It’s a white man’s war – Jan Smuts

WHEN World War I began in 1914, the South African Minister of Defence, Jan Smuts, politely declined offers from African and coloured men to enlist in the army – because it was “a white man’s war”.

He was more amenable to having black people in noncombatant roles, so 83 000 Africans and 2 000 coloureds enlisted – mainly as stretcher bearers and medical aids.

So many Africans went to war because the ANC could not make up its mind whether to support the South African war effort. Then ANC president Alfred Xuma said itwould not support South Africa’s entry into the war, because promises made regarding political rights for Africans during World War I had been broken afterwards.

There were some interesting developments regarding “armed black men” during the war…

In an essay for the South African Military History Society, titled Soldiers without Reward – Africans in South Africa’s Wars, JS Mohlamme related this little gem: “Africans from the British Protectorates of Bechuanaland and Basutoland were promised arms, but when they arrived in the Western Desert, they were given knobkieries and assegais so as not to upset the Africans from the Union.”

According to Mohlamme, at the end of the war, African soldiers each received £2 in cash, a khaki suit also worth £2 and a gratuity according to their length of service.

“Those who had secured employment in the interim also received a bicycle,” he wrote.

This was to help the ex-serviceman get to work “with a minimum of delay”.

dougie.oakes@inl.co.za