The development, pursuit and maintenance of a South African Antarctic policy : 1926-1988
- Authors: Laverde, René
- Date: 1991
- Subjects: Antarctic Treaty -- (1959) , Antarctica -- History , South Africa -- Foreign relations -- Antarctica
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:2523 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1001852
- Description: Connections between South Africa and Antarctica can be traced as far back as the 1700s when European expeditions in search of the southern continent used Cape Town (and later Simonstown) as a base of operation. This link expanded considerably after formal British acquisition of the Cape of Good Hope in 1815, yet it was not until 1926 that an actual South African policy towards the Antarctic began to materialize. Once this policy was established it continued to be characterized by procrastination as well as resistance both from within and without South Africa. The history of South Africa's Antarctic policy can be divided into five periods: first, the commencement of the policy (focusing primarily on economic interests), 1926-1939; second, the pursuit of interests through the policy (focusing on political interests), 1944- 1958; third, the entrenchment of South Africa's interests in the Antarctic (by securing South Africa's position within the Antarctic Treaty System), 1958-1960; fourth, the expansion of and foreign assault on the policy (under the auspices of the Antarctic Treaty System), 1960-1988; and fifth, the defence of and future prospects for the policy (from United Nation's calls for South Africa's exclusion from the Antarctic Treaty System), since 1982. While resistance from inside and outside the government during the first two periods resulted from inadequacies in the South African Antarctic policy itself, resistance in the final two periods has centred upon non-Antarctic issues. As South Africa has faced ever-increasing exclusion from international governmental organizations over opposition to Its apartheid policies, organizations such as the Antarctic Treaty Organization have inevitably been drawn into the debate. As a result, the Consultative Parties of the Antarctic Treaty (of which South Africa is one of the original twelve) have been forced to deal with the following question: to what extent will political issues outside the scope of the management policies of the Antarctic Treaty Organization be allowed to affect the functioning of the Antarctic Treaty System? While the Consultative Parties continue to ponder this and the fact that South Africa's Consultative Status has become the most divisive factor within the Antarctic Treaty System, no final solutions to these issues appear likely before 1991.
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- Date Issued: 1991
The diaries of Thomas Shone: 1820 settler, 1838-39 and 1850-59
- Authors: Silva, Penny
- Date: 1982
- Subjects: Shone, Thomas, 1784-1868 , Shone family , British settlers of 1820 (South Africa) , Cape of Good Hope (South Africa) -- History -- 1814-1852 , Cape of Good Hope (South Africa) -- History -- 1853-1871 , Clumber -- History
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:2583 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1005799 , Shone, Thomas, 1784-1868 , Shone family , British settlers of 1820 (South Africa) , Cape of Good Hope (South Africa) -- History -- 1814-1852 , Cape of Good Hope (South Africa) -- History -- 1853-1871 , Clumber -- History
- Description: I first read the diaries of Thomas Shone in 1971, when working on manuscripts in the Cory Library, Rhodes University, for the Dictionary of South African English on Historical Principles. The diaries were a significant source of South African English; but more than that, they created a moving and vivid picture of one man's life and personality, which made a deep impression. Written daily (unlike many other settler writings, which are reminiscences), the diaries proved to be a journey into the interior life of Thomas Shone, with all his guilt, pain and occasional joys, documented in his idiosyncratic style. Photographs show Thomas to have been a man with a determined, even hard, mouth, and piercing eyes under rather lowering brows. If he was like his son, Thomas junior, he was "erect and bright", and of the "typical Shone build, rather stumpy and fairly broad." His command of language suggests a good education and a sharp intellect, strangely at variance with his description as a labourer. His writing is imbued with the archaic ring of the King James Bible, and much of the charm of the diaries lies in their movement between the sublime and the mundane, as when Shone breaks a discussion of his need to be faithful to God, to note that "Sarah sat a hen on 22 eggs." Shone's diary is an intensely personal document, yet there are signs that he was at times conscious of a possible audience. His use of the phrase "My friends" to address his readers " is likely to have been part of a convention of the time, rather than overt acknowledgement of the presence of an audience; however at the most personal level of all, his relationship with his mistress, he was not explicit, but employed a form of code (.∶.) Furthermore, there is evidence that he kept a rough diary, from which he later made a neat copy. Thomas began his diary in order to record his attempt to stay away from drink, but his writing soon came to mean more to him than this. He gradually introduced notes on his daily activities, and his temptation to drink became just one part of a personal history. From 5 August 1838, when he first wrote of the loss of his wife, the diary became an important outlet for his misery. Despite his unhappiness, Thomas took delight in the use of sarcasm and wry humour to comment on the foibles of humanity. "Me and Billy went to Mandy's; I cut my thumb and three trees", he wrote; and "Indian corn bread makes my belly ache... (My relations have the mind ache; I believe it is worse than the belly ache.)" "Religion is flying away to other parts as fast as it can; the religion here is money, and Cattle and a covetious Spirit for other men's goods ", he grumbled of the Clumber community. The most effective (and prolonged) use of his gift for sharp conment may be found in his description of the watchnight service at Clumber. Shone seems to have possessed a natural flair for language, and used metaphor and simile to good effect, as in the following examples: "Now am I like a dove that as lost his mate"; Every thing seems quiet; I have still a war in my mind"; "Riches very often finds wing and flys away"; and "My mind is like the troubled sea, never at rest". He often showed an affinity for rhythm and alliteration, probably as a result of his familiarity with Biblical English: "These are my days of grief and sorrow"; "poor poverty"; and "Hard is my fate... all things seem to go contrary, strive which way I will." These examples of language provide a strong contrast with his reporting of everyday activities: Shone changes from one linguistic register into another in his movement from introspective to factual writing. At times Shone achieves an extraordinary vividness in his description of small incidents, as in his stories of encounters with monkeys, or his report of an altercation with his son Jack. One of the loveliest passages is his account of a day spent on his old location at Scott's Bottan. Thomas was "political" only insofar as politics touched his own life. For the political historian the diaries are frustrating; except for his descriptions of the War of Mlanjeni, Shone shows little interest in the wider issues of his time. However, the diaries show the complex web of relationships in a small community, and give insights into commercial interaction, domestic activities, marriage ties, religious attitudes, family behaviour and interpersonal conflicts, all set within the political tensions of the frontier society. As the diaries progressed, and Thomas Shone aged, he weed from being an active participant in the life of the frontier, to being an onlooker and commentator. Possessed of a mind (and tongue) which isolated him from many of his neighbours, he was no doubt also separated from his community by his relationship with Ann Hiscock and by his heavy drinking. The diaries became his vehicle for expressing the inexpressible; and in the end it was religion which gave him solace. It is the "interior" diary which provides much of the fascination which Shone's writings hold for the modern reader. Professor Guy Butler has pointed out that writing was a secondary activity for the settlers, whose chief preoccupation was survival in a difficult environment. Shone's diaries certainly reflect his economic struggle; but it is their portrayal of his pilgrimage through life which makes them remarkable.
