Official records pertaining to blacks in the Transvaal, 1902 - 1907

Abstract

Historians use different types of sources when reconstructing the past. of the two major categories of sources, the primary sources are of major importance for attaining information, as they are contemporary to the period which is being researched. They are often more reliable than the other category, namely secondary sources, which are literally second-hand information. However, all possible sources, both primary and secondary, must be approached critically so as to obtain a balanced version of the past. In the South African situation, for an extensive period of time, most of the historical writing on the early periods was based on the records which were made by the Europeanoriginated Whites who had the advantage of being able to put their accounts in writin~. This led to the European-White perspective dominating and monopolising the historiographical stage for quite a long time. The perspective of the indigenous inhabitants of South Africa had been overshadowed owing to their inability to read and write. The written sources on the Blacks in South Africa date back to the time when the first Europeans set foot here. The early European travellers (traders, hunters, natural scientists, etc.) came into contact with the Black communities and they made records on them. Obviously these travellers based such records on their own interests and also wrote from a Eurocentric position, with cultural differences as well as racial prejudices and superior attitudes towards the Blacks. The missionaries, who were mostly of European origin, also made records about the Blacks among whom they worked. The missionaries also had their own agenda, although different from that of the travellers. The records which they kept mostly reflected their "fight" against what they thought were barbaric and backward ways of the Blacks' lifestyle. In addition to the records made by the early travellers and missionaries about the Blacks, there were records which were made by the Boer and British government officials. In this study the official records pertaining to the Blacks in the Transvaal between 1902 and 1907 are discussed. Firstly, a historiographical overview is presented and secondly, the official records themselves are analysed and evaluated. The importance of those records as sources of information on the Blacks in the Transvaal, especially the Northern Sotho, is evaluated by using different criteria, including the Principle of internal criticism. There are numerous flaws and limitations found in these records about Blacks such as cultural differences, subjectivity, prejudice, bias, etc. However, even though these records contain such flaws, they are still important sources of information. Their most important value is that they form the basis and point of departure from where historical reconstruction is made. Research, even in future, would still heavily depend on these records as sources of information. But, as already pointed out, the information obtained in them has to be tested by different criteria in order to detect the limitations, so that a more balanced reconstructions can be achieved.