stood behind the government. The UNSWP collapsed in the Legislative Assembly elections in 1953, while the party's leader, Jacques Niehaus, adopted an ultraconservative tack that led nowhere. From that point on, South West Africa was an HNP stronghold. In a sign of extremism baked into the HNP's everyday politics, the party's chairman in South West Africa since the 1950s has been Senator Johannes von Strauss von Moltke, a former fascist Greyshirt.
It was during the Strijdom years that South African lawmakers began to turn their attention to implementing the new racial order in the Republic's fifth province. It helped that in the colonial period, the Germans had already established a native reserve system that the South Africans could take advantage of. Most of these reserves were located in the north of the territory, above the 'Police Zone' that demarcated where the state maintained European policing. As the timetable for the Homelands scheme in South Africa progressed, Native Affairs Minister Verwoerd tapped his longtime ally and fellow racial theorist Michiel Daniel Christiaan de Wet Nel to lead a commission aimed at expanding the Homeland system into South West Africa. When Verwoerd found himself the next Prime Minister after Strijdom's unexpected death, he picked de Wet Nel as South West's next administrator, with a remit to implement the recommendations of the Commission.
While opposition exists among the South West Africans, it has so far proven to be underdeveloped, underequipped, and heavily divided along ethnic lines, making large-scale resistance all the more difficult and armed resistance an impossibility for the foreseeable future. The nationalist cause is currently dominated by two organizations, the first being the South West African National Union (SWANU) under Jariretundu Kozonguizi and the South West African People's Organization (SWAPO) led by Sam Nujoma. At the urging of Ghanaian President Kwame Nkrumah, host of Nujoma and SWAPO's headquarters, both groups have pledged to integrate into the South West African National Liberation Front (SWANLF), but as of 1962, only tentative steps have been taken to bring this dream of a united front into reality.
Britain kept many of its African territories following the war, but this was not true for the High Commission Territories. The High Commission Territories, consisting of Basutoland, Swaziland, and Bechuanaland, were Britain's South African possessions under their direct supervision as compared to the self-ruling Union of South Africa. These territories had a long history of opposition to settler encroachment during the late nineteenth century, and while each eventually fell under British dominion, before the Second World War, London protected them from Pretoria's expansionist impulses.
The British declared a protectorate over the Bechuanaland territory, which at that time was divided between various Tswana chiefdoms, during the Berlin Conference in 1885 (before even making this known to the BaTswana themselves). Initially, the territory was expected to go to Cecil Rhodes' British South Africa Company, but Rhodes' ill-fated Jameson Raid caused Whitehall to shelve this plan. Still, with the consolidation of British rule in South Africa, culminating in the creation of the Union in 1910, incorporation into South Africa seemed inevitable. It was continuously delayed, however, thanks to the public and private lobbying efforts of the DiKgosi, the ruling Tswana chiefs, and their agents.
At first, South Africa's occupation of the High Commission Territories at the end of the war brought few real changes to life in the Protectorate. It was not even clear in what capacity the Smuts government even intended to administer Bechuanaland. The Protectorate had already been run from the South African city of Mafeking, and an equivalent reserve system had been introduced in the Union in 1913.
More dramatic changes were introduced following the ascension of the HNP. Official documents began to refer to the "Territory
It was during the Strijdom years that South African lawmakers began to turn their attention to implementing the new racial order in the Republic's fifth province. It helped that in the colonial period, the Germans had already established a native reserve system that the South Africans could take advantage of. Most of these reserves were located in the north of the territory, above the 'Police Zone' that demarcated where the state maintained European policing. As the timetable for the Homelands scheme in South Africa progressed, Native Affairs Minister Verwoerd tapped his longtime ally and fellow racial theorist Michiel Daniel Christiaan de Wet Nel to lead a commission aimed at expanding the Homeland system into South West Africa. When Verwoerd found himself the next Prime Minister after Strijdom's unexpected death, he picked de Wet Nel as South West's next administrator, with a remit to implement the recommendations of the Commission.
