ANGLO-BOER WAR MONUMENT
(A)
HISTORICAL BACKGROUND
History in perspective:
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(B)
On 6/04/1652 the Netherlands sent Jan van Riebeeck to establish a
halfway station for their ships sailing to the East
War between England and France broke out.
England took over at the Cape. Gave it back and took it over again.
In 1806 the Netherland’s flag was finally lowered at the Cape Castle
and the British took over.
A new nation known as the Afrikaners (Dutch and Afrikaans speaking
persons) was born.
The Afrikaners comprised people from the Netherlands, France,
Germany, other European countries and slaves from the East.
SA consisted of the Cape and Natal Colonies under British rule.
In 1838 the Afrikaans speaking section of the Cape citizens was so
disappointed with the British suppressing their culture and language
that they decided to move out to the North of SA.
They proclaimed the Republics of the ZAR under President Paul
Kruger and the Orange Free State under President M T Steyn.
Gold was discovered at Witwatersrand, now Johannesburg.
The British wanted to get control of the rich gold mines.
Under the pretence that they wanted voting rights for the English
miners, which Kruger was not prepared to give, war between the two
Boer Republics and England was formally declared on 9 October 1899
and lasted for 2½ years until 31 May 1902.
The ABO-monument was erected in commemoration of the Cape
Rebels who joined the Boer soldiers of the two Boer Republics in the
AB War.
As citizens of a British Colony they were branded as rebels against
their own government and were executed for high treason.
INFORMATION FOR VISITORS
1. During the inauguration of the Casparus Hildebrand monument by Dr
D F Malan on 16 December 1940 at Kraalbosdam, Darling,
(Hildebrand was a Boer warrior who was heavily wounded and died
in an aardvark hole 60 km from Cape Town), he referred to the debt
of honour owed to the Kaaplanders (Cape men). This debt of honour
is in recognition for their assistance to the Boer warriors of the two
Boer Republics in the North (Transvaal and the Free State) in their
struggle against the British during the Anglo-Boer War of 1899 to
1902.
2. In his will the deceased P R (Paultjie) de Villiers, on 14/11/1951
bequeathed £5 000 for an “Anglo-Boer war monument to be erected
50 years hence”. On 14/11/2001 the £5 000 amounted to ±R 440
000.
3. Various options for the location of the monument were considered,
including Du Toitskloof pass, and the historical farms Picardie and
Laborie.
4. Requests for the location of the monument came from about 18 other
towns/institutions, which all based their claims on the fact that
combatant Cape Rebels emanated from those regions.
5. A set of guidelines was drafted. Security, maintenance, access
control and safety were the overriding factors. Prof Fransjohan
Pretorius, UP, said the latter are more important than the historically
correct location of the monument.
6. The Trustees did some research and “discovered” Laborie with its
historic Oak Tree forest, a picnic area where women gathered twice
in 1900 to protest against the British war with the Boer Republics.
7. The ABO-monument was inaugurated on 17 September 2005 and
about 300 persons attended.
8. The symbolism is described in the orientation brochures obtainable at
the Laborie tasting room.
9. The sculptor Mr Johann Moolman, of Groot Marico, visited Laborie on
various occasions for inspiration and ideas regarding the monument.
He was also furnished with background information, history and the
ideas and thoughts of the trustees.
10. The process followed by the sculptor comprised pencil sketches, clay
models, plaster of Paris and casting models and finally the placing of
the bronze components at the monument site. Bronseeu-gieters,
Brits, attended to the casting works.
11. THE COMPONENTS AND SYMBOLISM OF THE ABO MONUMENT.
11.1
Focus of the monument
Focus is on the fight for freedom and justice of the Cape Afrikaners and
other Colonists who actively supported the Boers in the Transvaal and
Free State Republics in the Anglo Boer War or who were sympathetic
to their cause.
11.2
Symbolism of the monument
The main elements of the ABO monument consist of a life size man
and woman facing each other. They are surrounded by symbolic
panels depicting various aspects of the war relating to the Cape
Colonial Afrikaners.
With the sculpture a statement is made in respect of the universal
principle of Freedom and Justice which speaks to humanity in the 21 st
century.
11.3
Rebel towns and districts
Recognition is given to rebel towns and districts in the Cape Colony by
means of a circle of multi-coloured granite blocks with the names of the
towns engraved thereon, paved around the monument. See also the
panel for the “Anonymous Rebel” between the rocks on the Northern
side.
11.4
The Maria Koopmans-De Wet-panel
The statement she made on 9 July 1900 in Cape Town. It deals with
the loyalty of the Cape Afrikaners in respect of their brothers and
sisters in the North. The war brought about the unity of Afrikaners,
which is timeless.
11.5
The blockhouse panel
By means of the barbed wire the emphasis is placed on the aggression
and desperation of the British policy of restriction and sorties to deprive
the Boers of any freedom of movement.
11.6
The Martial Law panel
The Cape Afrikaners are depicted as they lay down arms before the
British soldiers. To the right cattle, horses and vehicles are being
seized. In the foreground grain products being seized are depicted.
