Paul Kruger

Paul Kruger (Stephanus Johannes Paulus) was born in Bulhoek, Cradock on the 10th of October, 1825 and died in Clarens, Switzerland on the 14th of July, 1904 His parents were Casper Jan Hendrik Kruger and Elsie Francina Steyn, fairly well-to-do, but landless stock-owners, compelled by drought, locusts and migrating herds of buck to lead a nomadic existence. Young Paul and his brothers were responsible for the stock, a strenuous school of experience for the boys. Nature hardened him, and his parents imbued him with profound religious sentiments. The Bible was his schoolbook and his daily companion from a very early age. He had a scant few months of formal instruction in reading and writing but could express his thoughts on paper.
In 1835 his father and nearest relatives trekked over the Orange River in search of better grazing on the banks of the Caledon River. In the following year they joined the Potgieter trek and the Kruger family joined them. After a spell beside the Sand River the Krugers took part in the battle of Vechtkop, where the eleven-year-old Paul underwent his baptism of fire. After a spell in Natal they moved north to Transvaal. The Krugers, especially his father and his uncle Gert, were among the founders of Potchefstroom.
When Paul was 16, he received his own farm near present-day Rustenburg and named it Waterkloof. In 1842 he married Maria du Plessis, whom he had met during the trek. During the winter of 1845 he and his family accompanied Potgieter to the Eastern Transvaal where they helped to find Ohrigstad.
Early in 1846 he returned to the Magaliesberg where his wife and baby died of malaria. He got married again a year later, this time to Gezina du Plessis, a cousin of his first wife.
He entered military life at an early age. At 17 he was assistant field-cornet of his districts and accompanied various expeditions against unruly black tribes. He was scarcely 25 when he became interested in political matters and pleaded for unity during a time of great confusion and chronic division. He accompanied Andries Pretorius to the Free State for the signing of the Sand River Convention (1852) and after that helped to draft the Transvaal constitution of 1858.
Kruger was the commandant of Rustenburg from 1854 and took an active part in punitive expeditions against various rebellious black chiefs, e.g. against Makapan in 1854 and Mapela in April 1858.
Kruger was one of the first members of the newly established Reformed Church of Rev Dirk Postma at Rustenburg. He remained throughout his life a leading spirit in the church where he enjoyed unusual prestige. The ecclesiastical divisions in the Republic had a considerable influence on the politics of the time. From 1860 there was such vehement dissension among the burghers that in time it took on the nature of a civil conflict. Kruger strived to maintain the authority of the State and his political following was no means confined to the adherents of his church. MW Pretorius was elected president of the OFS shortly before the end of 1859 and was granted six months leave by the Volksraad to go to the sister republic. The Transvaal presidency was left vacant and a struggle for control of the government followed. Commandant-General Stephanus Schoeman was unwilling to acknowledge JH Grobler as acting president and had the support of many burghers who were dissatisfied because the Volksraad did not allow Pretorius to resume his former office and be president of both republics after the expiry of his leave. Schoeman therefor relieved Grobler of his office and assumed it himself.
Kruger was in an unenviable position because the followers of Pretorius and Schoeman had an element of right on their side; moreover, the old government had decided to submit to the new conditions. On the other hand, Schoeman had gained his position by unconstitutional means. Not until the Volksraad decided in 1861 to take action against Schoeman, who with his followers refused, did Kruger feel that it was time to intervene on the side of the law. No one was prepared to take extreme action, however, and Kruger would only summon his burghers to the conflict when in 1862 the Volksraad declared the Schoeman factions to be rebels. He was elected commandant-general in April 1862 and eventually drove Schoeman over the Vaal River. The dissident opposition then tried to restore their position by force of arms. Comdt Jan Viljoen led a so-called 'People's army' against Kruger and his 'State Army' in January 1864, but was defeated at the Crocodile River. Peace was restored when a fresh election was held in 1864. Pretorius became president for a second time and Kruger retained his position as commander-in-chief. Pretorius finally abandoned his post in 1871 after a spectacular failure to prevent the Keate award which lopped off a large piece of the western Transvaal to satisfy a claim by the Barolong tribe.
