South Africa, like other African countries, became a victim of the colonial rule. The colonization of South Africa began with the establishment of the Dutch East India Company whose role was to supply the Dutch sailors with essentials. The localization of the company initiated the colonization process which was further enhanced by establishment of white settlers who made further explorations in search of agricultural land.
The colony changed hands between the British and the Dutch before finally settling on the British in the year 1806. The cape colony was then expanded amid continuous conflicts with the African communities. Measures by the colonial British to suppress the Africans led to a number of policies being formulated. This assignment seeks to discuss the claim that the main concern of the British at the Cape was the survival of the colonists, not the welfare of the colored and the black communities. The political influence of the Britons achieved control in 1853; this was after establishing a government.
The area of cape had its own form of governance that was tuned to the living conditions of the area. The paper, will explore the policies that were established by the British during the periods that proceeded the year 1854. Also, it will discuss these policies with the aim of establishing whether or not, the main concern of the British was the survival of the colonialists.
The British in attempt to control the South African territory, introduced a number of policies and legislations in the land from 1809 – 1812. The policies introduced were meant to take full control of the territory from as early as 1806. Their intention was to get rid of Xhosa community from all the places they once shared with the Trekboers. The first thing the British did was to force the Boers to let go all the Xhosa that existed and made a living in their farms.
Evicting the Africans living in the area west of Fish River commenced the extension of the British boundaries. Since the process was faced with some resistance, it was accompanied by wars and intimidation. The eviction process was awfully vicious since the Xhosas were not regarded as complete humans. Even though the Xhosas did put up a fight, their military capabilities had no chance against the British.
One of the major advantages the British had on the Africans while fighting, was that the African communities were not organized and were divided. There were small conflicts within themselves regarding the leadership and superiority of communities. The British would form alliances with some of the communities to specifically create rivalry between the African communities. Once the rivalry had been established, they would conquer their African enemies and later their alliances.
Therefore the alliances they formed were only temporary; it was just a means of conquering referred to as divide and rule. The conquered lands were then divided into farms belonging to the British while other areas were secluded to harbor the African workers. Afterwards, over 5000 British immigrants were brought to live on those farms. The area was divided into districts which were headed by white magistrates. This ensured that they had full control of the territory. Only an area east of Kei remained unconquered by the British, thus remaining under the control of the Africans living within the area.
The area of cape was fertile and had massive land for agriculture. Since at that time the whites were few, sufficient labor was a problem. In one way or the other, the British needed to come up with ways that would enable them to get cheap labor from the Africans. One of the first initiatives introduced was a legislation that ensured the Africans worked with very little pay. This was a strategic move since they figured that if they depressed some of their basic needs, they will have no strength to stand against the British. Another policy called the Hottentot code was introduced in 1809, and it required coloured people to be walking with passes that showed their identity, where they lived and their masters were.
This policy crippled any form of movement of the Africans within this territory. It is a known fact that if movement was allowed, it would have been easier for the Africans to mobilize each other and form resistance groups. Failure to have a pass lead to forced labor in a white settler’s farm. The other reason for the Hottentot code was to ensure that all the Africans were working in the farms full time. The code also subjected the Africans to taxation even though they had little pay.
The “ordinance 50” was introduced in 1828 and updated in 1841. The policy negated the earlier Hottentot code and brought the impression of freedom for the locals. This policy permitted the African workers to move about freely in the cape region. Also, they were given the right to choose whoever they wished to be employed by and also the liberty of starting their own farms. Even though they were granted this freedom, their situation remained the same; they were still paid a minimum wage and still lived and worked in the same places. Working conditions were not improved and they still continued to pay taxes. The idea of making the Africans think that they had freedom, ensured that they would not rebel but instead continue working for the white settlers. This liberation act had little to do with the real position on the locals.
The process of Anglicizing of the Cape Colony, which basically started in 1820 after the arrival of a substantial amount of British settlers, caused great division between local inhabitants and the British. This process included reformation of the judicial system such that it was at par with that of Britain. Also, the process ensured that schools with the British curriculum were introduced. Ministers from Scotland were brought to serve in all the congregations including the Boer’s.
Finally, English was made the official language in the region. In short, the whites were bringing their culture to the cape region and enforcing it on everybody who was there. This ensured that the British identity was never lost and also the other types of cultures were pushed away. Their intention was robbing the Africans their culture. They figured that a man, who had no culture, had no sense of belonging and pride. Without an identity, the Africans had no will to live or even fight for freedom. They were demoralized and their children were made to understand that they were inferior to the whites.
Although the Cape constitution of 1854 gave the rights to indigenes people to vote, in reality many conditions like age and qualification were an obstacle for the African people to express their rights. In addition, not much was done for the welfare of the coloured classes to provide education opportunities for them. Schools on the Cape were exclusively white and education for coloured people was left to the missionary schools. The education offered at the missionary school was meant to ensure that they maintained their loyalty to the white man. They were taught that the white man brought them civilization and good health. They were made to believe that a white man was a blessing sent by God himself.
In 1806 he British firmly established colonial rule in South Africa with their political, economical and social ideologies of white supremacy. In its move to firmly control the territory, the British established a variety of legislations and treaties. These administrative structures helped colonialists ensure sufficient labor for productive capitalistic economy as well as run the Colony to the British concepts of law, order and justice. Overall, they ensured that they had a tight grip on all the activities of the Cape region.
A closer look at the British policies discussed in this paper illustrates that although the position of the blacks, Khoikhoi and other groups were fairly protected by laws, their position was that of subordination. Conflicting laws were established to offer Africans false notion of freedom. Even after the abolition of slavery, there was still widespread racism in South Africa. It can therefore be concluded that the main interest of the British was not to safeguard the natives, but to protect the interest of the colonialists.