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11 WORLD HISTORY COLONIALISM, CAPITALISM AND CONFLICT 3 LESSONS

Colonialism, Capitalism and Conflict
The South African war

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The negotiations of the peace - The Treaty of Vereeniging

The beginning of 1902 saw the Boer forces almost depleted of resources to continue the War with Britain and its allies. Kitchener's scorched earth policy was having a devastating effect not only on the economies of the ZAR and the OFS, but also on the ability of the civilian population to survive. By April 1902 the Boer leaders were prepared to begin negotiating peace with the British.

Kitchener and Milner represented Britain, while the two Boer republics had ten representatives. The deliberations took place in Pretoria and Vereeniging, and the Treaty was signed at Melrose House. The actual peace agreement contained the conditions for peace laid out by Britain. The Peace Treaty of Vereeniging comprised ten clauses, summarized here:

  1. Boers were to lay down their arms and accept the sovereignty of the British king.
  2. Both Boer prisoners of war as well as civilians in concentration camps would be repatriated and could return to their homesteads.
  3. In the event that Boers surrendered voluntarily, they would not be deprived of either freedom or property.
  4. Acts of war committed by Boers would not be punished.
  5. The Dutch language would be the medium of instruction in schools in the two Boer republics where parents wanted this. Dutch could be used in courts of law.
  6. Boers would have the right to possess firearms for which they would require a license.
  7. The military administration in the two republics was to be replaced with civilian administrations. The process of introducing responsible government was to be established.
  8. The question of granting the franchise to Africans would be delayed until the republics had responsible government.
  9. There would be no special taxation to defray the costs of the War.
  10. A fund of £3 000 000 would be set up to aid Boer repatriates and indigents.

The real losers of the War were thus the black population, the majority of whom had put vast amounts of human and material resources into Britain's war effort despite being poorly resourced. Their support notwithstanding, there was no provision for restitution for blacks as was the case for Boers. Clause 10 of the Peace Treaty of Vereeniging makes it quite clear that both Boer and Briton wanted to ensure that black people remain impoverished and that they would then be forced out of sheer necessity to work for a pittance in the white economy. Underpayment of black people would speed the recovery of the beleaguered economy. The most important question, that of the right to full participation in the form of the Cape franchise model, was shelved. This created the impression that Britain was employing delaying tactics with regard to introducing a universal franchise. This made blacks more suspicious of Britain's motives because their support for Britain's war effort was based on the promises of equal rights "for all civilized men". The provisions of the Peace Treaty of Vereeniging negotiated solely by Britons and Boers had destroyed this political expectation.

 

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