New colonialists have replaced the old and their monuments

SOUTH AFRICA as a country is a 100 percent creation of European colonialism, which had learnt, from the experience of previous centuries, that in the 19th century the indigenous peoples and cultures of the territory now called South Africa were unwilling and unable to create an economic and political state that could equal and be a sensible partner of Great Britain or any other European colonial power.

This experience-based rationalisation led to the unification of large territories and many disparate peoples into one colonial state eventually named South Africa. This happened in total disregard of the wishes of the then indigenous people, who would have preferred to have their own self-ruled territories, Quenaland or Otentottuland (Hottentotland), Zululand, Xhosaland, Sotholand and Tswanaland.

The above understanding of the ethnic and political situation in South Africa led to the development of a British- and Afrikaner-ruled South Africa that disregarded the reasonable wishes of the indigenous people of these lands, which were then transformed into one big colonial South Africa.

The colonial South Africa brought in a new Christian religion, introduced Christian morality and European languages, built schools to introduce literacy and science, replaced unfenced pastoralism and primitive hoe agriculture with largescale cultivation of crops and foods on large and more productive farms.

It also built roads and railways to facilitate the transport of people and goods over long distances, introduced a political administration that by and large recognised the pre-existing ethnic boundaries, but allowed the European colonialists to settle all over the country and to rule and administer it according to the rules derived from the political and administrative experience of Europe.

This resulted in the appearance of many European-type cities, boasting several universities and, in most cases, decorated with the statues of the heroes of the colonial period. One of the prominent builders of that colonial model of life, economy and education was the famous (or infamous) Cecil John Rhodes, whose statue decorates, among other places, the University of Cape Town, which actually stands on grounds owned, and for the purpose of higher education, donated to the country by Cecil Rhodes.

World War II changed Europe and the rest of the world in many ways, revealing the colonial system as unviable (with the exception of the largest colonial empire of the Soviet Union) in the conditions of the post-World War II world. Decolonisation brought about the independence of practically all colonial territories of Africa.

The tribal leaders of the black people, who previously defended and fought for the independence and preservation of their tribal territories but accepted colonial education, now used every means to slip into the shoes of the former colonialists, assuming power over and responsibilities for the peoples of various languages and identities way beyond their own ethnic boundaries.

In this process, and using the jargon of the still colonial power – the Soviet Union/now Russia – these new aspiring leaders, under the umbrella of the ANC, disregarded the traditional division of the country, extending their powers and political will over the entire former colonial empire within the borders of South Africa.

In this takeover, the new Zulu, Xhosa, Sotho and Tswana political rulers took over control of huge territories that formerly had nothing in common with their own ethnic or tribal lands. This they did in total disregard of the original owners and rulers of these territories, the Quena/ Otentottu (Hottentot) people of the Highveld, of the Trans-!Gari-ab (!Gariep) of the Karoo and of the Western Cape, including the large number of their coloured descendants.

In other words, they took over more than half of the territory of colonial South Africa, which formerly had not belonged to any of the Bantu-speaking tribes of South Africa. Under the guise of the New South Africa, and with the help of Marxist rhetoric, they recolonised the bigger part of South Africa.

Taking upon themselves the powers of the preceding colonial state, the new rulers started to monumentalise their conquests by erecting statues and monuments of the new rulers of the recolonised South Africa. Parallel to this process, the new rulers began demolishing the monuments of the preceding era – the epitome of which is the now successful attempt to remove the statue of Cecil Rhodes at UCT.

Dr Hromník is an historian/ researcher based in Cape Town