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- Date Issued: 1982
The diary of C. L. Stretch - a critical edition and appraisal
- Authors: Crankshaw, Grahame Bruce
- Date: 1960
- Subjects: Stretch, Charles Lennox, 1797-1882 , South Africa -- History -- Frontier Wars, 1811-1878 , Treaties -- Interpretation and construction
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:2535 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1002387 , Stretch, Charles Lennox, 1797-1882 , South Africa -- History -- Frontier Wars, 1811-1878 , Treaties -- Interpretation and construction
- Description: In the investigation of the Diary and its validity as evidence, the origin and structure of the treaty System, and the functioning of the treaties, in both their original form and subsequent modification, has been examined, with special reference to Stretch and the Gaika tribes.
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- Date Issued: 1960
The diary of James Brownlee
- Authors: Brown, Alastair Graham Kirkwood
- Date: 1981
- Subjects: Brownlee, James, 1824-1851 -- Diaries , South Africa -- History -- Frontier Wars, 1811-1878
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:2598 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1007678 , Brownlee, James, 1824-1851 -- Diaries , South Africa -- History -- Frontier Wars, 1811-1878
- Description: James Brownlee was born in April 1824. He was the second of three sons (and five daughters) born to the missionary John Brownlee, and his colonial born wife Catharine. The importance of James as an historical character is obscured by that of his father and elder brother Charles. James had a varied career which was cut short by his untimely death in March 1851 at the youthful age of twenty-six years and eleven months. We are fortunate that he has left a vivid account of several aspects of the seventh Frontier War in a diary which he kept from April to September 1846. The diary also points to the significance of his family in the history of the Eastern Cape. Thesis, p. 1.
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- Date Issued: 1981
The diary of Robert John Mullins (1833-1913)
- Authors: Nicholls, B M , Charton, N C J , Knowling, Mary
- Date: 1998
- Subjects: Mullins, Robert John, 1833-1913 , Church of the Province of Southern Africa -- Clergy , Missions -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Cattle Killing, 1856-1857 , St Mark's mission , St Luke's mission , Missionaries -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Education -- South Africa -- Cape of Good Hope , Bolotwa mission , St Peter's mission -- History , Grahamstown (South Africa) -- History , Kaffir Institute -- Grahamstown
- Language: English
- Type: Book
- Identifier: vital:527 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1004350 , Mullins, Robert John, 1833-1913 , Church of the Province of Southern Africa -- Clergy , Missions -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Cattle Killing, 1856-1857 , St Mark's mission , St Luke's mission , Missionaries -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Education -- South Africa -- Cape of Good Hope , Bolotwa mission , St Peter's mission -- History , Grahamstown (South Africa) -- History , Kaffir Institute -- Grahamstown
- Description: Summary of Content: This volume offers its readers extracts from the diary and the correspondence of Robert John Mullins, Anglican missionary, priest and in due time principal of what was called the Kafir Institution in Grahamstown and as such a pioneer in the field of western education to black South Africans. After his marriage to Jennie Roe he was assisted in all that he undertook by a loyal and devoted wife. The editors have made use of the earlier diaries and manuscripts because of the light they shed on the conditions in the eastern Cape frontier in the crucial years before and after the cattle-killing. While Mullins' own observations are those of a young missionary his remarks and the record of his experiences are themselves to be viewed in the light of the recent scholarship in regard to the cattle-killing which reveals the multisidedness of an appalling social tragedy. What Mullins wrote records, for better or for worse, episodes which show how South Africans of different origins have in the past regarded one another. Mullins was a committed Christian eager to offer to all whom he could reach the salvation of Christ in which he so fervently believed.He was often intolerant of Xhosa customs he could not understand as well as often perplexed and discouraged. But the overwhelming impact of this record is what it took to be a missionary: courage, commitment, humour, resilience, a capacity to endure physical hardship and enjoy physical activity. All these were qualities which Robert John Mullins possessed in abundance. As his diary shows they were the qualities the frontier demanded. Working over a long period of time Nancy Charton and Brenda Nicholls (who became a coeditor in 1991) have transcribed the diary entries and the correspondence working with the help of the sites of some of the missionary activity. The help of members of the Mullins family (notably Judy Sturrock and her husband) is gratefully acknowledged. Earlier generous contributions made it possible to obtain a typescript from which the editors could work. Every effort has been made to identify the individuals (Xhosa, Tembu and white) and events (both in South Africa and abroad) which are alluded to in the diary. This was a time consuming task and the editors are grateful to all who helped them with it. The book consists of an introduction and eleven chapters. The introduction describes the material and the methods of the editors, discusses the religious and social conditions of the time, addresses the problems of interpartition presented by the cattle-killings, turns attention to the dilemmas of missionaries and then focusses the attention of readers on the diarist Robert John Mullins (with Jennie as later stand-in) as well as the value of the diary. There is much to interest the educationist, the theologian, the economist, and the historian. Chapter 1 deals with Mullins' voyage to the Cape in 1854 and the extracts record the experiences of an exuberant as well as a dedicated lad of sixteen. Chapter 2 deals with the arrival at the Cape in 1854. Chapter 3 gives us a picture of Mullins' experience of Graham's Town in 1854. Chapter 4 deals with Mullins' experience at St Luke's Mission. Chapter 5 covers the period of 1856-57 when Mullins was at Balotwa and the cattle-killing frenzy developed. Chapter 6 describes the hunger and turmoil which followed in the wake of the cattle-killing. Chapter 7 describes the founding of a new station, St Peter's Gwytyu. Chapter 8 is concerned with life at St Peter's in the early months of 1858. Chapter 9 covers the last months at St Peter's and his journey to the Bashee. Chapters 10 and 11 cover the early years in the married life of Robert John Mullins and his wife Jennie. The Mullins' delight in family life is strongly evident in their joy in each other's company and their anxious joy over their first-born baby. Chapter 11 gives the reader the texts of letters written by Robert John and his wife Jennie in the years which marked the end of Mullins' career as a frontier missionary, and the opening to him of the opportunity to become Principal of the Kafir Institution. A map carefully prepared by Mr Oakley West of the Geography Department, with the assistance of Deby Brody, enables the reader to trace the frontier journeys of Robert John Mullins and his wife Jennie who were among the pioneers of frontier societies who did their best to make available to others what they believed to be the eternal benefits of the Christian faith, and the accompanying mores of the 'western' culture of their day.
