British South Africa Company
The British South Africa Company (BSAC) was established in 1889 by Cecil Rhodes, an influential figure in British imperialism known for promoting colonial expansion in Southern Africa. BSAC was granted a royal charter that allowed it to negotiate treaties, establish laws, maintain order, and manage resources in the region that Rhodes named Rhodesia. The company played a significant role in the exploitation of natural resources, particularly gold, and was involved in conflicts with local populations, such as the Ndebele and Shona, who resisted British encroachment. Following a series of uprisings and the eventual establishment of British control, Rhodesia was governed by Anglo-European elites and implemented laws that laid the groundwork for future apartheid systems. The company's influence waned after the Jameson Raid in 1895, which contributed to the Second Boer War, and by the 1920s, the British government took over direct administration of the territories. The legacy of BSAC remains contentious, as many view Rhodes as a symbol of colonial oppression, while contemporary movements in Zimbabwe continue to address the historical injustices stemming from this colonial era. The struggle for independence and the establishment of Zimbabwe in 1980 marked a significant turning point in the region's history, but challenges related to land and economic stability persist today.
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British South Africa Company
The British South Africa Company (BSAC, BSACO, or BSA Company) was founded in 1889 by Cecil Rhodes (1853–1902), a strong advocate of British imperialism who cofounded DeBeers Diamonds and established the Rhodes Scholarship program at Oxford University. The original royal charter granted BSAC the right to negotiate treaties, pass laws, maintain peace, and establish a police force throughout a region of South Africa that Rhodes dubbed Rhodesia, and it allowed Rhodes and his investors, which included the DeBeers Diamond Syndicate and the Gold Fields of South Africa, to join forces with the financial might of Lord Edric Frederick Gifford and George Cawston, who operated through the Bechuanaland Exploration Company. Other members of the BSAC board included Alfred Beit, Horace Farquhar, and Rochfort Maguire. The Duke of Abercorn served as Chair, and the Duke of Fife as Vice Chair. All founders and officers held shares in the company, so they had a direct interest in its success. The British Government Colonial Office took over administration of both Northern and Southern Rhodesia in 1923 when Rhodesia gained independence from South Africa, but BSAC retained mineral rights throughout the area.
Brief History
BSCA established Fort Salisbury in 1890 to serve as a base of operations for their efforts to find gold mines that rivaled those of mines discovered near Johannesburg in 1884. At the time the British arrived in the area, the land was inhabited chiefly by the Ndebele. Rhodes worked with Hercules Robinson, the Governor of Cape Town and the High Commissioner for South Africa, to negotiate a treaty with King Lobengula, the head of the Matabele, for mineral rights. Subsequently, British troops led by Major Patrick Forbes helped to drive the Ndebele out of the area. A second rebellion broke out in 1896 when the Ndebele and the Shona unsuccessfully launched new attempts to reclaim their native lands in a war that has been called one of the most ferocious of all the wars that took place in South Africa. Once the Ndebele and Shona were defeated, however, the British South Africa Company charged them hut taxes to help support BSAC activities.
In Northeastern Rhodesia, the Ngoni under Mpesani continued to resist British control, but resistance was stamped out by 1898. In 1907, inhabitants in the Kafu District raised concerns when they began making spears and refusing to pay hut taxes, but the situation never escalated into a full-blown crisis. In 1911, what had been Northwest and Northeast Rhodesia united as Northern Rhodesia. With the area firmly under British control, a system of government by Anglo-European elites was established in Rhodesia. Those laws laid the groundwork for the system of apartheid that dominated South Africa until the 1980s.
It was the Jameson Raid that ultimately led to the downfall of the British South Africa Company in Rhodesia. The raid, which took place on December 29, 1895, was led by Sir Leander Starr Jameson, the administrator of Mashonaland. Jameson led a group of volunteers in an attack on a Boer colony in Transvaal, hoping to inspire British settlers to launch an uprising and force the Boers, colonists primarily of Dutch and German descent, out of Rhodesia. Historians consider the raid a direct cause of the Second Boer War (1899–1902), which ultimately gave Britain control of South Africa and the Orange Free Republic.