11.7
The female figure
The female figure, clad in restrictive sheeting, is depicted as a column
– symbolic of the woman as the pillar of support for her nation. The
column is also a symbol of essential vitality, stability and wisdom, but
especially of the communication between heaven and earth, man and
deity, in which the spiritual power of woman is encapsulated in this
context.
The focus is on her head and face. Her head is clean shaven –
symbolic of mourning. Her arms and legs are symbolically bound by
laws and regulations. Without the vote she is politically neutralised.
Even so she can verbally give expression to her feelings and
convictions.
11.8
The jail window with hand
Here is depicted the restriction and incarceration of citizens in terms of
British Martial Law - Strategy of terror to force Colonists into
submission.
11.9
The execution of Cape Rebels
This panel depicts the execution of 44 Cape Afrikaners. The
sentencing to death of Rebels in public was part of the British reign of
terror against the citizens of the Cape Colony.
11.10 The male figure
The naked figure depicts the Rebel standing up against injustice. His
nudity implies that he is stripped of incidental, superficial differences
between individuals and circumstances and emphasise the essence of
the Cape Rebel.
He stands with his back to a hard granite corner. The granite panels
behind him are symbolic of the impenetrable restrictions imposed by
the authorities to disrupt the Rebel’s humanity and continued existence
through relentless, cold martial law, and to drive him into a corner.
* Because of vandalism the original glass walls were replaced by
granite walls in September 2009.
The granite walls are also symbolic of the compelling loyalty of the
Afrikaner towards their compatriots in the Boer republics who were
aggrieved by British Imperialism. The Colonial Afrikaner was forced to
choose between submission and loyalty to the British Colonial
government or loyalty towards their spiritual and blood relatives in the
Boer republics. He chooses the latter, as it is a choice for freedom and
justice, and a choice against injustice.
His one hand is desperately clenched in a fist – symbolic of his
rebelliousness and pent-up anger. The other hand is open, stretched
forward, with the palm facing up, in a gesture of openness and
affection towards his fellow man and the colonial authority.
His body is motionless because his freedom is restricted. His stretched
out, straight legs gives expression to his fundamental stability, his feet
firmly planted on the ground.
11.11 The concentration camp panel
On the left side of the panel a black woman, domestic servant of the
Boer family, sits in front of a tent, with a candle. She is symbolic of the
many black and coloured people who remained loyal to the Boer
families who employed them and had to suffer as a result thereof. Next
to the woman is a dog, the symbol of loyalty, vigilance and protection.
11.12 The scorched earth panel
This depicts the burning down of Boer homesteads, farmlands and the
killing of animals by the British soldiers, a desperate attempt to force a
stubborn, proud nation into submission.
11.13 The Oak Forrest Panel
This panel depicts urban and rural women in Victorian dress. Two
mass meetings were held on the Oak Forrest picnic area on Laborie et
Picardie, Paarl, during which those present protested against the
British suppression of the Boer Republics.
The central figure stands on a cube, a symbol of stability and truth,
firmly planted. Next to the cube is a jug, symbolising the womb, the
origin of life, and next to the jug is a bell, symbolic of the clarion call
summonsing the individual to the communal world.
The oak trees in the background are symbols of power, perseverance
and longevity. A crow perches on the branch, symbolic of war and
death.
A man, with naked torso stands bowed, delivered to his fate, a victim of
circumstances.
The central female figure identifies herself with the other women and
their circumstances.
(C)
STATISTICS: ANGLO BOER WAR 1899 – 1902.
Numbers:
22 000 British troops in SA before the war.
450 000 British troops in SA at the end of the war.(+ 30 000 black).
75 000 Boers (or Burgers) between 16 and 60 years on commando. (13 300
Afrikaner rebels Cape, Natal).
2 000 Foreign volunteers on the Boer side.
779 Burgers on commando at the end of the war.(“Bittereinders” as they were
known, who fought to the bitter end).
30 000 Farm homesteads burnt to the ground.
Concentration camps:
43 000 Black and Coloured people in concentration camps in May 1901.
118 000 Whites in concentration camps in May 1901.
Casualties:
(a)
Britain:
6 000 soldiers killed
16 000 died from illness and in accidents
400 000 horses and mules died on the battle field and from illness and in
accidents
The war cost Britain £202 000 000 or R2 949 200 000.00 at the current
exchange rate.
(b)
Free State en Transvaal
110 000 horses and mules died on the battle field and from illness and in
accidents.
3 990 burgers killed on commando
1 081 burgers died on commando from illness and in accidents
1 118 burgers died as prisoners of war on islands
27 927 persons died in concentration camps, of whom:
1 676 men older than 16 years
4 177 women older than 16 years
22 074 girls en boys younger than 16 years.
In Total 34 116 Boer men, women and children died in the war.
14 154 black people died in concentration camps.
(c )
Cape colony:
7 000 Cape colonists died in guerrilla phase 16 Des.1900 to 31 Mei 1902 on
commando.
1 000 killed and 44 were sentenced to death and hanged or executed.
Compiled by: C H Stander
31/10/2011
Translation by A W Eksteen
17/07/2014