Watersheds in South African History – The development of
Racism throughout centuries

by

 Enno Dreier

Table of Contents

Introduction  1

Terminology 2

The Pre-British Era  2

British Colonialism until 1948 4

British rule and Evangelist humanitarian movement  4

The discovery of Diamonds and Gold 5

Afrikaner Nationalism 8

Conflicts of the 1920s 10

The Great Depression and World War II 12

The Elections of 1948 15

First Years of Apartheid 15

Conclusion 16

References  18

Introduction

Drop a frog into boiling or near boiling water. He jumps out. Then put one in cold water with a slow flame. He likes the warmth. He gets comfortable and sleepy. He eventually gets cooked. History is often seen as pre-determined. Developments occur rather slowly so that, like a frog in warm water, it might not be possible to see what is happening in the long run.

The following text will deal with the question of possible turning points in South African racism history. It will try to figure out when things could have changed in another, possibly better way, and what events prevented that from happening. It will therefore describe the colonisation by the mainly Dutch-speaking Boers in the 17th and 18th century and the early relations between colonialists and indigenous population with special reference to the creeping development of racist attitudes. In the second part the systemic period of British colonialism will be investigated. The introduction of a capitalistic system and the influences of the Evangelist Humanitarian Movement will be described first. In the second part the impacts of British capitalism and the discovery of gold and diamonds will be major topics to be analyzed with respects to a development of a racist ideology. Thirdly I will describe the rise of Afrikaner Nationalism mainly in the first five decades of the 20th century and what root causes underlie this development. The main questions I will deal with are:

• Was the development of South African racism unavoidable?
• Why did racism develop?
• When had been crucial points in history that could made a different development possible?

Terminology

As a simplification I will use Afrikaners and Boers synonymously in the following although it is not precisely correct. Whenever the term “Whites” is used I refer to either the British or Afrikaner populations. If not specialized the term “Blacks” refers to the indigenous population. 

There are two definitions of Racism to be used in this article, first the older definition that defines racism as the prejudice that members of one race are intrinsically superior to members of other races, and secondly the newer and perhaps more appropiate definition that describes racism as discriminatory or abusive behavior towards members of another race. I will refer mostly to the second definition as it is currently the more common one. On the other hand class is to be defined as people having the same social or economic status.

The Pre-British Era

Started in 1652 the Dutch Colony was never an official colony but corporate property of the Dutch East India Company (VOC). In 1657 the first former employees were released as freeburghers so that they could begin their own farming in the Cape. 

The economy of the white settlers in the Cape was dependent on farming. Starting from 1657 through 1703 the farming was mainly concentrated in the cape region under the authority of the VOC. From 1703 onwards Willem Adrian van der Steel permitted the pastoral farming, land-owning and free-trading with the KhoiKhoi in regions further inland as well.

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