system. Boer dependence on coerced labour made conflict with African groups inevitable. African groups in the eastern Transvaal had already been partly moulded by predatory economic forces emanating from the Portuguese settlements on the east coast since at least the 1750s. The arrival of the Boers in the 1840s greatly accelerated this process. Some groups were crushed, but others were able to obtain the means to resist Boer rule by interfacing with the settler economy. The economic forces which drove Boer settlement were thus not confined to the white settlers: Boer expansion was paralleled by the rise of African survivor states. The Dlamini, for example, built the powerful Swazi state by exchanging captives, ivory and cattle for guns and horses. Similarly, the Pedi, through the large scale expon of migrant labour, were able to acquire the means to challenge Boer authority in the late 1870s. Oearly then, the Boers 'Were not only representative of the wider settler social and economic order, but were acting in response to the same circumstances as the British settlers, Portuguese traders and African survivor states. It is thus impossible to continue to classify them as retrogressive and distinct from other groups in the region.

Thesis (MA)--Stellenbosch University, 2014.
ENGLISH ABSTRACT: This dissertation examines the identity of hunters, sportsmen and their associated communities in two diverse regions of southern Africa during the last two decades of the nineteenth and the first decade of the twentieth centuries. It argues that this was a critical period during which new patterns of hunting and local tradition were created. In the eastern Cape districts of Albany, Fort Beaufort and Bathurst kudu and buffalo were hunted pursuant to permits granted in terms of the Game Act, 1886. An analysis of the identity of those to whom these permits were granted or refused provides insights into power, connection and influence amongst the English-speaking colonial elite of the region who sought to control the right to hunt “royal game”. It also reveals their interaction with civil servants who exercised the power to grant or withhold the privilege. Kudu were transferred from public to private ownership, through a process of “privatization” and “commodification” on enclosed private land, and there preserved for sporting purposes by the local rural gentry. The survival – and even growth – in numbers of kudu in the region was achieved in these private spaces. Buffalo, on the other hand, were hunted into local extinction notwithstanding their protection as “royal game”. In the north-eastern Transvaal Lowveld wild animals in public ownership were hunted by a wide variety of hunters with competing interests. The identity of the “lost” Lowveld hunters, previously hidden from history, including an important but overlooked component of elite recreational hunters from the eastern Cape, is explored as a window into the history of hunting in the region prior to the establishment of game reserves. Both the identity and networks of these hunters and sportsmen are considered in the context of enduring concerns about race, class, gender and the exercise of power.
AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Hierdie tesis ondersoek die identiteit van die jagters, sportmanne en die gepaardgaande gemeenskappe in twee verskillende streke van Suider-Afrika gedurende die laaste twee dekades van die negentiende en die eerste dekade van die twintigste eeu. Dit voer aan dat hierdie 'n kritieke tydperk was waartydens nuwe patrone van jag en plaaslike tradisie geskep is. In die Oos-Kaapse distrikte van Albany, Fort Beaufort en Bathurst is die jag op koedoes en buffels toegelaat op grond van permitte toegestaan in terme van die Wild Wet, 1886. Die ontleding van die identiteit van diegene aan wie hierdie permitte toegestaan of geweier was, bied insae oor die uitoefening van mag, verhoudings en invloed onder die Engelssprekende koloniale elite van die streek, wat probeer het om beheer uit te oefen oor die jag van die “koninklike wild”. Dit openbaar ook hul interaksie met staatsamptenare wat hulle magte gebruik het om permitte uit te ruik of te weerhou. Eienaarskap van koedoes was oorgedra vanaf openbare na privaat besit, deur 'n proses van "privatisering " en "kommodifikasie" op geslote private grond, met die verstandhouding dat dit vir sport – doeleindes deur die plaaslike landelike burger gebruik kon word. Die oorlewing – en selfs groei – in die getal koedoes in die streek is behaal in die private besit. Buffels, aan die ander kant, is tot plaaslike uitwissing gejag ondanks hul beskerming as "koninklike wild". In die Noord-Oos Transvaalse Laeveld is wilde diere in openbare besit gejag deur 'n wye verskeidenheid van jagters met mededingende belange. Die identiteit van die "verlore" Laeveld jagters, voorheen verborge in die geskiedenis, wat 'n belangrike maar oor die hoof verwaarloosde komponent van elite rekreasionele jagters van die Oos-Kaap insluit, word ondersoek as 'n venster op die geskiedenis van jag in die streek voor die totstandkoming van wildreservate. Beide die identiteit en netwerke van hierdie jagters en sportmanne word beskou in die konteks van blywende belangstelling met ras, klas, geslag en die uitoefening van mag.