While opposition exists among the South West Africans, it has so far proven to be underdeveloped, underequipped, and heavily divided along ethnic lines, making large-scale resistance all the more difficult and armed resistance an impossibility for the foreseeable future. The nationalist cause is currently dominated by two organizations, the first being the South West African National Union (SWANU) under Jariretundu Kozonguizi and the South West African People's Organization (SWAPO) led by Sam Nujoma. At the urging of Ghanaian President Kwame Nkrumah, host of Nujoma and SWAPO's headquarters, both groups have pledged to integrate into the South West African National Liberation Front (SWANLF), but as of 1962, only tentative steps have been taken to bring this dream of a united front into reality.
Britain kept many of its African territories following the war, but this was not true for the High Commission Territories. The High Commission Territories, consisting of Basutoland, Swaziland, and Bechuanaland, were Britain's South African possessions under their direct supervision as compared to the self-ruling Union of South Africa. These territories had a long history of opposition to settler encroachment during the late nineteenth century, and while each eventually fell under British dominion, before the Second World War, London protected them from Pretoria's expansionist impulses.
The British declared a protectorate over the Bechuanaland territory, which at that time was divided between various Tswana chiefdoms, during the Berlin Conference in 1885 (before even making this known to the BaTswana themselves). Initially, the territory was expected to go to Cecil Rhodes' British South Africa Company, but Rhodes' ill-fated Jameson Raid caused Whitehall to shelve this plan. Still, with the consolidation of British rule in South Africa, culminating in the creation of the Union in 1910, incorporation into South Africa seemed inevitable. It was continuously delayed, however, thanks to the public and private lobbying efforts of the DiKgosi, the ruling Tswana chiefs, and their agents.
At first, South Africa's occupation of the High Commission Territories at the end of the war brought few real changes to life in the Protectorate. It was not even clear in what capacity the Smuts government even intended to administer Bechuanaland. The Protectorate had already been run from the South African city of Mafeking, and an equivalent reserve system had been introduced in the Union in 1913.
More dramatic changes were introduced following the ascension of the HNP. Official documents began to refer to the "Territory
of Bechuanaland" rather than the "Protectorate" as they had continued to do during Smuts' tenure. This attitude would later culminate in South Africa's standoff with the British government in 1954, ultimately leading to the 1955 republican referendum.
Prime Minister Strijdom took these new policies even further. Rather than seeing Bechuanaland as a British Protectorate under new management, or even just a large Tswana reserve in line with the nascent Homeland plan, he moved to expand Afrikaner presence northwards into the territory. To entice settlement, the government moved to dispossess the few African freeholders in the Barolong Farms, the only area in the Protectorate where individual Africans were allowed to own land; this land was then sold to settlers at a substantial discount. Pretoria then transferred the administrative capital of the territory from Mafikeng to Francistown.
By the time of Hendrik Verwoerd's premiership, thousands of settlers had taken up new residence in Bechuanaland. Charles Swart now represented the South African government in Francistown. A party rival of Verwoerd's, Swart lost the battle to succeed Strijdom and has been sent into political wilderness with the largely thankless task of carrying out Pretoria's will in its northern frontier. Counterbalancing the territorial administration is the Native Advisory Council. The Council's current speaker is Bathoen Gaseitsiwe, Kigosi of the BaNgwaketse; for the most part, he has found himself at peace with his new South African overlords, although he maintains an interest in uniting the Tswana chiefdoms into a federation under a single paramount chief. Who would have the credibility to claim such a mantle, though, remains rather unclear.
While these institutions constitute the accepted range of political involvement for Bechuanaland's elite, a new force is emerging in the territory. The Bechuanaland People's Congress has not yet faced official proscription like the ANC or PAC, but it is cast in their mold. Founded in the late 1950s by former schoolteacher Kgaleman Motsete, exiled activist Motsamai Mpho, and Philip Matante, a veteran, Apostolic minister, and Witwatersrand gangster. While the BPC has grown substantially, it is strained by competing visions for the future of the movement. Mpho and his followers in the party believe in the Charterist principles of their ANC cousins in South Africa, while Matante has increasingly identified with the more Africanist PAC.
