Colonialism, Capitalism and Conflict
The South African war

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The importance of the various roles of the black people in the War.

Traditionally, the focus of historians on black participation in the War was on the roles of black agterryers, touleiers (trackers) servants and scouts. From the 1970s historians began to recognize that black people were more active in the War. It was finally acknowledged that black communities took politically conscious decisions with regard to the War. They have come to understand the significance of decisions of communities to take up arms on the side of the British. These insights are important because they enable us to understand the various responses of disappointed political hopes of the black communities as a result of the establishment of a white state by the victorious Britain. The founding of a white minority state by Britain together with the conquered Boers to the political exclusion of the black supporters of Britain's war effort was a direct reason for the formation of the numerous modern oppositional political organizations such as the South African Native National Congress (SANNC), later known as the African National Congress (ANC), the African People's Organization (APO) or the South African Indian Congress (SAIC), to mention just the most influential political organizations of the time. There were innumerable smaller organizations of trade unions, church and welfare groups, student bodies and sports and recreational clubs, all of which in various ways rejected the political, economic and social disempowerment of black South Africans that was the result of the formation of a Union of South Africa governed solely by a white minority.

 

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