Reparations for the Natives? From who?
Who suffers when there is equality? Who will it hurt seeing the natives of this country benefit from the natural resources of this country?
When you look the number of corporations founded in this country and the income they have made over the years you would think it was through hard work and labour of the founders without crossing the human rights of those who made the majority of labour in one way or form. The wrongs and the rights only depended on the income economically generated.
The list below is of the oldest corporations in South Africa:
1682 - Blaauwklippen
1685 - Groot Constantia
1685 - Boschendal
1700 - Vergelegen
1838 - FNB
1845 - Old Mutual
1846 - Mossops
1846 - The Natal Witness
1846 - Mossop Leather
1851 - Bakers Biscuits
1852 - Mrs Balls Chutney
1857 - Stuttafords
1857 - Cape Argus
1860 - Birch's (PE) - 1864 Grahamstown
1862 - Standard Bank
1867 - Woodhead's via John Marwood
1870 - Grocott's Mail
1873 - Markham
1876 - Knight & Co, Grahamstown via Sue Waugh
1876 - Cape Times
1877 - Henry White & Co for Red Heart Rum
1880 - Singer Sewing Machine Manufacturing Co, New Jersey USA for d. Singer Sewing Machines
1882 - James Crossley, Middlesex for Eno's Fruit Salt
1883 - R.H. Morris (now Group Five)
1887 - Gold Fields of South Africa
1887 - Lever Brothers for Sunlight Soap
1888 - Nederlandsche Bank (ultimately Nedbank)
1888 - De Beers
1888 - Corn Products Company, USA for Maizena
1888 - Royal Baking Powder Company, New York, USA for Royal Baking Powder
1889 - The Star (originally founded as The Eastern Star in Grahamstown in 1871)
1889 - John Johnston for Bovril
1889 - L Rose & Co for Rose's Lime Juice
1892 - Thrupps
1896 - CNA
Many of these companies were build and were able to stand throughout their early years on a foundation of blood and sweat of slaves. When you look at the wealth gap there is a difference between the races of this country, it’s all about who oppressed which race first, there is no denying the generation wealth displayed and it can’t be ignored when you tell an African success story. There is no denying that all this companies has a great family story to tell even though some are now owned by other corporations, the culture of slavery is old as man kind but at a corporate level it was officially abolished in the 1800s. and in South Africa slaves were brought to the Cape Colony from 1653 until 1822.
Of course, not all societies were equally transformed. Some resisted the forces of colonial intrusion, slavery and forced labour for extended periods. SAHO
History has always come in from magnitudes of point of views from a lot of mistakes of the same size at some point. For those who have lived those times believed they were right for a number of reasons but one of the first things we have to understand about the first settlers of South Africa is their backgrounds. The Dutch East Indian Company realized it would be more profitable to have their employees have permits to farm and sell products for the Company/s. And this was the start of many companies in South Africa. A big cultural change in business in the Cape Colony which of course caused a lot of change to abaTwa and amaQakancu of that part of South Africa because the issue of LAND came about and at this time an in came was from that land which resulted in wars. But lets look at the settlers in terms of Social Economical images from the point of their countries of origin.
Trading ships employed from the lowest classes of Europeans because these jobs were of hard labour for a little income, and most who took these jobs were runaways from the Europeans wars, wars like any create orphans. And in France at some point there were religions conflicts which resulted in religious discriminations which caused a group called the Free burghers. And working in those ships was dangerous but in everyones suffering there is always a time for an opportunity to come and for these workers getting this jobs was a second chance but at an expanse of natives of occupied Nations by these companies who traded in the colonies who were also the key factor of colonizing some countries.
These type of companies had a lot of influence politically and most were owned buy politicians and must took actions for their Royal rulers even though they are the most influence when it was for economical decisions for their Rulers. These ships were so important they were companied by regiments of soldiers to protect their interests and property. When the time came for change employees started owning land, a big change for colony in South Africa because now it had became the promised land. Then settlers started owning Slaves.
