Early Twentieth-century South Africa Research Articles

“To Fight the Battles of the Workers”: The Emergence of Pro-strike Publications in Early Twentieth-Century South Africa

The role of pro-strike newspapers during the first two decades of labour history in twentieth-century South Africa, an era of intense industrial strife, has not been researched in depth by labour historians. This article examines the emergence of a pro-strike press and examines its position on various strike issues. It served as a conduit for workers' grievances during industrial disputes, such as the strikes of 1911, 1913, 1914, and 1922. Such papers were often also the only means of communication between the strike committee and the strikers themselves. The article also discusses the extent to which such publications might have impacted upon their readership and actual strike action. It concludes that pro-strike literature in essence reflects a “white-labour” discourse and a fusion of the class and racial consciousness that prevailed among the white working class of South Africa.

Chiefly Authority, Leapfrogging Headmen and the Political Economy of Zululand, South Africa, ca. 1930-1950

In early twentieth century South Africa, where white and capitalist domination of Africans was the central feature of the country's political economy, various elements of African society tried to use 'tradition' in a defensive manner to resist the pernicious effects of social and economic dislocation. During the 1930s and 1940s, the Zulu king and chiefs held popular support, despite their incorporation into the white state that threatened to undermine their legitimacy. This was, in part, because of their power over land allocation, and in part because they represented a symbolic and idealised past in which the Zulu kingdom fought to defend itself against colonial conquest and intervention. Shula Marks first highlighted the importance of the Natal-Zululand case for understanding chiefly authority, as well as the chiefs' opposition to, and co-option by, the state. This paper draws on her work to expand the discussion of Zulu chiefs and headmen, especially in the economic sphere, and argues that insufficient attention has been devoted to differences between northern and southern Zululand, and to the strategies of non-royal headmen in shaping the pattern of local authority.

Economic factors in the choice of an early form of capital: draught animals in early twentieth century South Africa

The most important capital choice decision in a pre-mechanized agricultural economy was that of which type of draught animal to use. This paper provides an economic explanation for the varied use of draught animals in early twentieth century South Africa. It is argued that the abuse-resistant mule was used primarily on large white-owned farms by the hired workers to mitigate the inherent principalagent problem. This suggests that at least the allocation of draught animals in South African agriculture was efficient similar to what has been found for the US and Italy.