President TF Burgers came to power in 1872 and Kruger's political life was in jeopardy. Burgers was modern and very liberal minded. A measure of Kruger’s generosity is found in his speech to the Volksraad immediately after Burgers had taken the oath of office: “Your honour, I had done my best to prevent your election, principally because of your religious views, which appear to me to be mistaken, but, as you now have been elected by the majority, I submit as a good republican to the vote of the people trusting that you are a more earnest believer than I thought, in which case I will congratulate you with all my heart.” As Kruger could not identify with Burgers's liberal- mindedness he tendered his resignation early in 1873.
The fact that the Volksraad decided to abolish the post of commandant-general hindered his return to public life. However Burgers suffered a gradual decline in popularity and when a vacancy occurred in the Executive Council Kruger was elected to the Volksraad with a small majority in November 1874. He became reconciled to Burgers's government to a certain extent especially after the Volksraad amended the unpopular education law and he approved of the president's railway policy. When the Sekhukune war broke out in 1876 Kruger declined to lead the commandos. The reverse suffered during the war not only injured the prestige of the president but also endangered the safety of the republic. When they planned a new presidential election for early 1877 Kruger decided to make himself available for office. He would apparently win the election but the election never took place as Shepstone annexed the republic on behalf of the British Empire. Burgers left the country and Transvaal was left leaderless, although Kruger was elected vice-president by the Volksraad on the eve of the election.
During the next three and a half years Kruger followed a policy of passive resistance against the British administration. In an attempt to have the annexation set aside he visited London twice. Both the journeys were in vain as the British government was adamant that they would not revoke the annexation. During the first visit for example Lord Carnarvon would not accept Kruger's assertion that most of the people were opposed to the annexation, but at the same time he refused a referendum on the question.
Meanwhile Britain's problems in South Africa had multiplied and Transvaal refused aid to the British during the Zulu War of 1879. At a large meeting held at Kleinfontein near Pretoria in April the High Commissioner and Cape Governor, Sir Bartle Frere, gave Kruger and the other a hearing and promised to put their case to the London authorities in the best possible light. Unfortunately nothing came of this.
At a series of meetings addressed by Kruger the increasing opposition was evident. At a large meeting at Wonderfontein near Pretoria it was resolved to restore the republic at a date to be determined later. Kruger went to work very diplomatically to restrain people form premature violence on the one hand, and on the other hand to manoeuvre the British leaders into a morally untenable position. When Piet Bezuidenhout's tactics of tax evasion, however, supported by Commandant later General Piet Cronje, at Potchefstroom, led to a riot in November 1880, Kruger was no longer able to restrain the people. At a gathering at Paardekraal in December 1880 they restored the republic and Kruger was once again appointed as vice-president. With Piet Joubert and MW Pretorius he formed a triumvirate to lead the government. It was virtually a declaration of war against the British Administration.
During the First War of Independence Kruger controlled the political fortunes of Transvaal form his temporary headquarters at Heidelberg. He never ceased in his efforts to come to an agreement with Britain. In an extraordinary session of the Volksraad in Heidelberg on 15 April Kruger made one of the most important speeches of his career: “I consider it my duty plainly to declare before you, and before the world that our respect for Her Majesty the Queen of England, for the government of Her Majesty, and for the English nation, has never been greater than at this time, when we are enabled in this treaty to show you a proof of England’s noble and magnanimous love for right and justice... I believe that I am acting according to the treaty of peace when I express in your presence the hope that all the inhabitants of the Transvaal will, meanwhile, abstain from all words and deeds which could lead to the perpetuation of that feeling of hostility which must now and forever be eradicated altogether. Let all citizens offer and accept the hand of reconciliation in order to establish a happy state”.
The Gladstone government was unwilling to restore British authority by the further use of force and accepted Kruger's proposal of qualified independence. This formed the basis of the negotiations that led to an armistice in March 1881 and the Pretoria Convention in August of the same year. The independence of the Republic was restored, subject to the suzerainty of Great Britain.
The Volksraad decided in 1882 that a State president, according to the constitution, should supersede the triumvirate. In the subsequent election of 1883 Kruger stood against Joubert, with Kruger the winner. One of the most important tasks awaiting him was the amendment of the Convention. During his visit to Europe, accompanied by General Nicolaas Smit and Reverend SJ du Toit the London Convention was signed on 24 February 1884. Britain, however, still controlled the foreign policy of the republic.
