Kruger, Kommandos & Kak

By Chris Ash

The second Boer War is the most important war in South African History; indeed, without it, the nation of South Africa would likely not exist today. But is also one of the least understood conflicts of the era. Over a century of anti-Imperial bleating from the British Left, and insidious, self-serving revisionism- firstly by Afrikaner nationalists, and then by the apartheid regime – has left the layman with a completely skewed view of the war. Incredibly, most people believe that the British attacked the Boers to steal their gold, and that arrogant, gin-swilling British Generals had their clueless, red jacketed soldiers march forward, shoulder to shoulder, to be mowed down in their thousands. Many today think of the conflict in terms of “Britain against South Africa” and some even believe that the Boers actually won the war; others seek to explain away the Boer defeat be claiming it took millions of British to beat them, or that is was only the “genocide” of the concentration camps which forced the poor old plucky Boers to throw in the towel.

This book challenges this hog-wash and will take everything you thought you knew about the Boer War and turn it on its head. From Kruger’s expansionist dream of an Afrikaans empire stretching “from the Zambezi to the Cape”, to the murder and devastation wrought on Natal by his invading commandos, to the casual-mass murder of countless black civilians by the “gallant” bitter-einders, the reader will have his eyes opened to the brutal realities of the conflict and be forced to reassess previously held notion of the right and wrongs of the war. Hard-hitting and uncomfortable reading for many. Kruger, Kommandos & Kak starkly exposes the side of the Boer War which the apartheid propaganda machine didn’t want you to know about.

Question: What is the “gallant” group called that casually mass murdered black civilians?

Please forward your answer to wen@secundainsig.co.za. The seventh correct answer received will be the proud owner of the book (T&C’s apply)