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- Date Issued: 1998
The English East India Company and the British Crown: c. 1795-1803, the first occupation at the Cape of Good Hope
- Authors: Jordan, Calvin
- Date: 2018
- Subjects: East India Company , East India Company -- Influence , Cape of Good Hope (Colony) , Cape of Good Hope (South Africa) -- History -- 1795-1872 , Cape of Good Hope (South Africa) -- Politics and government -- 1795-1872 , British -- South Africa -- History -- 19th century , Great Britain -- Colonies -- Commerce , Great Britain -- Colonies -- Administration -- History -- 19th century , Merchant marine -- Great Britain -- History
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/63164 , vital:28369
- Description: My thesis aims to investigate the relationship between the English East India Company (EEIC) and the British colonial administration at the Cape of Good Hope during the first British occupation (1795 to 1803). Studies and literature that concern the EEIC have rarely gone beyond the surface, detailing the presence of the EEIC at the Cape, and neglecting the Company’s involvement in the administration thereof. My thesis draws on prior works but attempts to address both temporal and spatial gaps in this literature on the Atlantic and Indian Ocean, and the history of the EEIC. This study takes note of the seaborne related activity around the ports, bays and islands at the Cape – including the regulation of these spaces and issues related to securing British trade and colonial possessions more generally. I question the framing of the Cape primarily as a constituent of a national unit by locating the colony within a broader global and maritime context. A key interest is to determine the degree to which the EEIC influenced and participated in the British governance of the Cape, particularly by exploring the maritime dimensions of the relationship between the EEIC and colonial governance during this particular period. This involves understanding the embeddedness of the Cape in British (Crown and Company) networks and the constitution of a ‘British maritime zone’. This study uses archival sources drawn from the British colonial government records, Company records, and the private diaries and letters of Lady Anne Barnard that relate to the Cape. It is shown that a uniquely configured governance convention was constituted to secure the mutual commercial and imperial interests of both Crown and Company. By keeping the Cape secure, the British sought to keep their greater seaborne Empire secure. This study reveals that the EEIC was significantly involved in and influenced the way the British administration governed the Cape.
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- Date Issued: 2018
The executive government of the Cape of Good Hope, 1825-54
- Authors: Fryer, Alan Kenneth
- Date: 1959
- Subjects: Cape of Good Hope (South Africa) -- History -- 1795-1872
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Doctoral , PhD
- Identifier: vital:2604 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1011896
- Description: The study of administrative processes is a relaltively new one both in the field of history and sociology. In both disciplines what is required is study of the sructure and growth of adminstrative systems and of the impact of administrative action on the community it seeks to serve and which it often provokes. In the field of history, Professor F. Tout in his chapters on administrative history ... gave new vitality and understanding to medieval studies. In the main, South African history, though probably not more so than other Commonwealth countries, has been less fortunate. Preface, p. 1.
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- Date Issued: 1959
The failure of the Coloured Persons' Representative Council and its constitutional repercussions, 1956-1985
- Authors: Saks, David
- Date: 1992
- Subjects: South African Labour Party , Federal Coloured People's Party -- South Africa , South Africa. Parliament , South Africa -- Politics and government -- 20th century , South Africa -- Race relations , Coloured Persons Representative Council of South Africa , Colored people (South Africa) -- Politics and government , Political parties -- South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:2624 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1015907
- Description: The thesis starts by providing a brief overview of South African ''Coloured" politics from the passing of Ordinance 50 in 1828 to the removal of the Cape Coloured people from the common voter's roll in 1956. It then goes on to discuss in detail the structures instituted by successive Nationalist Governments to serve as an alternative to parliamentary representation for the coloured people, the role of the various coloured political parties within such structures and the latter's gradual adaptation and development, culminating in the inauguration of the Tricameral Parliament in early 1985. The thesis is, on the one hand, a detailed record of coloured political activity following the loss of common roll voting rights in the Cape, focusing on specifically coloured political parties rather than on broader, non-ethnic resistance movements in which many coloured people took part during the same period. This covers the rise and rapid decline of a conservative grouping within the coloured community which sought to foster an exclusively coloured nationalism operating within the Government's policy of parallel development, and attempted to use the Coloured Persons' Representative Council as a means towards achieving the economic, social and political upliftment of the coloured people. It also deals with the important role of the Labour Party after 1966, showing how a moderate resistance movement carne to use the Council as a platform from which to confront the Government's apartheid policies and to render the institutions of parallel development unworkable through noncooperation and boycotting. The second important preoccupation of the thesis concerns the ambiguous and often contradictory attitudes towards the "coloured question" within the National Party itself. This ambivalence, it is argued, not only had much to do with the eventual failure of the Coloured Persons' Representative Council to become a viable substitute for Parliamentary representation acceptable to the majority of coloured people, but was also a primary cause of the National Party split in 1982. It shows too how the collapse of Grand Apartheid had its origins in the failure to incorporate the coloured population within its framework. The thesis is concerned primarily with coloured political developments. When relevant, however, the establishment and development of representative institutions for the Indian people is also dealt with, in so far as this overlaps with issues and events concerning the coloured Council. Finally, the five year period following the dissolution of the Coloured Persons' Representative Council in 1980 and the inauguration of the Tricameral Parliament in 1985 is briefly dealt with in a concluding chapter. This mainly concerns the gradual accommodation reached between the Government and the Labour Party when the latter eventually agreed, conditionally, to take part in the new constitution.
