Editing Second Boer War (section)

== Nonwhite roles ==

The policy on both sides was to minimise the role of nonwhites, but the need for manpower continuously stretched those resolves. At the battle of Spion Kop in Ladysmith, [[Mohandas K. Gandhi]] with 300 free burgher Indians and 800 indentured Indian labourers started the Ambulance Corps serving the British side. As the war raged across African farms and their homes were destroyed, many became refugees and they, like the Boers, moved to the towns where the British hastily created internment camps. Subsequently, the British scorched earth policies were applied to both Boers and Africans. Although most black Africans were not considered by the British to be hostile, many tens of thousands were also forcibly removed from Boer areas and also placed in concentration camps.{{citation needed|date=June 2024}} Africans were held separately from Boer internees.{{citation needed|date=June 2024}} Eventually there were a total of 64 tented camps for Africans. Conditions were as bad as in the camps for the Boers, but even though, after the Fawcett Commission report, conditions improved in the Boer camps, "improvements were much slower in coming to the black camps"; 20,000 died there.{{sfn|Warwick|1983|p={{page needed|date=February 2017}}}}

The Boers and the British both feared the consequences of arming Africans. The memories of the Zulu and other tribal conflicts were still fresh, and they recognised that whoever won would have to deal with the consequences of a mass militarisation of the tribes. There was therefore an unwritten agreement that this war would be a "white man's war."{{citation needed|date=June 2024}} At the outset, British officials instructed all white magistrates in the Natal Colony to appeal to Zulu amakhosi (chiefs) to remain neutral, and President Kruger sent emissaries asking them to stay out of it. However, in some cases there were old scores to be settled, and some Africans, such as the [[Swazi people|Swazis]], were eager to enter the war with the specific aim of reclaiming land won by the Boers.{{citation needed|date=November 2023}} As the war went on there was greater involvement of Africans, and in particular large numbers became embroiled in the conflict on the British side, either voluntarily or involuntarily. By the end of the war, many Africans had been armed and had shown conspicuous gallantry in roles such as scouts, messengers, watchmen in blockhouses, and auxiliaries.{{citation needed|date=June 2024}}
[[File:Sol Plaatje 002.jpg|thumb|Sol Plaatje who kept the diary during the siege of Mafeking.]]
And there were more flash points outside of the war. On 6 May 1902 at [[Battle of Holkrans|Holkrantz]] in the southeastern Transvaal, a Zulu faction had their cattle stolen and their women and children tortured by the Boers as a punishment for assisting the British. The local Boer officer then sent an insulting message to the tribe, challenging them to take back their cattle. The Zulus attacked at night, and in a mutual bloodbath, the Boers lost 56 killed and 3 wounded, while the Africans suffered 52 killed and 48 wounded.<ref name="Pakenham1979" />{{rp|601}}

About 10,000 black men were attached to Boer units where they performed camp duties; a handful unofficially fought in combat. The British Army employed over 14,000 Africans as wagon drivers. Even more had combatant roles as spies, guides, and eventually as soldiers. By 1902 there were about 30,000 armed Africans in the British Army.{{sfn|Pretorius|2011|p={{page needed|date=February 2017}}}}[[Sol Plaatje]] was the only black person to keep a diary during the war, which later proved to be a valuable source about the black participation in the war.<ref>{{Cite web |title=The Mafeking Diary of Sol T. Plaatje – Xarra Books |url=https://xarrabooks.com/shop/the-mafeking-diary-of-sol-t-plaatje/ |access-date=2025-03-14 |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Davie |first=Kevin |title=The Mafeking Diary of Sol T Plaatje, 120 years later |url=https://www.news24.com/life/arts-and-entertainment/arts/the-mafeking-diary-of-sol-t-plaatje-120-years-later-20210910 |access-date=2025-03-14 |website=Life |language=en-US}}</ref>