Native administration

The Native Administration ( English for administration of the natives ) describes a type of politics and as a consequence responsible administrative structures, which were common in the South African Natal since the 19th century and later in the Cape Colony . It can be seen as the origin of racial segregation between blacks and whites and as a precursor to apartheid .

Emergence

The principle of Native Administration was developed by Theophilus Shepstone , who was the responsible administrator of the Bantu in Natal from 1845 to 1875 . In his politics, which also went down in history as the Bantu Administration in the 20th century , he took other paths than the Cape Colony , which endeavored to break and dissolve the tribal system. Shepstone, on the other hand, wanted to strengthen the traditional hierarchical system of the Bantu peoples. Where it was already destroyed, it should be rebuilt. The Eurocentrically motivated civilization of the Bantu was alien to him. The stems should be directed to their assigned places, each one Chief (for chief ) or a headman responsible, find a new home and her customary law ( tribal laws ) are recognized. These leaders were to be advised by a white administrator who slowly integrated the leader's power into colonial administration. By working with the traditional Bantu rulers, Shepstone hoped to keep the dispute between the Zulu and the colonial bureaucracy in check.

The chiefs and headmen actually rarely resisted this system, as it often gave them even greater powers than they traditionally had, but they defended themselves anyway because they did not want to cooperate with the whites, for example, and were replaced by other chiefs. This guaranteed a stable social order in line with British colonial policy. However, their power was withdrawn from the chiefs step by step, almost imperceptibly. In 1875, for example, they were only able to decide on civil cases of their members of the people, but not on important cases. The Supreme Court was now responsible for this.

With the discovery of the diamond deposits on the Orange River and the gold fields in the Transvaal , the Cape Colony experienced a massive wave of immigration . As a result, the basic economic and demographic conditions changed considerably, as a result of which the relationship with the native black population became increasingly conflict-laden.

In what was later to become Ciskei , white farmers had settled, who now lived in the vicinity of the Xhosa population, mainly Ngqika and Mfengu residents. In the area of the later Transkei there was no significant “white” immigration. Instead, parts of the population of the Griquas were settled here in a small area , who were expelled elsewhere by immigrants of European descent. Armed conflicts between the tribes and the colonial troops resulted in the violent suppression of the black population. A significant consequence of these complex conflict situations was the establishment of regional indigenous administrations ( Chief Magistrates ) in the Transkei, in Griqualand East and Thembuland . This resulted in the requirement that the colonial authorities create a Department of Native Affairs in 1877 , which, as the supreme authority for native affairs , assumed a coordinating function with increasing power.

In the period of British colonial policy up to around 1867, measures were taken to shape a liberal social policy, with slavery being abolished and equal voting rights introduced for “civilized” blacks. With the discovery of diamonds and gold in the country, colonial policy changed in favor of more economic interests. The politics of the Native Administration inevitably had to adapt to this tendency and increasingly viewed the non-white population as a potential labor force to be developed.

Due to land distribution and land use conflicts in urban and rural areas, the role of the Bantu population gradually changed from one that was predominantly integrated at the lower end of the social scale to one that was more and more marginalized. The black population was expropriated from their traditional land holdings through a gradual process. Deciding on the use of available land within the black population was a traditional task of their tribal assemblies and their chiefs. With the increasing assumption of these tasks by the administrative structures of the Native Administration , the chiefdoms gradually lost power . This process resulted in the decisive strengthening of the native administration as a public institution of the state.

Territory developments

By 1864, 42 such areas had already been created, covering an area of eight thousand km². There were also 21 mission reserves with an area of seven hundred km². The relocation to these reserves posed major problems for those responsible. In 1851, thirteen years after the introduction of the reservation policy, two thirds of all Bantu in Natal still lived outside the reservations. Thirty years later, the picture didn't look much different. The land freed by the resettlement was sold by the government of Natal to white settlers at a large profit .

Compared to Cape Colony

Up until the beginning of the 20th century, the governments in Natal and the Cape Colony chose a completely contrary national policy, which can be explained by different assumptions. In Natal, the Bantu were numerically much more superior than in the Cape Colony. Accordingly, the white minority in Natal developed a strong racial awareness. This led to a policy of demarcation rather than assimilation such as that prevalent in the Cape Colony.

Foundation stone for apartheid

The allocation of special settlement areas in Natal, known as reserves, reserved for blacks, laid the foundation for an increasingly separate development of immigrants of European origin and other parts of the population. Although the Bantu lived more and more separated from the whites , the workers urgently needed in particular for the mining industry and the growing farm business were recruited from their circles . In the Cape Colony there were attempts in this regard in the Glen Gray District after 1895 .

In 1910 the four republics Natal, Cape Colony, Free State and Transvaal merged to form the South African Union . The South African Native Commission should develop a common indigenous policy. In 1927, the Native Administration in Natal was taken over with the Native Administration Act . Later on, further laws completed the socio-economic model of society of South Africa, which developed into the political concept of apartheid and which was constitutionally and politically overcome in 1994 .

The Malan government took over the administrative structures of the later Ministry of Native Affairs after the election victory of the Boer National Party in 1948 and transformed it into a main instrument of apartheid policy as the Department of Bantu Administration and Development .

literature

Andrea Lang: Separate Development and the Department of Bantu Administration in South Africa. History and analysis of the special administrations for blacks (work from the institute for Africa customer, 103), Hamburg 1999. ISBN 3-928049-58-5