These divisions have caused a paralysis in the movement, and it is clear that something must give, and soon. For the South African masters of Bechuanaland, this crisis in the opposition can only be seen as an opportunity. Indeed, with South West Africa having been officially integrated, the most fervent settlement advocates in Pretoria now wonder if the former Protectorate is destined to become the Republic's sixth province.
After 1948, HNP rule transformed the small, landlocked chiefdoms of Basutoland and Swaziland into de facto autonomous Homelands under South African sovereignty, although officially, both polities remain in a legal grey area. Internally, South African overlordship also had the effect of reversing the very modest steps that had been taken towards diffusing and democratizing political power in the polities. For Pretoria, strong, centralized, and traditional authority would be its conduit to rule over its new subjects.
In Basutoland, they supported the ascension of the young and ambitious Moshoeshoe II. Working through tobacco magnate Anton Rupert, Pretoria and Moshoeshoe sidelined the Basutoland National Council in favor of the newly installed Basutoland Advisory Commission. Moshoeshoe's cooperation with the South African regime dismayed many of his loyalists thought to use the Paramount Chieftancy as a counterweight to the oligarchic chiefly class that the colonial order had empowered. This reversal drained support from reformist loyalist groups like the Basutoland Progressive Association of Samuel Seepheephe
Prime Minister Strijdom took these new policies even further. Rather than seeing Bechuanaland as a British Protectorate under new management, or even just a large Tswana reserve in line with the nascent Homeland plan, he moved to expand Afrikaner presence northwards into the territory. To entice settlement, the government moved to dispossess the few African freeholders in the Barolong Farms, the only area in the Protectorate where individual Africans were allowed to own land; this land was then sold to settlers at a substantial discount. Pretoria then transferred the administrative capital of the territory from Mafikeng to Francistown.
By the time of Hendrik Verwoerd's premiership, thousands of settlers had taken up new residence in Bechuanaland. Charles Swart now represented the South African government in Francistown. A party rival of Verwoerd's, Swart lost the battle to succeed Strijdom and has been sent into political wilderness with the largely thankless task of carrying out Pretoria's will in its northern frontier. Counterbalancing the territorial administration is the Native Advisory Council. The Council's current speaker is Bathoen Gaseitsiwe, Kigosi of the BaNgwaketse; for the most part, he has found himself at peace with his new South African overlords, although he maintains an interest in uniting the Tswana chiefdoms into a federation under a single paramount chief. Who would have the credibility to claim such a mantle, though, remains rather unclear.
While these institutions constitute the accepted range of political involvement for Bechuanaland's elite, a new force is emerging in the territory. The Bechuanaland People's Congress has not yet faced official proscription like the ANC or PAC, but it is cast in their mold. Founded in the late 1950s by former schoolteacher Kgaleman Motsete, exiled activist Motsamai Mpho, and Philip Matante, a veteran, Apostolic minister, and Witwatersrand gangster. While the BPC has grown substantially, it is strained by competing visions for the future of the movement. Mpho and his followers in the party believe in the Charterist principles of their ANC cousins in South Africa, while Matante has increasingly identified with the more Africanist PAC.
These divisions have caused a paralysis in the movement, and it is clear that something must give, and soon. For the South African masters of Bechuanaland, this crisis in the opposition can only be seen as an opportunity. Indeed, with South West Africa having been officially integrated, the most fervent settlement advocates in Pretoria now wonder if the former Protectorate is destined to become the Republic's sixth province.
After 1948, HNP rule transformed the small, landlocked chiefdoms of Basutoland and Swaziland into de facto autonomous Homelands under South African sovereignty, although officially, both polities remain in a legal grey area. Internally, South African overlordship also had the effect of reversing the very modest steps that had been taken towards diffusing and democratizing political power in the polities. For Pretoria, strong, centralized, and traditional authority would be its conduit to rule over its new subjects.
