The Africanders : $b A century of Dutch-English feud in South AfricaHooker, Le Roy
History
The Africanders : $b A century of Dutch-English feud in South Africa
Hooker, Le Roy
Afrikaners; South Africa -- Politics and government; Transvaal (South Africa) -- History
Two incidents will sufficiently illustrate this. In 1894 Lord Loch, the
British High Commissioner for South Africa, visited the Transvaal to
conduct certain negotiations with the executive concerning Swaziland.
The presence of this distinguished Crown Official in the Transvaal was
made the occasion by the association of offering a public insult to
President Kruger in Pretoria, of promoting a violent outburst of
pro-British and anti-Africander sentiment in Johannesburg, and of a
conference between Lord Loch and Mr. Lionel Phillips, a member of one
of the leading financial houses in Johannesburg, in which was
considered the propriety of assembling a body of imperial troops on the
borders of the Transvaal for the support of any revolutionary movement
that might be made. These proceedings were reminiscent to the
Africanders of an earlier demonstration, prior to the forming of the
National Union. In 1890 President Kruger visited Johannesburg to confer
with leading citizens on the mitigation of the grievances complained
of. The foreigners celebrated his coming in that friendly way by
drinking to excess, by singing in his ears “God Save the Queen” as a
suitable song of welcome to the President of the South African
Republic, and by tearing down the national flag of the Transvaal which
was floating in front of the house in which the conference was being
held. With a moderation not to be expected from Paul Kruger, the
president charitably attributed the offensive proceedings to “long
drinks”; but the people in general and their representatives were much
embittered by them, and the effect was unfavorable to the carrying of
any measures for the benefit of the foreigners.
Throughout 1894 and 1895, both on the surface of things and beneath it,
appearances were ominous of coming disturbance. On the surface there
was, from Cape Town, an open advocacy of violent measures in
Johannesburg, should such be found necessary to bring about the desired
changes in favor of the foreigners. Mr. Edmund Garrett, editor of the
“Cape Times,” openly stated at Bloemfontein, in 1895, that his presence
in South Africa was connected with a purpose on the part of Mr. Cecil
Rhodes, premier of Cape Colony, and his associates, to “force the
pace.” And it was at this time that, as before stated, the British
authorities suddenly annexed the Tongaland territory, through which the
Africanders had secured a concession and projected a railway to the
sea—thus deepening the impression to a painful and alarming certainty
that the Imperial Government was intentionally unfriendly to that of
the South African Republic.
Under the surface very momentous things were going on. In Rhodesia a
volunteer police force was being enrolled by Sir John Willoughby. This
gentleman, speaking for his superior, Doctor Jameson, assured the men
that they would only be required to serve in a “camp of exercise” once
a year, and that they would not be taken beyond the borders of
Rhodesia.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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