Nuwe Geskiedenis van Suid-Afrika
Hermann Giliomee and Bernard Mbenga (eds)
Tafelberg
ISBN-13: 9780624043584
464 pp
Illustrasies 600 +
Hardeband met stofomslag
R299
Herodotus’s The Histories in nine books is considered by historians to be the inaugural work of history in Western literature. Written in 440 BC, in the Golden Age of Classical Greece, it tells the story of the war between the Persian Empire and the Greek city states of the 5th century. Accounts from interviews by the author(s) and the stories collected in his/their peregrinations in the ancient world at the time make up the body of the books. Let the author himself explain:
Herodotus of Halicarnassus here displays his enquiry, so that human achievements may not become forgotten in time, and great and marvellous deeds – some displayed by Greeks, some by barbarians – may not be without their glory; and especially to show why the two peoples fought with each other.
Nuwe Geskiedenis van Suid-Afrika,edited by Hermann Giliomee and Bernard Mbenga, does much the same in context of the South African historical space and landscape. It presents a history that sets out to display and explain human agency in South Africa, except that it goes much further back than Herodotus’s work, to the Mesolithic Period, circa 200 000 years ago. From its inception South Africa’s history has been characterised by violence, internecine war, cross-border raids and conflict. Each group has sought its glory, and each has had its very own reasons for fighting. There is a unique story to tell.
Giliomee and Mbenga’s Nuwe Geskiedenis must, therefore, be seen in the tradition of historians from the time of Herodotus, down the ages – Tacitus, Livy, Pliny, Josephus et al – who each in his/her unique way has tried to do much the same thing: to show why people do things, as it is in the motto of the British Historical Association, Quidquid agunt hominess ("whatever people do"). Giliomee and Mbenga are no exception.
Writing a history of South Africa comes at a challenging time, both externally and internally. Externally because the nature of historical writing has changed, even though what historians write about has not. The Age of Enlightenment, which saw the emergence of grand-scale, rationalist history-writing whereby history moved away from chronicle to a science of causation and change goes far back. So does history in “moving cycles” such as Giambatista Vico’s in his Scienza Nova (1725). The history of the grand narrative seeing large-scale works such as William Robertson’s History of America (1777) and Edward Gibbon’s The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire (1788) equally dates from the past.
Alan Munslow, referring to these grand-scale histories, claims that “the meta-narrative of scientific objectivity and the unfolding of progress through our grasp of the past is now under challenge.” Hayden White’s views on the meaning of historical writing moves away from the grand-narrative, encyclopaedic kind:
A specifically historical enquiry is born less of the necessity to establish that certain events occurred than of the desire to determine what certain events might mean to a given group, society, or culture’s conception of its present task and future prospects.
Internally it is challenging because the dynamics of South Africa’s history are powerful and strong, and the rate of change is fast. Perspectives on history are so different now from the time of South African historians’ writing such as Theal, Cory and De Kiewiet. Editors Monica Wilson and Leonard Thompson’s The Oxford History of South Africa written 38 years ago (1969), while still a work of the utmost integrity, was not in a position to show as clearly then why peoples fought one another.The authors did not have the access and freedom that the contributors in Nuwe Geskiedenis have.
The Reader's Digest's Illustrated History of South Africa (1988), edited by Christopher Saunders and with Colin Bundy as historical adviser, has been a wonderful asset to historical writing for students of history. In many ways Nuwe Geskiedenis is similar in that it is neither a compendium of history, nor a chronicle of events, but rather a series of essays explaining the events, presented in an interesting and enlightening way. The description of the book provided by the Reader's Digest Association itself explains that it "strips away the curtain of myths and misconceptions that surround South Africa and apartheid, clarifying in an accessible and entertaining manner the historical forces that have molded the present and dictate the future of this divided land". It is for this reason that we as teachers found it a great asset (with over 1 000 colour illustrations and photos), and used it in conjunction with the engaging narrative, South Africa: A Modern History by THR Davenport and Christopher Saunders, a book for scholars and very interested readers, and for university students studying South African history.
