Doctoral Degrees (History)

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The Cape Rebel of the South African War, 1899-1902
(Stellenbosch : University of Stellenbosch, 2005-03) Shearing, Hilary Anne; Grundlingh, A. M.; University of Stellenbosch. Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences. Dept. of History.
This dissertation investigates the role of a group of Cape colonists who rose in rebellion against the colonial government and allied themselves to the Boer Republics during the South African War of 1899-1902. The decision of the Griqualand West colonists to join the Republican forces took place against a background of severe deprivation in the agricultural sector due to the losses sustained in the rinderpest pandemic of 1896/1897. It also coincided with the invasion of Griqualand West by Transvaal forces. The failure of the Schreiner Government to defend its borders encouraged rebellion, as there were no armed forces to oppose either the invasion or the rebellion. While some of the Cape rebels fought on the side of the Republicans during major battles along the Modder River, others were commandeered to gather and transport supplies to the laagers. Four months after the surrender of Gen P Cronje at Paardeberg the majority of these rebels had laid down arms except for those under Gen Piet de Villiers who fought on in the Transvaal. After a second rebellion in 1901, far fewer rebels fought a war of attrition north of the Orange River; eventually about 700 men leaving the Cape Colony to avoid laying down arms. South of the Orange River Free State forces commandeered the disaffected colonists of the Stormberg and Colesberg regions in November 1899. Because the Republicans had not occupied these regions earlier in the war, British reinforcements and the Colonial Division took to the field against them almost immediately. The victory gained at Stormberg in December 1899 by the Boer forces was not followed up. Olivier failed to integrate his forces; unlike those at Colesberg where the Boers were far better led and scored some notable successes. The Republican burghers withdrew from the Cape Colony in March 1901, which in turn led to a mass surrender ofrebels. Those that were captured under arms were sent as POWs to Ceylon and India, while those that surrendered were held in colonial gaols until they were bailed or given passes. Only a few hundred continued to wage war in the Boer Republics for the remainder of 1900. The second invasion by Free State forces into the Cape Colony consisted of mobile commandos that criss-crossed the interior. For the first few months they sowed havoc, but after June 1901 the military used mass tactics against those who were forced into the isolated northwest Cape. In 1902, unknown to them, the Boer republics signed the Treaty of Vereeniging and ceased to exist as sovereign states. The Cape rebels were not signatories to the treaty. According to an agreement between the Boer leaders and the Colonial Office, if a rebel surrendered and pleaded guilty to High Treason under Proclamation 100 of 1902 he would receive a partial amnesty and be disfranchised. However rebel officers were charged in court and fines and prison sentences would be handed down. After the first invasion rebels who were captured or surrendered were tried under the Indemnity and Special Tribunals Act that was in force for six months until April 1901. Martial Law was then again in vogue from 22 April until Peace at the end of May 1902, and under this act 44 Cape colonists, Republicans and aliens were executed, and hundreds .of others, whose death sentences were commuted to penal servitude for life, were shipped to POW camps on Bermuda and St Helena. The surrenders 00,442 rebels were accepted under Proclamation 100 of 1902. Rebel officers or those facing serious charges were tried under the Indemnity and Special Tribunals Act in Special High Treason Courts. The general amnesty announced in 1905 brought to an end the prosecutions for High Treason ofCape rebels. In 1906 the names of disfranchised colonists were. replaced on the Voters' Roll. The final official return of Cape rebels for 1903 is 12,205 or 0.5% of the total population, while the return according to the database is 16,198 rebels or 0.7%. Strategically the rebellions played a limited role in the overall Republican war effort despite the individual rebel's self-sacrifice to the cause. However, although small in numbers, the rebellion had an enormous impact on colonial life (especially in 1901) as it led to a thinly disguised civil war and enmity between the Afrikaner and English colonists, which took years to disappear.
D.F. Malan : a political biography
(Stellenbosch : University of Stellenbosch, 2010-03) Korf, Lindie; Grundlingh, A. M.; University of Stellenbosch. Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences. Dept. of History.
