2.2 Resistance against british control

Social sciences

History

Grade 8

The mineral revolution and related wars in south africa

Module 10

Resistance against british control

READING 1

The Earliest Unions

Even before 1910 the government started implementing a policy of segregation. In 1912 the SANNC, the South African National Native Congress was founded. They sent a group of representatives to Britain to complain about the Law of Landownership of 1913. By this law, blacks could not own agricultural land outside designated areas, known as homelands or reservations. In 1923 the SANNC changed its name to the ANC, the African National Congress.

The NP (National Party) and the ANC both send representatives to Versailles in France to negotiate with the British Government for greater self-government. Hertzog (NP) and Sol Plaatje (ANC) succeeded in speaking to the British Prime Minister, Lloyd George, but Mr George did not want to get involved in the interior policies of South Africa. The Indians were dissatisfied because they had to pay taxes, like the 3-pound head tax owed to the British rulers. General Smuts of the SAP (South African Party) the prime minister of the Union of South Africa, negotiated with Ghandi, the leader of the Indians in South Africa.

When the First World War broke out (1914 – 1919) the biggest part of the South African population was dissatisfied with British control.

The ICU (Industrial and Commercial Workers’ Union) was founded as a union for the dock workers under the leadership of Clement Kadalie. By 1927 the ICU had branches everywhere, even in rural areas. This was the biggest union and it started turning militant later. The railway strike of June 1927 was organised by the ICU.

The Zulu Rebellion against the British rulers was mentioned before. (See Reading 3, the Anglo-Zulu War.) Previously people spoke about the Anglo-Boer War, in which the word Anglo denotes the British soldiers and the word Boer refers to the South Africans. This war was fought by more South Africans than the Boers only, therefore this name is preferable.

Activity 1:

Now draw a time-line to explain the progress of the icu.

[lo 2.1, 2.2, 2.3]

Activity 2:

Resistance

[lo 1.4, 3.4, 3.5, 3.6]

• By now you should have a good idea of the term resistance. Find articles, preferably in the daily newspaper, but feel free to use other sources covering resistance. Words that may help you in your search, can be: toyi-toyi, petition, boycott, strike, etc.

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.

• PASTE in your article here. If you find more sources, please staple them together here. Ask Mom and Dad or a friendly relative to help you.
• SUMMARY: Write down a summary of the contents of your article.

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