Effects Of Colonialism In South Africa

3. Period of expansion, consolidation and control: 1795-1910

The arrival of the British at the Cape changed the lives of the people that were already living there. Initially British control was aimed to protect the trade route to the East, however, the British soon realised the potential to develop the Cape for their own needs (SAHO, s.a.). With colonialism, which began in South Africa in 1652, came the Slavery and Forced Labour Model (SAHO, s.a.). This was the original model of colonialism brought by the Dutch in 1652, and subsequently exported from the Western Cape to the Afrikaner Republics of the Orange Free State and the Zuid-Afrikaansche Republiek (SAHO, s.a.). Many South Africans were the descendants of slaves brought to the Cape Colony

Not all African societies were equally affected, but countries such as Angola and Senegal suffered heavily (SAHO, s.a.). The most important consequences of the Atlantic slave trade were demographic, economic, and political (SAHO, s.a.). There can be no doubt that the Atlantic slave trade greatly retarded African demographic development, a fact that was to have lasting consequences for the history of the continent (SAHO, s.a.). At best, African populations remained stagnant (SAHO, s.a.). The export of the most economically active men and women led to the disintegration of entire societies (SAHO, s.a.). The trade in slaves also led to new political formations. In some cases, as people sought protection from the violence and warfare that went with the slave trade, large centralised states came into being (SAHO,

Its influence also lasted long after the abolition of slavery in 1838 (SAHO, s.a.). In South Africa under Dutch settlement, there was a shortage of labour, especially on the wheat and wine farms (SAHO, s.a.). But the VOC did not want to spend its money on the expensive wages that European labourers demanded (SAHO, s.a.). Nor could the VOC use the Khoi people as slaves. The Khoi traded with the Dutch, providing cattle for fresh meat (SAHO, s.a.). The Khoi also resisted any attempts to make them change their pastoralist way of life (SAHO, s.a.). The Dutch were already involved in the Atlantic slave trade and had experience in buying and controlling slaves (SAHO, s.a.). They thus imported slaves as the cheapest labour option (SAHO, s.a.). Slaves were imported from a variety of places, including the east coast of Africa (Mozambique and Madagascar), but the majority came from East Africa and Asia, especially the Indonesian Islands, which were controlled by the Dutch at the time (SAHO, s.a.). This explains, for instance, why there are a relatively large number of people of Malaysian descent in the Cape (the so-called Cape Malays) (SAHO,