Editing History of South Africa (section)

==British colonisation, Mfecane and Boer Republics (1815–1910)==

===British at the Cape===
{{Main|British Cape Colony|History of South Africa (1815–1910)}}
[[File:Punch Rhodes Colossus.png|thumb|upright|''[[The Rhodes Colossus]]''—[[Cecil Rhodes]] spanning "Cape to Cairo"]]
In 1787, shortly before the [[French Revolution]], a faction within the politics of the [[Dutch Republic]] known as the [[Patriottentijd|Patriot Party]] attempted to overthrow the regime of [[stadtholder]] [[William V, Prince of Orange|William V]]. Though the revolt was crushed, it was resurrected after the [[Low Countries theatre of the War of the First Coalition|French invasion of the Netherlands]] in 1794/1795 which resulted in the stadtholder fleeing the country. The Patriot revolutionaries then proclaimed the [[Batavian Republic]], which was closely allied to revolutionary France. In response, the stadtholder, who had taken up residence in England, issued the [[Kew Letters]], ordering colonial governors to surrender to the British. The British then [[Invasion of the Cape Colony (1795)|seized the Cape in 1795]] to prevent it from falling into French hands. The Cape was relinquished back to the Dutch in 1803.<ref>{{Cite web |title=South Africa - British occupation of the Cape {{!}} Britannica |url=https://www.britannica.com/place/South-Africa/British-occupation-of-the-Cape |access-date=2022-07-12 |website=www.britannica.com |language=en}}</ref> In 1805, the British inherited the Cape as a prize during the [[Napoleonic Wars]],<ref name=":0" /> [[Battle of Blaauwberg|again seizing]] the Cape from the French controlled [[Kingdom of Holland]] which had replaced the Batavian Republic.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.sahistory.org.za/article/batavian-republic-1803-1806 | title=Batavian Republic 1803-1806 &#124; South African History Online }}</ref>

Like the Dutch before them, the British initially had little interest in the Cape Colony, other than as a strategically located port. As one of their first tasks they outlawed the use of the Dutch language in 1806 with the view of converting the European settlers to the British language and culture.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Kachru |first1=Braj |title=The Handbook of World Englishes |last2=Kachru |first2=Yamuna |last3=Nelson |first3=Cecil |date=2009 |publisher=John Wiley & Sons |isbn=978-1405188319 |pages=160–161}}</ref> The [[Cape Articles of Capitulation]] of 1806 allowed the colony to retain "all their rights and privileges which they have enjoyed hitherto",<ref>{{Cite book|title=Human rights and the South African legal order|publisher=[[Princeton University Press]]. Princeton (New Jersey).|year=1978|isbn=0-691-09236-2|author=John Dugard|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/humanrightssouth0000duga}}</ref> and this launched South Africa on a divergent course from the rest of the British Empire, allowing the continuance of [[Roman-Dutch law]]. British [[sovereignty]] of the area was recognised at the [[Congress of Vienna]] in 1815, the Dutch accepting a payment of 6 million pounds (equivalent to £31,2 billion in 2023)<ref name=":4">{{Cite web |title=Measuring Worth - Purchase Power of the Pound: economic share |url=https://www.measuringworth.com/calculators/ukcompare/relativevalue.php |access-date=2024-04-16 |website=www.measuringworth.com}}</ref> for the colony.<ref>{{Cite book|title=The War in South Africa|publisher=Nabu Press.|year=2010|isbn=978-1141789283|author=Arthur Conan Doyle}}</ref> This had the effect of forcing more of the Dutch colonists to move (or trek) away from British administrative reach. Much later, in 1820 the British authorities persuaded about 5,000 middle-class British immigrants (most of them "in trade") to leave Great Britain. Many of the [[1820 Settlers]] eventually settled in [[Grahamstown]] and [[Port Elizabeth]].

British policy with regard to South Africa would vacillate with successive governments, but the overarching imperative throughout the 19th century was to protect the strategic trade route to India while incurring as little expense as possible within the colony. This aim was complicated by border conflicts with the Boers, who soon developed a distaste for British authority.<ref name=":0" />

===European exploration of the interior===
Colonel [[Robert Jacob Gordon]] of the [[Dutch East India Company]] was the first European to explore parts of the interior while commanding the Dutch garrison at the renamed [[Cape of Good Hope]], from 1780 to 1795. The four expeditions Gordon undertook between 1777 and 1786 are recorded in a series of several hundred drawings known collectively as the Gordon Atlas, as well as in his journals, which were only discovered in 1964.<ref>Patrick Robert Cullinan, ''Robert Jacob Gordon 1743–1795: The Man and His Travels at the Cape'', Struik Publishers, Cape Town, 1992</ref>

Early relations between the European settlers and the Xhosa, the first Bantu peoples they met when they ventured inward, were peaceful. However, there was competition for land, and this tension led to skirmishes in the form of cattle raids from 1779.<ref name=":0" />

The British explorers [[David Livingstone]] and William Oswell, setting out from a mission station in the northern Cape Colony, are believed to have been the first white men to cross the Kalahari desert in 1849.<ref>David Hatcher Childress, ''A Hitchhiker's Guide to Armageddon'', SCB Distributors, Gardena, California, 2011. {{ISBN|1935487507}}</ref> The Royal Geographical Society later awarded Livingstone a gold medal for his discovery of [[Lake Ngami]] in the desert.<ref>Norbert C. Brockman, [http://www.dacb.org/stories/southafrica/livingstone1_david.html ''An African Biographical Dictionary''] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150708065808/http://www.dacb.org/stories/southafrica/livingstone1_david.html |date=8 July 2015 }}, Santa Barbara, California 1994. Accessed 7 July 2015</ref>

===Zulu militarism and expansionism===
{{Main|Zulu people|Difaqane}}{{POV section|date=October 2024}}[[File:Shaka's Empire map.svg|thumb|400px|The rise of the Zulu Empire {{color box|#aa4400}} under Shaka forced other chiefdoms and clans to flee across a wide area of southern Africa.  Clans fleeing the Zulu war zone {{color box|#ffb380}} included the [[Soshangane]], [[Zwangendaba]], [[Ndebele people (Zimbabwe)|Ndebele]], [[Hlubi people|Hlubi]], [[Swazi people|Ngwane]], and the [[Mfengu]].  Some clans were caught between the Zulu Empire and advancing [[Voortrekkers]] and [[British Empire]] {{color box|#F08080}} such as the [[Xhosa people|Xhosa]] {{color box|#008000}}.]]
The Zulu people are part of the Nguni ethnic group and were originally a minor clan in what is today northern KwaZulu-Natal, founded ca. 1709 by [[Zulu kaNtombela]].

