| SOUTH AFRICAN POPULATION BY GROUP, 1911-1993 | |||||
| source: Leonard Thompson, A History of South Africa. Yale, 1995 | |||||
| Year (elements in percent, column totals in millions) | |||||
| Group | 1911 | 1960 | 1980 | 1993 | |
| African | 67 | 68 | 72 | 76 | |
| Colored | 9 | 9 | 9 | 8 | |
| East Indian | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | |
| White | 21 | 19 | 16 | 13 | |
| Totals | 6 | 16 | 28.7 | 40.3 | |
A region where physical circumstances attracted northern European settlers just before Europe embarked on its modernization, and where those settlers remained for three centuries, a fossil of medieval European attitudes preserved in happy isolation from the rest of the world. And where those settlers, after confronting and subjugating a variety of "native" African groups, found themselves repeatedly challenged by "new Europeans" who came to southern Africa for a variety of motives, nearly all of which collided violently with the ancient rural value system of the older settlers. And where, because incredible mineral riches, and "strategic location" made the region impossible for the world to ignore, this southern Eden seemed inevitably destined to be the stage for a major tragedy. Whether that will happen is even now unfolding. As in many countries, decisions and events elsewhere will have as much to do with the outcome as those made inside South Africa.
A paradoxical sub-theme: That South Africa, so wildly atypical of sub-Saharan Africa today, is, in some ways, quintessentially African, especially in its physical geography.
Roots of South Africa's isolation from the rest of the world: the basis of contemporary tragedy.
Sheer distance from anywhere else. Peninsular location. The analogue between South Africa, western Europe, southeast Asia, and southern India. Ethnic analogues. Southern Africa as refuge area for "primitive" africans: Hottentots and Bushmen-- or Khoisan to use an academically respectable term.
South Africa's formidable physical geography, as seen by outsiders: The smooth straight coast (and the extraordinary importance of those rare places where good harbors were found).
Escarpments: the Drakensberg
Climatic and vegetational barriers to the north. Kalahari and Limpopo Valley.
EXCURSIS:
On the grand pattern of climates in general, and southern Africa in particular. Analogues.
Rain in southern Africa: where it falls, when it falls, and where it comes from. Roles of the ITC, the Polar Front. Analogues in the northern hemisphere.
Ocean currents in the southern (and northern) hemispheres,, and why they matter. Analogues to the Benguela and Brazil Currents, and those in the northern hemisphere. Effect of cold currents on rainfall patterns onshore. The resulting rainfall patterns in Cape Colony, the Caroo, Southwest Africa (Namibia), and Natal. Analogues in the United States.
Why the climate of extreme southern Africa is different than areas to the north, and why it made a difference--and still makes a difference. The basic difference between the southwestern tip of Africa, and the southeastern tip of Africa: Cape Colony vs. Natal.
EXCURSIS II:
The historic roots of European settlement in southern Africa, and why it is not so reasonable to talk about European "imperialism" in South Africa.
What was going on in Europe during the 17th Century. The 30 Years War and its violent consequences. Shifts in power among European states. Roots of the commercial revolution, and the rise of the Dutch Republic. Dutch commercial ambitions, and the extraordinary contrast between them and the ambitions of the Iberian states: Spain and Portugal. How those ambitions affected the way South Africa was settled.
The special nature of the Dutch (Boer) colonists; Mid-17th Century Calvinism, and its attitudes toward race, and toward the land.
The geographical-historical roots of contemporary tragedy in southern Africa. The sequence of events.
(1) The Dutch period and why it mattered: 1652-1815.
-- What the Dutch found in 1652
-- The special physical environment, and how it simultaneously confined and nourished Dutch settlement
-- The special qualities of southern Africa's "native population," as of 1652.
Why the Dutch felt superior.
Increasing isolation of southern Africa from the mainstream of European affairs.
The growing conservatism of Boer Calvinism, especially when compared with European religious and social attitudes. Agriculture as a basis of Boer life, and its consequences. (Boer = peasant/farmer in Dutch)
Demographic changes. Explosion of Boer population, and the reasons for it. (Biblical sanctions, again). What happened to the natives.
