Page 53 - Conflitti Militari e Popolazioni Civili - Tomo II

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1980s were characterised, inter alia, by black-on-black violence (which left about 30 000
people dead) and an increase in operations by the ANC’s military wing, uMkhonto weSizwe
(MK) – all of which were contributing factors in the traumatisation of South African society.
South Africa seemed on the verge of total anarchy. And then came the year 1990, which
brought various dramatic political changes, for example: the unbanning of several organisa-
tions, the release of political prisoners (in particular Dr Nelson Mandela) and the start of
negotiations between the National Party government and other political organisations that
led to the first truly democratic election in 1994, with the accompanying dramatic politi-
cal transformation. This also led to the establishment of a formal Truth and Reconciliation
Commission (TRC), which, like Emily Hobhouse’s informal discussions with Boer women
almost a century earlier, offered the marginalised victims of conflict the opportunity to voice
their suffering, so that their trauma could be resolved and perhaps healed. 58

concLuding perspectives
In the light of the terrible slaughter that took place during the First World War (1914-
1918) ) – for example, on 1 July 1916, on the first day of the Battle of the Somme, the Brit-
ish Army lost approximately 19 000 soldiers; in other words, approximately two-and-a-half
times as many as they had lost in the entire course of the Anglo-Boer War on the battlefield
– the nature, scope and meaning of the Anglo-Boer War were relegated to the background
in Britain. However, to the Afrikaner nation it was the most extensive conflict in which they
had been involved in their entire history, and this war guided Afrikaner thinking for a large
part of the twentieth century.
The Anglo-Boer War displayed characteristics of both a civil war and a total war, and
the consequences of the conflict may be traced throughout the twentieth century. To gain an
understanding of political developments in South Africa during the twentieth century, it is
necessary to develop knowledge of and insight into the build-up to, the course and conse-
quences of the Anglo-Boer War. Moreover, the history of the Afrikaner nation cannot be fully
understood if we do not consider the significance of the Anglo-Boer War. Together with the
Great Trek of the 1830s, the Anglo-Boer War was indeed the most epoch-making event in
the history of the Afrikaner.
The consequences of the internment camps probably tower above all the other after-
effects of the war. Unlike razed farmhouses that could be rebuilt, those who died in the camps
could not then be restored to life. The trauma caused by the British internment camp system
would continue to haunt both the Afrikaners and the other inhabitants of South Africa for
many years to come. The internment camps of the Anglo-Boer War led to disruption, trauma,
alienation and a slowing down of the processes of development. A large section of the Afri-
kaner people was impoverished, and various Afrikaners who lost everything on their farms
sought a new life in towns and cities. In the course of time, some of them became part of the
so-called poor-white problem. In the urban areas, fear of the British was soon replaced by
59
58 As far as the TRC is concerned, see, for example, A. Jeffery, The truth about the Truth Commission (Johan-
nesburg, 1999) and A. Krog, Country of my skull (Johannesburg, 1998).
59 For more on the poor white problem, see, for example, R.A. Lewis, A study of some aspects of the poor white
problem in South Africa (M.A., Rhodes University, 1973); J.F.G. Grosskopf et al., The poor white problem
in South Africa: report of the Carnegie Commission (Stellenbosch, 1932); Verslag van die Volkskongres oor