This thesis consists of two interrelated parts: a long essay on the building boom, and a catalogue of the churches produced by the boom, or significantly enlarged during the boom. The purpose of the study is two-fold: to provide an analysis of the historical background to the boom and of the architecture of the churches built during the three decades in which it was evident; and to publish a comprehensive catalogue of the churches surveyed, in which both historical and architectural findings for individual church buildings are summarised together with selected photographs, sketches and plans that highlight some of the features of the buildings.This catalogue is intended to provide a ready reference for conservation bodies such as the National Monuments Council and heritage committees

Thesis (MA)--Stellenbosch University, 2000.
ENGLISH ABSTRACT: After 1880 more and more Jews (mostly of East European descent) moved into the rural areas of South Africa. Initially they travelled across the country as hawkers but later settled permanently in many of the smaller towns. In most cases they opened shops or started businesses of another kind. Due to the nature of their work the Jews mostly came into contact with the Afrikaans speaking community. Although these two groups differed considerably in many ways, especially as regards language and religion, the Jews adapted and integrated fairly quickly. They became involved with the Afrikaans speaking community in various ways and made a substantial contribution. Although their involvement in and contribution to the economy can be considered as the most important, they also played a considerable role in other areas such as politics, education, language, sport and recreation. The presence of the Jews in rural South Africa was important not only because of their integration with the Afrikaans speaking community and the contribution they made as a group, but also because of the extent to which the two groups influenced each other. Both groups were culturally enriched and the South African country town developed a unique character due to the presence or the Jews and their involvement in the life and activities of the townspeople. Although the Jews were influenced by the Afrikaans speaking community and thus acquired new cultural assets, they still to a large extent retained their Jewish identity. On the whole there was a very good relationship between the Afrikaans speaking rural population and the Jews. After 1950 an increasingly large number of Jews moved to the cities. The depopulation of the rural areas, as regards to Jews, took place to such an extent that today only a few Jewish families remain in rural areas.
AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Na 1880 is Jode (hoofsaaklik van Oos-Europese afkoms) toenemend op die Suid- Afrikaanse platteland aangetref. Aanvanklik het hulle as smouse die landelike gebiede deurkruis. Later het hulle hulle egter permanent op die plattelandse dorpe gevestig - in die meeste gevalle het hulle 'n winkel of ander soort besigheid begin. Die Jode het uit die aard van hulle werk oorwegend met die Afrikaanssprekende gemeenskap in aanraking gekom. Alhoewel daar definitiewe verskille tussen dié twee groepe was, veral ten opsigte van godsdiens en taal, het die Jode redelik gou aangepas en ingeskakel. Hulle het op verskillende terreine by die Afrikaanssprekende gemeenskap betrokke geraak en 'n substansiële bydrae gelewer. Hoewel hulle betrokkenheid en bydrae tot die ekonomiese terrein as die belangrikste beskou kan word, het hulle ook op baie ander gebiede soos byvoorbeeld politiek, opvoeding, taal, sport en ontspanning belangrike bydraes gelewer. Die Jode se teenwoordigheid op die Suid-Afrikaanse platteland was nie slegs belangrik as gevolg van hulle inskakeling by die Afrikaanssprekende gemeenskap of die bydrae wat hulle as groep gelewer het nie, maar ook as gevolg van die mate waarin albei groepe mekaar beïnvloed het. Die Jode se aanwesigheid en hulle betrokkenheid by die dorp se bedrywighede en mense het meegebring dat albei groepe kultureel verryk is en dat die Suid-Afrikaanse platteland 'n unieke karakter verkry het. Hoewel die Jode deur die Afrikaanssprekende gemeenskap beïnvloed is en hulle as groep nuwe kultuurgoedere bygekry het, het hulle steeds in 'n groot mate hulle Joodse identiteit behou. Daar was oor die algemeen 'n baie goeie verhouding tussen die Afrikaanssprekende plattelanders en die Jode. Na ongeveer 1950 het daar geleidelik 'n toenemende getal Jode na die stede verhuis. Die ontvolking van die platteland met betrekking tot die Jode het in so 'n mate plaasgevind dat daar vandag slegs enkele Joodse gesinne op die meeste plattelandse dorpe oor is.

