thumb|Peace Treaty of Vereeniging, 31 May 1902. Pdf file of four pages.

The Treaty of Vereeniging was a peace treaty, signed on 31 May 1902, that ended the Second Boer War between the South African Republic and the Orange Free State on the one side, and the United Kingdom on the other.

This settlement provided for the end of hostilities and eventual self-government to the Transvaal (South African Republic) and the Orange Free State as British colonies. The Boer republics agreed to come under the sovereignty of the British Crown and the British government agreed on various details.

History

Seven point Boer proposal rejected

On 9 April 1902, with safe passage guaranteed by the British, the Boer leadership met at Klerksdorp, Transvaal. Present were Marthinus Steyn, Free State president and Schalk Burger acting Transvaal president with the Boer generals Louis Botha, Jan Smuts, Christiaan de Wet and Koos de la Rey and they would discuss the progress of the war and whether negotiations should be opened with the British.

On 12 April, a ten-man Boer delegation went to Melrose House in Pretoria and met General Kitchener bringing with them a seven-point proposal for a treaty of friendship. Their position was to return to a pre-war status-quo for the republics with certain changes such as a commercial union with the British colonies, votes for uitlanders, equal languages in schools and an amnesty.

The debate was heated, split between the Transvaalers who wanted an end to the war as living conditions for the Boer civilians in the Transvaal were becoming desperate with splits developing in the Boer population there, while the Free Staters wished to continue the war.

  1. All Boer fighters of both republics had to give themselves up
  2. All combatants would be disarmed
  3. Everyone had to swear allegiance to the Crown
  4. No death penalties would be dealt out
  5. A general amnesty would apply
  6. The use of Dutch would be allowed in the schools and law courts
  7. To eventually give the Transvaal and the Orange Free State self-government (civil government was granted in 1906 and 1907, respectively)
  8. To avoid discussing the native (Black) enfranchisement issue until self-government had been given
  9. To pay the Boers £3,000,000 in reconstruction aid
  10. Property rights of Boers would be respected
  11. No land taxes would be introduced
  12. Registered private guns would be allowed

Aftermath

Subsequent to the British government giving the Boer colonies self-government, the Union of South Africa was created on 31 May 1910. The Union gained relative independence under the 1926 Imperial Conference and de facto independence under the 1931 Statute of Westminster. The country withdrew from the British Commonwealth and became a republic in 1961, therefore severing all political ties with Great Britain. Though still a republic, South Africa rejoined the Commonwealth in 1994.

See also

  • History of South Africa
  • Military history of South Africa
  • Pretoria Convention

References

Further reading

  • Bossenbroek, M. P. (Translator Rosenberg, Yvette), The Boer War, Seven Stories Press, New York, 2018.
  • Ebrahim, Hassen. The soul of a nation: Constitution-making in South Africa. (Oxford UP, 1998).
  • 620 pages. Available at archive.org. Consulted on September 11, 2024.
  • A copy of the treaty can be found here.