By the 1930s, Black nationalism was on the rise throughout Rhodesia. Over the next three decades, the Zimbabwe African People’s Union and the Zimbabwe African National Union began demanding independence and an end to discriminatory laws. In 1953, the Central African Federation was created by the British, unifying Southern Rhodesia, Northern Rhodesia, and Nyasaland. In 1963 Northern Rhodesia and Nyasaland won their independence and became Zambia and Malawi, respectively. Tensions continued to simmer among the various groups in Southern Rhodesia, which unilaterally claimed independence in 1965, leading to a guerrilla uprising and sanctions imposed by the United Nations. In 1965, Prime Minister Ian Smith led Northern Rhodesia to unilaterally declare independence. Fourteen years of civil war finally came to an end in 1980 with British representatives working with warring groups to create unity. As a result, Northern Rhodesia became the independent nation of Zimbabwe. Even after gaining full sovereignty, the country continued to be troubled with a chaotic land redistribution campaign, a fragile economy, and shortages of basic commodities. Zimbabwe has been ruled by Prime Minister/President Robert Mugabe since 1987.
Impact
On June 17, 1921, the British South Africa Company was operating the Broken Hill Mine Company in Northern Rhodesia when an almost intact skull was discovered by a Swiss miner, a significant find for the scientific community. Company officials donated the skull to the British museum, setting off an ongoing battle over ownership rights between Britain and Zimbabwe.
In the twenty-first century, Cecil Rhodes is reviled by many Zimbabweans who consider him a symbol of British imperialism, the architect of apartheid, and the plunderer of the religious ruins of the area designated by the Shona as the Great Zimbabwe. By his request, Rhodes is buried in an area of Matobo (Metopos) National Park that he called "the view of the world." Efforts to have his body and that of Leander Starr Jameson sent back to Britain have proved unsuccessful; however, a student-led protest at the University of Cape Town, which is built on land donated by Rhodes, did succeed in having a Rhodes statue removed from that campus. In 2003, the Rhodes Trust worked with other groups to establish the Mandela Rhodes Foundation, which provides scholarships for students to study in Africa. Around two million Ndebele people continue to inhabit lands in northern and southern Zimbabwe. Most of them speak the Bantu language, and they make their livelihoods chiefly through herding and farming.
Bibliography
Ankomah, Baffour. "Rhodes Must Fall: Why Colonial Symbols Are Loathed in Africa." New African, 9 June 2020, newafricanmagazine.com/10988. Accessed 1 Nov. 2024.
Bonello, Julie. “The Development of Early Settler Identity in Southern Rhodesia: 1890-1914.” The International Journal of African Historical Studies, vol. 43, no. 2, 2010, pp. 341–67.
British South Africa Company. Correspondence with Mr. C.J. Rhodes Relating to the Proposed Extension of the Bechuanaland Railway: Presented to Both Houses of Parliament by Command of Her Majesty, May, 1899. Darling & Son, 1899, catalog.hathitrust.org/api/volumes/oclc/320055128.html. Accessed 1 Nov. 2024.
British South Africa Company. The ’96 Rebellions = Originally Published as the British South Africa Company Reports on the Native Disturbances in Rhodesia, 1896-97. Books of Rhodesia, 1898.
Galbraith, John S. Crown and Charter: The Early Years of the British South Africa Company. U of California P, 1974.
Musonda, Francis B. “Decolonising the Broken Hill Skull: Cultural Loss and a Pathway to Zambian Archaeological Sovereignty.” The African Archaeological Review, vol. 30, no. 2, 2013, pp. 195–220, doi.org/10.2307/42641826. Accessed 1 Nov. 2024.
Porter, Bernard. The Lion’s Share: A History of British Imperialism 1850-2011. 5th ed., Taylor and Francis, 2014.
Roberts, Brian. Cecil Rhodes: Flawed Colossus. Hamilton, 1987.
Rönnbäck, Klas, and Kondwani Happy Ngoma. "Regulatory Capture in the British Empire: The British South Africa Company and the Redefinition of Property Rights in Southern Africa." African Economic History Network, 17 Sept. 2024, www.aehnetwork.org/blog/regulatory-capture-in-the-british-empire-the-british-south-africa-company-and-the-redefinition-of-property-rights-in-southern-africa. Accessed 1 Nov. 2024.
Slinn, Peter. “Commercial Concessions and Politics during the Colonial Period: The Role of the British South Africa Company in Northern Rhodesia 1890-1964.” African Affairs, vol. 70, no. 281, 1971, pp. 365–84.