The 1820s saw a time of immense upheaval relating to the military expansion of the [[Zulu Kingdom]], which replaced the original African clan system with kingdoms. [[Sotho language|Sotho]]-speakers know this period as the ''[[difaqane]]'' ("[[forced migration]]"); [[Zulu language|Zulu]]-speakers call it the ''mfecane'' ("crushing").<ref name=":1">{{Cite book|title=Queen Victoria's Enemies 1: Southern Africa|url=https://archive.org/details/queenvictoriasen02knig|url-access=limited|last=Knight|first=Ian|publisher=Osprey|year=1989|isbn=085045901X|editor-last=Windrow|editor-first=Martin|location=Great Britain|pages=[https://archive.org/details/queenvictoriasen02knig/page/n4 4]–6}}</ref>

Various theories have been advanced for the causes of the ''difaqane'', ranging from ecological factors to competition in the ivory trade.<ref>Noel Mostert, ''Frontiers: The Epic of South Africa's Creation'', London: Pimlico 1993, pp.496–7 {{ISBN|0-7126-5584-0}}</ref> Another theory attributes the epicentre of Zulu violence to the slave trade out of Delgoa Bay in Mozambique situated to the north of Zululand.<ref>Julian Cobbing, "The Mfecane as Alibi", ''Journal of African History'', 29 March 1988, p.487.</ref> Most historians recognise that the Mfecane wasn't just a series of events caused by the founding of the Zulu kingdom but rather a multitude of factors caused before and after [[Shaka|Shaka Zulu]] came into power.<ref name="Etherington2004">{{cite journal|last1=Etherington|first1=Norman|title=A Tempest In A Teapot? Nineteenth-Century Contests For Land In South Africa's Caledon Valley And The Invention Of The Mfecane|journal=The Journal of African History|volume=45|issue=2|year=2004|pages=203–219|issn=0021-8537|doi=10.1017/S0021853703008624|s2cid=162838180|url=http://research-repository.uwa.edu.au/en/publications/a-tempest-in-a-teapot--nineteenthcentury-contests-for-land-in-south-africas-caledon-valley-and-the-invention-of-the-mfecane(1ec5b37a-fd2e-4935-a8d7-3b13b0f9b8a5).html}}</ref><ref name=":2">{{Cite book|title=The Creation of the Zulu Kingdom, 1815–1828|last=Eldredge|first=Elizabeth|publisher=Cambridge University Press|year=2014|page=9}}</ref><ref name=":0" />

In 1818, [[Nguni people|Nguni]] tribes in Zululand created a militaristic kingdom between the [[Tugela River]] and [[Pongola River]], under the driving force of [[Shaka]] kaSenzangakhona, son of the chief of the Zulu clan.<ref>{{cite book|last=Bulliet|title=The Earth and Its Peoples|url=https://archive.org/details/earthitspeoplesg00bull_069|url-access=limited|year=2008|publisher=Houghton Mifflin Company|location=USA|isbn=978-0-618-77148-6|page=[https://archive.org/details/earthitspeoplesg00bull_069/page/n284 708]}}</ref> Shaka built large [[army|armies]], breaking from clan tradition by placing the armies under the control of his own officers rather than of hereditary chiefs. He then set out on a massive programme of expansion, killing or enslaving those who resisted in the territories he conquered. His ''[[impis]]'' (warrior regiments) were rigorously disciplined: failure in battle meant death.<ref>Rubinstein, W. D. (2004). Genocide: A History. Pearson Longman.</ref>

[[File:KingShaka.jpg|thumb|upright|[[Shaka Zulu]] in traditional [[Zulu people|Zulu]] military garb]] The Zulu resulted in the mass movement of many tribes who in turn tried to dominate those in new territories, leading to widespread warfare and waves of displacement spread throughout southern Africa and beyond. It accelerated the formation of several new nation-states, notably those of the Sotho (present-day [[Lesotho]]) and the [[Swazi people|Swazi]] (now [[Eswatini]] (formerly Swaziland)). It caused the consolidation of groups such as the [[Northern Ndebele people|Matebele]], the [[Mfengu]] and the [[Makololo]].

In 1828 Shaka was killed by his half-brothers [[Dingane|Dingaan]] and [[Umhlangana]]. The weaker and less-skilled Dingaan became king, relaxing military discipline while continuing the despotism. Dingaan also attempted to establish relations with the British traders on the Natal coast, but events had started to unfold that would see the demise of Zulu independence. Estimates for the death toll resulting from the Mfecane range from 1 million to 2 million.<ref name="Walter1969">{{cite book|author=Walter, Eugene Victor |year=1969 |title=Terror and Resistance: A Study of Political Violence, with Case Studies of Some Primitive African Communities|publisher=Oxford University Press |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=k-3mmwEACAAJ|isbn=9780195015621 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite periodical|author=Charters, R. A. |year=1839 |title=Notices Of The Cape And Southern Africa, Since The Appointment, As Governor, Of Major-Gen. Sir Geo. Napier |periodical=United Service Journal and Naval and Military Magazine|location=London |publisher=Henry Colburn |volume=1839, Part III |issue=September, October, November|pages=19–25, 171–179, 352–359, page 24}}</ref><ref>Encyclopædia Britannica, 15th edition</ref><ref name="Hanson2007">{{cite book|author=Hanson, Victor Davis |year=2001 |title=Carnage and Culture: Landmark Battles in the Rise to Western Power|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=XGr16-CxpH8C|location=New York |publisher=Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group|isbn=978-0-307-42518-8|page=313}}</ref>

===Boer people and republics===
{{Main|Boer Republics}}
After 1806, a number of [[Dutch language|Dutch]]-speaking inhabitants of the Cape Colony trekked inland, first in small groups. Eventually, in the 1830s, large numbers of Boers migrated in what came to be known as the [[Great Trek]].<ref name=":1" /> Among the initial reasons for their leaving the Cape colony were the English language rule. Religion was a very important aspect of the settlers culture and the bible and church services were in Dutch. Similarly, schools, justice and trade up to the arrival of the British, were all managed in the Dutch language. The language law caused friction, distrust and dissatisfaction.
[[File:TrekBoers crossing the Karoo.jpg|thumb|300px|An account of the first [[trekboer]]s]]

Another reason for Dutch-speaking white farmers trekking away from the Cape was the abolition of slavery by the British government on Emancipation Day, 1 December 1838. The farmers complained they could not replace the labour of their slaves without losing an excessive amount of money.<ref>SA History.org [http://www.sahistory.org.za/topic/slavery-south-africa ''Slavery in South Africa''] Accessed 23 April 2015</ref> The farmers had invested large amounts of capital in slaves. Owners who had purchased enslaved people on credit or put them up as surety against loans faced financial ruin. Britain had allocated the sum of 1,200,000 British Pounds (equivalent to £5,53 billion in 2023)<ref name=":4" /> as compensation to the Dutch settlers, on condition the Dutch farmers had to lodge their claims in Britain as well as the fact that the value of the enslaved people was many times the allocated amount. This caused further dissatisfaction among the Dutch settlers. The settlers, incorrectly, believed that the Cape Colony administration had taken the money due to them as payment for freeing their slaves. Those settlers who were allocated money could only claim it in Britain in person or through an agent. The commission charged by agents was the same as the payment for one slave, thus those settlers only claiming for one slave would receive nothing.<ref name=krugerp>{{cite book|last=Kruger|first=Paul|title=Memoirs of Paul Kruger|year=1902|publisher=George R Morang and Co|location=Canada|page=[https://archive.org/details/memoirsofpaulkru00kruguoft/page/n26 3]|isbn=9780804610773 |url=https://archive.org/details/memoirsofpaulkru00kruguoft}}</ref>

