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Johannesburg, South Africa. March 8,
2001
Bushmen and Boers
BARBARA JOHANNESSON reviews The Bushmen of Southern Africa
- a foraging society in transition by Andy Smith, Candy Malherbe, Mat Guenther and Penny Berens (David Philip, R87) and 1899 The Long March Home
- A little-known incident in the Anglo-Boer War by Elsabe Brink (Kwela Books , R82)
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HIS book is a quick way for educators to catch up on new research about the Bushmen.The book was written by an archaeologist, an
historian, an anthropologist and a school teacher. It is written in clear language. Sometimes the ideas are quite difficult to
grasp, but it is worth persevering, especially if you are teaching children about the Bushmen.
Hunter-gatherer societies existed in southern Africa thousands of years before Dutch settlers arrived at the Cape. The Bushmen are often studied in primary schools in the context of the Dutch
arrival. All of us, to some extent, are victims of the racial stereotypes that we learn at school and at teacher training colleges.
The Bushmen are often referred to by their physical appearance and that is what sticks in our minds. The same physical descriptions are never made of Jan van Riebeeck and his fellow settlers! The book
challenges some of the representations and mythologies about the colonised and the coloniser. No groups of people stand alone or are static entities -- cultural identities are changing all the time.
If you are a teacher, this book provides a way for you to catch up on the latest historiography and to question some of the stereotypes. The book is highly illustrated. The illustrations are not just decorative -- they assist in the learning process as each photograph and painting has a detailed caption which helps the reader to interpret the picture.
We know that the Bushmen were hunters and gatherers, and the Khoi were herders. We have been taught that the more "politically
correct" term for the hunters is "San". However, as this book points
out:
* The Khoi herders called the hunters "San". "San" means "people different from ourselves" and was an insulting name for the hunters.
* Bushmen was a name given to the hunters by the first Dutch settlers. It was used to belittle and insult.
* The Dutch settlers called the herders "Hottentots"-- also an insulting term.
* But Khoi was a name that Khoi used for themselves.
* Today the hunters do not have a collective name for themselves and prefer outsiders to call them "Bushmen".
The Anglo-Boer War or the South African War broke out between Great Britain and the Boer Republics in 1899. Hundreds of Zulu men were migrant workers on the gold mines in Johannesburg at the time. The mines closed and the mine owners took no responsibility to see that the workers got home safely. The miners were trapped in Johannesburg without work or food.
The Zulu miners came from Natal, a British colony at the time. A man called John Marwick was the Natal Native Agent in the Transvaal. He was responsible for seeing that these men got safely back home. But transport was at a standstill. So Marwick and 7 000 Zulu workers walked from Johannesburg to Pietermaritzburg -- a distance of 400 km -- between October 6 and 15 1899.
The Long March Home -- A little-known incident in the Anglo-Boer War explains the background to the war set against the discovery of deep-level gold on the Witwatersrand and then tells the story of the
walk. The men walked about 56 km a day at a speed of about five kilometres per hour through inhospitable territory. There were many dangers from wild animals, bad weather, and very long distances between towns in a country preparing for war.
Here is just one quote from Marwick's diary which gives a tiny example of the narrative which helps the reader empathise with the
marchers: (Note: the term "native" was used at the time by white
people for black people -- the term is no longer used today as it is
insulting.)
"During the morning trek a native who had suffered an amputation of his toe, was lagging behind his friends, so I led the pony while he rode. A native sickening with pneumonia rode the pony from the
midday resting place to the homestead of Mr Horn where we slept that night. ?There was great suffering among the stragglers, some of them limping along miles behind the main body, it being impossible for them to reach the sleeping place until long after the others had cooked their food and retired for the night." (page 77)
The book answers many interesting questions about the march. For example: What do we know about these workers? Where did they grow up? Why were they in Johannesburg? What was Marwick doing in Johannesburg? Why has the march been forgotten?
Elsabe Brink, the author of the book, is a historian, researcher and writer. She is interested in the neglected parts of our history and is committed to the as yet untold stories of South Africa's past.
This "little-known incident" is a very engaging read. It tells an exciting story in clear language and is illustrated with photographs from the time. It is highly recommended for history teachers looking to increase their own knowledge of our past and to make their lessons more
interesting.
The Teacher/Mail & Guardian, March 8, 2001.
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