In Basutoland, they supported the ascension of the young and ambitious Moshoeshoe II. Working through tobacco magnate Anton Rupert, Pretoria and Moshoeshoe sidelined the Basutoland National Council in favor of the newly installed Basutoland Advisory Commission. Moshoeshoe's cooperation with the South African regime dismayed many of his loyalists thought to use the Paramount Chieftancy as a counterweight to the oligarchic chiefly class that the colonial order had empowered. This reversal drained support from reformist loyalist groups like the Basutoland Progressive Association of Samuel Seepheephe
Matete and towards oppositional movements advocating for a modern and independent Basutoland. At present, the two largest opposition movements, the Basutoland National League under Chief Joseph Leabua Jonathan and the PAC-aligned Basutoland African Congress under Ntsu Mokhele, have formed a united front in calling for a constitutional system of government able to check Moshoeshoe's currently unlimited powers.
To the east, Swaziland's estimable Ngwenyama Sobhuza II rules his lands as a royal dictator. Once a reformer engaged in the work of his progressively-minded subjects, the aging monarch has become increasingly wary of any efforts to limit his royal prerogative. In that sense, South Africa's offered quid pro quo - that of obeisance in return for a free hand domestically - had been a godsend.
In contrast to the backwards Basutoland, Swaziland has had something of an economic boom since the 1940s. Swaziland is home to many profitable mines and plantations, most of which are in the hands of European corporations and a thriving settler community of nearly ten thousand. Unsurprisingly, these settlers, who make their outsized voices heard through the European Advisory Council, have benefited greatly from the arrival of the HNP and its representative, Jacobus Loubser.
Democratic and partisan politics do not exist in the new Swaziland, and even the Libandla lakaNgwane, the aristocratic Council of the Ngwane Nation, has been marginalized. Of course, politics have been banished - far from it. Alongside the European Advisory Council, other advocacy groups exist, like the EurAfrican Welfare Association, but they pale in comparison to the EAC's influence. Real opposition to Sobhuza and South African influence has come from the Swaziland Progressive Association. While handicapped by the monarchy's extensive popular support, it enjoys shrewd leadership under men like Dr. Ambrose Zwane and John Nquku. Unfortunately, this has come at something of a cost, as Nquku, despite his skill, has proven to be rather authoritarian himself, threatening to split the organization. For his part, Zwane looks not only to neighboring South Africa's ANC for guidance, but increasingly to President Nkrumah's Accra, and only the insistence of the South African authorities has prevented his visiting the capital of Pan-Africanist action.
https://redd.it/1m982us
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To the east, Swaziland's estimable Ngwenyama Sobhuza II rules his lands as a royal dictator. Once a reformer engaged in the work of his progressively-minded subjects, the aging monarch has become increasingly wary of any efforts to limit his royal prerogative. In that sense, South Africa's offered quid pro quo - that of obeisance in return for a free hand domestically - had been a godsend.
In contrast to the backwards Basutoland, Swaziland has had something of an economic boom since the 1940s. Swaziland is home to many profitable mines and plantations, most of which are in the hands of European corporations and a thriving settler community of nearly ten thousand. Unsurprisingly, these settlers, who make their outsized voices heard through the European Advisory Council, have benefited greatly from the arrival of the HNP and its representative, Jacobus Loubser.
Democratic and partisan politics do not exist in the new Swaziland, and even the Libandla lakaNgwane, the aristocratic Council of the Ngwane Nation, has been marginalized. Of course, politics have been banished - far from it. Alongside the European Advisory Council, other advocacy groups exist, like the EurAfrican Welfare Association, but they pale in comparison to the EAC's influence. Real opposition to Sobhuza and South African influence has come from the Swaziland Progressive Association. While handicapped by the monarchy's extensive popular support, it enjoys shrewd leadership under men like Dr. Ambrose Zwane and John Nquku. Unfortunately, this has come at something of a cost, as Nquku, despite his skill, has proven to be rather authoritarian himself, threatening to split the organization. For his part, Zwane looks not only to neighboring South Africa's ANC for guidance, but increasingly to President Nkrumah's Accra, and only the insistence of the South African authorities has prevented his visiting the capital of Pan-Africanist action.
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