====South African Republic====
{{Main|South African Republic}}
[[File:Flag of Transvaal.svg|thumb|left|200px|[[Flag of the South African Republic]], often referred to as the ''Vierkleur'' (meaning four-coloured)]] The South African Republic (Dutch: ''Zuid-Afrikaansche Republiek'' or ZAR, not to be confused with the much later [[Republic of South Africa]]), is often referred to as The Transvaal and sometimes as the Republic of Transvaal. It was an independent and internationally recognised nation-state in southern Africa from 1852 to 1902. Independent sovereignty of the republic was formally recognised by [[Great Britain]] with the signing of the [[Sand River Convention]] on 17 January 1852.<ref name=Eybers>{{cite book|author=Eybers|title=Select_constitutional_documents_illustrating_South_African_history_1795-1910|year=1917|pages=357–359|ol=24129017M}}</ref> The republic, under the premiership of [[Paul Kruger]], defeated British forces in the [[First Boer War]] and remained independent until the end of the Second Boer War on 31 May 1902, when it was forced to surrender to the British. The territory of the South African Republic became known after this war as the Transvaal Colony.<ref>Boereafrikana.com [http://www.boereafrikana.com/Geskiedenis.htm ''Geskiedenis'']. Accessed 6 June 2015</ref>

====Free State Republic====
{{Main|Orange Free State}}
[[File:Flag of the Orange Free State.svg|thumb|200px|[[Flag of the Orange Free State|Flag of the Republic of the Orange Free State]]]]The independent Boer republic of [[Orange Free State]] evolved from colonial Britain's [[Orange River Sovereignty]], enforced by the presence of British troops, which lasted from 1848 to 1854 in the territory between the Orange and Vaal rivers, named Transorange. Britain, due to the military burden imposed on it by the [[Crimean War]] in Europe, then withdrew its troops from the territory in 1854, when the territory along with other areas in the region was claimed by the Boers as an independent Boer republic, which they named the Orange Free State. In March 1858, after land disputes, cattle rustling and a series of raids and counter-raids, the Orange Free State declared war on the [[Basotho]] kingdom, which it failed to defeat. A succession of wars were conducted between the Boers and the Basotho for the next 10 years.<ref>Cameron, T. (ed) ''An Illustrated History of South Africa''. Johannesburg: Jonathan Ball Publishers, 1986, pp. 137, 138, 143, 147–9, 169. {{ISBN|0715390511}}</ref> The name Orange Free State was again changed to the [[Orange River Colony]], created by Britain after the latter occupied it in 1900 and then annexed it in 1902 during the [[Second Boer War]]. The colony, with an estimated population of less than 400,000 in 1904<ref>Openlibrary.org,[https://archive.org/stream/cu31924030396067#page/n235/mode/2up Census of the British empire], 1906, p. 169. Retrieved 3 May 2015.</ref> ceased to exist in 1910, when it was absorbed into the Union of South Africa as the [[Orange Free State Province]].

====Natalia====
{{Main|Natalia Republic}}
Natalia was a short-lived Boer republic established in 1839 by Boer [[Voortrekkers]]  emigrating from the Cape Colony. In 1824 a party of 25 men under British Lieutenant F G Farewell arrived from the Cape Colony and established a settlement on the northern shore of the Bay of Natal, which would later become the port of Durban, so named after [[Benjamin D'Urban]], a governor of the Cape Colony. Boer ''Voortrekkers'' in 1838 established the Republic of Natalia in the surrounding region, with its capital at [[Pietermaritzburg]]. On the night of 23/24 May 1842 British colonial forces attacked the ''Voortrekker'' camp at Congella. The attack failed, with British forces then retreating back to Durban, which the Boers besieged. A local trader [[Dick King]] and his servant Ndongeni, who later became folk heroes, were able to escape the blockade and ride to Grahamstown, a distance of 600&nbsp;km (372.82 miles) in 14 days to raise British reinforcements. The reinforcements arrived in Durban 20 days later; the siege was broken and the ''Voortrekkers'' retreated.<ref>George McCall Theal, ''History of the Boers in South Africa'', 3rd ed. Cape Town: Struik 1973, pp 156–165. {{ISBN|0869770365}}</ref> The Boers accepted British annexation in 1844. Many of the Natalia Boers who refused to acknowledge British rule trekked over the [[Drakensberg]] mountains to settle in the Orange Free State and Transvaal republics.<ref>''The Voortrekkers: A history of the Voortrekkers Great Trek 1835–1845'',
[http://www.voortrekker-history.co.za/trekkers_leave_great_trek.php#.VYGAKPmqqko Voortrekkers leave Natal] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150622110948/http://www.voortrekker-history.co.za/trekkers_leave_great_trek.php#.VYGAKPmqqko |date=22 June 2015 }} Accessed 17 June 2015</ref>

===Cape Colony===
{{more citations needed section|date=April 2015}}
{{main|Cape Colony|Parliament of the Cape of Good Hope}}
[[File:Sir Harry G W Smith.jpg|thumb|Harry Smith]]
Between 1847 and 1854, [[Sir Harry Smith, 1st Baronet|Harry Smith]], governor and high commissioner of the Cape Colony, annexed territories far to the north of the original British and Dutch settlement.

Smith's expansion of the Cape Colony resulted in conflict with disaffected Boers in the Orange River Sovereignty who in 1848 mounted an abortive rebellion at Boomplaats, where the Boers were defeated by a detachment of the Cape Mounted Rifles.<ref>Karel Schoeman (ed), ''The British Presence in the Transorange 1845–1854'', Human & Rosseau, Cape Town, 1992, p.22-25 {{ISBN|0-7981-2965-4}}</ref> Annexation also precipitated a war between British colonial forces and the indigenous Xhosa nation in 1850, in the eastern coastal region.<ref>Piers Brendon, ''Decline and Fall of the British Empire'', New York: Knopf 2007, page 98.</ref>

Starting from the mid-1800s, the [[Cape Colony|Cape of Good Hope]], which was then the largest state in southern Africa, began moving towards greater independence from Britain.
In 1854, it was granted its first locally elected legislature, the [[Cape Parliament]].

In 1872, after a long political struggle, it attained [[responsible government]] with a locally accountable executive and Prime Minister. The Cape nonetheless remained nominally part of the British Empire, even though it was self-governing in practice.

The Cape Colony was unusual in southern Africa in that its laws prohibited any discrimination on the basis of race and, unlike the Boer republics, elections were held according to the non-racial [[Cape Qualified Franchise]] system, whereby suffrage qualifications applied universally, regardless of race.

Initially, a period of strong economic growth and social development ensued. However, an ill-informed British attempt to force the states of southern Africa into a British federation led to inter-ethnic tensions and the [[First Boer War]].  Meanwhile, the discovery of diamonds around [[Kimberley, Northern Cape|Kimberley]] and gold in the [[South African Republic|Transvaal]] led to a later return to instability, particularly because they fueled the rise to power of the ambitious colonialist [[Cecil Rhodes]]. As Cape Prime Minister, Rhodes curtailed the multi-racial franchise, and his expansionist policies set the stage for the [[Second Boer War]].<ref>{{Cite book|title=A New History of Southern Africa|author=Neil Parsons|isbn=0333570103|publisher=Macmillan, London|year=1993|url=https://archive.org/details/newhistoryofsout0000pars}}</ref>

===Natal===
{{Main|Colony of Natal}}
[[File:Indians arriving in South Africa.jpg|thumb|Indian indentured labourers arriving in Durban]]
Indian slaves from the [[Dutch India|Dutch colonies in India]] had been introduced into the Cape area of South Africa by the Dutch settlers in 1654.<ref>SA History.org [http://www.sahistory.org.za/topic/history-indians-south-africa-timeline1654-2008 History of Indians in South Africa] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180912214138/http://www.sahistory.org.za/topic/history-indians-south-africa-timeline1654-2008 |date=12 September 2018 }}, Accessed 29 April 2015</ref>

