Hierdie volume is ‘n eeu na die vorming van die Unie in 1910 gepubliseer en vertel van die eerste dekades van die nuwe staat. Die verhaal word weergegee deur briewe wat twee belanghebbende kommentators op ‘n weeklikse basis aan mekaar geskryf is. Die Skots-gebore Patrick Duncan was oorspronklik deel van Milner se bekende ‘Kindergarten’ van jong Britse staatsamptenare en word later ‘n gerespekteerde politikus in die nuwe Unie. Sy loopbaan bereik ‘n hoogtepunt as die eerste plaaslike goewerneur-generaal van Suid-Afrika. Hy het vir 37 jaar met Maud, lady Selborne, die vrou van Milner se opvolger, gekorrespondeer. Sy was van ‘n patrisiese agtergrond en was bekend as ‘n feminis. Lady Selborne en Duncan het ‘n lewenslange vriendskap ontwikkel, wat gespruit het uit hul gedeelde belangstelling in Suid-Afrikanse politiek.
Patrick Duncan
Die briewe ondersteun die siening dat die eerste grondwet diep gebrekkig was, hoewel in 1910 was die ‘eerste nuwe Suid-Afrika’ gesien as byna wonderbaarlik. Bittere vyande het ingestem om opnuut te begin en het pynlik onderhandel oor ‘n nuwe grondwet gebaseer op die beste internasionale modelle. Apolitiese leierskap het gevra vir versoening. Verandering moes aanvaar word en van werk gemaak word op elke vlak van die samelewing terwyl nuwe simbole van die nasie moes ontwikkel. Die geloofwaardigheid van die nuwe staat is byna onmiddellik bevraagteken in die stakings van 1913 en 1922 asook die opstande van 1914. Die briewe wys ook dat Suid-Afrika teen 1943 tot ‘n onafhanklike nasie in die Statebond ontwikkel het.
In 1925 General Smuts declared at Ventersdorp that the Unionists were being “Africanderised by the sun”. The artist shows what the effect of the process may be in the case of Patrick Duncan
Die Vaderland (April 1937)
Duncan was van 1910 tot 1936 ‘n lid van die Unie Parlement, eers as ‘n lid van die Unionistiese Party, toe die Suid-Afrikaanse Party (SAP) en daarna die Verenigde Party (VP). Hy was ‘n kabinetsminister in die SAP administrasie van 1921 tot 1924 en in die VP administrasie van 1933 tot 1936. Hy was van uiterste belang in die gesprekke in 1933, wat gelei het tot die ooreenkoms tussen die Nasionale en Suid-Afrikaanse partye om as die Verenigde Party (VP) te kombineer. Sy Skotse agtergrond het hom gewild gemaak onder Afrikaners, hoewel hy deur die meer ekstreme Engelse lojaliste van Natal beswadder is omdat hulle geglo het dat hy die Britse ryk verraai het. Generaal Hertzog het Duncan later genomineer as Goewerneur-Generaal (1937-1943), die eerste Suid-Afrikaanse burger wat die amp beklee het.
Maud Selborne
Kindergarden 1905. (Middel row: Patrick Duncan and Maud Selborne, 4th and 3rd from the right respectively)
Sir Patrick Duncan is in 1870 in Skotland gebore en studeer regte. Hy is in 1901, tydens die Anglo-Boere Oorlog (1899-1902) deur Alfred Milner genader om by ‘n span van jong staatsamptenare – later bekend as “Milner’s Kindergarten” aan te sluit. Hulle doel was om die Brits-besette Transvaal te regeer en verengels. In 1905 word Milner deur die tweede graaf van Selborne opgevolg as hoë kommissaris van Suid-Afrika en goewerneur van die Transvaal en Oranjerivier kolonies. In hierdie tydperk ontmoet Duncan en lady Maud Selborne, ‘n ervare waarnemer van imperiale politiek op die hoogste vlak en die dogter van ‘n Eerste Minister, die markies van Salisbury.
In 1907 het die Britse liberale regering dit as ‘n prioriteit gestel dat die oud-Republieke wat na die oorlog van 1899-1902 geherkonstrueer en gemoderniseer is, weer self-regerend moet word. Lord Selborne het aangebly as goewerneur. Hoewel hy lojaal aan die Britse regering gebly het, het hy sy samewerking gegee aan die administrasie van Generaal Botha se Het Volk regering. Hierdie aksie het verder bygedra tot die versoening van die Nederlandse en Britse gemeenskappe in Suid-Afrika. Patrick Duncan het in hierdie tyd besluit om sy beroep te verander na regte en politiek. Hy het van 1907 tot 1910 as prokureur gepraktiseer en het aangesluit by die Progressive Association in teenstelling met die Het Volk regering. Hy word ‘n regsadviseur vir die Transvaalse afvaardiging by die Nasionale Konvensie van 1908-1909 wat die Suid-Afrika-wet opgestel het wat die Unie van Suid-Afrika in 1910 tot stand gebring het.
