This attests to an over-emphasis on race and the lack of epistemic consideration of the theoretical underpinnings of women's and gender history on the side of policy makers. When working with women and gender, essentialist notions like this should distinctly be avoided or else fail in achieving civic goals.
Gender, for example, is contextual. G Ten Dam and R Rijkschroeff rightly argues that: Femininity and masculinity are not intrinsically the same or different. The meaning of gender varies according to context. Femininity, masculinity, and the unequal relationship between men and women are social manifestations that can assume a different form again and again.
Kallaway justly points out that the curriculum "tends to ignore complexity and context and reverts excessively to narrow notions of race and nationality in what appears to be a quest for 'relevance'". Furthermore, in terms of resistance movements, no mention is made of the Liberal Party and Progressive Party. Topic three of Grade twelve is presented in a vacuum and further bolsters Kallaway's argument, quoting Tosh, that "any feature of the past must be interpreted in its historical context".
No history of this phenomenon can begin without at least considering Mary Wollstonecraft - not to mention First Wave Feminism. Furthermore, the political role of women need not only be a focus on women's liberation, as I show in the short history of Afrikaner women's sense of independence. The South African senior secondary History curriculum lags behind dreadfully where women's history is concerned. In comparison, the Dutch example of dealing with women's history in senior secondary school, from as early as the s, can be mentioned. In and women's history in senior secondary school was included as a compulsory theme of examination in the Netherlands.
A group of professional historians were advised by and accountable to the Dutch Ministry of Education. Women's history was supported by arguments on both an individual and social level by reappraising the roles of women in the past to enable students to better understand their present gendered society. Women featured in terms of family, work, and politics. The main difference between South Africa and the Netherlands is that the latter had a clear aim with women's history and understood that its significance "extends beyond the acquisition of subject matter knowledge" through the advice of women's historians who provided the much needed background to the Dutch Ministry of Education.
As such the epistemic background of women's history was incorporated successfully and purposefully into the existing curriculum structures. It also places women in a contrary light - they did not only struggle for equality - they were visible and contributed in all aspects of society. Kallaway points out throughout his article that the curriculum does not engage with revisionist challenges posed to historiography since the seventies.
However, since the sixties, one of the major challenges to History as a discipline and all historiography in general has been the rise of women's history as a legitimate historical topic. Great strides have been taken these past fifty years and it is safe to say that women and gender have become indispensable to our understanding of history. The lack of almost any true engagement with women's history in the CAPS content attests to a possible ignorance on the part of policy makers or the inherent political motives of the History CAPS that contributes, in my opinion, more to racial division than the inclusive ideals set out in the understanding that history supports citizenship within a democracy.
In effect this renders civil goals unattainable. Race and class are represented throughout the content, but gender is lacking. Women's history can indeed contribute to a more inclusive perspective on History. A starting point would be addressing the apparent lack of inclusivity promoted by the curriculum namely the near absence of women.
This need not be the case and I would subsequently like to briefly highlight inclusivity standards as applicable to a History curriculum. In a few instances I have referred to the epistemic background of women's and gender history.
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I am of the opinion that the teaching of women's history should adhere to these standards. The reason is that women's history is a complicated project with an inherent ambiguity. In the words of one of gender history's greatest pioneers, JW Scott, women's history "is at once an innocuous supplement to and a radical replacement for established history".
She expresses it as follows: How does one adhere to this standard when teaching women's history? To truly include women would mean rewriting the curriculum. It is unlikely that this will happen to the extent necessary anytime soon. However, there are ways in which teachers can include women in existing curriculum structures.
Feminist scholars refer to an integrative approach. G Riley shows that by women's history was recognised as a legitimate field and writing about women has "been implemented with a vengeance". She mentions the complexity of women's history and discusses the six ways in which women's history can be incorporated into existing curriculum structures. These six approaches are as follows: As an alternative she proposes an "integrative approach" to arrive at an effective teaching strategy. She elaborates that "the integrative technique utilises some combination of part or all of the above viewpoints in a mix that is comfortable for the instructor, students and course involved".
Although proposed in , no women's historian would argue that this approach does not adhere to the tradition of teaching women's history today - especially where there is a need to incorporate women into curriculums where they are still absent. Thus far I have focused on pointing out shortcomings of the curriculum in my critique of it. I now turn to considering how to address these shortcomings, given the fact that policy cannot be changed overnight, and may remain unchanged despite scholarly calls to do so.
Firstly, the aims of the curriculum may be realised through engaging with the policy document in innovative ways. Secondly, the content and women's history can also be approached in an integrated way where possible. Women can be properly incorporated in history teaching by means of Riley's integrative approach. In the following section I present an integrative history of women that can "jibe" with other course content and also supply a much needed context for the CAPS content through the discussion of women's role. It focuses on Afrikaner history, touching on "key events" in South African History.
