Africans in the Boer War

http://samilitaryhistory.org/vol113nn.html

         This source discusses the involvement of black natives in the South African War. Nkuna begins by talking about the noncombatant roles of the natives in the conflict. He explains that they were not armed and directly involved in combat until later in the war. They initially worked as trench diggers, scouts, dispatch runners, cattle-raiders, and drivers. However, as some of the natives proved to be brave on the battlefield and loyal to their white masters, the British and Boers saw the need for their support. While some natives were forced to fight, many voluntarily committed to active involvement with the goal to fight the Boers and reclaim the lands that had been taken from them. Nkuna gives examples of the natives’ war efforts and contributions. In the takeover of Mafeking, 500 armed Barolong and Bakgatla men fearlessly attacked a Boer fort to keep the Boers from taking over the town. Black scouts were also particularly helpful to the British Army, who depended on the information they gave about the Boers’ movements. Nkuna then discusses how the natives were affected by the British policy to destroy Boer farms and livelihood. Black civilians were taken from the farms into separate concentration camps to keep them from providing any support to the Boers.  They suffered severely from the poor sanitation in the camps, where deadly diseases such as typhoid, diarrhea, and dysentery broke out and killed thousands of women and children. Nkuna also mentions that there is currently no accurate record of the number of deaths of blacks in the camps as most of camp leaders did not even record the deaths of black prisoners. In his final point, Nkuna questions the non-issuing of medals to black natives after the war and the unmarked graves of many of those who lost their lives. Thus, the black natives gave so much to the war but never received the acknowledgement and honor they deserved from the British and Boers. Black civilians were also deeply affected by the brutal acts of the British against the Boers.

            Nosipho Nkuna is an education officer at the South African National Museum of Military History. He uses a variety of reliable sources as he brings to light the experiences of black natives in the Boer War. He does a great job focusing on the role of the black natives in the war. Overall, he makes the point that, while the war brought pain and injustice to the natives, they played an important role in it and would always be remembered whether they were in direct combat or not. Nkuna’s work on the involvement of blacks in the Boer War is published on the Military History Journal sponsored by The South African Military History Society.