By Dickson Mungazi [Deceased]
When the Afrikaners (Boers) migrated northward from the Cape to flee British rule, they enountered the Zulu humans. to guard their claims, the Boers shaped the laager, a circle of wagons. As years handed, the laager received wider political dimensions and have become an emblem of Afrikaner decision to outlive less than opposed stipulations. Ian D. Smith, final colonial chief of Zimbabwe from 1964 to 1979, and F. W. de Klerk, the final white president of South Africa from 1988 to 1994, have been the final defenders of the laager at the African continent. emerging nationalism and the devastation of civil conflict may finally strength those leaders to desert the colonial platforms they had inherited from their predecessors.
The research information the origins and improvement of the laager approach in Africa. It discusses how and why formerly winning strategies to keep up the approach could fail amidst the emerging African nationalism of the overdue twentieth century. the point of interest of every of the 8 chapters alternates among Smith and de Klerk and examines the efforts of every to beat unanticipated challenges.
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Extra resources for The Last Defenders of the Laager: Ian D. Smith and F. W. de Klerk
Example text
On the other hand, the RF government believed that there was nothing wrong with its policies even though it was fully aware, as Smith told the author, that Africans were unhappy with them. In South Africa the Anglican Church, led by Archbishop Desmond Tutu, raised similar concerns. But these were muted by the support of the Dutch Reformed Church. What actually led to the conflict in both countries was a combination of three critical factors. These factors are the influence of history, the rise of African nationalism, and the policies of the Nationalist and RF governments themselves.
Both countries could not afford to extend that opportunity to Africans without putting the political interests of the whites in jeopardy. The RF and the Nationalist governments could not remain unmoved without igniting a new crisis. How were the two governments going to resolve this dilemma? In the context of already badly strained relationships that emerged between Africans, the church, and the RF government, the action of the church leaders manifested the behavior of an institution that recognized the imperative nature of change and the need to preserve its own position in the future.
From the inception of the independent nation of South Africa, political leadership was exercised for a single reason: to ensure the domination of Africans by Afrikaners. The Africans had no recourse except to hope that the new government would treat them humanely. They hoped against hope. THE NATURE OF POLITICAL LEADERSHIP The first independent government of South Africa was formed in 1910 by General Louis Botha as prime minister following his victory in the national elections. Botha served until 1919.