In 1793, there were 14,747 slaves (9,046 men, 3,590 women, and 2,111 children), compared with the 13,830 free burghers. Third, the augmentation of the slave population was a result of continual imports rather than natural increase. The Cape slaves never became a self-reproducing population. Until 1765, there were always more than four times as many male as female slaves, and in 1793 there were still two-and-a-half times as many men as women... The largest holding was probably that of Governor Adriaan van der Stel, who owned r69 slaves in 1706. The largest holding of a burgher was probably that of Martin Melck, who had 101 slaves in 1774. In 1750, there were 681 slave owners in the colony. Only 7 of them owned more than 50 slaves and another 25 owned between 26 and 50, whereas 385 owned fewer than 6 slaves. Leonard Thompson's The History of South Africa
The most labour was for farms, some for domestic or both at times, the economy was booming the settlers economical freedom was achieved, Even army settlers contributed to the economy. The way of life had changed for the natives. Living of the land of your own had changed and some moved to work in the colony after the wars.
There is no deny that corporations in South Africa have been the driving factor of the politics of this country, the economy was in the hands of the colonialists even when there were forces political decisions taken at the disagreement of the settlers, settlers had the last say. The was a time when there were plans to bring a ship of prisoners to the Cape Colony and the Government had allowed the ship to anchor in the coast, settlers made sure they are voices were heard, there was no business conducted for unknown people even business who where suspected of bring producing food for government officials were forced to close down or burnt. The government was forced to send back the prisoners as freeman.
It was already clear who had the power of politics in the land, religious influence was at the very end of it’s power in Politics, this was merely because corporation at this time had the narrative after the Napoleonic wars as to first they had to relay on the mistakes of religious leaders in Royal standing or Military politics, Wars cost a lot of money and produce a lot of income for corporations and this has expended over the years and transforming into a lot of ideologies yet all for income more than politics. Food is the most cost in a war if not second after arms and salary but it is the most needed and important in the time of war. And in those days when there was a war the need for meat would increase and with the refreshment stations in some countries like south Africa they some became colonies that supplied meat and vegetables. It was no longer for ships only but for this wars that were happening in Europe and at the begging of colonies wars were the result of colonizing which give birth to others cultures within the colonies also changing the culture of natives.
When we look at the list of those corporations in the above at the beginning of this observation of the power of companies who were founded in this country during the darkest times of this country none of them are innocent in benefiting from those times of the suffering of the natives of this country, now it would be as if you are accusing them of an imaginary crime but even today they play a major role in keeping the disadvantaged of this country one way or the other, through policies for some, to others employee exploitation by unfair wages which are most have been carried out for generations hiding behind politics, at some points known as modern slavery.
Who suffers when there is equality? Or is it just a lack of understanding that having happy employees is productive? Or that it has better results then having unhappy employees. Who will it hurt seeing the natives of this country benefit from the natural resources of this country? The blood and sweat of those who into the mines for a wage that has to be negotiated over a time of protests. There are more mines to come out of South Africa that haven’t been build that they would answer the poverty and unemployment question of the natives.
There are other questions that the natives have to answer for themselves, the first being that who has the right answers between the corporations that motivate politics or to use what they have as the answer. The question of education being the answer for poverty and unemployment for the natives have been answered long time ago and the answer for them has always been land, the land that corporations even today they are after, the number if mines planned for South Africa are not gonna be achieved with out robbing Rural inhabitants, the time for rural people to use their knowledge of how the systems of how this world works has come. The time to captivated, build bands and mines has come in your own ancestral land in the way that works for natives has come. The time to build and use what was lost and won in wars for their own economical freedom has come for there is no corporations on your side even the banks. The gift of coming from big families has had hidden secrets that need to be unlocked. All these oldest companies are built by families as the result they still benefit certain families one way or the other.
There are things to be learned from the past of this country and in history general.In this country is that corporations have the narrative from the time of abolishing apartheid to the decisions taken that engineered it, the most say has always been from them and that has always been the culture of political moves in this country. The Reserve Bank can’t help with the answer the questions, they have said it.
The amount of money charged by banks today and they way the system works of banking in this country has never been designed to create wealth for it’s clients. The majority has stressed this out over the years to the point they concluded it’s racist,the whole system. The call for natives to create a banking system that works for them has been planted for years in their minds and moves have been made by some. Maybe in this decade marked by covid19 good things are about to come. The time of reparations to be admitted by corporations guilty of those DARKEST TIMES OF SOUTH AFRICA have long passed and like the times of the protects of the Anti-convicts organizations that forced business not to deal with unknowns in the cape, their idea of hitting the pockets by just not buying from you, is by far the greatest none violent idea that natives need to embrace when dealing with those participating in this managed poverty of this country.
Camagu