This thesis examines the representation of the settler societies of the British Empire during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Australia, New Zealand, Canada and South Africa were represented as a distinct part of the Empire, united by the idea that these parts of the Empire were ‘more British’ than the rest, and, had a shared heritage and culture and a predominant British settler population. It was represented as a landscape of opportunity built on layers of representations in the sources of the period from advertisements and panoramas to travel accounts and emigration literature. The settler societies were represented as a ‘Greater Britain’ or ‘Better Britains’, an imagining of the settler societies based on what the British wanted for themselves rather than as a true representation of four parts of the Empire. The notion of ‘Better Britains’ delves into British ideas of their past, present and future. If they were ‘better’, what were they improving on? What qualities and aspects of society were included and excluded? It was an idealised image but also flexible, a malleable landscape where the British could live out desires. Opportunity was found in the land, resources and climate, but also within the modernity of the cities and ideas of social advancement and of the freedom of the frontier.

Orientador: Robert Wayne Andrew Slenes
Dissertação (mestrado) - Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Instituto de Filosofia e Ciencias Humanas
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Resumo: Olive Emilie Albertina Schreiner (1855-1920), literata sul-africana de origem anglófona, é hoje lembrada essencialmente por sua contribuição para o campo dos estudos de gênero e sexualidade, bem como por seu romance de estréia - The Story of an African Farm, publicado em 1883. Centramos nossa análise no período de expansão econômico-territorial sul-africana - aqui delimitado entre os anos 1880 e 1902 - para apreender o diálogo da escrita de Schreiner com os impactos da política imperialista britânica nas relações entre ingleses e bôeres; ingleses e nativos e nativos e bôeres. É também neste período que a literata começa a articular sua idéia de nação sul-africana e assume uma política de combate à exploração do nativo pelo sistema capitalista, além de estruturar um discurso de apoio ao bôer. Para tanto, à leitura de The Story of an African Farm associamos também o estudo de obras que receberam até então pouco destaque: Trooper Peter Halket of Mashonaland (1897) e Thoughts on South Africa (1923*).
Abstract: Olive Emilie Albertina Schreiner (1855-1920), South African writer of anglophone origin, is nowadays remembered primarily for her contribution to the field of gender and sexuality studies, as well as for her debut novel, The Story of an African Farm (1883). Focusing our analysis on the economic expansion of South African territory - period delimited here between years 1880-1902 - we intend to explore the dialog of her writings with the impacts of British imperialist policy in the relations between British and the Boers, British and natives and between natives and Boers. It is also during this period that the literate begins to articulate her idea of a South African nation and engages herself in a policy to combat the exploitation of the native by the capitalist system, besides articulating a speech in support of the Boer cause. Therefore, to the reading of The Story of an African Farm we also associated the study of some works that received little attention so far: Trooper Peter Halket of Mashonaland (1897) and Thoughts on South Africa (1923*).
Mestrado
Historia Social
Mestre em História

The Transvaal Colony experienced a huge problem with the scarcity of African labour for the mines and for the farms after the South African War. From 1901 to 1906 African labourers displayed great reluctance to meet the labour demands of the Transvaal colony. Both black and white witnesses to the Transvaal Labour Commission (TLC) and the South African Native Affairs Commission (SANAC) gave their views regarding the reasons why African labourers were unavailable for wage labour. The Chamber of Mines dominated the proceedings of the TLC so that in the end very little objective information could be gained from the TLC. Africans themselves, testifying before SANAC stated a number of grievances which might have been responsible for the widespread withdrawal from employment on the mines. It became clear that Africans preferred to work independently rather than to provide labour for whites who ill-treated them. This they could only do if land was available to them.
History
M.A. (History)