By the end of 1847, following annexation by Britain of the former Boer republic of Natalia, nearly all the Boers had left their former republic, which the British renamed Natal. The role of the Boer settlers was replaced by subsidised British immigrants of whom 5,000 arrived between 1849 and 1851.<ref>Alan F Hattersley, ''The British Settlement of Natal: A Study in Imperial Migration,'' [[Cambridge University Press]], 1950</ref>

By 1860, with slavery having been abolished in 1834, and after the annexation of Natal as a British colony in 1843, the British colonists in [[Colony of Natal|Natal]] (now [[kwaZulu-Natal]]) turned to [[India]] to resolve a labour shortage, as men of the local Zulu warrior nation were refusing to work on the plantations and farms established by the colonists. In that year, the [[Steamship|SS]] ''Truro'' arrived in Durban harbour with over 300 Indians on board.<ref>{{Cite web |title=First Indian workers arrive in South Africa {{!}} South African History Online |url=https://www.sahistory.org.za/dated-event/first-indian-workers-arrive-south-africa#:~:text=The%20first%20group%20of%20Indian,aboard%20the%20ship%20%E2%80%9CTruro%E2%80%9D. |access-date=2022-07-12 |website=www.sahistory.org.za}}</ref>

Over the next 50 years, 150,000 more [[Indentured servitude|indentured]] Indian servants and labourers arrived, as well as numerous free "passenger Indians," building the base for what would become the largest Indian diasporic community outside India.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Stiebel |first=Lindy |date=2011-07-01 |title=Crossing the Kala Pani: cause for &quot;Celebration&quot; or &quot;Commemoration&quot; 150 years on? Portrayals of indenture in recent South African writing |url=https://go.gale.com/ps/i.do?p=LitRC&sw=w&issn=02564718&v=2.1&it=r&id=GALE%7CA264761124&sid=googleScholar&linkaccess=abs |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231113111845/https://go.gale.com/ps/i.do?p=LitRC&sw=w&issn=02564718&v=2.1&it=r&id=GALE%7CA264761124&sid=googleScholar&linkaccess=abs |url-status=dead |archive-date=13 November 2023 |journal=Journal of Literary Studies |language=English |volume=27 |issue=2 |pages=77–91 |doi=10.1080/02564718.2011.580649 |s2cid=143867244 }}</ref>

By 1893, when the lawyer and social activist [[Mahatma Gandhi]] arrived in Durban, Indians outnumbered whites in Natal. The [[civil rights]] struggle of Gandhi's [[Natal Indian Congress]] failed; until the [[#Post-apartheid period (1994–present)|1994 advent of democracy]], Indians in South Africa were subject to most of the discriminatory laws that applied to all non-white inhabitants of the country.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Indianness Reconfigured, 1944-1960: The Natal Indian Congress in South Africa - The O'Malley Archives |url=https://omalley.nelsonmandela.org/omalley/index.php/site/q/03lv02424/04lv02730/05lv02914/06lv02917.htm |access-date=2022-07-12 |website=omalley.nelsonmandela.org}}</ref>

===Griqua people===
{{Main|Griqua people}}
[[File:Nicolaas Waterboer - Griqua leader and politician of the Cape Colony.jpg|thumb|Nicolaas Waterboer, Griqualand ruler, 1852–1896]]
By the late 1700s, the Cape Colony population had grown to include a large number of mixed-race so-called "[[coloureds]]" who were the offspring of extensive interracial relations between male Dutch settlers, Khoikhoi women, and enslaved women imported from Dutch colonies in the East.<ref>Allison Blakely [https://books.google.com/books?id=zWoMfgmS8WkC&pg=PA19 ''Blacks in the Dutch World''], [[Indiana University Press]] 2001, pp. 18–19</ref> Members of this mixed-race community formed the core of what was to become the Griqua people.

Under the leadership of a former slave named Adam Kok, these "coloureds" or ''Basters'' (meaning mixed race or multiracial) as they were named by the Dutch—a word derived from ''baster'', meaning "bastard"<ref>{{cite encyclopedia |title=Baster |encyclopedia=Encyclopædia Britannica |date=21 January 2016 |last=Pauls |first=Elizabeth |publisher=Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. |location=Chicago, Illinois, U.S |id=topic/Baster/ |url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/Baster |access-date=14 March 2021 }}</ref>—started trekking northward into the interior, through what is today named Northern Cape Province. The trek of the Griquas to escape the influence of the Cape Colony has been described as "one of the great epics of the 19th century."<ref>Roger Webster, "Die Adam Kok-Trek", in ''Langs die Kampvuur: Waare Suider-Afrikaanse stories'', (Afrikaans, translated as "At the Campfire: True South African stories") New Africa Books, 2003, p84</ref>  They were joined on their long journey by a number of San and Khoikhoi aboriginal people, local African tribesmen, and also some white renegades. Around 1800, they started crossing the northern frontier formed by the Orange River, arriving ultimately in an uninhabited area, which they named Griqualand.<ref>Nigel Penn. ''The Forgotten Frontier''. Ohio University Press, 2005. {{ISBN|0-8214-1682-0}}.</ref>

In 1825, a faction of the Griqua people was induced by Dr [[John Philip (missionary)|John Philip]], superintendent of the [[London Missionary Society]] in Southern Africa, to relocate to a place called [[Philippolis]], a mission station for the San, several hundred miles southeast of Griqualand. Philip's intention was for the Griquas to protect the missionary station there against [[banditti]] in the region, and as a bulwark against the northward movement of white settlers from the Cape Colony. Friction between the Griquas and the settlers over land rights resulted in British troops being sent to the region in 1845. It marked the beginning of nine years of British intervention in the affairs of the region, which the British named Transorange.<ref>Karel Schoeman, ''The British Presence in the Transorange 1845–1854'', Human & Rosseau, Cape Town, 1992, p.11, {{ISBN|0-7981-2965-4}}</ref>

In 1861, to avoid the imminent prospect of either being colonised by the Cape Colony or coming into conflict with the expanding Boer Republic of [[Orange Free State]], most of the Philippolis Griquas embarked on a further trek. They moved about 500 miles eastward, over the Quathlamba (today known as the [[Drakensberg]] mountain range),  settling ultimately in an area officially designated as "Nomansland", which the Griquas renamed Griqualand East.<ref>Charles Prestwood Lucas et al. ''A historical geography of the British colonies''. Vol IV: South and East Africa. Clarendon Press. London: 1900. p.186</ref> East Griqualand was subsequently annexed by Britain in 1874 and incorporated into the Cape Colony in 1879.<ref>George McCall Theal, ''History of South Africa Since September 1795'', Cambridge University Press, 2010, p.99</ref>

The original Griqualand, north of the Orange River, was annexed by Britain's Cape Colony and renamed Griqualand West after the discovery in 1871 of the world's richest deposit of diamonds at Kimberley, so named after the British Colonial Secretary, Earl Kimberley.<ref>Brian Roberts, ''Kimberley, Turbulent City'', Cape Town: David Philips 1976 {{ISBN|0949968625}}</ref>