ENGLSIH ABSTRACT: This study is a political biography of D.F. Malan (1874–1959), the first of the apartheid-era Prime Ministers, and covers the years 1874 to 1954, when Malan retired from politics. It endeavours to provide a warts-and-all account of D.F. Malan which challenges prevalent myths and stereotypes surrounding his public persona and his political orientation. While the overwhelming focus is on Malan’s political career, special attention is paid to his personal life in order to paint a multi-faceted picture of his character. The biography is written in the form of a seamless narrative and employs a literary style of writing. It is based on archival research which utilised Malan’s private collection, as well as the private collections of his Nationalist contemporaries. Malan takes the centre stage at all times, as the biography focuses on his perceptions and experiences. Malan’s views regarding Afrikaner nationalism, which was his foremost political priority, are described, and are related to his views of British imperialism as well as other ideologies such as communism and totalitarianism. This study demonstrates that there is a notable link between Malan’s perceptions of race relations and his concerns about the poor white problem. It reveals that Malan’s racial policy was, to some extent, fluid, as were his views on South Africa’s constitutional position. Debates about South Africa’s links to Britain and the nature of the envisioned republic preoccupied Afrikaner nationalists throughout the first half of the twentieth century – and served as an outlet for regional and generational tensions within the movement. Malan’s clashes with nationalists such as Tielman Roos, J.B.M. Hertzog and J.G. Strijdom are highlighted as an indication of the internecine power struggles within the National Party (NP). By emphasising these complexities, this study seeks to contribute to a nuanced understanding of the South African past.
Die opkoms, dinamika en betekenis van die Klein Karoo Nasionale Kunstefees: 1995-2005
(Stellenbosch : University of Stellenbosch, 2005-12) Kitshoff, Herman van Zijl; Grundlingh, A. M.; Hauptfleisch, Temple; University of Stellenbosch. Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences. Dept. of History.
Funding for the Afrikaans arts before 1994 was greatly controlled by the National Party government through the four former provincial arts councils. With the political change in South Africa after 1994, the dismantling of the provincial arts councils and the perceived uncertainty of the future of Afrikaans in a post-apartheid South Africa, Afrikaans cultural festivals were conceived to serve as a refuge for the Afrikaans language. The first of these was the Klein Karoo Nasionale Kunstefees (KKNK), piloted in April 1995 in Oudtshoorn. The KKNK has since changed every aspect of the Afrikaans arts. It has stimulated the establishment of other, similar festivals throughout the country, while becoming the bread and butter for aspiring and established artists alike. The festival lures thousands of visitors annually, providing Oudtshoorn with an indispensable economic injection. Despite the festival’s success, it has come under critique over the past 11 years for its perceived cultural exclusivity, and has been labelled as a mere “boerebasaar”. In addition, several interest groups vie for direct and indirect control of the festival, each staking their specific claim on the KKNK. This thesis provides a historical analysis of the origin and dynamics of the KKNK from 1995 to the present, while simultaneously comparing it to other so-called arts festivals. In addition, the nature of the festival is explored against the backdrop of various interest groups. The discussion concludes with a reflection on the significance of the festival.
Relations between South Africa and France with special reference to military matters, 1960-1990
(Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 2008-12) Moukambi, Victor; Grundlingh, A. M.; Van der Waag, I. J.; Stellenbosch University. Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences. Dept. of History.
This dissertation investigates the role played by France in the supply of military equipment and the transfer of technology to South Africa from 1960. This Franco-South African defence cooperation was opportune for South Africa, as she faced escalating international criticism over the apartheid issue and, from December 1963, the first military embargo, one joined by her erstwhile arms suppliers. The accession of the National Party (NP) to power in South Africa in 1948 brought a range of legislation that gave substance to the nationalist policy of apartheid. The suffering of the South African black population and the refusal of the South African government to revise its domestic policy, despite the growing international pressure, induced the newly-independent, Afro-Asian countries to press the United Nations (UN) to take tougher actions against Pretoria. At the same time opposing Black Nationalist movements, the African National Congress (ANC) the South West African Peoples’ Organisation (SWAPO) and the Pan Africanist Congress (PAC) adopted militant actions in response to increasingly repressive race legislation in South Africa and South West Africa/Namibia. Furthermore, when in 1961 South Africa left the British Commonwealth, she lost the long-term military commitment from London she had enjoyed for much of the twentieth century. South Africa would now have to satisfy her defence needs elsewhere. Pretoria knew that she needed a strong, well-equipped defence force in order to face the growing internal conflict as well as a possible military onslaught from outside the country. As a result, South Africa faced the first arms embargo in 1963 when her traditional arms suppliers, Britain and the USA elected to observe the voluntary terms of the embargo instituted by the UN. France, at the time under the leadership of General Charles de Gaulle, identified an opportunity to strengthen her relations with South Africa and acquire the much-needed strategic materials for her nuclear programme; he decided to fill the space in the military market vacated by Britain and the USA. From 1964, France became Pretoria’s most important arms supplier, a relationship that lasted throughout the Gaullist administration. De Gaulle’s decision to supply South Africa with French military equipment and the transfer of technological know-how was based mainly on political, military and economic considerations. In short, De Gaulle wanted to free France from a military dependency on the United States, which had come to dominate NATO, and, by extension, Western Europe. Feeling hemmed in by les anglo-saxons, France, facing a shortage of North American uranium for her nuclear programme from 1957, sought new partners to shore up her own strategic vulnerability and ensure a role for her in world politics. Moreover, in the early 1960s, Apartheid had not yet become an electoral issue in France, as it was in Britain and the USA, and, in any case, France herself was drawing negative comment for her actions in the Algerian war of national independence. The logical outcome was a comfortable rapprochement, for the moment at least, between Paris and Pretoria. This military cooperation was broad-fronted and sustained until France implemented her first partial military embargo in 1975 and voted for the UN mandatory arms embargo in 1977. But, by this time, the weapons industry in South Africa, home-grown with French assistance, was well-established and placed South Africa in a position to launch military campaigns against the frontline states, commencing with Operation Savannah in late 1975. This study analyses the content and impact of the military cooperation between Paris and Pretoria and creates a better understanding of political and economic dimensions that were the key in the conduct of Franco-South African defence relations between 1960 and 1990.