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- Date Issued: 1992
The formulation of modern power configurations in the Keiskammahoek district of the Ciskei from c.1948 to the present
- Authors: Westaway, Ashley Frank Hurford
- Date: 1993
- Subjects: Keiskammahoek (South Africa) -- Social conditions , Keiskammahoek (South Africa) -- Economic conditions , Power (Social sciences) -- South Africa -- Keiskammahoek
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:2573 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1002426 , Keiskammahoek (South Africa) -- Social conditions , Keiskammahoek (South Africa) -- Economic conditions , Power (Social sciences) -- South Africa -- Keiskammahoek
- Description: Much of the available documentation, and the multiple oral testimonies collected for this thesis agree that the most important changes that have occurred in Keiskammahoek district over the past half century resulted from the implementation of the government's conservationist policy known as betterment. The work is thus dominated by a wideranging look at betterment in Keiskammahoek The thesis is arranged chronologically, and each of the successive periods designated is analysed in terms of power. The first period considered is c.1920-c.1936; this was the time during which betterment policy was conceived. The key question that is posed here is why the policy was formed. Foucault's idea of power/knowledge features prominently in answering this question. For all of the remaining periods a conspicuously ,important power relation (unequal relationship) is chosen, and the analyses consist of plotting the histories of the various relations. The first of these periods is that which preceded the implementation of betterment in the district, i.e. c.1936-1960. Since multi-form resistance against betterment characterised this period, the power relation considered is that between the state and the various communities of Keiskammahoek. Next, attention is given to the actual implementation of betterment in the district. Because betterment affected locations in which land was held communally so differently from locations in which land was held under title, these two categories of location are analysed separately. In communal locations, a power relation spawned by betterment that has come to dominate life is that between village neighbours. In the other category of location, betterment has often further differentiated the power relation between title-deed holders and non title-deed holders. The thesis is not exclusively devoted to betterment. The 1970s saw many people being forcibly removed to Keiskammahoek. The final section of the work examines these events in relation to the changing economy of South Africa. In this section the power relation that is deemed important is that between the employed and unemployed The overall aim of the thesis then is to give an indication of the variety of forms or configurations of power that run through modernday Keiskammahoek.
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- Date Issued: 1993
The governorship of Sir Galbraith Lowry Cole
- Authors: Scheepers, Unus
- Date: 1940
- Subjects: Cole, Galbraith Lowry, Sir, 1772-1842 , Colonial administrators -- South Africa -- Cape of Good Hope , Cape of Good Hope (South Africa) History -- 1814-1835 , Cape of Good Hope (South Africa) -- Race relations , Slaves -- Emancipation -- South Africa -- Cape of Good Hope , Xhosa (African people) -- History -- 19th century , Xhosa (African people) -- Colonization -- South Africa -- Cape of Good Hope , Khoikhoi (African people) -- History -- 19th century
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:2600 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1007899 , Cole, Galbraith Lowry, Sir, 1772-1842 , Colonial administrators -- South Africa -- Cape of Good Hope , Cape of Good Hope (South Africa) History -- 1814-1835 , Cape of Good Hope (South Africa) -- Race relations , Slaves -- Emancipation -- South Africa -- Cape of Good Hope , Xhosa (African people) -- History -- 19th century , Xhosa (African people) -- Colonization -- South Africa -- Cape of Good Hope , Khoikhoi (African people) -- History -- 19th century
- Description: From Conclusion: There were no great upheavals during Cole's governership, but his rule has been a very interesting study. The old order of things was coming to a close. The way was prepared under Cole for freeing of the slaves; and the old despotic rule became a thing of the past. The British Settlers agitated for and obtained a free press; thus the foundation was laid for democratic institutions. He was the first governor to lay emphasis on the necessity of municipal councils not only as a way of decreasing expenditure, but also as a school for representative government. The Boers were becoming race conscious and the present orientation of the political parties had their origin in this period, though subsequent events have made the political struggle embittered. Above all the stage was being set for the Great Trek and the opening up of the whole of the present Union of South Africa and Rhodesia ... Last but not least the native question was entering upon its modern phase. Chiefs were losing their power, they admitted that they could not control their subjects, and natives were entering the service of Europeans; not only to steal with greater impunity but also to be able to enjoy the security offered by a well organised and disciplined society.