Sir Patrick Duncan and General Hertzog (1939)
Lady and Sir Patrick Duncan with General and Mrs Jan Smuts (1939)
Hierdie volume wat 100 jaar na die inhuldiging van die Unie van Suid-Afrika uitgegee is, fokus meestal op Duncan se briewe. Hierin kry die leser ‘n merkwaardige blik op die parlementêre politiek en gebeure soos wat die Unie – die eerste “nuwe Suid-Afrika” – vorm aanneem na 1910.
UITTREKSELS VANUIT DIE TEKS
49 Mount Street
4 July [1913?] My dear Mr DuncanYou seem to be in a fine storm on the Rand. I suppose your constituents have been giving you a somewhat uneasy time. They seem to have an inclination to militancy out there too. I feel rather resentful at the different tone the newspapers take when outrages are committed by men or women. It was reported today – I don’t know whether truly – that the miners had blown up part of the power station – not one paper even noticed it – it was an incident which might happen in any strike. But when a militant [suffragette] burns down a stand on a racecourse, they all have leading articles about it, and say how completely it proves that women are totally unfit to be trusted with any political power. It is rather depressing to find the white miners so discontented. I go back to my old song and say houses, wives, children are the best remedy; but bless you the mine owners won’t listen to us. They are just the same here. They will not spare a little bit of their brains to think how they might make their work people comfortable. …
Yours affly
Maud Selborne
17 Sauer’s Buildings
Johannesburg
14 July 1913My dear Lady Selborne
I am afraid this will have to be a very hurried letter. We are still in the strike centre. A railway strike is the next thing. The men, or rather some of their leaders, are concerned by the ease with which the miners got everything they wanted by a sort of panic intervention of the Government, and they naturally think that the same weapon can be used to redress their grievances – of which I think they have more than the miners. I and a few other moderate-minded persons went over to Pretoria on Friday and Saturday and saw the men’s executive and also some of the Govt. Sauer is acting Railway Minister and he is in bed with bronchitis. Botha is explaining to his constituents the precise reason why he quarrelled with Hertzog. It does not seem to become any clearer by repetition. Fischer is on his way to England. So is Burton. The Government therefore at present consists of Smuts, Watt22 and Malan. Smuts is in a most unpromising mood for dealing with a situation like this. He feels that people are saying with some justice that the Govt surrendered to the mob in Johannesburg and is in a very bad temper over it, and is quite likely to go to the opposite extreme with the railway men just to show that the Govt is not in the weak state that its critics allege. This is the sort of mood which deals with disaster, and of course the other two ministers are ciphers compared to him and not likely to be able to exercise much influence on him.
Today Mr Hosken23 has plunged in and called together a large gathering of citizens to discuss matters and their idea seems to be to announce to all the world how they would deal with the crisis if they were the Govt. I must go to it and try to prevent them from making fools of themselves.
I have been harried by various people all day and it is now closing time for the mail. Things do not look hopeful. People here are in mortal fear of another strike because they think the natives will become unmanageable and terror is a bad counsellor.
Yours sincerely
P. Duncan
Onder Redaksie van Deborah Lavin
Deborah Lavin is in die Oos-Kaap gebore en studeer aan die Roedean School, Johannesburg, kortliks aan Rhodes Universiteit, Grahamstad, en aan Lady Margaret Hall, Oxford. Sy gee klas in die Geskiedenis Departement van die Universiteit van die Witwatersrand, waarna sy na Noord-Ierland verhuis en aansluit by die Departement van Moderne Geskiedenis by die Queen’s Universiteit in Belfast. Later skuif sy na die Universiteit van Durham as ‘n lid van die Geskiedenis Departement en Hoof van Trevelyan Kollege.
Sy het afgetree, bly naby Oxford en is verbonde aan St. Anthony’s Kollege. Haar gepubliseerde werke sluit in From Empire to International Commonwealth: A life of Lionel Curtis asook werke oor Ierland, Sudan, en ryksgeskiedenis. Sy is tans besig met ‘n geskiedenis van besproeiing en waterbeleid in Suid-Afrika.