The Boer War's Forgotten African Victims
The Story of South Africa: Empire, Apartheid, and Transformation — Fexingo HistoryPlay episode
Show notes
While history remembers the concentration camps for Boer women and children, a lesser-known tragedy unfolded alongside them. In this episode, we explore the systematic internment of Black Africans in South Africa during the Second Anglo-Boer War. We examine how Lord Kitchener’s scorched-earth policy displaced thousands of Xhosa and Khoi laborers, confining them in camps with notoriously high mortality rates. Through the stories of figures like Solomon Kaizer and the testimonies of observers like Emily Hobhouse, who eventually turned her gaze toward these neglected groups, we uncover the racial hierarchies that dictated survival. This conversation digs into the archives to reveal how the war laid the groundwork for the pass laws and segregationist policies that would define apartheid decades later. From the dust of the Transvaal farms to the crowded enclosures near Bloemfontein, we trace the human cost of imperial strategy on those deemed expendable by both British and Boer forces. #SecondAngloBoerWar #BlackConcentrationCamps #LordKitchener #EmilyHobhouse #SolomonKaizer #ScorchedEarthPolicy #TransvaalHistory #Bloemfontein #XhosaPeople #KhoiPeople #PassLawsOrigin #SouthAfricanHistory #Colonialism #MilitaryStrategy #HumanRightsHistory #FexingoHistory #HistoryPodcast #SouthernAfrica Keep every episode free: buymeacoffee.com/fexingo