This study examines, in some depth, the rationale behind the tramway development that occurred in Kimberley. It also looks at the socio-economic impact that the tramways had on Kimberley’s development and growth, covering the period from 1880 to 2000. After the introduction in Chapter 1, Chapter 2 looks at the overall evolution of tramway development in America, Britain and Europe, with a brief outline of its rise, decline and slow return to favour, which has seen the re-emergence of the tram in many cities. Chapter 3 looks at the area now occupied by Kimberley and sets the scene for the events that were about to unfold. This chapter also sketches an outline of the early development, which occurred on the Diamond Fields following the earliest diamond discoveries, as Colesberg Kopje was quickly transformed from a small hill to an ever-deepening hole in the ground. Chapter 4 of this study examines the machinations of the earliest, but stillborn tramway proposals, which came to naught amidst a host of unrelated but pressing issues, including the vital supply of water to the dry diggings. Other significant issues, which are included, are the great Smallpox Epidemic and the general feeling of uncertainty and unease on the Diamond Fields, which was to come to characterise and haunt the diamond mining activities for many years to come. v Chapter 5 looks at the Gibson Brothers’ rise to prominence with their Victoria Tramway Company, which despite setbacks and delays finally became operational in 1887. The chapter continues by explaining how the tramway survived, largely along British lines, using horse, mule, steam and electric traction, despite the difficulties posed by the Anglo Boer war, especially the Siege of Kimberley. However, as described in this study, the tramways served more than merely the provision of a means of public transport, although this was certainly the primary function. The tramways assisted in transforming a shanty town of tents and corrugated iron huts into a “proper” town, complete with all the trappings of civilisation, such as electric street lighting and theatres, and later on into a fully-fledged city. As the settlements expanded, the tramways were extended to serve the new fledgling suburbs, although it must be stated, sometimes with a certain degree of reluctance. This meant that Kimberley’s growth was not as a result of the expansion of the extending network of the tramways, but rather the other way around. This was partly because that prior to 1914, the tramways had been expected to generate a profit rather than a loss! Basic economic principles applied, and although the social responsibility of providing the inhabitants with an effective means of public transport was forthcoming, it came at a cost to the passengers, and the fares were never cheap. Chapter 6 looks at the two schemes considered by the Kimberley Borough Council, one of which became operational, but as an industrial undertaking only. The second, and more important scheme, proposed by the ratepayers of Ward 5, failed to find municipal support and thus the residents were compelled to wait until it was finally resurrected successfully in 1915. vi Chapter 7 examines the promotion of De Beers own tramway scheme into a highly professional Americanised electric interurban, linking Kimberley with the pleasure resort at Alexandersfontein. Despite difficulties, the system also developed into a successful tramway, which in 1914 was incorporated into the Kimberley Tramways, which also took over the operations of the Victoria Tramways Company as from 1 July 1914. Chapter 8 of this study looks at the challenges confronting De Beers Consolidated Mines Limited with assuming full responsibility for operating the Kimberley Tramways. The year 1914 was to prove a watershed in the fortune of the tramways, in that from the De Beers’ perspective, the tramways were now seen as part of a larger corporate initiative involving the provision of greater social responsibility for Kimberley. Thus running the tram service at a small loss was quite acceptable. Indeed it was perceived as part of the necessary price to be paid for “keeping faith with the inhabitants of Kimberley”. The main difficulty was the integration of two virtually separate systems and routes, plus three new extensions, into a properly integrated public system. This task would have been eased considerably had Kimberley been in the midst of an economic boom. Unfortunately the opposite was true, and Kimberley experienced more economic turbulence during the inter-war years than at any other period in its history. Somehow the trams kept operating for the full twenty-five year period of the concession, but thereafter even De Beers could not afford to continue. Sadly, the price of keeping faith, in monetary terms, did eventually rise to unacceptable levels. With annual losses exceeding £12,000 during the late 1930s, and the expectation that this figure would increase, closure was inevitable. Nevertheless, the public passenger service provided by De Beers offered Kimberley’s inhabitants the lowest tram fares in the country. Nevertheless, certain truncated sections of the system lingered on right through to the mid-1970s. vii Having operated the public passenger service for the residents of Kimberley for the full twenty-five year concessionary period on behalf of the Kimberley City Council, the tramways did eventually close in 1939. Had De Beers not closed the tramways when they did, the outbreak of the Second World War would most certainly have. Chapter 9 examines how the revival of the tramways was first mooted, until success was finally achieved. This study has also chronicled that through some strange quirk of fortune, some of the tramcars managed to survive, albeit on the De Beers industrial system, but survive they did, until the time came for their revival. Although today only one solitary tramcar survives in service, the spirit of the past is retained. Nevertheless, much more could have been achieved, but the initiatives offered were not acted upon. Thus tramcars that could have been restored were thrown aside as surplus to requirements, and bereft of their fittings, unceremoniously dumped in a scrap yard. The chapter continues with how the tramway has continued in operation into the twenty-first century, and so that today, it remains unique in Southern Africa. Having chronicled the socio-economic history of the tramways of Kimberley, Chapter 10 of this study attempts to put events in Kimberley into the larger global and South African perspective. It looks at what lessons can be learnt from Kimberley’s experiences in tramway operation, and considers whether Kimberley’s experiences with trams, combined with the light rail transit concept, offer any possible benefits or solutions towards solving some of South Africa’s current public transport needs. It concludes with recommendations for the future, including the suggestion for taking the original tramway concept and updating it to today’s modern-day counterpart, light rail transit. viii An interesting parallel with Bloemfontein is also explored, where trolley buses rather than trams, were introduced. The concept of other large South African centres of population such as Cape Town, Johannesburg and Durban following Kimberley’s example in introducing tourist-orientated tramway systems, is also examined. In the section entitled The Road Ahead, the three present-day imperatives of public transport are examined. Having explained the nature of these three imperatives, namely; Strategic, Tactical and Operational, Kimberley is compared against each of these imperatives in turn, and then against modern day parameters. The two perspectives are then compared and comparisons drawn, showing both similarities and differences. The scope of the similarities are very apparent and the main difference is noted as being that South Africa’s current transport legislation appears better equipped to guide current and future transport policy, than previous legislation. Thus the study concludes by expressing the hope that Kimberley’s experiences with the provision of public passenger transport, covering the last one hundred and twenty years, can make a valuable contribution to the future wellbeing of public transport throughout Southern Africa.
Dr. C. W. V. Mostert Prof. J. Walters