The writers of both Illustrated History and Nuwe Geskiedenis are listed by the editors. In the former the names are listed in front. The names are without any indication of the contributions the writers have made to the then existing bank of historical writing. In the case of the latter they appear at the back of the book, with a bio of each, as well as the list of publications that the writers have published. The editors of both publications, Hermann Giliomee and Bernard Mbenga, are highly acclaimed, as are the Consulting Editor, Christopher Saunders, and Colin Bundy (Illustrated History). The difference lies in the fact that for Nuwe Geskiedenis there is a heavy reliance on the published works of the contributors/writers. Yet the bibliography of Illustrated History presented at the back of the book is extremely extensive.
As explained by the editors themselves, since the publication of Illustrated History and Nuwe Geskiedenis in Woord en Beeld under the editorship of Trewhella Cameron and SB Spies (1986), a considerable breakthrough has been achieved in the field of the biological history of humankind, as well as in the evolution in Africa of modern humans, and Giliomee and Mbenga take this into account.
As time marches on we will make new discoveries about history, a case in point being Nicolas Wade’s Before Dawn: Recovering the Lost History of our Ancestors (2006), in which the claim has been made that the human migration of modern man (I'm obviously using the word generically to cover both male and female humans) began 80 000 years ago, accompanied by the carrying of manufactured artifacts from bone and ivory. These people and their activities have their origin in Africa, accompanied by complex, explanatory information which they exported when they emigrated. The timing of Nuwe Geskiedenis no doubt reaps the benefit of the appearance of recent studies such as Wade’s and in time new publications by different editors will reap similar benefits.
The editors of Nuwe Geskiedenis carefully explain the formation of South Africa. The book is divided into four parts in order to accommodate the events that make up these stages in the country’s development. The first is the rise of modern man, and extends to the time of the early European settlements at the Cape. The second deals with the unsettling of the country through strife and warfare, immigration and colonialism. The period that marks the passage from rudimentary stages of industrialisation to its firm establishment (1850–1945), features in the third part, and the final, insightful section, titled "Van ‘n Afrikanerstaat na Afrikastaat (1945–2005)", takes us to the place where we are now.
The two institutions that played a key role in South African society in the first 175 years of the existence of the Cape Colony were slavery and the role of the church and mosque respectively. These are explained in the introduction, as is religion and its important role in the lifestyles of the colonists. The role of missionaries in establishing South Africa’s black elite is a feature (an understanding of the deep-rooted exigencies of the current Mbeki-Zuma race for presidency will be greatly facilitated by an understanding of the emergence of the elite). The ferocious, bloody wars of the early 19th century are important for an understanding of the current debate around the position of Zulu and Xhosa politics, as are British colonialism and the later predicament over the interior when discoveries of diamonds and gold were made.
The migration by trekboers and later Voortrekkers into the interior of the country caused tension between blacks, Boers and the British, and serve as explanations for the emergence of Afrikaner nationalism, together with the explanations for the outbreak of the South African War (1899–1902). The gradual loss of power by the Afrikaner and ascendancy by the African National Congress is considered strongly in this book, and it is almost as if one is already anticipating a fully revised edition in 2012 in order to take into account the 100th year of the existence of the oldest black political organisation on the African continent, to see how far its work will have further shaped South African society between now and then.
The list of writers (Giliomee and Mbenga included – they are not only editors), is highly impressive. The leaders in the field of South African historiography, all undisputable experts in their fields, are there. Giliomee has written 15 books, of which Die Afrikaners: ‘n Biografie (translated into English) is recent. It was published in the USA as well as in the UK. His most recent book covers the terrain of a community of a town, the one where he lives, Stellenbosch, entitled, Nog altyd hier gewees: die storie van ‘n Stellenbosse gemeenskap. Bernard Mbenga is co-author of Cambridge History of South Africa Vol. 1, c 200 AD to 1886 AD, with Carolyn Hamilton and Robert Ross. He has published widely and has delivered numerous papers on South African history in the US, UK and Australia.