This short history mainly serves as a compensatory approach to an integrative history of Afrikaner women up until the beginning of the twentieth century based on the CAPS content.
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A short history of Afrikaner women's sense of independence up until the nineteenth century. The firstinstances ofDutch-Afrikaans women's sense of independence. The roots of the pursuit of independence among the group of white people in South Africa who would eventually become the Afrikaners, can be traced back to the eighteenth century trekking farmers of the Cape. The numbers of the free burghers grew as immigrants from the European continent accelerated the natural increase of the white population in the Cape.
Since the Dutch East India Company had never intended the post at the Cape to become a colony, the Company could not keep up with the needs of a growing new nation on African soil. Back in Dutch women already joined their men in protesting against the corrupt rule of governor WA van der Stel. They aired their grievances verbally to "landdros" magistrate J Starrenberg who reported to Van der Stel: AP van Rensburg states dat the patriots drew up documents signed by "eminent citizens of the Cape of Good Hope The signatures of quite a number of women also appear on these documents.
Thus the burghers steadily began turning their backs on the Company, the sea and commerce and by their isolation in the interior began to develop a lifestyle of their own. CW de Kiewiet comments on this isolation and says ". Their tenacity would degenerate into obstinacy, their power of endurance into resistance to innovation, and their self-respect into suspicion of the foreigner and contempt for their inferiors". With the isolation from the motherland as well as the challenges and sense of independence in the frontier areas, the white settlers gradually began losing their ties with the Netherlands and other mother countries.
A sense of independence on the frontier took the burghers in the direction of a new identity although certain basic legacies from Europe lived on. It should be kept in mind, however, that at this stage the burghers did not yet have a nationalist feeling of solidarity among themselves. This would only come about in the nineteenth century. As the burghers adopted farming with livestock their need for land increased and the borders of the "refreshment post" kept on expanding. The stock farmers soon became trekking farmers who roamed about in a nomadic way with their stock to available pastures.
The border or "frontier" is a most interesting phenomenon in history which reached a particular peak in the colonial expansions of the nineteenth century. Lamar and Thompson writes that the frontier should be regarded "not as a boundary or a line, but as a territory or zone of interaction between two previously distinct societies". Words like "barbarism, savagery, heathenism" are very often used to describe conditions on the frontier and to justify colonial expansion.
The interaction on the frontier during the nineteenth century indicated that one of Lamar and Thomson's "previously distinct societies", namely the Cape trekking farmers, began penetrating the territory of the already settled black communities of South Africa by "opening" the frontier.
With reference to this E Cloete writes: Frontiers are said to Open with the arrival of the intruding society. Like much colonialist rhetoric the connotation of opening can be read analogous with the idea of 'bringing the light of civilization, with freeing an area from 'savagery and 'barbarism The group of trekking farmers on the Eastern frontier of the Cape fits this description by Cloete very well.
W Postma follows a distinctly colonial rhetoric when writing about Afrikaner women's part in "opening" the frontier. He narrates that these people took their own ideas on civilisation into the interior with the aim of "taming" the wild open regions by bringing the "light of civilisation" and "opening up South Africa for Christianity and Civilisation". For generations they were accustomed to very little or virtually no control by government, neither were there institutional factors which could restrict them.
It is therefore understandable that any threat to the status quo would elicit great resistance. Both the expansion movement to the Eastern frontier and the isolation of the trekking farmers nurtured a love of freedom and self-determination which would later become one of the most distinct characteristics of the Afrikaner.
FA van Jaarsveld writes "from the border pioneer a new kind of colonist emerged In order to show that women exhibited a strong sense of independence we need to look at its manifestations in times when it emerged most noticeably. Typically this happened when women's "freedom" was jeopardised. During the course of the nineteenth century there were mainly three events which provide sufficient evidence of Afrikaner women's reaction to British domination.
During the first, namely the Great Trek there was not as yet any ethnic consciousness among Afrikaners and the "spirit of independence" should be seen in the light of the trekking farmers' status quo on the border. During the second and third event, namely the so-called "wars of independence" there already was something that can be called nationalism or at the very least proto-nationalism. Women's part in this struggle for independence should be seen in this light, since the women saw their own struggle for independence as the struggle against British rule.
Voortrekker women's sense of independence during the Great Trek. In the exposition above frequent reference was made to the trekking farmers. This group of people trekked into the Cape interior, mainly in search of new pastures for their livestock. There also was a second group of emigrants who would leave the Cape Colony, but for political reasons, namely the Voortrekkers who took part in the Great Trek.
