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20th Century South Africa
Background history
The first white settlers to land on South African soil arrived in 1652. They were members of the Dutch East India Company, which was engaged in trade between the Netherlands and Asia. Under the leadership of Jan van Riebeeck , their instructions were to set up a supply station at the Cape for their ships trading between Europe and the East.
Later on, generations of White South Africans would be taught in school that their country was uninhabited when the Whites arrived. In fact, the first Europeans found hunter-gatherer people already living at the Cape. Farming communities that raised crops, herded cattle and traded inhabited other parts of the country.
The newcomers didn't intend to colonise South Africa. They built a fort, grew vegetables and at first kept more or less themselves. But they soon realised that they needed labour to help with their farming. Attempts to recruit the local people met with very little success.
One solution was to let some of the settlers become "free burghers" to run cattle ranches and farms which could supply produce to the fort and The Company. These "boers" (farmers) were given land around the fort but they soon spread further afield. Slaves from West Africa and Dutch colonies in the East Indies were also introduced. Slavery was the basis of agricultural production at the Cape till it was abolished in the 1830s. Natives such as the Khoikhoi started to complain that the settlers were unfairly appropriating more and more of their land, which had been theirs for centuries.
In 1806, the British sailed in and took over the Cape to prevent it from falling into the hands of Empire builders such as Napoleon. In 1834 the British governor at the Cape abolished slavery. Many Dutch settlers resented being commanded around by the British. One of their grievances was being forced to free their slaves. They left the colony to go into the hinterland beyond the grasp of Queen Victoria's government.