Blacks in the ex-Boer republics of the Transvaal and Orange Free State in the aftermath of the South African War of 1899-1902

Abstract

This article attempts to assess the short and long-terrn effects of the South African War of 1899-1902 on the Blacks in the Boer republics of the Transvaal and Orange Free State in particular and on the southern African Blacks in general. While the conditions of black South Africans in the ex-Boer republics in the post· war era is the central theme of this paper, it has, at times, been difficult to avoid commenting on the political influence of the Colonial South, the Cape Colony in particular, on the actions of Blacks in the Orange River Colony and Transvaal, especially in the period immediately following the unification of the four provinces, Transvaal, Orange Free State, Natal, and Cape Colony. It is for that reason that this article has not confined itself to the effects of the war on the black people in the Boer republics only. It was impossible to isolate the Blacks of the two British Colonies from those of the newly acquired British territories in this discussion.