Although no formally surveyed boundaries existed, Griqua leader [[Nicolaas Waterboer]] claimed the diamond fields were situated on land belonging to the Griquas.<ref>George McCall Theal, "Discovery of diamonds and its consequences", in ''History of South Africa from 1795 to 1872'', Vol.IV, London: Allen & Unwin 1919, pp.331</ref> The Boer republics of [[South African Republic|Transvaal]] and the [[Orange Free State]] also vied for ownership of the land, but Britain, being the preeminent force in the region, won control over the disputed territory. In 1878, Waterboer led an unsuccessful rebellion against the colonial authorities, for which he was arrested and briefly exiled.<ref>EJ Verwey: ''New Dictionary of South African Biography'', Vol I, Human Sciences and Research (HSRC) Press, Pretoria: 1995</ref>

===Factional conflicts===
====Wars against the Xhosa====
In early South Africa, European notions of national boundaries and land ownership had no counterparts in African political culture. To Moshoeshoe the BaSotho chieftain from Lesotho, it was customary tribute in the form of horses and cattle represented acceptance of land use under his authority.<ref>Paul Germond, ''Chronicles of Basutoland'', Morija (Lesotho): Morija Sesuto Books, 1967, pp. 144f, 252–53</ref><ref>Elizabeth Eldredge, ''A South African Kingdom'', Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1993, pp. 48–9, {{ISBN|052144067X}}</ref> To European settlers in Southern Africa, the same form of tribute was believed to constitute purchase and permanent ownership of the land under independent authority.

As European settlers started establishing permanent farms after trekking across the country in search of prime agricultural land, they encountered resistance from the local Bantu people who had originally migrated southwards from central Africa hundreds of years earlier. The consequent frontier wars became known as the [[Xhosa Wars]] (which were also referred to in contemporary discussion as the [[Kaffir (racial term)|Kafir]] Wars or the Cape Frontier Wars<ref>{{cite journal|title=Surgeon-General SIR CHARLES MacDONAGH CUFFE, K.C.B., LL.D|journal=BMJ|volume=2|issue=2859|year=1915|pages=589|issn=0959-8138|doi=10.1136/bmj.2.2859.589-b|pmc=2303193}}</ref>). In the southeastern part of South Africa, Boer settlers and the Xhosa clashed along the Great Fish River, and in 1779 the First Xhosa War broke out. For nearly 100 years subsequently, the Xhosa fought the settlers sporadically, first the Boers or Afrikaners and later the British. In the Fourth Xhosa War, which lasted from 1811 to 1812, the British colonial authorities forced the Xhosa back across the Great Fish River and established forts along this boundary.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Eastern Cape Wars of Dispossession 1779-1878 {{!}} South African History Online |url=https://www.sahistory.org.za/article/eastern-cape-wars-dispossession-1779-1878 |access-date=2022-07-12 |website=www.sahistory.org.za}}</ref>

The increasing economic involvement of the British in southern Africa from the 1820s, and especially following the discovery of first diamonds at Kimberley and gold in the Transvaal, resulted in pressure for land and African labour, and led to increasingly tense relations with Southern African states.<ref name=":1" />

In 1818 differences between two Xhosa leaders, Ndlambe and Ngqika, ended in Ngqika's defeat, but the British continued to recognise Ngqika as the paramount chief. He appealed to the British for help against Ndlambe, who retaliated in 1819 during the Fifth Frontier War by attacking the British colonial town of Grahamstown.

====Wars against the Zulu====
[[File:Cetshwayo-c1875.jpg|thumb|200px|King [[Cetshwayo kaMpande|Cetshwayo]] (ca. 1875)]]In the eastern part of what is today South Africa, in the region named Natalia by the Boer trekkers, the latter negotiated an agreement with Zulu King [[Dingane kaSenzangakhona]] allowing the Boers to settle in part of the then Zulu kingdom.  Cattle rustling ensued and a party of Boers under the leadership of [[Piet Retief]] were killed.

Subsequent to the killing of the Retief party, the Boers fought against the Zulus, at the Ncome River on 16 December 1838. The Boers took a defensive position with the high banks of the Ncome River forming a natural barrier to their rear with their ox waggons as barricades between themselves and the attacking Zulu army in the clash known historically as the [[Battle of Blood River]].<ref>Ngubane, Jordan K. ''An African Explains Apartheid''. New York: Praeger, 1970. pp.40–41</ref><ref>Donald R Morris, ''The Washing of the Spears'', London: Cardinal, 1973, p.148-50 {{ISBN|0 351 17400 1}}</ref>

In the later annexation of the Zulu kingdom by imperial Britain, an [[Anglo-Zulu War]] was fought in 1879. Following Lord Carnarvon's successful introduction of federation in Canada, it was thought that similar political effort, coupled with military campaigns, might succeed with the African kingdoms, tribal areas and Boer republics in South Africa.

In 1874, Henry Bartle Frere was sent to South Africa as High Commissioner for the British Empire to bring such plans into being. Among the obstacles were the presence of the independent states of the South African Republic and the Kingdom of Zululand and its army. Frere, on his own initiative, without the approval of the British government and with the intent of instigating a war with the Zulu, had presented an ultimatum on 11 December 1878, to the Zulu king Cetshwayo with which the Zulu king could not comply. Bartle Frere then sent [[Frederic Thesiger, 2nd Baron Chelmsford|Lord Chelmsford]] to invade Zululand. The war is notable for several particularly bloody battles, including an overwhelming victory by the Zulu at the [[Battle of Isandlwana]], as well as for being a landmark in the timeline of imperialism in the region.

Britain's eventual defeat of the Zulus, marking the end of the Zulu nation's independence, was accomplished with the assistance of Zulu collaborators who harboured cultural and political resentments against centralised Zulu authority.<ref>Dacob Dlamini, [http://www.rdm.co.za/politics/2015/07/27/jacob-zuma-a-spawn-of-collaborators-trying-to-right-old-wrongs "Jacob Zuma a spawn of collaborators trying to right old wrongs"], ''Rand Daily Mail'', 30 July 2015. Accessed 31 July 2015.</ref> The British then set about establishing large sugar plantations in the area today named [[KwaZulu-Natal Province]].

====Wars with the Basotho====
[[File:King Moshoeshoe of the Basotho with his ministers.jpg|thumb|King Moshoeshoe with his advisors]]
From the 1830s onwards, numbers of white settlers from the Cape Colony crossed the Orange River and started arriving in the fertile southern part of territory known as the Lower Caledon Valley, which was occupied by Basotho cattle herders under the authority of the Basotho founding monarch [[Moshoeshoe I]]. In 1845, a treaty was signed between the British colonists and Moshoeshoe, which recognised white settlement in the area. No firm boundaries were drawn between the area of white settlement and Moshoeshoe's kingdom, which led to border clashes. Moshoeshoe was under the impression he was loaning grazing land to the settlers in accordance with African precepts of occupation rather than ownership, while the settlers believed they had been granted permanent land rights. Afrikaner settlers in particular were loath to live under Moshoesoe's authority and among Africans.<ref>David B Coplan, ''Unconquered Territory: Narrating the Caledon Valley'', Journal of African Cultural Studies, Vol 13, No 2, December 2000, p.192</ref>

The British, who at that time controlled the area between the Orange and Vaal Rivers called the [[Orange River Sovereignty]],  decided a discernible boundary was necessary and proclaimed a line named the Warden Line, dividing the area between British and Basotho territories. This led to conflict between the Basotho and the British, who were defeated by Moshoeshoe's warriors at the battle of Viervoet in 1851.

