African Journals Online
Historia

Volume 46, Issue 2, November 2001
Abstracts

Cold War II
McDougall, W.A. 305-311

Abstract: An essay in which an eminent American historian considers the significance of the terror attacks on the United States on 11 September 2001.

Herhistorisering en herposisionering : perspektiewe op aspekte van geskiedsbeoefening in hedendaagse Suid-Afrika
Grundlingh, A. 312-326

Abstract: Rehistoricising and repositioning: perspectives on aspects of historical practice in contemporary South Africa This article comments critically on certain aspects of the involvement of the African National Congress government with historical practice in South Africa. It highlights the weaknesses of nationalistic inspired political histories and the shortcomings of the history report authored by the Truth and Reconciliation Committee. In a concluding section it seeks to reposition the discipline as practised at predominantly Afrikaans universities.

'De Ordonnantie (is) eene doode letter'- Die 1871 Transvaalse ondersoek na die handel in vuurwapens met swartes
Bergh, J.S. 327-344

Abstract: “De Ordonnantie (is) een doode letter” - The 1871 Transvaal investigation into trade in Firearms with Africans Trade in firearms with Africans was a central issue in the history of southern Africa in the 19th century. In the South African Republic (ZAR) a number of measures were taken from an early stage to prevent this kind of trade - notably the Proclamation of 24 March 1858. When the question of whether the proclamation should be repealed was put to those who testified before the 1871 Transvaal commission a variety of responses were received. Commandant General Paul Kruger and his supporters supported the perpetuation of this restriction. Those who favoured the termination of the proclamation argued that it was not possible to carry out its stipulations, that it discriminated against “friendly” African communities. Due to the unstable situation in the ZAR in November 1871 the Volksraad decided to postpone a decision on this until its next session. This, however, effectively stalled the matter for many years.

Land, agriculture and racial inequality in South West Africa
Forrest, J.B. 345-364

Abstract: Land, agriculture and racial inequality in South West Africa The settler colony of South West Africa under first German and then South African rule experienced broad land restructurings through which black Africans were displaced onto small `native reserves' in the southern two-thirds of the colony, which became dependent upon the white-dominated livestock economy for trade and wages. A highly professional, competent, and autonomous agricultural extension service provided significant inputs to the white settler-farmers, and to a much lesser extent, to some of the communal areas. However, the assumption of direct South African control over the South West African bureaucracy in 1969 along with the creation of apartheid homelands displaced local agricultural specialists from both white and black rural areas. Most white farmers were not negatively affected as the administration of whites provided its own extension services; black farmers, however, only obtained minimal extension services (when contracted out by the respective homeland authority). Meanwhile, the veterinary department's construction of farm fences and a veterinary cordon fence (`red line') succeeded in keeping most of the country free of serious animal diseases for most of the 20 th century, reflecting the department's technical proficiency, but South Africa's politicization of the use of the cordon fence in the 1960s-1970s helped to assure the marginalization of northern communal area farmers while generating significant popular resentment.

Die VOC-tydperk as navorsingsterrein vir historici
Kapp, P. 367-386

Abstract: The DEIC-period as a field of historical research The founding of the Dutch East India Company (DEIC) in 1602 will be commemorated in various parts of the erstwhile Dutch commercial empire during 2002. The South African event will be an international conference in Cape Town and Stellenbosch in April 2002 and will coincide with the Third Dutch-South African Bilateral Conference of Historians. This article serves as a background to this event. The focus is on what interest serious historical research has shown in the Dutch period of South African history since the eighties of the nineteenth century. The early interests of the founding Dutch professors of History at the University of Stellenbosch naturally led to research on this period. By the late forties this interest showed a marked decline. Researchers at other South African universities showed only a limited interest in the Dutch period. >From the late seventies onwards the situation began to change when the University of the Western Cape developed a new interest in the early contacts between Cape colonists and the Khoi, as well as in the particular nature of slavery at the Cape. The social and economic impact of slavery also received renewed interest from researchers at the University of Cape Town. A series of new publications by South Africans, Americans and Dutch scholars focussed on social relations at the Cape, emphasising the flexibility of Cape society and the developing interaction and contact between colonists, slaves and Khoi. The influence of American interest in and studies on American slavery was clearly visible. The latest doctoral study on the company period is that of Ad Biewenga at the Free University in Amsterdam. He notes that some of the findings of the early research are more reliable than later ones, but that the later research opens interesting new perspectives.

