Social and economic underpinnings of paternalism and violence on the maize farms of the south-western Transvaal, 1900-1950
Date
1991-05
Authors
Van Onselen, Charles
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Abstract
For the better part of five hundred years southern Africa has
been witness to an epic struggle as a small invading minority of
European origin, enjoying all the advantages of military might,
literacy and access to superior technology, sought to conquer,
dispossess, render subservient and then control members of the
indigenous majority. This centuries-long struggle for mastery of
the sub-continent has - as members of both the out-going and
in-coming nationalists never cease to remind us - been marked by
great hardship, endless blood-letting and countless corpses.
And, as the white minority now silently laments its possible
political eclipse by a black majority, it is perhaps an
appropriate moment to reflect on how, during the course of this
long and violent struggle, it failed to transform its physical
strength into moral legitimacy. For, as Rousseau once observed
in a different context but at a not dissimilar moment; 'The
strongest is never strong enough to be always the master, unless
he transforms strength into right, and obedience into duty (1).
Description
African Studies Seminar series. Paper presented May 1991
Keywords
Paternalism. South Africa, Sharecroppers. South Africa. Transvaal, Transvaal (South Africa). Race relations