The mass-migration of those taking part in the Trek was in resistance against British governance and an expression of their will to determine their own fate. Conditions in the frontier areas compelled the colonists who lived there to take action. There are many reasons for the Great Trek but they can be summarised in the words of Giliomee " The causes of the Great Trek are generally interpreted as a lack of labour as a consequence of the Ordinance and the liberation of slaves; as well as a shortage of land and security; but in particular for women, the equalisation of races was also a cause.
The pioneers' faith was based in Calvinism which taught that if the Christian convictions and customs of a group of people were suppressed, subjects were allowed to throw off the yoke of the government. Women's positions were strengthened by the fact that church membership was restricted to white persons. By about ninety per cent of the huge Stellenbosch congregation were confirmed members of the church. The white community, the slaves and other servants who formed part of the black community, were therefore distinguished from one another by the restriction of church membership.
The result of this was that children born of mixed blood were entered in the slave register and could not lay any claim to the estate of the family. In this way the European woman would strengthen her position in the community. To the Dutch-Afrikaans women religion was therefore one of the main reasons for leaving the Cape Colony. One example of such a woman was Anna Steenkamp, a cousin of Piet Retief. She saw the equalisation of slaves as conflicting with God's laws and with the natural distinction between race and religion. Maritz says that "race exclusivity, based on Christian convictions, was the motivation behind the desire to move away from the British government and govern themselves".
Based on this, it seems reasonable to deduce that that women's motives to move did not stem from a sense of community or a feeling of patriotism and solidarity for an ethnic group. The reasons for the Great Trek was something that moved the pioneers personally.
LM Kruger mentions that before there was a kind of "individualism" or "pre-individualism" among the pioneers. The spirit of independence and feeling for their own among the women who took part in the Great Trek should therefore be seen in light of the already mentioned status quo on the frontier. Nevertheless the women were conscious of the fact "that they were participating in unusual and significant events" 51 , seeing that the reasons for the Trek were not only social and economic, but also political.
This becomes clear from the diary of Anna Steenkamp. About her diary she writes "This writing is made for my family, children and grandchildren who are still living in the interior at the moment, so that they can know why their parents and grandparents left their country. Voortrekker women actively took part in the Great Trek. They left the Cape Colony in family units, in other words, the women did not join the men after the trek, but were entirely part of the challenges and hardships accompanying it.
This means that they later also felt that they who had shared in the hardships of the Trek could lay a claim to self-governance and independence from a foreign power. During the course of the Great Trek women often contributed to the pursuit of self-governance by serving as great motivation in difficult times. Shortly after the Voortrekkers' arrival in Natal there was some indecisiveness among the trekkers since Mpanda, half-brother of Dingaan, posed a real threat.
Delegorgue, a French traveller and natural scientist writes that if Mpanda took one more step " The husbands do as their wives bid them". Voortrekker women often took an active part in the many battles and skirmishes of the Trek. Hendrina Joubert wife of Piet Joubert remembers how women chopped off the hands of Zulu impis who tried to untie the wagons.
She also remembers that watch was kept at night and that even young girls took turns to stand guard. She describes it as follows: We did not know the word "nervous". Do you know what the women did? They had no use for something like nerves It often happened that the Zulu's came up to the laager without being noticed to try and untie the wagons. Many a woman, I myself as well, kept an eye open if we were not busy casting bullets There stood the men, shooting, there were the girls behind their fathers, loading the rifles, there were the women, casting bullets The "feeling of independence" among Voortrekker women can also be seen as a desire once more to have the peace and quiet of a settled home.
The domestic sphere was the place where Voortrekker women's authority resided. It is interesting that this very opinion was articulated by women later on. Even on the road she made the wagon into a home where her husband could find a place to rest and her children could be taken care of and taught, where God's Word could be opened and read in a devout atmosphere".
It is understandable that women's active participation in the Trek made them feel that they had a right to independence from Britain and self-governance. This feeling among women certainly was best expressed in the events surrounding the annexation of the Republic of Natalia and the controversy around Susanna Smit. The first substantial group of whites who penetrated Natal were the Voortrekkers. By there were approximately Voortrekkers living in the Republic of Natalia, south of the Tugela River. In Britain was on the verge of annexing this territory. Britain's objective, among others, was a strategic one, to prevent other European powers from gaining a foothold on the southern tip of Africa.
A document was presented to the Volksraad House of Representatives setting out the articles of annexation. In Pietermaritzburg members of the Volksraad debated on whether they should accept the annexation, trek away or remain there and resist Britain. The Voortrekkers had limited options. While the commissioner was staying in Pietermaritzburg a deputation of Voortrekker women, led by Susanna Smit, wife of the reverend Erasmus Smit, came to see Henry Cloete.