Neither Sandhurst, nor West Point : the South African Military Academy and its foreign role models
Visser, D. 387-404

Abstract: Neither Sandhurst, nor West Point: the South African Military Academy and its foreign role models The South African Military Academy was established on 1 April 1950 with a view to placing officer training in the Union Defence Force on par with international standards; and, specifically, is was to be tailored to the West Point and Sandhurst models. Yet when established, the Academy was completely subservient to its guardians - the University of Pretoria and the SA Military College - and the cadets received an almost purely civilian academic education. Therefore neither in terms of status and atmosphere nor military-academic content was it on par with either West Point or Sandhurst. During the mid-1950s, drawing on the Indian National Defence Academy, Defence Headquarters re-established the Academy as an independent, tri-service academy at Saldanha under the University of Stellenbosch. Yet, conducting very little military training, the Academy still bore only a superficial resemblance to the foreign role models. Only from 1970 was the formative training of all permanent force officers entrusted to the Academy and every effort made to tailor its training programme closely to foreign counterparts, and to West Point and the Dutch military academy at Breda in particular. However, the formative training of candidate officers was returned to the services in 1976, whilst commissioned officers, instead of candidate officers only, were also admitted to the Academy from that date with the result that the Academy became a military university rather than a military academy.

Die probleemstelling : noodsaaklike beginpunt van historiese navorsing?
De Klerk, P. 405-425

Abstract: Stating the problem: an essential point of departure in historical research? It is a general practice in academic institutions that a researcher, when undertaking a research project, clearly identifies and formulates the problem or problems which he or she wants to investigate. Among historians, however, the necessity and importance of a problem statement for doing historical research is not generally accepted. In the article both early and recent books on historical research methods are examined. It appears that many authors of handbooks on historical methodology pay little or no attention to the role of the problem statement, but that there are also a number of writers who emphasize its importance. Although the authors in the latter category all illuminate different aspects of problem statements, their viewpoints supplement rather than contradict each other. The article discusses various reasons for the negative attitude of some historians to problem statements. It is concluded that these reasons result from misconceptions about the nature of history and of historical research.

The impact of the First World War on the Indian commercial class in Natal
Hiralal, K. 426-440

Abstract: The impact of the First World War on the Indian commercial class in Natal At the outbreak of the First World War the Indian the trading class constituted only 10% of the total Indian population. Despite their small numbers, they were a formidable factor in the economy of Natal. Imbued with initiative, trade expertise, and in some cases capital, they established family orientated businesses throughout Natal and monopolised the Indian and the African trade by 1914. As British subjects, they eagerly supported the war effort. It also created economic opportunities for many established businesses who expanded into wholesaling. However, the war also highlighted the unscrupulous nature of some Indian traders who sought to exploit existing conditions for personal gain. This profiteering by several merchants and retail dealers created further divisions and hostility between the trading and non-trading sections of the Indian population. The latter were also targets of petty White traders whose resentment unleashed a wave of anti-Indianism during and after the First world war. This article will examine the impact of the war on Indian family businesses and the nature of trade relations which existed among the various racial groups in Natal.

Die bydrae van Rachel Isabella Steyn tot die noodleningspoging in Duitsland ná die Eerste Wêreldoorlog
Truter, E. 441-454

Abstract: The contribution of Rachel Isabella Steyn to the humanitarian aid programme in Germany after the First World War The different and sometimes difficult circumstances in which Mrs Rachel Isabella Steyn found herself after her husband, President M.T. Steyn's death in 1916, was radically altered when she received a plea for humanitarian aid from a Netherlands humanitarian, Mrs H. Kröller, after the termination of hostilities after the First World War. This plea for the destitute children of post-war Germany was met by Mrs Steyn with dedication and innovation. She was ably assisted by a team of friends and societies in South African, and more especially her prestige as the widow of Pres. Steyn and an associate of Miss Emily Hobhouse. Miss Hobhouse as representative of the Save the Children Fund identified Leipzig in Germany as the city where the need was most acute. Mrs Steyn was not intimidated by the daunting challenge of organisational problems and working with other prominent South African women. Somehow they had to work together in order to get a grant from the Union Government. The first fund-raising effort realised over £10 000 and this effort fed over 8 000 children per day. A second fund-raising effort in 1923 did not realise similar spectacular results but rather focused on assisting laudable individual cases. In both fund-raising efforts the Free State contributed more per capita than any other province. She accepted with Miss Hobhouse, the German Red Cross Medal. She was also honoured in 1925 by the Senate of the Ruprecht Karls University in Heidelberg.