The 31 contributors from both South Africa and abroad have published scores of books and papers on history and related disciplines. They have been selected for their contribution to "putting the record straight" where previously, such as in the 1930s, historical writing was one-sided (concentrating on the relationship between the British and Boer, to the exclusion of any wider writing to reflect South African society as a whole). That oversimplification of the country’s history, perpetuating mythologies such as the "open land" policy, and serving up propaganda, was challenged when counter-propaganda works emerged, notably the Oxford History of South Africa.
The 1970s saw the emergence of revisionist historians who, among other things, heightened the awareness of the importance of the complex and diverse role played by rural history and the related position of the peasant in a history that was reflecting transformation and change. Rodney Davenport, as the pioneer who synthesised the views of the revisionist, liberal and nationalist historian, paved the way for new tendencies to present themselves, for example, the reinterpretation of Zulu history in Natal, the role of women and gender in history, slavery and frontier history. The work of historians such as Davenport and others gradually paved the way for greater banks of deconstructionist and postcolonial histories to be produced, enabling a broader perspective on South African history to emerge in the 1990s and 2000s, such as the works of Cheryl Walker, Fred Morton, Elizabeth Eldredge, Carolyn Hamilton, Nancy Jacobs, Greg Cuthbertson and Albert Grundlingh.
The book begins with the debate on the first people to emerge in Africa (and consequently the world). The lifestyle of the hunter-gatherer, followed by the Khoi-Khoi pastoralist, precedes the emergence of farming in South Africa. The rich Zimbabwe culture and the history of the second millennium, seen in its splendour in the Mapungubwe period, are explained. Why did the king decide to occupy the hill and thus estrange himself from his subjects? Can it be said that Mapungubwe was a forerunner for the Zimbabwe society? The exquisite unembellished rhinoceros fashioned in gold leaf (except the tail, which is solid gold) found in 1933 in a regal grave must surely rank as South Africa’s most prized artifact. Its history is fully explained in the book, as is it illustrated. Nelson Mandela, appropriately, was the first recipient of the Order of Mapungubwe, South Africa’s highest award, in four classes, the highest of which is Platinum, and Mandela has been the only Platinum recipient thus far. An important section in the chapter is the explanation of the emergence of black political communities, commonly referred to as Bantu migrations. Some 40 groups have been identified and there is a map to illustrate.
South African society is complex in its make-up. Three continents other than Africa serve as its origins – Europe, Asia and the Far East. The confluence in South Africa of the migrations is a fascinating part of the book, placing so many possible misconceptions in context for the reader. How the demand for spices by people on one side of the globe from people on another side of the globe, with the tip of a continent in between, could end up shaping South Africa’s history, is a remarkable story, breathtakingly told by experts in their field. The rich tapestry that makes our history comes to light.
Lamentably, the story is not without its tragic side. In order to ply the trade in spices, labour had to be employed. This gave rise to the institution of slavery at the Cape, and the society there was based firmly and squarely on it. Between 1652 and 1808, 63 000 slaves were imported. Cape Town is a city built on slave labour. Church Square was the market place for the purchase of human flesh. The publication deals with the complexity of slavery, and the explanations around it are given.
Gradually, from the second millennium onwards, new societies emerged in South Africa. The book examines these, such as those in the countryside and the West Coast, the Moslem, the Afrikaner, the San and their resistance to the advent of encroaching groups, the Khoi-Khoi under pressure and the at times ferocious, yet at other times peaceful, engagement between the Xhosa and the Boer.
Religion and culture are themes inextricably intertwined in South African society. The role of the missionary societies gradually took effect in South Africa and the book devotes a number of pages to this phenomenon. Both Christianity and Islam placed a great deal of importance on being literate. Religion and education went hand in hand. The emergence of the various religions and the accompanying languages are interesting topics of the book. Frontier politics is a theme entrenched in South Africa’s history. The foremost example is the Eastern Cape frontier, mapped out by the meandering of the Great Fish River.