The discovery of gold on the Witwatersrand caused radical economical and political changes. The straitened circumstances of the Republic were relieved and neighbouring states competed to have railway links with Transvaal. Kruger's policy was to create a national railway system and to establish an independent link with the Portuguese harbour in Delagoa Bay. Towards this end he granted a concession to a Dutch group and the Nederlandsche Zuid-Afrikaansche Spoorweg-Maatschappij (NZASM) was formed. While awaiting the completion of the Delagoa Bay line, Kruger did his utmost to retard the progress of the Cape and Natal lines. He regarded his own project as the lifeline of the Republic and his policy was severely criticized, especially in the Cape Colony. Eventually he gave up and the Natal and Cape lines were extended to Johannesburg. By the end of 1894 the Delagoa line was also completed. Meanwhile Kruger was again reelected as President in 1888.
The most vexing problem for Kruger and his State Secretary, Dr WJ Leyds , was the influx of the Uitlanders (foreigners). Initially there was no animosity between the President and the Uitlanders as can be seen from the following speech he delivered as president after the 1888 election. Kruger said the following: “Consequent upon the treasure found here, new people have come into the country, and I am glad that they have done so. It rejoices me to see that they are working with the inhabitants of their State; that they follow the dictates of law and order; that they subject themselves to the laws of the state... Those of you who wish to be numbered with us, desire to be naturalised and so share in the privileges granted to the burghers of the Republic, I greet you and welcome you, no matter to what nationality you belong. .. There is a second class to whom I wish to say something, namely you have not come to settle here, who have left your former fatherland, but do not wish to be naturalised but when you have gathered your riches intend to return to the country form from where you came. .. We do not grudge you the gains you have made here, but since you are here you must subject yourselves to the laws of the land, and you have the right to demand form the Government the protection of your possessions. There is a third class of new arrivals, those who have fixed your residence here, but do not wish to be naturalised, who prefer to live among strangers... we will treat you as strangers, but you also have the right tp obtain protection for yourselves and your possessions under the laws of the country.”
Kruger was afraid that they would outvote the older white inhabitants of the Republic. To counter this possibility he made the conditions of naturalisation more difficult. In 1890 the government of the South African Republic restricted the Uitlander franchise for presidential and Volksraad elections to naturalized citizens who had been in the country for fourteen years. To satisfy Uitlander interests a second Volksraad was created, to be elected by naturalized citizens of two years standing. Though relatively few Uitanders were genuinely concerned about the franchise question, this nevertheless became a central issue between the British government and the government of the South African republic.
From 1890 tensions in the country increased and the President had to do anything in his power to preserve the Republic’s independence. The policies of the Kruger government regarding the granting of concessions (monopolies) raised mining costs considerably. This was especially relevant regarding concessions governing rail transport and the manufacture of dynamite. Eventually this was to become a deep source of grievance between the Chamber of Mines and the government. Many mining executives realised that to enable deep-level gold production to prosper a much closer relationship between the industry and state had to be established and that this was only likely if they could realise a change of government.
By 1893 Kruger’s popularity had suffered a sharp decline and he only narrowly defeated Joubert in the presidential election that year.
A new era in the relations between the governments in Britain and the South African Republic began when they appointed Joseph Chamberlain to the Colonial Office in 1895. He was an avowed imperialist who wanted to press ahead with federating South Africa under a British flag.
Relations between the two governments deteriorated further, following the abortive Jameson Raid in December 1895, a foolhardy enterprise set up by the then premier of the Cape, Cecil John Rhodes and a group of associates, many of whom had links with deep-level mining. They wanted to overthrow the government in the South African Republic. To achieve this, Rhodes undertook to support the Uitlanders on the Rand with an armed force from Bechuanaland. For their part the so-called Reform Committee in Johannesburg hatched the plot and smuggled in weapons while Dr LS Jameson, the Administrator of Rhodesia, held himself in readiness with a mounted force on the Bechuanaland side of the border. Before the insurrection on the Rand began, Jamieson crossed the border and made for Johannesburg. On 2 January 1896 the Boers captured his entire force at Doornkop near Krugersdorp and Kruger forced the rebels in Johannesburg to surrender unconditionally.
