IY188 pg310 ANNEXATION - MELANCHOLY END OF GRIQUALAND WEST

In the colonial history of

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

, the Griqualand West Annexation Act (Act 39 of 1877), was the act, passed in the Cape Colony Parliament on 27 July 1877, authorising the union of the

Cape Colony The Cape Colony (), also known as the Cape of Good Hope, was a British Empire, British colony in present-day South Africa named after the Cape of Good Hope. It existed from 1795 to 1802, and again from 1806 to 1910, when it united with three ...

with

Griqualand West Griqualand West is an area of central South Africa with an area of 40,000 km2 that now forms part of the Northern Cape Province. It was inhabited by the Griqua people – a semi-nomadic, Afrikaans-speaking nation of mixed-race origin, w ...

Background

Nicolaas Waterboer - Griqua leader and politician of the Cape Colony

, one of the states created by the semi-nomadic

Griqua people The Griquas are a subgroup of mixed-race heterogeneous formerly-Xiri-speaking nations in South Africa with a unique origin in the early history of the Dutch Cape Colony. Text was copied from this source, which is available under a Creative Comm ...

, was brought under British rule, as a separate colony, on 27 October 1871. It contained the newly discovered diamond fields of

Kimberley Kimberly or Kimberley may refer to: Places and historical events Australia Queensland * Kimberley, Queensland, a coastal locality in the Shire of Douglas South Australia * County of Kimberley, a cadastral unit in South Australia Ta ...

and was beginning to attract large numbers of prospectors. With possession of this land being claimed by the

Orange Free State The Orange Free State ( ; ) was an independent Boer-ruled sovereign republic under British suzerainty in Southern Africa during the second half of the 19th century, which ceased to exist after it was defeated and surrendered to the British Em ...

, and contested by the arriving diamond diggers, the Griqua leader

Nicolaas Waterboer Nic(h)olaas Waterboer (c. 1819 - 17 September 1896) was a leader ("Kaptijn") of the Griqua people. He was the last fully independent Griqua Kaptijn of Griqualand West, and after it became a British colony, his rule and that of his successors was ...

requested that the

incorporate Griqualand West, as this would give his people representation in the Cape Parliament and a certain degree of political empowerment. The Cape Colony, under

Responsible Government Responsible government is a conception of a system of government that embodies the principle of parliamentary accountability, the foundation of the Westminster system of parliamentary democracy. Governments (the equivalent of the executive br ...

from 1872, explicitly adhered to a policy of incorporating "natives" into the Cape's political and economic system. This was quite unlike the policy in the

which was vying for control of the diamond fields and the other southern African states which generally segregated their populations and excluded non-white peoples from political participation. This factor no doubt influenced Waterboer's decision, however the Cape government initially decided against incorporating the territory, due primarily to objections from both the European settlers and from certain portions of the indigenous population. Upon the Cape's initial refusal to incorporate it in 1873, Griqualand West became a separate British Crown Colony, with Sir Richard Southey as its Administrator and Lieutenant Governor. There followed bitter land disputes between the white diggers, the

and the

. A land court was set up, under Judge

Andries Stockenstrom Andries is a Dutch and Afrikaans masculine given name or surname equivalent to Andrew. Given name People with this name include * Andries van Artvelt (1590–1652), Flemish painter * Andries Beeckman (1628–1664), Dutch painter * Andries Bekk ...

, but this did little to resolve the disagreements. In 1875 Southey was replaced as Lieutenant Governor by Major William Owen Lanyon, who publicly professed a great dislike for the Griqua people and for Griqualand West overall, which he dubbed a "hideous and disgusting place". He oversaw a systematic dispossession of the Griqua people. The Cape finally agreed to incorporate the territory four years later in 1877, following agreement by the British government on compensation to the

for its competing land claims. The Cape Prime Minister

John Molteno Sir John Charles Molteno (; 5 June 1814 – 1 September 1886) was a politician and businessman who served as the first Prime Minister of the Cape Colony from 1872 to 1878. Early life Born in London into a large Anglo-Italian family, Molten ...

still had serious doubts about annexing the heavily indebted region, but, after striking a deal with the Home Government and receiving reassurances that the local population would be consulted in the process, he passed the Griqualand West Annexation Act on 27 July 1877.

Provisions

The act specified that Griqualand West would have the right to elect four representatives to the Legislative Assembly of the Cape parliament, two for Kimberley and two for the Barkly West region. It would also elect one representative to the Legislative Council, the smaller upper house. In the judiciary, the local Griqua attorney-general reported to the Cape Supreme Court, which got concurrent jurisdiction with the Griqualand West Supreme Court in the territory. The act was not without controversy however. The seats were allocated according to population, but Kimberley representatives argued that the number should be increased to represent the relative wealth of the area. The Cape Government also enforced its non-racial

Cape Qualified Franchise The Cape Qualified Franchise was the system of multi-racial Suffrage, franchise that was adhered to in the Cape Colony, and in the Cape Province in the early years of the Union of South Africa. Qualifications for the right to vote at parliamenta ...

system. This meant that all resident males could qualify for the vote, with the qualifications for suffrage applied equally regardless of race. This was welcomed by the Griqua and Tswana majority, but rejected by the diggers, who comprised much of the white minority.L Waldman: ''The Griqua Conundrum: Political and Socio-Cultural Identity in the Northern Cape, South Africa''. Oxford. 2007. The promulgation of the act was set for 18 October 1880, when the last Lieutenant Governor,

James Rose Innes Sir James Rose Innes (8 January 1855 – 16 January 1942) was the Chief Justice of South Africa from 1914 to 1927 and, in the view of many, its greatest ever judge. Before becoming a judge he was a member of the Cape Parliament, the Cape Colony ...

stepped down and direct British imperial rule over the territory ended. Many spent (obsolete) sections of the act were repealed on 19 May 1934 by the

Cape Statute Law Revision Act, 1934 A cape is a clothing accessory or a sleeveless outer garment of any length that hangs loosely and connects either at the neck or shoulders. They usually cover the back, shoulders, and arms. They come in a variety of styles and have been used thr ...

. Another section was repealed on 14 June 1967 by the Pre-Union Statute Law Revision Act, 1967, and the remainder of the act was repealed on 2 September 1970 by the Pre-Union Statute Law Revision Act, 1970.

References

{{Reflist Annexation Act Law of the Cape Colony Repealed South African legislation Treaties of the Cape Colony 1877 in Griqualand West 1877 in law Historical constitutions of South Africa Former countries in Africa Governance of the British Empire Legal history of South Africa Political history of South Africa Politics of the Cape Colony South Africa and the Commonwealth of Nations 1877 in the Cape Colony