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- Date Issued: 1940
The historiographical development of the concept "mfecane" and the writing of early Southern African history, from the 1820s to 1920s
- Authors: Richner, Jürg Emile
- Date: 2005
- Subjects: South Africa -- History , South Africa -- Historiography , Bantu-speaking peoples -- Migrations , Africa, Southern -- History -- Mfecane period, 1816-ca. 1840
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:2554 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1002406 , South Africa -- History , South Africa -- Historiography , Bantu-speaking peoples -- Migrations , Africa, Southern -- History -- Mfecane period, 1816-ca. 1840
- Description: The mfecane was for most of the twentieth century regarded as a historical certainty for the South African public and the Apartheid government, as well as for historians here and world-wide. The mfecane had achieved the permanence of a paradigm and a dominant discourse, as it was accepted equally by settler, liberal, Afrikaner, Africanist and Neo-Marxist historians. This certainty was shaken when Cobbing’s mfecane critique appeared in 1988, with which I concur. This study examines how mfecane history was written from the first published articles in mid-1823 until Walker coined the concept mfecane in 1928. This thesis undertakes a journey through a host of published works, books, pamphlets and articles in journals, magazines and newspapers, from which a number of conclusions emerge. The mfecane narrative was developed over a period of a hundred years in the English language by almost exclusively white, English-speaking male amateur historians and ethnographers. Their occupations, age, ideology and level of education differed markedly, but they shared one European ideological value, the discourse of the European “Image of Africa”, which regarded Africans as the negative Other of their own positively perceived society. This was a culturallyshared view of Africans, which formed the baggage in the mind of all writers examined, and accounts for the mfecane narrative’s negative attitude towards Africans. Furthermore, mfecane history was influenced by racism and the use of literary devices such as the gothic novel and the romance. Authors writing in the 1823 to 1846 period on events which had taken place in the “blank space” beyond the Cape Colony, which most of them had never visited, laid the basis for the mfecane narrative. It constituted a set of geographical or ethnically focused, separate accounts. These separate accounts focused on the themes of Shaka’s creation of the Zulu state, including his expulsion of several chiefdoms; his depopulation of Natal and the flight of the Fingo to the Transkei; the path of destruction of the Hlubi and Ngwane during their flight from Natal via the greater Caledon Valley area to the Transkei; the incorporation of the Kololo and other Sotho chiefdoms into the Mantatees - due to pressure from the invaders from Natal - who subsequently laid waste the Free State and Transvaal as far as Dithakong, where they were defeated; the further depopulation of the Transvaal by the Ndebele during their escape from Shaka; the flight of Moshoeshoe and his people to Thaba Bosiu where he built up the Sotho state, with Moshoeshoe being the only positive figure in this history. This multi-narrative was thereafter repeated without any critical thought by all authors examined until in 1885 Theal created a Zulu-centric, geographically integrated mfecane narrative whereby he integrated the previously separate accounts into one coherent whole - a whole which was so much more than the sum of its parts, but so far without a defining name. That was provided by Walker in 1928 when he coined the Xhosa neologism, mfecane. The Theal, Cory and Walker racist mfecane was thus bequeathed as the mfecane to the rest of the twentieth century.
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- Date Issued: 2005
The history of marine fish systematics in South Africa
- Authors: Gon, O (Ofer), 1949-
- Date: 2003
- Subjects: J.L.B. Smith Institute of Ichthyology Fishes -- Research -- South Africa -- History Fishes -- Catalogs and collections -- South Africa -- History Museums -- South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:2599 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1007800
- Description: South African marine fish collections and systematic research are relatively young, essentially a product of the 20th century. Their history in South Africa comprises three distinct periods: the emergence of fish collections (before 1895), the beginning of research (1895-1945) and modern research (1945-1999). From the outset of their arrival in South Africa in the mid-17th century, the European settlers of the Cape Colony supplemented their diet with fishes. Therefore it is not surprising that when natural history museums appeared in the 19th century fishes were among the first specimens they procured or received from the public. In these early days, fishes were acquired for display purposes and were curated together with other natural history specimens. There were no fish collections as such and, in many ways, the early history of South African fish collections closely followed the history of the institutions in which they were housed. Major political events in South Africa between 1850-1910 had little effect on the slow growth offish collections as the low influx of specimens from the public did not change. None of the museums did any active fish collecting and no fish research as such took place during these years. The second period in the growth of fish collections in South Africa was characterised by a general shift to collecting for research rather than display. It was also a period during which the need for aquatic research was recognized by and began to attract funding from the South African government, starting with the establishment of the Marine Biological Survey in Cape Town. However, with the exception of the Albany Museum's self-trained J.L.B. Smith, no trained marine fish systematists were working in museums either as curators or as researchers. In the first half of the 20"' century South Africa experienced the fast growth of the fishing industry, the development of academic and applied research in marine biology, and the thriving of sport fishing. These developments created a demand for well-trained professional ichthyologists. J.L.B. Smith was the first to fill this professional gap. The growth rate offish collections increased significantly through the interaction between museum scientists, such as Smith in Grahamstown and K.H. Barnard in Cape Town, with the fishing industry, government biologists and fisheries officers, and anglers. Barnard's review of the South African marine fish fauna was published in mid-I920s. The discovery of the first living coelacanth placed South African ichthyology and Smith on the international stage. The identification of this fish, made by a relatively inexperienced Smith, changed the way ichthyology has been viewed in South Africa. At the beginning of the third period, largely due to the establishment of the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research in 1945, science in South Africa underwent a process of reorganisation. As funding became more available museums were able to enlarge their research staff. Natural history museums hired qualified experts to conduct research and manage collections of specific groups of organisms. For the first time, trained ichthyologists started working in museums and initiated research projects that were the main contributors to the growth of fish collections around the country. Furthermore it was a period of consolidation offish collections resulting in two large marine fish collections, one at the South African Museum, Cape Town, and another at the J .L.B. Smith Institute of Ichthyology, Grahamstown. This period also witnessed the establishment of the latter as a research institute dedicated to the study of fishes and its rise to international prominence. The last 55 years at J.L.B. Smith Institute of Ichthyology can be divided into two distinct periods, 1945-1967 and 1968-1999, each consisting of similar elements of research work and objectives. These included the research and production of major reviews of the fish faunas of South Africa, the western Indian Ocean and the Southern Ocean, as well as research on the coelacanth. While in the former period the work was done by one scientist, J.L.B. Smith, the latter period has been characterised by collaborative projects including scientists from South Africa and abroad. As this history shows, the establishment of a viable, long-lasting collection is a lengthy process. For about 60 years the durability of fish collections depended on the enthusiasm and persistence of individual curators and scientists who were not ichthyologists. More often than not, enthusiasm disappeared when such individuals left their museums. This dependence existed until Rhodes University College established the Department of Ichthyology (1947) and the South African Museum created a post specifically for the curation of the fish collection (1957) and thus ensured continuity. The continuity of biosystematic research in South Africa has been a minor concern for the nation's systematists for decades. The threats to marine fish systematics have been of a financial, political and professional nature. The latter has been the most serious one because of the dearth of South Africans trained in marine fish systematics. After J.L.B. Smith's death in 1968 M.M. Smith had to work hard to convince the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research and Rhodes University that she could step into her late husband's shoes. Realizing that there was nobody to take over from her she initiated the first and only postgraduate programme in ichthyology in South Africa. The teaching started in the academic year of 1970171 at the J.L.B. Smith Institute of Ichthyology, but to date only one student has completed a thesis in marine fish systematics. Due to the government's transformation policy all the practising marine fish systematists in South Africa will be retiring in the course of the present decade. Consequently, if no aspiring, motivated students appear on the scene in the next couple of years marine fish systematics in this country will be in a deep crisis by the year 2010, possibly even earlier.
