25 July 1901


Emily Hobhouse addresses public meetings in Britain on the concentration camps

 

Emily Hobhouse addressed public meetings in Britain about the conditions of the Concentration camps during the South African War. These campaigns were aimed at raising awareness about the conditions in the camps and at the same time to rally the support of the British government for the improvement of conditions at the camps. The camps came as a result of the Scorched Earth policy that Lord Kitchener introduced in March 1901. Lord Kitchener used this policy to wipe off the Boer families from their homes including 3000 thousands farms and 40 towns where most Boers lived and placed them in the concentration camps that were created by the British army for the purposes of the war. Although, Kitchener executed the Scorched Earth Policy to his satisfaction, he did not plan on the well being of the people he put on these camps. Some of the accounts displayed at the Anglo Boer War Museum states that:

“Conditions in the camps were less than ideal. Tents were overcrowded. Reduced-scale army rations were provided. In fact there were two scales. Meat was not included in the rations issued to women and children whose menfolk were still fighting. There were little or no vegetables, no fresh milk for the babies and children, 3/4 lb of either mealie meal, rice or potatoes, 1 lb of meat twice weekly, I oz of coffee daily, sugar 2 oz daily, and salt 0,5 oz daily (this was for adults and children who had family members on commando). Children who were under six years of age received 0,5 lb of meal daily, 1/2 meat twice weekly, 1/4 tin of milk daily, 1 oz sugar daily and 1/2 oz of salt daily. This very poor diet led to the rapid spread of diseases such as whooping cough, measles, typhoid fever, diphtheria, diarrhea and dysentery, especially amongst the children.”
(Source: http://www.anglo-boer.co.za/concentration.html)

These are some of the reasons that prompted Emily Hobhouse to go around Britain and appeal for the camps' conditions to be improved. To strengthen her case, Emily Hobhouse wrote a report to the Committee of the Distress Fund in which she detailed the camps' conditions. From this report, a Fawcett Commission was set up to investigate Hobhouse's report. After five months of investigation, the Commission confirmed Hobhouse's report and forced Kitchener to improve the conditions. In the following year, diseases such as measles, whooping cough decreased.

Click here to see the map that shows Concentration Camps around the country between 1899 – 1902.

In recent years, many accounts confirmed the participation of Black people in what was known as the 'White Men's War'. The role that Black people played has had conflicting accounts. Some state that both the Boers and the British army first agreed that Black people should be used as noncombatants. However, according to the Boers, an estimated 150 000 Black people were armed by the British Army and used to track down the Boer Commandos. The result of their participation led to the name Anglo-Boer War being dropped in preference of the name South African War. The name was later changed to the latter, as most historians and the general public felt that it was historically correct in a sense that the former excluded any participation by the Black people whereas the latter proves otherwise.

More on the South African War click here

Sources:

http://www.anglo-boer.co.za/concentration.html