One of the primary political issues in the early days concerned the ownership of the territory on which diamonds had been discovered. This ill-defined and disputed territory which was claimed by amongst others the Griqua Chief Nicolaas Waterboer as well as by the two Boer Republics, namely the Transvaal and the Orange Free State, became a political football and this matter was only settled eventually when the British proclaimed it the Crown Colony of Griqualand West in 1873 with the Hon Mr Richard Southey appointed Lieutenant-Governor. Although Britain considered this to be the solution to the underlying problems which beset the diggings, the inhabitants were of the opinion that they had been deceived by the British High Commissioner and Governor of the Cape, Sir Henry Barkly in 1872. During a visit to the Diamond Fields, the Governor, in his attempt to placate the diggers, had undertaken to address and remedy the many grievances they had lodged not least those in regard to land claims, the manner in which contracts were awarded and the fact that guns and
gunpowder were being supplied to Africans. A major bone of contention was the fact that representation in the Legislature was such that, to all intents and purposes, the Colony was controlled by the British Government and its proxies in the Cape Legislature. Furthermore the Governor’s promises had not been honoured to the satisfaction of the inhabitants of Griqualand West (Matthews 1887: 278-279).
It is not possible to extricate South Africa’s political and economic history nor can the course of history at this time be divorced from the vacillating policies of the British Government in South Africa. In this regard Dr JW Matthews, initially a member of the Griqualand West Legislature and after the Colony’s incorporation into the Cape Colony, a representative of Griqualand West to that Legislature, and also an erstwhile member of the Kimberley Public Library Committee, refers particularly to the lot of the Diamond Fields under the British flag at that time describing British undertakings to the inhabitants of the Diamond Fields as ‘pie crust promises’. He states that
Every new ‘hand’ that has been intrusted [sic] with the reins of government started on his career by reversing the policy of his predecessors and making promises, which, if he ever meant to keep, he revoked shamelessly and recklessly, either to gratify his own caprice for party purposes, or under the ‘instructions’ of the imperial nominee whose seat is fixed in Cape Town, and who puppet-like moves according to ‘wire’ (Matthews 1887: 261).
Amongst other things, the Governor had promised that the Constitution of the Crown Colony would be based on a model similar to and as liberal as that of Natal but this did not materialise as the enfranchisement and representation of voters was not in accordance with that guarantee (KAL MS23 Beet). The franchise in Natal at that time required very high electoral qualifications which made it extremely difficult for Africans to exercise their right to vote. The composition of the Council was heavily loaded in favour of the government. Initially all went reasonably well but Matthews writes that ‘Leagues were formed and meetings held where sedition was loudly and plainly talked’ (Matthews 1887: 283). Letters were sent to the Governor, Sir Henry Barkly on 9 April 1875 stating that serious dissatisfaction existed on the Diamond Fields as a consequence of the acts of the Griqualand West government.
Another example of Britain’s indecisive foreign policy in South Africa was the restoration of the Transvaal’s independence in 1881 which not only led to further tension between Boer and those of British descent but also led to the collapse of credit and confidence generally and, as was to become the norm, the diamond market was one of the first sectors to suffer (De Kiewiet 1941: 108). The protracted depression which followed drastically impeded the economy and this was exacerbated by another of the severe droughts to which the country was prone, causing considerable distress at every level of the economy. However, the discovery of gold in the Transvaal injected new life into the ailing economy of the southern African region and the last two decades of the 19th century were manifestly prosperous – only to be brought to an abrupt end at the outbreak of war between Britain and the two Boer Republics in October 1899.
The gold mining industry provided an enormous boost to the southern African economy but it brought with it several disadvantages which, in time, had a negative effect on Kimberley’s growth, its people and its economy. Not only did the rise in this industry encourage the relocation of capital and skills from the Diamond Fields to the Gold Fields and the loss to Kimberley of numerous of its most enterprising and wealthy men but the influx of foreign, primarily British, fortune seekers to the Gold Fields sowed the seeds of discontent amongst the largely Dutch inhabitants of the Transvaal Republic who were wedded to their traditional values and lifestyle and found those of the foreigner unacceptable. They also objected to the exploitation of their land. The largely orchestrated demands of the newcomers for the franchise created tensions between the Republics and the ‘Uitlanders’ which became the fertile soil in which the seeds of war were to germinate. Eventually these tensions culminated in the Anglo-Boer War – with its disastrous consequences for the entire southern African region. Although Kimberley was situated in the Cape Colony which was not one of the main arenas of the war, its inhabitants and economy suffered greatly as a result of the conflict.