As punishment to the Basotho, the governor and commander-in-chief of the Cape Colony, George Cathcart, deployed troops to the Mohokare River; Moshoeshoe was ordered to pay a fine. When he did not pay the fine in full, a battle broke out on the Berea Plateau in 1852, where the British suffered heavy losses. In 1854, the British handed over the territory to the Boers through the signing of the [[Sand River Convention]]. This territory and others in the region then became the Republic of the Orange Free State.<ref>Information department, Government of Lesotho, [https://web.archive.org/web/20061107030932/http://www.lesotho.gov.ls/about/default.php ''About Lesotho'']. Accessed 1 May 2015</ref>

A succession of wars followed from 1858 to 1868 between the Basotho kingdom and the Boer republic of [[Orange Free State]].<ref>Roger B Beck, ''History of South Africa'', Greenwood Press, Westport, Connecticut 2000, p.74 {{ISBN|0-313-30730-X}}</ref> In the battles that followed, the Orange Free State tried unsuccessfully to capture Moshoeshoe's mountain stronghold at [[Thaba Bosiu]], while the [[Lesotho|Sotho]] conducted raids in Free State territories. Both sides adopted scorched-earth tactics, with large swathes of pasturage and cropland being destroyed.<ref>George McCall Theal, ''History of South Africa'', Vol IV, "War with the Basuto", London: Allen & Unwin, 1919, p. 225-79</ref> Faced with starvation, Moshoeshoe signed a peace treaty on 15 October 1858, though crucial boundary issues remained unresolved.<ref name="Beck 2000, p. 74">Beck 2000, p. 74</ref> War broke out again in 1865. After an unsuccessful appeal for aid from the British Empire, Moshoeshoe signed the 1866 treaty of Thaba Bosiu, with the Basotho ceding substantial territory to the Orange Free State. On 12 March 1868, the British parliament declared the Basotho Kingdom a British protectorate and part of the British Empire. Open hostilities ceased between the Orange Free State and the Basotho.<ref>James S Olson, Robert S Shadle (eds.) ''Historical Dictionary of the British Empire'', Greenwood Press: Westport, Connecticut 1996, p.118 {{ISBN|0-313-27917-9}}</ref> The country was subsequently named [[Basutoland]] and is presently named [[Lesotho]].

====Wars with the Ndebele====
[[File:G.S. Smithard; J.S. Skelton (1909) - The Voortrekkers.jpg|thumb|Boer ''Voortrekkers'' depicted in an early artist's rendition]]In 1836, when Boer V''oortrekkers'' (pioneers) arrived in the northwestern part of present-day South Africa, they came into conflict with a Ndebele sub-group that the settlers named "Matabele", under chief Mzilikazi. A series of battles ensued, in which Mzilikazi was eventually defeated. He withdrew from the area and led his people northwards to what would later become the Matabele region of Southern Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe).<ref>''A history of the Voortrekkers Great Trek 1835 – 1845'',
[http://www.voortrekker-history.co.za/mzilikazi_great_trek.php#.VVXcZ46qqko Mzilikazi] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150622070736/http://www.voortrekker-history.co.za/mzilikazi_great_trek.php#.VVXcZ46qqko |date=22 June 2015 }}. Accessed 15 May 2015</ref>

Other members of the Ndebele ethnic language group in different areas of the region similarly came into conflict with the Voortrekkers, notably in the area that would later become the Northern Transvaal. In September 1854, 28 Boers accused of cattle rustling were killed in three separate incidents by an alliance of the Ndebele chiefdoms of Mokopane and Mankopane. Mokopane and his followers, anticipating retaliation by the settlers, retreated into the mountain caves known as Gwasa, (or Makapansgat in Afrikaans). In late October, Boer commandos supported by local [[Kgatla tribe|Kgatla]] tribal collaborators laid siege to the caves. By the end of the siege, about three weeks later, Mokopane and between 1,000 and 3,000 people had died in the caves. The survivors were captured and allegedly enslaved.<ref>Isabel Hofmeyr, ''We Spend Our Years as a Tale that is Told: Oral Historical Narrative in a South African Chiefdom''. Witwatersrand University Press, Johannesburg: 1993, pp.109–111</ref>

====Wars with the Bapedi====
The Bapedi wars, also known as the [[Sekhukhune|Sekhukhune wars]], consisted of three separate campaigns fought between 1876 and 1879 against the [[Pedi people|Bapedi]] under their reigning monarch [[Sekhukhune|King Sekhukhune I]], in the northeastern region known as [[Sekhukhuneland]], bordering on [[Swaziland]]. Further friction was caused by the refusal of Sekhukhune to allow prospectors to search for gold in territory he considered to be sovereign and independent under his authority. The First Sekhukhune War of 1876 was conducted by the Boers, and the two separate campaigns of the Second Sekhukhune War of 1878/1879 were conducted by the British.<ref>H W Kinsey,[http://samilitaryhistory.org/vol025hk.html "The Sekukuni Wars"], ''South African Military History Journal'',
Vol 2 No 5 – June 1973. Accessed 28 June 2015</ref>

During the final campaign, [[Sekhukhune|Sekukuni]] (also spelled Sekhukhune) and members of his entourage took refuge in a mountain cave where he was cut off from food and water. He eventually surrendered to a combined deputation of Boer and British forces on 2 December 1879. Sekhukhune, members of his family and some Bapedi generals were subsequently imprisoned in Pretoria for two years, with Sekhukhuneland becoming part of the Transvaal Republic. No gold was ever discovered in the annexed territory.<ref>SA History Online, [http://www.sahistory.org.za/people/king-sekhukhune ''King Sekhukhune'']. Accessed 29 June 2015</ref>

===Discovery of diamonds===
[[File:CecilRhodes.jpg|upright|thumb|left|Cecil John Rhodes, co-founder of De Beers Consolidated Mines at Kimberley]]The first diamond discoveries between 1866 and 1867 were alluvial, on the southern banks of the Orange River. By 1869, diamonds were found at some distance from any stream or river, in hard rock called blue ground, later called [[kimberlite]], after the mining town of [[Kimberley, Northern Cape|Kimberley]] where the diamond diggings were concentrated. The diggings were located in an area of vague boundaries and disputed land ownership. Claimants to the site included the South African (Transvaal) Republic, the Orange Free State Republic, and the mixed-race [[Griqua people|Griqua]] nation under [[Nicolaas Waterboer]].<ref>Dougie Oakes, ''Illustrated History of South Africa: The Real Story'', Reader's Digest:Cape Town 1992, p.166 {{ISBN|9781874912279}}</ref> Cape Colony Governor Henry Barkly persuaded all claimants to submit themselves to a decision of an arbitrator and so Robert W Keate, Lieutenant-Governor of Natal was asked to arbitrate.<ref>Oakes (1992), p.168</ref> Keate awarded ownership to the Griquas. Waterboer, fearing conflict with the Boer republic of Orange Free State, subsequently asked for and received British protection. Griqualand then became a separate Crown Colony renamed [[Griqualand West]] in 1871, with a Lieutenant-General and legislative council.<ref>Colin Newbury, "Technology, Capital, and Consolidation: The Performance of De Beers Mining Company Limited, 1880–1889",  ''Business History Review'', Vol 61, Issue 1 Spring 1987, p.3</ref>
The Crown Colony of Griqualand West was annexed into the Cape Colony in 1877, enacted into law in 1880.<ref>Newbury (1987), p.4</ref> No material benefits accrued to the Griquas as a result of either colonisation or annexation; they did not receive any share of the diamond wealth generated at Kimberley. The Griqua community became subsequently dissimulated.<ref>Gearge McCall Theal, ''History of South Africa: 1975 to 1872'', Vol IV, London: Allen & Unwin 1919, pp.224–5</ref>

