The Boer War's Black Victims

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/469216.stm

In this source, Vine shares his interview with Khumo Morwe, aged 109, who had lived through the South African War. She had witnessed many significant events in South African history, but according to her, it was the takeover of Mafeking during the Boer war that she remembered most. She shared about being there when Boer soldiers surrounded the town to fight the British and drive them out. She remembered hearing the bell, which would ring every time the Boers attacked. The bell was a sign for them to go into the trenches that had been dug in the village as a hiding place. Vine writes that her story was an example of how the native Africans were involved in the war and suffered just as much as the British and Boers did, a reminder of how the South Africans were affected by the war. During the time that the article was written, black South Africans had just recently been allowed to publicly talk about their experiences in the war. This detail is important to my research because it exposes how the black natives had been restricted even with regards to sharing their role in the war. Vine then gives details about the war, saying that it served as a warning of the events that would happen in the trench warfare in World War I a decade later. Vine also discusses the natives’ demand for payment from the British for their service in the war. The Barolong tribe had specifically asked UK Prime Minister Tony Blair for the money their ancestors deserved for their support in the war, plus a 100 years’ worth of interest. In truth, the South African natives would never get the money, and this shows how much the British owe them.

Jeremy Vine is a British author, journalist, and news presenter for the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC). He started working in Africa in 1997 and is highly experienced with the historical and political issues there, specifically in South Africa. His writing on his interview with Khumo Morwe provides an example of what the natives experienced. This is helpful to my research because it gives information on how the black South Africans were affected by the war.