(2) Arrival of the British, and why they caused trouble. British rule as part of the post-Napoleonic redistribution of colonies throughout the world. How the British and Boers clashed. Abolition of slavery in the British empire (1833). The Great Trek: getting away from the British and a turning point in Boer history: 1835-36.
(3) The new geography of South Africa resulting from the Trek. What the Boers found in the interior.
-- Physical geography: Veld and Limpopo. Why the Boers took kindly to the Veld, and why they stopped at the edge of the Limpopo...tsetse fly infection
-- Human geography: the Tswana, Xhosa and Zulu, and how they differed from earlier natives that the Boers had encountered. Culture shock, and military shock. Bantu uprisings: 1850 and 1878.
(4) Mineral discoveries and the great collision between Boers and British. The facts. Diamonds at Kimberley, 1867. Gold at the Witwatersrand, 1886. Clash of Boer rural values and the "modern views" of the British. the special quality of British "settlers." The classic confrontation of rural and urban world-views. Political clashes: the First Boer War, 1881. The Second Boer War (1899-1902). Formation of the Union of South Africa (1910), and how it reflected the new relationship between British and Boers, who lost the war and won the peace. The subordinate status of the blacks.
(5) Economic and geographic consequences: what the gold mines needed. The dilemma of cheap labor and how it was solved. The Native Land Act. How the act worked too well and led to competition between blacks and "poor whites" in the work force. The solutions:
-- job reservation, state corporations and influx controls. Indian immigration to Natal. The four "racial" groups.
(6) The rise of Afrikaner nationalism. The National Party, the 1948 election and the advent of formal apartheid. Early version: Group Areas, Race Classification, education. Verwoerd and separate development. The philosophy and the practice. Petty and grand apartheid. Leaving the Commonwealth in 1962.
(7) The geography of apartheid. "Homelands" and where they were located. Resettlement, shanty towns and commuter settlements -- the fragmented city. Population explosion.
(8) How and why Apartheid changed.
Changes -- removal of petty apartheid, abolition of passes, educational change. Later changes in grand apartheid. Reasons: internal and international pressures, economic needs. Internal opposition from blacks starts officially with the founding of the African National Congress in 1910. Early indifference to ANC; Sharpeville (1960) massacre and banning of ANC.
Response -- opposition from external "bases." The Soweto Uprising (1976) and growth of opposition groups: trade unions, the UDF. The crackdown of 1985-9, the state of emergency, detentions and press restrictions. White opposition fitful and on the fringes until 1980s. Involvement of Afrikaners.
International pressures -- "a crime against humanity" (UN), a "heresy" (WCC). Early embargoes and sanctions. The 1980s: divestment, disinvestment and sanctions. The 1990s: South Africa no longer a pariah but are there funds available from outside to help peaceful change and obtain economic justice for the majority? Critical nature of 1992 -- constitutional changes, and the 1995 local elections. What will happen after "power-sharing" goes and Nelson Mandela dies?
(9) Apartheid's second front: Southern Africa. The neighbors. The "white" buffer and its removal with Portuguese withdrawal (1975) and independence of Rhodesia/Zimbabwe (1981). The last colony, Namibia gone in 1990. South Africa's economic and transportation links with neighbors and why they were and are promoted by South Africa. Geography of rail routes.
Destabilization and its rationale. The enormous costs -- Mozambique, Angola, Zimbabwe, Zambia. The SADCC as an African response.
(10) Angolan "settlement" -- the end of the beginning or the beginning of the end. Democratization.
Journals have more recent information but to get a perspective on southern Africa, good books are;
Lapping, Brian, 1987. Apartheid: A History. New York, Braziller.
A clear, concise, readable account of apartheid's evolution.
Omond, Roger, 1986. The Apartheid Handbook. London: Penguin.
A handy source of facts and statistics by a reporter who wrote for a South African newspaper.
Hanlon, Joseph, 1986. Apartheid's Second Front: South Africa's War Against its Neighbors. London: Penguin.
A well researched account of South Africa's destabilization policies.