Benjamin Norden en die Neptune-gebeure 1848-1850
Van Wyk, A. 455-476

Abstract: Benjamin Norden and the Neptune events, 1848-1850 Who Benjamin Norden actually was, and the role he played in the development of the South African way of life may probably never be fully known. This article outlines the life of Norden as an 1820 settler in the eastern Cape and later as an active member of the developing Jewish community in South Africa. It focusses specifically on his involvement as a leader of Cape Town society in the Anti-Convict Association and the Neptune incident. Norden's concern about ethical values were interpreted as being against the norms of the Anti-Convict Association whereafter he was not only shunned by society in general, but also by the Jewish community.

Die waagstuk van Afrikaans
Giliomee, H. 477-502

Abstract: The Afrikaans wager `The Afrikaans Wager' takes as its point of departure an essay by N.P. van Wyk Louw, the pre-eminent Afrikaans man of letters. His essay `Die ewige trek' (The eternal trek) published during the Great Trek centenary (1938) argues that there was a `balance in the arguments' at turning points in the development of the Afrikaner 81. N.P. VAN WYK LOUW, Versamelde prosa,vol.1, p. 97. Historia 46(2), November 2001, pp. 477-502. 501.Giliomee people. He discusses three such moments: the Great Trek, the Anglo-Boer War and the decision in 1925 to choose Afrikaans rather than Dutch as a second public language. Louw's emphasis on the irrationality of the choices that were made links up with Thomas Carlyle's perspective that the historian has to depict and gauge chaos. This essay discusses Louw's treatment of the three historical moments and adds two: the introduction of apartheid in the later 1940s and early 1950s and the decision in the late 1980s and early 1990s to surrender of power. The perspective of a balance in the options helps the historian to focus not only on the road travelled but also the one not travelled.

Die era van Suid-Afrika se militêre hoogbloei (1974-1994) met die Vaaldriehoekse samelewing as konsentrasieveld
Fourie, F.Tempelhoff, J.W.N. 503-518

Abstract: The era of South Africa's military acme (1974-1994) with particular reference to the Vaal Triangle South Africa's military involvement in Angola, as from 1975 led to the mobilisation of society. The Vaal Triangle, one of the major industrial regions of the country, was no exception. The local civilian population was mobilised in various ways. Mobilisation efforts focused on women and the youth. Various organisations supported the defence effort. Civil defence held regular exercises while different Vaal Triangle towns had outstanding emergency plans. The armed forces (police and army) provided training for the civilian - e.g. how to use a firearm effectively. Military preparedness was apparent in the activities of the various military units in the region. Vaal Triangle factories also played an important role in the manufacturing of weapons. The Vaal Triangle played a major role in the revolutionary struggle. The Sharpeville incident of March 1960 and the riots of September 1984 in Sebokeng were key local events. Revolutionary organisations capitalised on poor conditions and then mobilised the black community. Many soldiers from the Vaal Triangle lost their lives in service of the country. Many of those who survived are still (in 2000-1) suffering from the effects of post traumatic stress. The political direction after 1989 and demobilisation had a negative effect on the Vaal Triangle. Some military units had to disband. Factories also experienced an under-supply of manufacturing contracts, once the production of companies such as Armscor drastically reduced manufacturing activities.

Savings and survival in a modern African economy : informal savings organisations and poor people in South Africa
Verhoef, G. 519-542

Abstract: Savings and survival in a modern African economy: informal savings organisations and poor people in South Africa It is not normally assumed that informal savings organisations function in developed economies, since they are perceived to be relatively exclusive to developing economies. This study disputes some perceptions in the current international literature on such organisations when compared to the modern South African experience. Informal savings organisations are also not exclusive to poor people, although the majority of participants have low or irregular incomes. This v.study reflects on the current literature in the light of research undertaken in the Gauteng province. It indicates a higher savings propensity than is currently acknowledged and calls for further research to facilitate economic empowerment.