On this day in 1925: Apartheid architect Lord Alfred Milner died
“You do not want any reforms; you want my country.” - President Paul Kruger to Lord Alfred Milner on 31 May 1899, shortly before the outbreak of the Second Boer war.
Milner came to South Africa after the South African War (also referred to as the Boer War) to preside over the transition to the Union of South Africa that became a reality in 1910.
Bill to exclude blacks from political process
His administration played a critical role in shaping the constitution of the Union even before it was passed into an act of parliament. The Union of South Africa Bill was completed in 1909 and sent to England to be discussed in the British Parliament. The Bill provided for the establishment of a unitary state that would exclude blacks (Africans, Coloureds and Indians) from the political process.
“Segregation”
The term applied to this British strategy was “Segregation”. In Afrikaans it later (1948) became “Apartheid”.
Despite vociferous opposition from blacks the Bill was passed, becoming the Union of South Africa Act of 1910.
Gold Gold Gold
British High Commissioner, Lord Milner, a career diplomat in the British Foreign Office, arrived in South Africa soon after the South African War of 1899 to 1902.
Driven by the “mining imperative”, he laid the foundations of the “Pillars of Colonisation”, by establishing complete control over the black population.
Soon after Milner returned to England and was replaced by Lord Gladstone as British Governor.