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- Date Issued: 2003
The history of Pirie Mission and amaHleke chiefdom
- Authors: Vazi, Clifford Mlandeli
- Date: 1989
- Subjects: Presbyterian Church -- Missions -- South Africa , Pirie Mission , Ross, John , Xhosa (African people) -- History
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:2528 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1001857
- Description: This thesis deals with the history of the amaHleke people and Pirie Mission, which have become so closely associated that they cannot be separated. It covers the period from the time of Chief Hleke to 1967, the year in which the amaHleke cheiftainship was resuscitated. The first chapter relates the origin of the amaHleke, from the time of Hleke himself (17th century) to Jwarha (about 1820). It explains the relationship between the different branches of the Hleke royal line, and it covers the Hleke settlement at the Mgqakhwebe river. The second chapter deals with the establishment of Pirie Mission by the Presbyterian missionaries John and Bryce Ross. It discusses the various aspects of the mission operation, and explains why and how the amaHleke opposed it. But the situation changed as a result of the 1850-3 Frontier War. Whereas the other Xhosa were expelled from their lands, the Hleke connection with Pirie Mission enabled them to stay on. The Hleke were therefore united with the mission, whether they liked it or not. The remainder of the chapter describes the educational and cultural changes which the mission imposed on them. The third chapter covers economic change at Pirie. Like other mission stations, it was converted from communal to individual land tenure. This was opposed by Chief Jwarha as a blow to his authority, but it did not result in the growth of a peasant class. The chapter concludes with the implementation of betterment in 1963. The fourth chapter explains what happened to the mission after the death of Bryce Ross. The Ross missionaries had frustrated black aspirations in teh church. This was especially frustrating to Burnet and Ntsikana Gaba, the great-grandsons of the prophet Ntsikana. Burnet broke away under the banner of the "Wee Free" branch of the Church of Scotland. This church also could not accommodate Burnet's aspirations. The remainder of the chapter deals with educational developments, with an emphasis on the introduction of Bantu Education. The last chapter deals with the political history of Pirie after the death of Chief Jwarha. The Cape government tried to replace chieftainship by a headman and a Village Management Board. But the Board did not function satisfactorily, and it was scrapped in 1921. Pirie continued to be administered by headmen. Applications for the revival of chieftainship were turned down, partly because there was no agreement on Jwarha's heir. However, this was finally resolved in 1967 with the appointment of Chief Pani Busoshe.
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- Date Issued: 1989
The history of Theopolis Mission, 1814-1851
- Authors: Currie, Marion Rose
- Date: 1983
- Subjects: Barker, George, 1786-1861 , Missions -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape -- History , Khoikhoi (African people) -- History , Xhosa (African people) -- History , Cape of Good Hope (South Africa) -- History -- 1814-1851
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:2536 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1002388 , Barker, George, 1786-1861 , Missions -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape -- History , Khoikhoi (African people) -- History , Xhosa (African people) -- History , Cape of Good Hope (South Africa) -- History -- 1814-1851
- Description: This thesis is an investigation of the part played by Theopolis Mission on the Frontier, in the community (both secular and religious)and in the context of race relations. The Journal itself provides the terse, sometimes angry core of commentary on the total situation, and an attempt has been made, by setting it in a broader context, to dispel some of the myths which persist about the role of the Christian missionary, about Khoi Missions (in sharp contast to Xhosa Missions) and about Dr John Phllip. A clear picture has emerged of a people whose life-style, antecedents and history have been inadequately researched in tne period subsequent to 1800.
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- Date Issued: 1983
The letters of Hannah Dennison, 1820 settler, 1820-1847
- Authors: Edgecombe, Dorothy Ruth
- Date: 1968
- Subjects: Dennison, Hannah Elizabeth, 1791-1850 -- Correspondence , British settlers of 1820 (South Africa) -- Correspondence , Cape of Good Hope (South Africa) -- History -- 1814-1852 , Women -- South Africa , British settlers of 1820 (South Africa) , Women -- South Africa -- Correspondence
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:2540 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1002392 , Dennison, Hannah Elizabeth, 1791-1850 -- Correspondence , British settlers of 1820 (South Africa) -- Correspondence , Cape of Good Hope (South Africa) -- History -- 1814-1852 , Women -- South Africa , British settlers of 1820 (South Africa) , Women -- South Africa -- Correspondence
- Description: In 1959, the late Miss M.G. Masson of Salem, at the instigation of Mrs. Dorothy Rivett-Carnac, presented a bundle of Gush family papers to the Cory Library. Among these papers was a series of letters written by Hannah Dennison, who came to South Africa in 1820, as a member of Carton's party from Nottinghamshire. This thesis offers a transcription of the letters together with editorial comment, and the letters from the main source for a reconstruction of the life and attitudes of a most enterprising woman.
