COOPERATION AND CONFLICT – THE BRITISH ARMY, THE NATAL GOVERNMENT AND THE PROSECUTION OF NATAL REBELS DURING THE ANGLO-BOER WAR

• Main Author: Johan Wassermann
• Format: Article
• Language: Afrikaans
• Published: Stellenbosch University 2011-08-01
• Series: Scientia Militaria
• Online Access: http://scientiamilitaria.journals.ac.za/pub/article/view/53

The Natal Afrikaner rebels hardly feature in the historiography of the Anglo-Boer<br />War of 1899–1902. The Times History of the War in South Africa dismisses their<br />rebellion in one sentence, while the Natal Mercury of 25 April 1900 correctly points<br />out that the number of rebels and the scale of the rebellion are rather insignificant when<br />compared with that of the Cape Colony. In the latter, where in contrast to Natal,<br />Afrikaners formed the bulk of the white population, the dynamics of the rebellion was<br />very different. The large number of Afrikaners resident in the Cape Colony acted as a<br />magnet for the Republican forces and as a result, large numbers of Afrikaners took up<br />arms against Britain. From their side, the British authorities acted with a vengeance<br />towards the Cape rebels, executing and imprisoning large numbers.