News items and miscellanea:"Africa's economies: Reforms pay off," NYT 13Mr94 P18, Thomas L. Friedman discusses world bank classification of African nations' GDP change based on how well or poorly they did in macroeconomic policy. Those who reformed generally did better. Looked at 29 sub=Saharan economies in two periods 1981-86 = economic crisis and 1987-1991 when all introduced economic reforms. Those who'd done the tough work earlier did better.
SOUTH AFRICA. "South Africa confronts rapid spread of AIDS," NYT 16Mr93, a1,a6 says that by the end of the dedcade, 3 million, more than 10 percent of the adult population(!) will carry the virus and 160,000 will have AIDS. Five years later about one in four adults will have antibodies to HIV. About 3/4 of the national health budget will be needed said a study by the Medical Research Council.
"Angola says it shot down South Africa transport plane," NYT 24Ja93, p.16 reports the government claim of shooting down an RSA transport flying out of Jamba, former southern base of the UNITA rebel movement. A South African spokesman denied one of its planes was down and that his government was helping the rebels.
"Winnie Mandela builds a base rooted in despair," NYT 28Ja93, p.a3 talks about the attempts of the estranged wife of ANC leader Nelson Mandela to build a political base among young radicals and poor people in the black townships. She is currently out on $70 bail after being convicted in 1991 of kidnappings carried out by her bodyguards. There is resentment about black leaders who have moved themselves and their families to wealthy white suburbs. She has : said power sharing is a bargain between "the elite of the oppressed and the oppressors"; attacked "the notion that suffering at the hands of the enemy automatically qualified a person to be a leader," but responded to queries as to whether she wanted to establish a new power base by saying "I am not about to abandon the ANC to the mercies of elitist politicians. If I have support I will locate that support within the ANC."
"South Africa says it built 6 atom bombs," Bill Keller NYT 25Mr93 p.1 talks of the 15 year program, dismantled in 1989. President deKlerk said the program was not helped by other countries (Israel was rumored to be cooperating). The article also says S.Africa has cancelled plans to build a new long-range solid fueled rocket.
"South Africa's wealth is luring black talent," Bill Keller NYT 12Fe93, p.1 talks of the stream of technical talent from black Africa coming south.
"South African rightists rally behind ex-generals," Bill Keller, NYT 6My93, p3 notes Constand Viljoen, chief (1980-1985) of the SADF while it was involved in destabilizing its neighbors and the fight in Angola has joined the resistance front. White resistance groups are said to be thrilled. There's talk of regional autonomy/separation - somewhat agreeable to the ANC.
"A nice place, parliament, but hark, the bells toll," Bill Keller, NYT 8Fe93, p.4 talks of reaction to the potential demise of the current 3-house legislature.
"Pretoria seeks guarantee of rights it long denied," Bill Keller NYT 3Fe93, p.3 talks of efforts to put a bill of rights into a new constitution.
"White South African party seeks black maids' votes," Bill Keller NYT 28Fe93 p.3 discusses the efforts of the Democratic Party to enroll black household workers. One talked about making it on $115 a month, another $100 a month for 13 hour days of cooking and cleaning.
"Zulus train for battle South Africa fears," NYT, 2 Ap 94, 4 discusses the power struggle between the ruling African National Congress and the Inkatha Freedom Party (possibly more a personal faction devoted to Mangosuthu Buthelezi, a member of the Zulu royal family). That continues to this day (1996) with scarcely a month going by without small massacres of supporters of one group by adherents of the other.
"Too gentle giant," The Economist, 18 No 95, 41-42 reveals the importance now being placed (forced) on South Africa as a civilizing force for the continent. This is largely due to the moral authority of Nelson Mandela. He has said South Africa has enough problems of its own to deal with and has been reluctant to openly intervene in problems in other African countries. The major exception has been Nigeria where Mandela has been a leader in criticism of the current military regime, a force in suspending Nigeria's commonwealth membership. But he has also, as is his nature, left the door open to accomodation.
"South Africa's civil war," The Economist, 6 Ja 96, 31-32 talks about the internecine killings in Natal province among supporters of the ANC (African National Congress) and the (Zulu leadership's) Inkatha Freedom Party.