The Cape Coloured Corps and the educational development of the coloured people of South Africa 1795-1977

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dc.contributor.authorHoods, Willie Raymond
dc.date.accessioned2021-09-09T12:35:51Z
dc.date.available2021-09-09T12:35:51Z
dc.date.issued1983
dc.descriptionA thesis submitted to the Faculty of Education, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg (in partial fulfilment of the requirements) for the degree Doctor of Philosophy, 30 November 1983en_ZA
dc.description.abstractAn early series of mixed unions between Europeans and slaves and European-Hottentots resulted in the birth of the coloured people. The original hybrid groups have been perpetuated, increased and further intermingled by endogamy and cross-breeding and by additions from the original strains. The Dutch were the first foreign power to make use of coloured men in their military units when they established a settlement at the Cape in 1652. It was, however, the British who organised the coloured and Hottentots into a proper military unit. The Cape Corps, as the coloured military unit was to be known, served in most of the Republican governments that were established since the Colonists left the Cape Colony in 1834. Early attempts by the various missionary societies to educate the coloured people proved very successful. The allocation of land at the Kat River Settlement in 1829 provided an opportunity for coloured people, Hottentots and ex-slaves to build an economically viable community. It was during the two Great World Wars that the Cape Corps eventually made an impact as a fighting force. Large numbers of coloured men enlisted to fight the Germans. As most of them were illiterate the South African Defence Force had to devise certain programmes to enable them to read and write. This was the beginning of the Army Education System. Later provision was also made for ex-volunteers to improve their educational standard through the Army Correspondence Scheme. The Directorate of Demobilisation established at the end of World War 11, did outstanding work in helping the returned soldier to adjust to civilian life. Ex-volunteers were assisted financially and were encouraged and assisted to improve their education and training. An exposition or the political influence or the various Republican ruling groups and the government of the Union of South Africa, reveals that the coloured people were subjected to a number of discriminatory measures. The general rule was to use them in times of crises to protect the status quo, but at the same time to deny them their basic rights as citizens of South Africa. The Nationalist Party came to power in 1948 with their policy of Apartheid and immediately disbanded the Cape Corps. This decision was reversed in 1963 when the Cape Corps was re-established as a result of political development amongst the blacks in South Africa and the rest of Africa. Recruiting was not as successful as was anticipated. As a result of the unemployment rate amongst the coloured youth and the lowering of the educational qualifications from Standard VIII to VI, a fair number of coloured high school drop-outs enlisted. The South African Defence Force makes provision for coloured trainees to improve their secondary education through the Association of Correspondence Colleges of South AFrica, while technical education is available at the Peninsula College for Advanced Technical Education in Bellville and university education through the University of South Africa and the Military Academy at Saldanha. Lastly a number of recommendations are given with the hope that if implemented, the coloured community and therefore the South African society would benefit therebyen_ZA
dc.description.librarianCK2021en_ZA
dc.facultyFaculty of Educationen_ZA
dc.identifier.urihttps://hdl.handle.net/10539/31556
dc.language.isoenen_ZA
dc.phd.titlePhDen_ZA
dc.titleThe Cape Coloured Corps and the educational development of the coloured people of South Africa 1795-1977en_ZA
dc.typeThesisen_ZA
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