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- Date Issued: 1968
The life and influence of William Shaw, 1820-1856
- Authors: Lyness, Peter Howard
- Date: 1982
- Subjects: Shaw, William, 1798-1872 , South Africa -- History -- Frontier Wars, 1811-1878 , Cape of Good Hope (South Africa) -- History -- 1814-1852 , Missions -- South Africa -- Cape of Good Hope , Methodist Church of Southern Africa -- Missions
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:2586 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1006205 , Shaw, William, 1798-1872 , South Africa -- History -- Frontier Wars, 1811-1878 , Cape of Good Hope (South Africa) -- History -- 1814-1852 , Missions -- South Africa -- Cape of Good Hope , Methodist Church of Southern Africa -- Missions
- Description: Preface: William Shaw was undoubtedly one of the greatest of the missionary pioneers to work in southern Africa and it is strange that up until now there has been no major research into his time spent in the Cape Colony and beyond. Apart from his own work, The Story of My Mission, and the Memoir of the Rev. William Shaw by William Boyce, published in 1874, there was nothing devoted exclusively to Shaw until Mrs Celia Sadler published extracts from his letters and journals in Never a Young Man, in 1967. Scholars have examined aspects of Shaw's career in a number of theses, articles and books, but, unlike the attention paid to Dr John Philip, William Shaw has never been the subject of close historical scrutiny. This has, most probably, been attributable to the unfortunate gap in the Shaw correspondence from the late 1830's to the 1850's, but, despite this, I have felt that so important a figure in southern African historiography - both ecclesiastical and secular - should be examined regardless of the lacunae which there might be. When - and if - the missing pieces ever come to light, then the time for the definitive study will have arrived, but until such time there is, most decidedly, a need for what we do have access to, to be sifted and placed in historical context. This is what this thesis has attempted to do with specific reference to his work in the Eastern Cape. As General Superintendent of Wesleyan mission work in "South Eastern Africa", Shaw also had oversight of work in the Bechuana country, but that lies outside the scope of this thesis and requires independent examination. Shaw wrote of the work of the missionary - with his own work firmly in mind, " ... I am fully satisfied ... that wherever there is a British colony in juxtaposition with heathen tribes, or natives, it will be our wisdom to provide for the spiritual wants of the Colonists, while at the same time we ought not to neglect taking earnest measures for the conversion of the heathen."¹ Such an approach made Wesleyan endeavours almost unique in mission history. The proponent of such uniqueness requires a sympathetic yet not hagiographical appraisal. This thesis seeks to accomplish just that. ¹ The Story of My Mission p. 213.
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- Date Issued: 1982
The life and times of Ethel Tawse Jollie : a case study of the transference and adaptation of British social and political ideas of the Edwardian era to a colonial society
- Authors: Lowry, Daniel William
- Date: 1989
- Subjects: Jollie, Ethel Tawse, 1876-1950 Zimbabwe -- History -- 1890-1965
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Doctoral , PhD
- Identifier: vital:2525 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1001854
- Description: This is an appraisal of the career of Ethel Tawse Jollie (1876-1950), the first woman parliamentarian in Southern Rhodesia, and the British Empire overseas, prolific writer and leading intellectual of her political generation who played a key role in the achievement of responsible government in Southern Rhodesia in 1923. As the founder and principal organiser of the Responsible Government Association she imported from Britain a singular political philosophy which made a lasting impression on Rhodesia's political character and social identity. She was an influential figure in British imperialist circles and in the women's suffrage controversy. No other Rhodesian politician had achieved such prominence in the metropole, or possessed such a thoroughly formed, comprehensive ideology, and the propaganda skills necessary to give it effect. The study traces the formation of her ideas within the intellectual milieu of pre-1914 Britain and - through her - its subsequent adaptation in Rhodesia; how, through her marriage to Archibald Colquhoun - explorer, writer and Cecil Rhodes's first Administrator of Mashonaland - she became steeped in the ideology of the Edwardian Radical Right - that reaction to imperial decline denoted by the slogan 'National Efficiency'. By 1915. when she arrived in Rhodesia, she had come to believe that by 1915, when she arrived in Rhodesia, she had come to believe that the salvation of the Empire lay in its 'patriotic' periphery where it was possible to create new societies on Radical Right principles. Both in and out of parliament she gave to Rhodesian public policy and identity a distinct Radical Right hue, which she further enhanced by her involvement in various extra parliamentary pressure groups. It is a life and times study and considerable use is made of contemporary ballads and novels in the belief that immersion in the atmosphere of the period is particularly useful in an intellectual biography of this kind. Comparisons are also made with other British peripheries notably Ulster, Canada and New Zealand. The study challenges the traditional view of Rhodesia as a neo-Victorian intellectual backwater; seeing it rather as a society which continued to import selectively ideas from elsewhere in the Empire. It should interest Commonwealth and - because of its central character - women's historians.