The turbulent 19th century is covered in the book in Part 2: "Van die groot ontwrigtings tot Afrika-nasionalisme". The dynamics that emerged, through political and cultural customs, determined who would live where. Of prime importance in this section is the debate around the Mfecane, denoting the violence in Natal at the time of Shaka. Julian Cobbing’s theory challenging the myths attributed to the early 19th-century history of Natal is an interesting part of Chapter Four.
The change of administration from the VOC to the British in 1795 meant a considerable change in direction in policy at the Cape and further inland, as far as Natal, the Eastern Cape and later, for the two Boer Republics, the South African Republic and the Orange Free State. Sheep farming conflicted with the pastoral activities of black groups, whose preference was for bovine stock, although sheep and goats also made up their estate.
The transition from an agrarian to an industrial society was accompanied by a great deal of conflict, seen through a clash of interests, and the gradual subjugation of people into a working class. Atrocious conditions accompanied the advent of the mining industry, and the concerted attempt by the imperialists to neutralise the influence of the Zulu, Pedi and other kingdoms, was an effect of the great quest for empire. Not only the black groups suffered at the hands of the British, but also the ZAR under President Thomas François Burgers, whose country was annexed in 1877. Well-known stories such as the Langalibalele affair and the Nongqwase catastrophe are told energetically and will sustain the reader’s interest.
Close to the 100th year of the existence of the ANC (in 2012), the section on the emergence of African nationalism is an important section of the book. The rise of the black elite is carefully explained. Its counterpoise, Afrikaner nationalism and its emergence, is covered with clear explanations of complex issues, such as the emergence of apartheid. Black resistance politics, from initial to intensified resistance, explains the road that South Africa would follow. The split in white politics and the gradual consolidation of its competition in African nationalism and black politics are explained in such a way that it can be clearly understood. The farcical plan put forth by the ideology of separate development is contained in the section titled "Tuislande of stortingstrerreine?" which explains this folly.
Milestone events – Sharpeville, the Soweto uprisings, the collapse of apartheid and the emergence of a new society that came after the period of "the total onslaught" of the 1980s – are explained as preceding the triumphant stage of the ANC, in exile from 1960 to 1990, and the new course set for the country by the efforts of De Klerk and Mandela.
Averting a potential civil war in the run-up period of 1991–1993 meant the chance for South Africa to establish itself as a young democracy, with the peaceful elections on 27 April 1994 following. In this great event of our country there was no bloodbath, as some had thought there would be. A photograph on p 409 speaks volumes about the peaceful way in which enfranchised South Africans, by far the majority of whom had stood at the same place five years before in the 1994 elections, came to cast their vote in the country’s second fully democratic election. It went to show that South Africans were on the road to democracy, and that for the most part they were peace-loving people.
It was General Jan Smuts who in 1949, after being defeated at the polls the previous year, remarked: “Die hele wêreld beweeg na ‘n kleurgebaseerde fase van die geskiedenis, met gevolge wat niemand kan voorsien nie, en wat Suid-Afrika die meeste moet vrees. Maar die ergste, soos die beste, gebeur nooit." ("The whole world is moving towards a colour-based phase of history, with consequences which no one can foresee, and which South Africa should fear the most. But the worst, like the best, never happens.") While Smuts’s prophetic words were certainly true for the way in which, especially in the 1980s and 1990s, our country experienced the transition to a peaceful democracy, the writer of that section asserts on p 437 that Smuts’s views might not have catered for tragic events in our history such as the extermination of the San, the subjugation of the Xhosa and their suicide, the suffering experienced by migrant labour, and the death of women and children in the concentration camps.
