The De La Rey Song Reaffirms Boer Heritage by Revisiting Noble but Painful Past.
The De La Rey song & video by Bok van Blerk aka Louis Pepler chronicles the bitter-ender phase of the second Anglo-Boer War (1899 - 1902) -which lead to the conquest & defeat of two Boer Republics -the Transvaal Republic & the Orange Free State- in the northern half of present day South Africa by the British- has become a big hit & appears to be much more than just a popular Afrikaans song. This song about the second Anglo-Boer War is causing quite a stir as it has numerous fans but a number of detractors as well. The haunting refrain in the song calls on the famous Boer General & hero Koos De La Rey to come lead to Boers as they are besieged by the British -referred to as "Khakis" after the colour of their uniforms. There is a moving video which the band made for this song which was made with real farmers featuring the Orange Free State Vierkleur flag: one of the Boer Republics which fought against the British -including scenes of fighting & the deplorable concentration camps. The concentrations camps were the most devastating feature of the war as it lead to the deaths of 27 000 Boer civilians (including thousands of Bantu farm workers) most of whom were children under the age of sixteen. Almost half of the Boer child population of the republics died in the
concentration camps.
The story of why the song & video were made is quite an interesting one as it points to the overreaching & insensitive nature of the current South African government pertaining to the White Afrikaans communities & the renaming of towns & places which were originally named after cherished Voortrekker heroes. The authors of the song explained that what motivated them for writing the song was that they wanted to make sure that their history was not forgotten & being proud of who they are since school children are taught only four lines concerning the second Anglo-Boer War. Never mind being taught about the first Anglo-Boer War which was a victory for the Boers at Majuba on Feb 27 1881. This song can be seen as a clear reaction to the insensitive government polices of attempting to erase the history of the Boer people / nation.
The conclusion & events of the second Anglo-Boer War -especially the concentration camps has had long lasting repercussions on the Boer nation since soon after the war most were destitute & had to move to the cities in order to find work. The Boers have been rarely significantly heard from since with the notable exceptions of the Maritz Rebellion in 1914when some Boer Generals rebelled against the government of Louis Botha & tried to reinstate the Boer Republics & later as well during the Rand Revolt of 1922 when Boers protested & striked for better wages which lead the South African government to bomb Johannesburg. Since about the 1930s most Boers became susceptible to the propaganda of the Cape based Afrikaners (whom the ancestors of the Boers trekked away from beginning in the late 17th cent) who sought to "unify" the White Afrikaans speaking people under the banner of Afrikaner nationalism.
Thus ever since the 1930s the Cape based Afrikaners -whom the Boers had their first freedom struggle against in 1795- began to ascend due to their larger numbers & the fact that they were promoted into power by the British as a surrogate colonial power in the region. The Boers were by & large too destitute & much smaller in numbers to prevent the Cape Afrikaners (& some pro British Boers) from taking over & speaking on behalf of the greater White Afrikaans population. Most -but by no means all- began to be conditioned to view themselves only as generic Afrikaners & were conditioned to stop seeing themselves as Boers or even as a distinct entity that they had been ever since the late 17th cent. This only ever truly benefited the rulers of the new British created macro state as it nullified any future threat to the territorial integrity of the South African State as the Boers had done in 1914 during the Maritz Rebellion. The Cape Afrikaners benefited the most -as the new macro designation of Afrikaner (which did have a prior history but was re-launched on a greater scale which aimed at politically fusing the Cape Afrikaners with the Republican Boers) was a politically based artificial augmentation of their numbers which would not have been enough on their own to dominate the English speakers without attempting to co-opt as many of the Boers into the new Afrikaner designation as possible. This has later lead to considerable confusion among those of republican Boer descent ever since which was probably one of the intentions the British & Cape Afrikaners had when they promoted the designation.