By the 1870s and 1880s the mines at Kimberley were producing 95% of the world's diamonds.<ref>Diamond Museum, Cape Town, [http://www.capetowndiamondmuseum.org/about-diamonds/south-african-diamond-history/ ''History of Diamonds'']. Accessed 1 June 2015</ref> The widening search for gold and other resources were financed by the wealth produced and the practical experience gained at Kimberley.<ref>John Lang, ''Bullion Johannesburg: Men, Mines and the Challenge of Conflict'', Johannesburg: Jonathan Ball 1986, pp.7–8 {{ISBN|086850 130 1}}</ref> Revenue accruing to the Cape Colony from the Kimberley diamond diggings enabled the Cape Colony to be granted responsible government status in 1872, since it was no longer dependent on the British Treasury and hence allowing it to be fully self-governing in similar fashion to the federation of [[Canada]], [[New Zealand]] and some of the [[Australian states]].<ref>Thomas Pakenham, ''The Scramble for Africa'', Johannesburg: Jonathan Ball 1991, p.46 {{ISBN|0-947464-47-6}}</ref> The wealth derived from Kimberley diamond mining, having effectively tripled the customs revenue of the Cape Colony from 1871 to 1875, also doubled its population, and allowed it to expand its boundaries and railways to the north.<ref>Newbury (1987), p.1 citing D Hobart Houghton and Jennifer Dagut (eds), ''Source Material on the South African Economy 1860–1970'', Vol I, Cape Town: 1972, pp.290,346</ref>

In 1888, British mining magnate [[Cecil John Rhodes]] co-founded [[De Beers Consolidated Mines]] at Kimberley, after buying up and amalgamating the individual claims with finance provided by the Rothschild dynasty. Abundant, cheap African labour was central to the success of Kimberley diamond mining, as it would later also be to the success of gold mining on the [[Witwatersrand]].<ref>Cornelius William de Kiewiet, ''A History of South Africa, Social and Economic'', London: Oxford University Press, 1957, p.96</ref><ref>Newbury (1987), p. 3</ref> It has been suggested in some academic circles that the wealth produced at Kimberley was a significant factor influencing the [[Scramble for Africa]], in which European powers had by 1902 competed with each other in drawing arbitrary boundaries across almost the entire continent and dividing it among themselves.<ref>Christopher Oldstone-Moore, [http://www.wright.edu/~christopher.oldstone-moore/imperiallecture.htm The Imperialist Venture], Wright State University. Accessed 24 May 2015</ref><ref>Stacey Greer,[http://historyproject.ucdavis.edu/lessons/view_lesson.php?id=21 South African Diamond Mines 1970s] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150524154746/http://historyproject.ucdavis.edu/lessons/view_lesson.php?id=21 |date=24 May 2015 }}, University of California, Davis. Accessed 24 May 2015</ref>

===Discovery of gold===
{{Main|Witwatersrand Gold Rush}}
[[File:Johannesburg, South Africa (1896).jpg|thumb|300px|right|Johannesburg before gold mining transformed it into a bustling modern city]]Although many tales abound, there is no conclusive evidence as to who first discovered gold or the manner in which it was originally discovered in the late 19th century on the Witwatersrand (meaning White Waters Ridge) of the Transvaal.<ref>P Holz, [http://www.heritageportal.co.za/article/greatest-discovery-them-all ''The Greatest Discovery of them all''] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150527205302/http://www.heritageportal.co.za/article/greatest-discovery-them-all |date=27 May 2015 }}, (originally published in Guide Book, Geological Society of South Africa). Accessed 27 May 2015.</ref> The discovery of gold in February 1886 at a farm called Langlaagte on the Witwatersrand in particular precipitated a gold rush by prospectors and fortune seekers from all over the world. Except in rare outcrops, however, the main gold deposits had over many years become covered gradually by thousands of feet of hard rock. Finding and extracting the deposits far below the ground called for the capital and engineering skills that would soon result in the deep-level mines of the Witwatersrand producing a quarter of the world's gold, with the "instant city" of Johannesburg arising astride the main Witwatersrand gold reef.<ref>Extract from ''New History of South Africa'', by Hermann Giliomee and Bernard Mbenga (eds.) [http://newhistory.co.za/Part-3-Chapter-8-The-story-of-gold-Johannesburg-an-instant-city/ Chapter 8, "The story of gold"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131101083245/http://newhistory.co.za/Part-3-Chapter-8-The-story-of-gold-Johannesburg-an-instant-city/ |date=1 November 2013 }}. Accessed 27 May 2015</ref>

Within two years of gold being discovered on the Witwatersrand, four mining finance houses had been established. The first was formed by Hermann Eckstein in 1887, eventually becoming Rand Mines. Cecil Rhodes and Charles Rudd followed, with their Gold Fields of South Africa company. Rhodes and Rudd had earlier made fortunes from diamond mining at Kimberley.<ref>Goldavenue.com [http://info.goldavenue.com/Info_site/in_arts/in_civ/in_rush_safrica.html ''South African Gold Rush: 1885''] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110421002356/http://info.goldavenue.com/Info_site/in_arts/in_civ/in_rush_safrica.html |date=21 April 2011 }} Accessed 30 May 2015.</ref> In 1895 there was an investment boom in Witwatersrand gold-mining shares. The precious metal that underpinned international trade would dominate South African exports for decades to come.<ref>PJ Cain and AG Hopkins, ''British Imperialism, Innovation and Expansion, 1688–1914'', London: Longman 1993, pp.276–314 {{ISBN|0582491762}}</ref>

Of the leading 25 foreign industrialists who were instrumental in opening up deep level mining operations at the Witwatersrand gold fields, 15 were Jewish, 11 of the total were from Germany or Austria, and nine of that latter category were also Jewish.<ref>JDF Jones,''Through Fortress and Rock'', Johannesburg: Jonathan Ball 1995, p.5 {{ISBN|1 86842 029 9}}</ref> The commercial opportunities opened by the discovery of gold attracted many other people of European Jewish origin. The Jewish population of South Africa in 1880 numbered approximately 4,000; by 1914 it had grown to more than 40,000, mostly migrants from Lithuania.<ref>Aubrey Newman, Nicholas J Evans, J Graham Smith & Saul W Issroff, ''Jewish Migration to South Africa: The Records of the Poor Jews' Temporary Shelter, 1885–1914'' Cape Town: Jewish Publications-South Africa, 2006. {{ISBN|978-0-7992-2315-6}}</ref>