The epidemics that wiped out the Khoi-Khoi at the Cape in the 17th century, the revolting institution of slavery in certain parts of the country, especially the Cape, the atrocities that emanated from the time of the South African War, the rise of Afrikaner nationalism and the establishment of an apartheid state, the gradual impoverishment of masses of people due to forced removals, the gradual growth of AIDS, spilling over into endemic proportions, are all topics the book deals with. The photograph on p 422 reflects the residents in Walmer Estate in Port Elizabeth protesting against the lack of facilities: "I want toilet, I want tap, I want electricity, I want house" are the words written on the placard. While the government has certainly made strides in providing housing and related facilities, we read on p 422 that there has been an increase of 40 percent in the growth of housing construction, while there has been an increase of 69 percent in the growth of the provision of electricity in existing houses. There is a growth of 36 percent in the removal of waste removal. Yet by 2006, 30 percent of families in the country did not live in formal housing, 60 percent of households did not have running water in their homes, and 20 percent were without electricity … and 4,2 million people in this country have to live on less than R10 a day.
The story of AIDS features on pp 417 et seq, and the crisis around it are explained. Mbeki’s failure to provide leadership in the AIDS pandemic is discussed, as well as that of the Health Minister, Manto Tshabalala-Msimang; and the efforts of the Treatment Action Campaign, which was launched in 1998, are not forgotten. Through the efforts of this organisation, and others, the government was forced to provide antiretrovirals and the voice of the people started to be heard.
Black consciousness has played a central role in South African politics, from the 1960s. It fought any vestiges of colonialism, and the momentum it gained was mainly through the black universities. The story of Steve Biko is covered and there are numerous photographs of him, with his son Samora and with Mamphela Ramphele, later to become the rector and vice-chancellor of the University of Cape Town. Over the page there are photographs of black leaders, namely Harry Gwala, Mosiuo Lekota, Strini Moodley and Jacob Zuma. All served terms as political prisoners on Robben Island, and after their release they all played leading roles in extra-parliamentary organisations in the country.
The Mandela factor is discussed. There is a photograph of Mandela holding up a document, the "Groote Schuur Minute", committing the opposing sides to work toward conciliation, to find a solution to the question of violence, and to create peaceful conditions to inaugurate a constitution that would serve all the people of the country. There are a number of pages devoted to PW Botha, FW De Klerk, Nelson Mandela and Thabo Mbeki. The Truth and Reconciliation Commission established in 1995 played an important role in the transition of our country, as did Archbishop Desmond Tutu, whose bonhomie is reflected in the colourful picture, in itself a perfect match for his polychrome views and insistence that we are the rainbow nation, a far cry from once being called the pariah of the world.
Two ways forward are discussed on p 425. The left is calling for a speedy redistribution of wealth in the country, while the centre seeks to stabilise the country’s economy, especially after a half-century of unevenly distributed wealth. The different policies used to achieve this are discussed (RDP and Gear), with Tito Mboweni and Trevor Manuel, pictured together in the photograph, attempting, with a great measure of success, to do so.
The new challenges that lie ahead make up the final pages of the book, explained through the great need to ensure sustained economic growth. A new song needs to be sung and new stories need to be told. Nuwe Geskiedenis van Suid-Afrika serves as a fitting example of this.
Like Herodotus of Halicarnassus did almost 2 500 years ago, the editors and writers of Nuwe Geskiedenis have displayed the same enquiring spirit, "so that human achievements may not become forgotten in time, and great and marvellous deeds … may not be without their glory; and especially to show why … peoples fought with each other". The fighting is a thing of the past, although it needed to be recorded alongside the rich history of what seems to be emerging as not so much a regional as a great power.
Times have changed and South Africa’s economy, to take up the twentieth position in the world (as determined by the IMF’s Purchasing Power Parity of its Gross Domestic Product), cannot be disregarded, just as its complex, diverse and interesting history from ancient to modern times is demonstrating an ascending interest from persons at home and abroad. Nuwe Geskiedenis,available in English as New History of South Africa, comes at an appropriate time to meet that demand as no other has done before it.
– Heribert Adam, who co-wrote Seeking Mandela: Peacemaking between Israelis and Palestinians.He is professor in Sociology at the Simon Fraser University in Vancouver in Canada.
