If you are unable to find articles in the newspapers, try magazines and the internet. The word “resistance” should help you in your search on the internet, as key word for your search engine.

THE SA WAR:

Who was involved and how did it influence their lives

After the failure of the Jameson raid, President Kruger of the ZAR was determined to keep the foreigners out of his government. In 1897, Milner was appointed as the new High Commis

sioner. It was his ideal to colonize the Transvaal. All negotiations concern

ing the demands of the Foreigners, such as the right to vote, seats on the Volksraad, etc. between Kruger and Milner failed. The war officially began on the 11th of October 1899.

The first phase of the war was a time of military success for the South Africans. General Piet Cronje successfully besieged Mafikeng and Kimberley. The OFS commandos led by Schoeman and Grobler invaded the Cape Colony and defeated the British troops under General Gatacre and General French at Stormberg.

General Piet Joubert besieged General White’s British troops at Ladysmith, Natal, and defeated the troops of General Sir Redvers Buller in battles at Colenso, Tabanyama, Spioenkop and Vaalkrans. At this stage the British forces were crushed but the South Africans failed to follow up on their success.

Throughout the war the approximately 64 000 men in the commandos were principally from Transvaal and the Orange Free State. Throughout the British Empire, Britain now called in troops to use in the second phase of the war. Approximately 250 000 British troops, with superior weapons, were assured of a speedy victory over the South Africans. Lord Roberts and his second in command, Kitchener, started wiping out the South African resistance step by step. The surrender of General Piet Cronje and his 4 000 men at Kimberley was a devastation for the South Africans, as the way to the North was now open to the British army. In Natal, Buller broke through Colenso and liberated Ladysmith. In 1900, Lord Roberts captured Bloemfontein in March, Johannesburg in May and Pretoria in June. He proclaimed the Orange Free State and the Transvaal, British colonies.

President Paul Kruger sailed to Europe to find help for the South Africans. The third phase of the war had started. The South Africans divided into small commandos, making themselves more mobile. These guerrilla-fighters targeted the British convoys, communication lines and supply lines. The British troops built blockhouses to protect the railway and bridges.

The South African commandos received food and shelter from the surrounding farms. Kitchener put his Scorched Earth Policy into action, destroying farmhouses, livestock and harvests. Thousand of women and children were taken to concentration camps. Emily Hobhouse became famous for her efforts to improve the terrible circumstances of the women

and children in the concentration camps. Thousands of prisoners of war were sent to Bermuda, Ceylon (now Sri Lanka) and St. Helena. South Africans began to defect to the British Forces. Kruger found no support for South Africa in Europe. Most South Africans wanted peace. Finally, on the 31st of May 1902, the Peace Treaty of Vereeniging was signed at Pretoria.

READING 2

Women and Children in the South African War

In the past the role of women in wartime did not receive much attention. Women could move freely, even crossing enemy lines. Some women were accused of spying and executed. They were also accused of helping the enemy and subsequently executed. In those days it was accepted that women should stay at home to care for the children and look after the farm or business. It is a known fact that Genl. Joubert’s wife, Hendrina, accompanied her husband and took part in all the skirmishes that his commando encountered.

The children had to help their mothers. Sons of Boers who were not yet 16 years old, became part of the Boer commandos. One of the clinching factors in the South African War was that the soldiers were worried about their families in the concentration camps. With the women in the concentration camps, there was nobody to supply the fighting farmers with food, shelter or ammunition. The leaders of the commandos were therefore forced to make peace.

1. Write a paragraph to explain the contribution of the women to the SA War.

2. What forced Cronje to surrender at Kimberley? What other action could he possibly have taken?

3. Draw a blockhouse here.

(In Scorched Earth by Fransjohan Pretorius you will find clear pictures.)

(Please try the internet under “Anglo Boer War”.)

QUESTION: What do you think did the British Government gain by these concessions?

SOURCE 1

1. Prisoners of war could return to South Africa.

2. The Dutch language would be accepted in schools.

3. The burghers were allowed to keep their weapons for self defence..

4. Rural committees were founded to resettle survivors and to help supply food, housing, seed and cattle to farm with.

Answers:

DESCRIBE how children lived during the mineral revolution:

technicians : professionals in their area of expertise in industry, e.g. carpenters working in wood or machinists like drilling operators

job provision : providing jobs/work for the benefit of a country’s economy

annex : take over OR including a territory

kampongs : a communal living place, obviously fenced off rooms for black workers

repatriate : sending people back to their land of origin, motherland

segregation : dividing people on account of culture, language or race

self-government : the right to make your own decisions and choose your own representatives to your government

besieged : to have an area surrounded by troops

liberated : when help arrives to free people in an area surrounded by troops

union : a group of people doing the same work uniting to form a body to defend the rights of the members

LIST A:Words:

union, liberated, besieged, segregation, self-government, repatriation, union, carpenters

LIST B:

1. Technicians that receive their education by working in wood, like building cupboards, shelves, etc.

2. People taken as slaves/workers taken from their motherland, sent back to their place of origin.

3. When people are restricted from working or travelling outside their Bantustan, homeland or reserve.

4. When a group of soldiers form a circle around a city and the people inside have to live without food or water or supplies.

5. A society/congress formed by a group of people that does the same work, so that they can act together when they experience problems.

The group must decide what information (from any reading) should be selected

1) Every group member compiles five questions. Write them down.

2) Exchange your questions with at least two other group members.

3) The group members also write down the correct answers.

4) The compiler of the questions marks all the answers.

5) Please check that the other learner’s marks are written down.

MARKS: ------------------

.Questions answered by: --------------------------

Marks out of5: -----------------------