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Here Susanna Smit very clearly verbalised the Voortrekker women's sense of independence. The most significant evidence of Susanna Smit's public statement can be found in the commissioner's report: The state ofsuspense in which I was kept was agreeably relieved by a formal deputation which I received from the standing committee of the ladies of Pietermaritzburg, headed by Mrs Smit, the wife of a person officiating as missionary. The spokeswoman commenced by declaring that, in consideration of the battles in which they had been engaged with their husbands, they had obtained a promise that they would be entitled to a voice in all matters concerning the state of this country; that they had claimed this privilege, and although now repelled by the Volksraad, they had been deputed to express their fixed determination never to yield to British authority; that they were fully aware that resistance would be of no avail, but they would walk out by the Drakensberg barefooted, to die in freedom, as death was dearer to them than the loss of liberty.
According to G Preller, who used eye witnesses' recollections when compiling his popular histories of the Great Trek and the South African War, Smit narrated the story of the Voortrekkers' journey into the interior. She spoke about the uncertainty of life on the Eastern border of the Cape Colony, the lack of sympathy the farmers received from the British authorities and the final necessity to move away from the colony. She further told of the "wild country and its wild inhabitants", the loss of life they suffered at the hands of the Zulu and their eventual victory at Blood River.
In this petition they attacked the British government for their intended take-over of the Republic at a time when at last they had peace in the region and the farmers had settled. FL Cachet relates that one of the women in the meeting was so agitated that she wanted to attack the commissioner: He felt that they had far too much to say and regarded it as "a disgrace on their husbands to allow them such a state of freedom".
Although the words of Susanna Smit were used in the service of Afrikaner nationalism in the twentieth century and events revolving around her statement were hugely romanticised, 60 the whole affair says much about women's sense of independence. There are two dimensions to Susanna Smit's public statement to the commissioner.
In the first instance there was the distinct wish not to live under British rule. It would leave the feeling that the whole trek, every hardship of which was shared by the women, had been in vain. The hardships of the Trek without doubt fanned women's sense of independence specifically from Britain since they had moved away from British rule.
In the second place there is a deeper dimension indicating that Voortrekker women had a very vigorous sense of independence for women of that era. This was the desire to have a say in matters of the government of the Republic. Not only does the Great Trek give evidence of the Voortrekker women's later Afrikaner women's sense of freedom, but their active participation in the Trek undoubtedly also fostered the feeling of independence among them and, as Susanna Smit's statement clearly shows, made it easier for women to articulate it.
Susanna Smit's descendants' struggle against British domination reached its peak during the nineteenth century in the form of the First "Anglo-Boer War". During the First as well as the Second "wars of independence", or "wars of liberation", Afrikaner women played an essential part. The Boer women's sense of independence during the "wars of independence". With the annexation of Transvaal the Voortrekkers' "individualism" changed into a sense ofsolidarity with one another.
Before the 's there was a distinct lack of a sense of community, and Giliomee says that "extreme individualism, self-aggrandizement and even anarchy" had a hey-day in the two republics before the late 's. EJP Jorissen confirms this in his "Transvaal memories, " by making the following remarks: The consciousness of a 'fatherland' grew slowly, and unless it fills all heads and hearts, self-interest, or what one takes for it, still rules The Boer lived on his own farm, freefrom contact with government: If his peace was disturbed and he was compelled to meddle in political matters, it was not the interests of the country or of the state but those of his friends, his clique or his church which stirred his heart.
Only after, and definitely as a result of, the annexation did the consciousness of being citizens of a country awake among the Boers. The first British annexation ofTransvaal in initially did not evoke much reaction. R Haggard writes that "the majority of the inhabitants, who would neither fight nor pay taxes, sat still and awaited catastrophe, utterly careless of all consequences". However, within the next few years matters quickly changed. There was an extensive rise of a common consciousness which converted into mobilisation strategies against Britain.
These strategies included huge meetings of Transvaal burghers in "national" gatherings, a journey all through South Africa by the leaders of the "Zuid-Afrikaansche Republiek" and a media campaign in the paper De Volkstem which had become the mouthpiece of Transvaal's struggle against British annexation.
The Boer women were not excluded from this process.
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Natives Land Act limits African land ownership to the reserves - segregation laws passed. Anglo American Corporation of South Africa founded. Over 70, African gold-mine workers strike for higher wages; troops control them. The Afrikaner National party wins a general election. Legislation grants government with vast powers over people and organizations. ANC and its allies initiate a passive resistance campaign. Government in full command of African education. African and Coloured representation in Parliament by Whites ends.
Lesotho, Botswana, and Swaziland become independent states. Mozambique and Angola become independent states. Over people die in confrontations between Africans and police in Soweto and other African townships. Zimbabwe previously Rhodesia becomes independent. ANC guerrillas sabotage South African cities.
Africans limited participation in the central government. Botha becomes state president. The government prohibits the press, radio, and television from reporting unrest. De Klerk elected first leader of the National Party, then president.