Please read the abstract (Summary) in the section 07back of this document The published edition of this thesis is also available in English: Kriel, Lize. The 'Malaboch' books : Kgalusi in the 'civilization of the written word' Stuttgart, Germany : Franz Steiner Verlag, 2009. (Missionsgeschichtliches Archiv; Bd 13)
Thesis (DPhil (History))--University of Pretoria, 2005.
Historical and Heritage Studies
unrestricted

The rapidity of Johannesburg’s growth after the discovery of payable gold in 1886 created a provisioning challenge. Lacking water transport it was dependent on animal-drawn transport until the railways arrived from coastal ports. The local near-subsistence agricultural economy was supplemented by imported foodstuffs, readily available following the industrialisation of food production, processing and distribution in the Atlantic world and the transformation of transport and communication systems by steam, steel and electricity. Improvements in food preservation techniques: canning, refrigeration and freezing also contributed. From 1895 natural disasters ˗ droughts, locust attacks, rinderpest, East Coast fever ˗ and the man-made disaster of the South African War, reduced local supplies and by the time the ZAR became a British colony in 1902 almost all food had to be imported. By 1906, though still an import economy, meat and grain supplies had recovered, and commercial agriculture was responding to the market.
History
M.A (History)

This chapter examines the role played by racial scientists in the sexual scientific readings of the “Hottentot apron,” a perceived elongation of the labia associated with the Khoisan women of South Africa. It begins with the story of Georges Cuvier, a zoologist from the French academy who in 1816 performed a postmortem on Sarah Baartmann. Known in Europe as the “Hottentot Venus,” Baartmann became a popular fixture in “freak shows” and salons across Britain and France. The chapter rejects the liberationist claims made by sexual science and shows how the systemic study of perceived genital anomalies became a means for South African whites and European scholars to categorize who was civilized or barbaric. It argues that scientific claims about the “Hottentot apron” spread and evolved worldwide in relation to the doctrine of scientific racism and other important developments in the history of science and empire, including the onset of the “new imperialism.”