Shades

The Black people of South Africa tended to support the British war effort during the Anglo-Boer War, hoping for a speedy end to the Dutch Republics.

It was generally recognised that the treatment of Black people in the two republics was nothing short of barbaric. The war therefore offered liberation for them.

The two newspapers mentioned in the novel (Imvo Zabantsundu and Izwi Labantu) both carried many an article by people like Benedict pointing out the righteousness of the conflict.

Intelligent Black people were also quick to offer their services in the British army. On the other hand, the British forces were careful to encourage this attitude as a means of uniting opposition to the Boers.

When the war was over, however, the Black people found their expectations dashed. Almost at once the British forces jettisoned Black support in favour of a policy of reconciliation with the Boers.

At its heart was a philosophy that White people (including previous enemies) must work together and that the Black people of South Africa presented the greater threat.

Soon the four British colonies began to implement a common practice for holding the Black people in subjection. (Victor was to be a key person in this process.)

The Boer War was therefore a tragic disappointment. Instead of finding that the Boer's system of legal discrimination would soon be obliterated, the Black people discovered that discrimination would become the norm everywhere, including the Cape Colony.

It is in this context that Tom and Reuben find themselves caught - and the very British forces which they had trusted for so long would become the means for their execution.

(Note: the brothers were murdered by the British army and not by the Boers!)