Abstract

DE KLERK, Pieter. De Zuid-Afrikaan se kommentaar op vraagstukke rakende bruin en swart mense in die Kaapkolonie tydens die redakteurskap van J.H. Hofmeyr (1871-1883). Historia [online]. 2016, vol.61, n.2, pp.101-120. ISSN 2309-8392.  http://dx.doi.org/10.17159/2309-8392/2016/v61n2a5.

In the late nineteenth century J.H. Hofmeyr (1845-1909) was the leading figure in the Afrikaner Bond, a prominent political party in the Cape Colony that promoted the interests of the white Afrikaans-speaking population. During the period 1871 to 1883 he was also editor of the Dutch newspaper, De Zuid-Afrikaan, and his views on issues concerning the coloured and black residents of the colony are reflected in his editorial columns. The viewpoint of the newspaper on the franchise, military service, labour, education and government policy regarding the black inhabitants in the eastern border area of the colony are discussed in this article. As a solution to the problem of the labour shortage, Hofmeyr supported the idea of importing labourers from India, China and areas bordering the Cape Colony. He followed the so-called Cape liberal tradition on issues regarding the franchise and the integration of the indigenous population in the partiy Westernised society of the colony. During the years of his editorship he favoured the settlement of large numbers of European immigrants as well as coloured people from the Western Cape in the eastern part of the colony with the aim of accelerating the Westernisation of the black population.

Keywords : J.H. Hofmeyr; De Zuid-Afrikaan; Cape Colony; coloured people; franchise; labour issues; native policy.

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