– Mohamed Adhikari’s, whose recent book is Not White Enough, Not Black Enough: Racial Identity in the South African Coloured Community. He teaches in the Department of History at the University of Cape Town.
– Howard Barrell, who served in the Intelligence wing of the ANC and went into exile as part of the underground movement in the 1980s. His thesis submitted to the University of Oxford dealt with the ANC’s operational strategy for the decade 1976–1986.
– Monica Bot, who has written widely on education in South Africa. She graduated from the University of Leiden.
– JP Brits, professor in history at UNISA, whose field is South African political history pre-1948.
– Luli Callinicos, the author of Oliver Tambo: Beyond the Engeni Mountains.
– Janette Deacon, a world-renowned archaeologist from the University of Cape Town.
– Richard Elphick, who has written many books, specialising in the history of the Khoi-khoi. He is currently professor of history at the Weslyan University, Middletown, Connecticut, USA.
– Albert Grundlingh, professor and chairman of the History Department at Stellenbosch University. He has published widely.
– William Gumede, former assistant editor of The Sowetan and the author of Thabo Mbeki and the Battle for the Soul of the ANC.
– Tom Lodge, the author of Mandela: a Critical Biography and Politics in South Africa: from Mandela to Mbeki.
– Andrew Manson, co-author of The Hlubi Chiefdom in Natal/Zululand: a History.
– Richard Mendelsohn and Milton Shane, who have both written widely on South African Jewish history.
– Kogila Moodley, who has published in the field of multiculturalism.
– James Myburgh, who conducted his research on the ANC.
– Bill Nasson, professor at UCT, a specialist in imperial history in South Africa.
– Benjamin Pogrund, past deputy editor of the Rand Daily Mail and author of How Can Man Die Better: the Life of Robert Sobukwe and Nelson Mandela.
– Christopher Saunders, professor in history at UCT, whose field is 20th-century South African history and historiography.
– Lawrence Schlemmer, former director of the Centre for Policy Studies at the University of the Witwatersrand.
– Annette Seegers, author of The Military and the Making of Modern South Africa.
– Milton Shain, who specialises in South African Jewish history. He is professor at UCT and author of several publications, including South African Jewry: an Illustrated History.
– Robert Shell, a specialist in the fields of slavery, Islam and AIDS in Africa.
– Khehla Shubane, a former political prisoner who served a term on Robben Island.
– SB Spies, who has enjoyed a highly celebrated career as a historian, publishing extensively on South Africa history. He is the author of The Origins of the Anglo-Boer War, Methods of Barbarism?
– Sandra Swart, who specialises in social and environmental studies. She is the author of Breeds of Empire – the “Invention” of the Horse in Southeast Asia and Southern Africa.
– Virginia van der Vliet, an expert in the field of AIDS.
– David Welsh, former professor in Southern African history and a contributor to the Oxford History of South Africa.
– Gavin Whitelaw, an archaeologist and a specialist in the field of African pastoralists.
Given the list of contributors it is as if the editors mapped out carefully the fields they intended covering and then set about finding experts in those areas. The leading scholarship of the contributors is the strongest feature of the book. This contributes greatly to the outstanding academic quality of the publication, yet at the same time it is not unnecessarily heavy to read. Reading it is highly enjoyable and it serves the scholar, student, person interested in history and the curious reader, alike. Novice readers will find the book equally accessible.
The team responsible for the design and setting are to be extremely highly commended for ensuring a book of immense quality, superbly illustrated in colour or black and white. The setting of each page is such that the illustrations are to the side, affording the text pride of place. Included are the photograph acknowledgements, a detailed Index, a Register of Names and Places, a List of Subjects, the bios of the Contributors, the Bibliography and a Glossary.
Kommentaar
Paul Murray toon weereens hoe 'n kommentator deeglik moet besin en dat objektiwiteit die som is van ewewigtigtheid, regverdigheid, asook die vermoë om menslike vooroordeel ter syde te stel.