This explains the folly of why some people show up at a Bok van Blerk concert with the old Orange White & Blue horizontal tri colour compromise national flag of South Africa. The flag was adopted in 1927 as a result of a compromise between the Cape Afrikaners: represented by the Orange White & Blue horizontal bars / the Boers: represented by the two small Boer Republic flag replicas of the Transvaal Republic & the Orange Free State / & the English speakers: represented by the British flag. The people of Boer republican descent should never display the old Orange White & Blue flag as it is a symbol of their repression.
The flags the Boers of Voortrekker & Republican descent should display are their republican era flags of which the Transvaal Vierkleur & Orange Free State Vierkleur are the most well known & recognizable. The Potchefstroom / Zoutpansberg & Voortrekker saltire flag & the Natalia Republic flag are other notable Boer flags. The old Orange White & Blue horizontal tri colour flag is often not so accurately referred to as the flag of Apartheid but the fact of the matter is that this flag was adopted in 1927. About two decades before the formal implementation of the Grand Apartheid laws. The Afrikaner Nationalists under Hertzog might have adopted the Orange White & Blue flag, but the Afrikaner Nationalists under later Prime Ministers wanted to abolish the flag due to the British & Boer Republic flags in the center.
Though they wanted to retain the orange white & blue colours. D F Malan originally wanted to adopt the Orange White & Blue Prince Flag: which was basically the old South African flag without the replica flags in the center of the flag. This flag has also been called the Van Riebeeck flag. A version of this flag was the flag of the Dutch East India Company with the VOC logo added in the center. Prime Minister Hendrik Verwoerd (who was from Holland) signed off on a plan to introduce a new flag in time for the tenth anniversary of the Republic of South Africa in 1971. He was assassinated in 1966 & his replacement Vorster did not want to change the flag as he felt that it would re-open the old wounds of 1927 & the acrimonious debates which almost tore the state apart at the time. He wanted the flag to remain above party politics.
The choice of writing a song about General Koos De La Rey is an interesting one as he was a pacifist who argued against going to war & was not formally militarily trained, but was an effective Commando leader & was one of the Bitterenders who kept fighting when others had begun to give up. He also displayed compassion to a wounded British soldier.
The choice of using the Orange Free State Vierkleur: -the national flag of the OFS- is quite interesting as well as this Boer Republic did not have to enter the war. The main reason it chose to enter into the war on the side of its neighbouring fellow Boer republic to the north was due to President Marthinus Steyn's insistence on sticking to principle as he stated that he would rather lose the independence of the Orange Free State in honour than retain it in dishonour. The other reason being that under former President F W Reitz the Orange Free State entered into a political pact with the Transvaal Republic (Zuid Afrikaansche Republiek) - which in essence was the agreement to come to the military aid of the ZAR should it ever come under attack - at the insistence of President Paul Kruger of the latter republic.
There are those who claim that the song is a call to arms but I never saw anything in the song or video which could be construed as such as it is simply a retelling of an important & dark chapter in Boer history. Furthermore: the British are no longer the overt enemy of the Boer people as was the case during the Anglo-Boer War. This song & video is touching a nerve all around as it is a poignant affirmation of Boer heritage. Which is something the people of Boer descent -around 1 million of a total White Afrikaans population of at least 3 million- could use at this point in time with their heritage coming under increasing attack. Though it seems that the complaints against the song & video are coming from the traditional enemies of the Boer people whether they be the Xhosa centric government to the English speakers to the White Afrikaans speakers whose ancestors fought with the British against the Boers during the second Anglo-Boer War.
The song & video instills pride in the Boer people but perhaps also an irrational resentment among others as it is a reminder that the proud Boer nation is still here & will not be going anywhere any time soon. Despite the fervent wishes of those who arrogantly thought that they had long since extinguished the final vestiges of the Boer nation.
Labels: Afrikaans, Afrikaner, Anglo-Boer War, Boer Republics, Boers, Bok van Blerk, Cultural, De La Rey, Louis Pepler, Orange Free State, Transvaal Republic, Vierkleur