The working environment of the mines, meanwhile, as one historian has described it, was "dangerous, brutal and onerous", and therefore unpopular among local black Africans.<ref>Alan H Jeeves, ''Migrant Labour in South Africa's Mining Economy 1890–1920'', cited in Jones (1995), p.53</ref> Recruitment of black labour began to prove difficult, even with an offer of improved wages. In mid-1903 there remained barely half of the 90,000 black labourers who had been employed in the industry in mid-1899.<ref>Jones (1995), p.47</ref> The decision was made to start importing Chinese indentured labourers who were prepared to work for far less wages than local African labourers. The first 1,000 indentured Chinese labourers arrived in June 1904. By January 1907, 53,000 Chinese labourers were working in the gold mines.<ref>Jones (1995), p.53</ref>

===First Anglo–Boer War===
{{Main|First Boer War}}
{{more citations needed section|date=May 2015}}
[[File:South Africa late19thC map.png|thumb|right|Regional geography during the period of the Anglo–Boer wars:
<br />{{color box|green}} [[South African Republic]]/Transvaal<br />{{color box|orange}} [[Orange Free State]]<br />{{color box|blue}} British [[Cape Colony]]<br />{{color box|red}} [[Colony of Natal|Natal Colony]]]]The Transvaal Boer republic was forcefully annexed by Britain in 1877, during Britain's attempt to consolidate the states of southern Africa under British rule. Long-standing Boer resentment turned into full-blown rebellion in the Transvaal and the first [[First Boer War|Anglo–Boer War]], also known as the Boer Insurrection, broke out in 1880.<ref>Rayne Kruger, ''Goodbye Dolly Gray: The story of the Boer War'', London: Pimlico 1996, p.7 {{ISBN|978-0-7126-6285-7}}</ref> The conflict ended almost as soon as it began with a decisive Boer victory at [[Battle of Majuba Hill]] (27 February 1881).

The republic regained its independence as the ''Zuid-Afrikaansche Republiek'' ("[[South African Republic]]"), or ZAR. [[Paul Kruger]], one of the leaders of the uprising, became President of the ZAR in 1883. Meanwhile, the British, who viewed their defeat at Majuba as an aberration, forged ahead with their desire to federate the Southern African colonies and republics. They saw this as the best way to come to terms with the fact of a white Afrikaner majority, as well as to promote their larger strategic interests in the area.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Southern Africa - European and African interaction in the 19th century {{!}} Britannica |url=https://www.britannica.com/place/Southern-Africa/European-and-African-interaction-in-the-19th-century |access-date=2022-07-12 |website=www.britannica.com |language=en}}</ref>

The cause of the Anglo–Boer wars has been attributed to a contest over which nation would control and benefit most from the [[Witwatersrand Gold Rush|Witwatersrand gold mines]].<ref>Thomas Pakenham, ''The Boer War'', New York: Random House, 1979, p.xxi. {{ISBN|0-394-42742-4}}</ref> The enormous wealth of the mines was in the hands of European "[[Randlord]]s" overseeing the mainly British foreign managers, mining foremen, engineers and technical specialists, characterised by the Boers as ''uitlander'', meaning aliens. The  "aliens" objected to being denied parliamentary representation and the right to vote, and they complained also of bureaucratic government delays in the issuing of licenses and permits, and general administrative incompetence on the part of the government.<ref>Robert Crisp, ''The Outlanders: The story of the men who made Johannesburg'', London: Mayflower, pp.73–8 {{ISBN|0583122914}}</ref>

In 1895, a column of mercenaries in the employ of Cecil John Rhodes' Rhodesian-based Charter Company and led by Captain [[Leander Starr Jameson]] had entered the ZAR with the intention of sparking an uprising on the Witwatersrand and installing a British administration there. The armed incursion became known as the [[Jameson Raid]].<ref>{{cite web|title=First Boer War|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/history/british/victorians/boer_wars_01.shtml#two|website=BBC}}</ref> It ended when the invading column was ambushed and captured by Boer commandos. President Kruger suspected the insurgency had received at least the tacit approval of the Cape Colony government under the premiership of [[Cecil John Rhodes]], and that Kruger's South African Republic faced imminent danger. Kruger reacted by forming an alliance with the neighbouring Boer republic of Orange Free State. This did not prevent the outbreak of a Second Anglo–Boer war.

===Second Anglo–Boer War===
{{Main|Second Boer War}}
[[File:Hobhouse.jpg|thumb|upright|right|[[Emily Hobhouse]] campaigned against the appalling conditions of the [[British concentration camps]] in South Africa, thus influencing British public opinion against the war.]]

Renewed tensions between Britain and the Boers peaked in 1899 when the British demanded voting rights for the 60,000 foreign whites on the Witwatersrand. Until that point, President [[Paul Kruger]]'s government had excluded all foreigners from the [[Suffrage|franchise]]. Kruger rejected the British demand and called for the withdrawal of British troops from the borders of the South African Republic. When the British refused, Kruger declared war. This [[Second Boer War|Second Anglo–Boer War]], also known as the [[South African War]] lasted longer than the first, with British troops being supplemented by colonial troops from Southern Rhodesia, Canada, India, Australia and New Zealand. It has been estimated that the total number of British and colonial troops deployed in South Africa during the war outnumbered the population of the two Boer Republics by more than 150,000.<ref>Michael Davitt, ''The Boer Fight for Freedom'', [http://www.angloboerwar.com/books/37-davitt-boer-fight-for-freedom/870-davitt-chapter-xl-summary-and-estimates Chapter XL – "Summary and Estimates"] New York: Funk & Wagnalls 1902</ref>
By June 1900, [[Pretoria]], the last of the major Boer towns, had surrendered. Yet resistance by Boer ''[[bittereinder]]s'' (meaning those who would fight to the bitter end) continued for two more years with guerrilla warfare, which the British met in turn with [[scorched earth]] tactics. The Boers kept on fighting.

The British suffragette [[Emily Hobhouse]] visited British concentration camps in South Africa and produced a report condemning the appalling conditions there. By 1902, 26,000 Boer women and children had died of disease and neglect in the camps.<ref>Owen Coetzer, ''Fire in the Sky: The destruction of the Orange Free State 1899–1902'', Johannesburg: Covos Day, 2000, pp.82–88 {{ISBN|0-620-24114-4}}.</ref>

The Anglo–Boer War affected all ethnic groups in South Africa. Black people were recruited or conscripted by both sides into working for them either as combatants or non-combatants to sustain the respective war efforts of both the Boers and the British. The official statistics of blacks killed in action are inaccurate. Most of the bodies were dumped in unmarked graves. It has, however, been verified that 17,182 [[Black people#Southern Africa|black people]] died mainly of diseases in the Cape concentration camps alone, but this figure is not accepted historically as a true reflection of the overall numbers. Concentration camp superintendents did not always record the deaths of black inmates in the camps.<ref>Nosipho Nkuna, [http://samilitaryhistory.org/vol113nn.html "Black involvement in the Anglo–Boer War, 1899–1902"], ''Military History Journal of the South African Military History Society'', Vol 11 No 3/4 – October 1999. Accessed 6 June 2015</ref>

From the outset of hostilities in October 1899 to the signing of peace on 31 May 1902 the war claimed the lives of 22,000 imperial soldiers and 7,000 republican fighters.<ref>Peter Warwick, ''Black People and the South African War 1899–1902'', London: Cambridge University Press 2004, p.1 {{ISBN|0521272246}}</ref> In terms of the peace agreement known as the [[Treaty of Vereeniging]], the Boer republics acknowledged British sovereignty, while the British in turn committed themselves to reconstruction of the areas under their control.