The role of tourism in the conservation of cultural heritage with particular relevance for South Africa
(Stellenbosch : University of Stellenbosch, 2005-03) Van Zyl, Colin James; Burden, M.; Grundlingh, A. M.; University of Stellenbosch. Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences. Dept. of History.
Three decades ago heritage tourism was virtually unknown as a tourism product and the only reference to the word ‘heritage’ was in the description of a legal process in a will by which a person received some or other form of inheritance. This formerly legal term has in recent times undergone a fundamental expansion and now includes almost any intergenerational exchange or relationship. A growing commercial heritage industry has now established itself by converting the past into products and experiences. One of the foremost vehicles in this process has been that of tourism. Tourism, in spite of its economic-generating capacity is not an homogenous industry and consequently does not necessarily feel compelled to subscribe to the standard principles governing sustainability. However, there is an increasing awareness in the formal tourism industry of the advantages of subscribing to these principles, if not for any other reasons than those related to good business practice. Tourists from around the world are increasingly demanding a more responsible tourism product that supports the conservation of the natural as well as the cultural environment. The conservation of cultural resources and the process of its conversion into tourism products can provide the impetus and the incentive necessary for reviving cultural identity. This in turn has the effect of creating a favourable developmental climate for new heritage tourism products which the market needs in its continuous search for innovation and diversification. The characteristics of South African tourism products are in line with global market trends for cultural heritage tourism and there is evidence of increased co-ordination of initiatives in this regard. South Africa has been singled out by the World Tourism Organisation in their Tourism 2020 Vision (WTO 1998) as one of six countries predicted to make great strides in the tourism industry during the period leading up to 2020. Whilst South Africa has tremendous advantages in the global tourism market, it also has some critical challenges. Foremost amongst these are a lack of capacity in some areas and its inability to consistently meet international standards in terms of product quality and service levels. In addition to these supply-related operational shortcomings, there is evidence that the state of the cultural heritage product does not entirely meet international standards. If South Africa is to conserve its cultural heritage (in the face of modern pressures, such as changing values occasioned by the rapid pace of urbanisation) the recognition of these important resources should be followed by strong national policies with appropriate structures to accommodate best practice in the sustainable management thereof.
Sir David Pieter de Villiers Graaff : sakeman en politikus aan die Kaap 1859 –1931
(Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 2011-12) Dommisse, Ebbe; Grundlingh, A. M.; Stellenbosch University. Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences. Dept. of History.
ENGLISH ABSTRACT: This study is a biography of Sir David Pieter de Villiers Graaff, Bt, of Cape Town, who was born in 1859 and died in 1931. It covers his whole life span, from his birth as a poor farm boy in the district of Villiersdorp until his death as one of South Africa’s most innovative businessmen after he also distinguished himself in a political career. As the pioneer of cold storage in South Africa he brought the practice of frozen meat and food to the country at the end of the nineteenth century and in the meat trade he built up one of the biggest business undertakings in the Southern Hemisphere. As mayor of Cape Town at the youthful age of 31 he played a decisive rol in the modernisation of the city. As a member of Genl. Louis Botha’s first Cabinet after Union in 1910, a defining event which laid down the borders of the present Republic of South Africa, he played a sometimes underestimated role in the development of the country and its economy after the tribulations and long-term effects of the Anglo-Boer War. The life of this complex businessman/politician, a Cape Afrikaner who as a bachelor at an advanced age received a hereditary British title and thereafter married the daughter of the dominee of his Dutch Reformed congegation, is also a fascinating example of the difficult choices which Cape Afrikaners in colonial times had to make between loyalty to the British Crown and commitment to the native soil of South Africa. His biography furthermore offers an insight into the role of a top business leader who enters politics, a facet which has received little coverage in South African historial research. By describing the mosaic of his life in the time span in which he was a prominent figure, it was endeavoured to cast more light on the social and cultural context of an epoch-making period, thereby seeking to contribute to a nuanced understanding of the South African past.

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