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- Date Issued: 1989
The life and times of Kama Chungwa, 1798-1875
- Authors: Yekela, Drusilla Siziwe
- Date: 1989
- Subjects: Kama, William, 1798-1875 , Shaw, William, 1798-1872 , Methodist Church of Southern Africa -- Missions , Gqunukhwebe (African people) -- History , Wesleyville mission , Gqunukhwebe (African people) -- Kings and rulers , South Africa -- History -- Frontier Wars, 1811-1878 , South Africa -- History -- Xhosa Cattle-Killing, 1856-1857 , Converts -- South Africa , Cape of Good Hope (South Africa) -- Politics and government
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:2520 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1001849
- Description: Few students of History understand the derivation and/or origin of the Gqunukhwebe oath "Ndifung' uChungw' efel' ennyameni: I swear by Chungwa who is lying dead at Mnyameni (Alexandria)." A desire to eludicate this point and other related facts inspired me to undertake a close examination of the history of the Gqunukhwebe people, selecting as my main theme the life-work of Chief Kama. In the first chapter I am discussing the creation of the Gqunukhwebe Chiefdom under Khwane by the Xhosa King, Tshiwo. The central theme here is the Black-White confrontation of the 17th - 18th centuries on the Cape Eastern Frontier. As a result of the collision the Gqunukhwebe people were forced to make a home on the banks of the Thwecu River along the east coast. It was here that Kama reached early manhood. The second chapter describes the establishment of Wesleyville Missionary Station by William Shaw in 1823, the first Methodist Missionary Institution in all Xhosaland. In chapter three the discussion centers on the significance of Kama's conversion. An unforeseen outcome of his public profession of the Christian faith was that it not only stigmatized the latter religion as a force destructive of the old order in Xhosa society, but it also reshaped Kama's political image for the good of his religious life. He not only fled from the neighbourhood of his relations and sojourned in a strange land, but also reinforced the Colonial forces in the contemporary frontier struggles. His integrity, self-sacrifice and pro-Colonial inclination eventually won him Middledrift. Chapter four opens with Kama's settling in Middledrift. The theme here is two-pronged. It presents the 'Cattle-Killing' delusion as a source of new trials for the 'priest-chief', and at the same time exposes the Colonial Government's efforts to gain ascendancy above the Xhosa chiefs. Kama's land was the first testing ground in this respect, and the Chief was initially agreeable to the scheme. Chapter five alludes to instances of Chief Kama's unco-operative attitude as signs that his compromising spirit had its limits. An atmosphere of disregard towards Kama pervades the period. But the adversities that threatened to dominate his later life did not by any means shake his Christian principles and convictions. The traces of his good works may to this day be seen in Middledrift, the traditional home of the Kamas.
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- Date Issued: 1989
The making of ‘loyals’ and ‘rebels’: the 1880 Transkei Rebellion and the Subversion of the chieftaincies of East Griqualand, 1874-1914
- Authors: Snell, Milner Charles
- Date: 2017
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Doctoral , PhD
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/41860 , vital:25142
- Description: In the mid-1870s, influenced by the mineral revolution in southern Africa, the Cape responsible government began to extend colonial rule over the chiefdoms that inhabited the Mthatha- Mzimkhulu region. Although white officials initially negotiated with the leadership of these chiefdoms to accept colonial rule and depended heavily on them to implement new laws, ultimately the Cape government aimed to side-line indigenous political systems and replace them with magistrates and headmen. Colonial officials mistakenly equated indigenous political structures with dictatorial chiefs whose followers were subject to their personal ambitions. In fact chiefs were part of a collective leadership and were very aware and influenced by the needs of their adherents. This work is concerned with how the chieftaincies, or indigenous political systems, of the Mthatha-Mzimkhulu region responded, survived and adapted in the face of colonialism. The chieftaincies were remarkably resilient despite the political and economic changes brought on by colonialism and capitalism and were able to retain some degree of authority amongst their followers and at times obtain recognition from the colonial state. Interactions between the chieftaincies and the colonial state were complex, fluid and ever evolving. Some leaders of chiefdoms co-operated with colonial authorities, either over particular issues at certain times or more generally over longer periods, and were considered by colonial officials to be ‘loyal’. Yet, at other times they resisted the demands and changes being brought on by colonialism and were labelled as ‘rebels’. Questions of how the chieftaincies responded to colonial rule were most critical during the Transkei Rebellion of 1880, which is a central focus of this work. Some chieftaincies co-operated with and served with the colonial military forces in order to spare themselves from the economic and social disruption brought on by war and the confiscation of land by the victors. Other chieftaincies took up arms against the colonial state in an attempt to stop the increasingly unacceptable demands being made of them and to resist the negative changes that colonialism was bringing. Despite their ability to adapt, by the early years of the twentieth century hereditary leaders found themselves increasingly caught between the expectations of their followers and demands made by the colonial administration. Faced with increasing popular criticism, many leaders adapted ambiguous and shifting stances on issues concerning their followers.
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- Date Issued: 2017
The missionary work of the first Anglican Bishop of Natal, the Rt. Reverend John William Colenso, between the years 1852-1873
- Authors: Burnett, B B
- Date: 1947
- Subjects: Colenso, John William, 1814-1883
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:2621 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1014679
- Description: At the outset it had been my intention to make only the slightest of references to the Church Controversy in which Bishop Colenso was involved and to have touched only lightly on his theological position. Apart from anything else I hesitated to enter the arena in which so many had already collided violently and where my own prejudices might be enlisted on one side or the other. It became evident however that Colenso the Controversialist, the Theologian could not be dissociated from Colenso the missionary, without giving an inadequate, and even misleading history of his missionary activities. The Controversy had a serious and deleterious effect on his missionary work, and no estimate of the value of a missionary's labours would be valid without some consideration of his teaching, more especially when his orthodoxy is suspect. I have therefore dealt as briefly as I could with these questions in Chapter V because of their relevance, and because to produce a work on an ecclesiastic without some reference to his tenets would be like writing a biography of Louis Botha without any allusion to his political 'faith', or of Wellington, without any mention of Waterloo. it would represent a distortion of history to write about a Missionary Bishop as though he were an amateur politician, or of a missionary as though he were interested only in finance and administration.
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- Date Issued: 1947