In his handling of the crisis the President revealed great wisdom and statesmanship. Despite the urging of many of his people, he refused to execute Jameson and delivered him with his officers to the British authorities to be punished. He pardoned the leaders of the Reform Committee whom Mr Gregorowski had sentenced to death. Gregorowski was the State Attorney of the Free State, who had been invited to Pretoria as a temporary judge to ensure a fair trial. Kruger on the whole adopted a tolerant attitude to the Raiders and their leaders.
The Jameson Raid had important consequences. Rhodes was identified as the instigator and disappeared from South African politics. The Rand capitalists were discredited while Kruger’s prestige increased. He clearly displayed this when he won the presidential election with an overwhelming majority. The bogey of British interference, however, suddenly became a new and dangerous problem for the Volksraad. In spite of the London Convention, Chamberlain and the British Government were behaving as if the question of suzerainty had never been discussed. Kruger’s viewpoint “was plain and readily comprehensible...The Boers had become a separate people, separate they must remain. They, and he (Kruger) in particular, were determined to rule without British interference...”.
Sir Alfred Milner, the newly appointed High Commissioner and an ardent imperialist, became committed to the issues set forth by the British South African League in 1896. The League agitated for the relaxation of the franchise laws and was soon urging the British Government to intervene directly in the affairs of the republic. Milner’s diplomatic strategy from 1896 therefore was directed at the strengthening of the loyalty and political cohesion of the English-speaking South Africans and channelling Uitlander discontent and opposition to Kruger's government.
While the situation progressively worsened Kruger turned to the Orange Free State for support and in 1898 a defensive and offensive alliance was negotiated between the two republics. This meant that in case of a war they would present a united front. Meanwhile President Steyn brought pressure to bear on Kruger, persuading him to be accommodating, and through his mediation a conference was held between Milner and Kruger in Bloemfontein at the end of May 1899. Milner insisted on a five-year residential qualification for the naturalisation of foreigners and refused to consider Kruger’ offer for seven years. According to William Butler the Colonial office, as the test subject, had selected the franchise question. “If the franchise was refused to the Uitlanders, war would have followed at once; if, on the other hand, the franchise was given to the extent demanded, then the destruction of the Boer Republic would only be a question of a few years or perhaps a few months ... But of the two courses, that of the out and out refusal of the franchise was the one most desire by the Raiders. That of course would leave the road open for the much desired ultimatum; troops would be on the sea, and the resort to force could no longer be delayed.”
Both sides now prepared for war. The British troops in the country were reinforced and by September Chamberlain had begun to prepare an ultimatum. Kruger realised that the Republic’s one chance of winning the war was to open the offensive before the British could gain the upper hand. After consultation with Steyn they sent an ultimatum to Britain, demanding that they move arbitration settles her troops from the Transvaal borders within 48 hours and the future disagreements. War broke out on 11 October 1899.
As the aged president (he was 74) was too old to go to battle he prepared himself for the most strenuous work of directing, encouraging and commanding. When the Natal front collapsed in March 1900, he hastened to the scene of action to stabilise the front. Immediately afterwards he hurried to the Free State where he tried to check a Boer retreat.
Kruger addressed the Volksraad for the last time in May 1900, pleading for continued faith in the national cause. The enemy was already near and Kruger was obliged to leave Pretoria and to move east with General Louis Botha and the retreating army. For a time he was stationed at Machadodorp and Waterval Onder. After the battle of Dalmanutha (Berg-en-Dal) in August 1900 it was decided that the President was too old and too frail to live on the veld, and that he should leave for Europe to attempt to obtain sympathy and help form foreign rulers. On 11 September 1900 he crossed the Transvaal border on his way to Lourenço Marques. Six weeks later he was on his way to Marseilles on board the Gelderland, a cruiser sent by the young Queen Wilhelmina of the Netherlands. He was royally received in Paris, but neither the French nor the German government were prepared to lend aid. Emperor William II refused to receive hi, During the remainder of the war he stayed in the Netherlands, living sometimes at Utrecht and sometimes at Hilversum, During the winter of 1902 and from October 1903 he lived at Mentone on the Riviera.
He and his retinue moved to Clarens on Lake Geneva where he died on 14 July 1904. His body was embalmed and taken to the Netherlands from where it was conveyed to Cape Town on board the Batavier VI, a ship specially prepared for the purpose and commanded by Vice-Admiral Macleod of the British Navy. On 16 December 1904 he was interred in what is now known as the Heroes’ Acre in Pretoria.