The Afrikaner Bond (

Afrikaans Afrikaans (, ) is a West Germanic language that evolved in the Dutch Cape Colony from the Dutch vernacular of Holland proper (i.e., the Hollandic dialect) used by Dutch, French, and German settlers and their enslaved people. Afrikaans gr ...

and Dutch for "Afrikaner Union"; South African Dutch: Afrikander Bond) was founded as an anti-imperialist political party in 19th century

southern Africa Southern Africa is the southernmost subregion of the African continent, south of the Congo and Tanzania. The physical location is the large part of Africa to the south of the extensive Congo River basin. Southern Africa is home to a number o ...

. While its origins were largely in the

Orange Free State The Orange Free State ( nl, Oranje Vrijstaat; af, Oranje-Vrystaat;) was an independent Boer sovereign republic under British suzerainty in Southern Africa during the second half of the 19th century, which ceased to exist after it was defeat ...

, it came to have a significant presence across the region, and especially in the

Cape Colony The Cape Colony ( nl, Kaapkolonie), also known as the Cape of Good Hope, was a British colony in present-day South Africa named after the Cape of Good Hope, which existed from 1795 to 1802, and again from 1806 to 1910, when it united with ...

and the Transvaal. The Afrikaner Bond was distinct from the later

Afrikaner Broederbond The Afrikaner Broederbond (AB) or simply the Broederbond was an exclusively Afrikaner Calvinist and male secret society in South Africa dedicated to the advancement of the Afrikaner people. It was founded by H. J. Klopper, H. W. van der Merwe, ...

which, while similarly named, was a secret cultural organisation formed in 1918, not a political party.

Formation and parent organisations

The original Afrikaner Bond was formed by the union in 1881 of the '' Genootskap van Regte Afrikaners'' (Society of True

Afrikaner Afrikaners () are a South African ethnic group descended from predominantly Dutch settlers first arriving at the Cape of Good Hope in the 17th and 18th centuries.Entry: Cape Colony. ''Encyclopædia Britannica Volume 4 Part 2: Brain to Cast ...

s) of Rev S.J. du Toit, and the ''Zuidafrikaansche Boeren Beschermings Vereeniging'' (South African Farmers' Protection Association) of Jan Hendrik Hofmeyr. Instrumental in this union and the resultant establishment of the Bond party across southern Africa was a German named Borckenhagen who lived in Bloemfontein. Borckenhagen in turn influenced an

named Reitz, who afterwards became the state secretary of the Transvaal.

Ideology

As stated by Borckenhagen, the Afrikaner Bond was established for "the States of South Africa to be federated in one independent republic". However the Cape Colony branch of the bond was less extreme in its republicanism and more inclined to cohabit with an imperial policy of indirect rule. The Afrikaner Bond, as established in 1881, claimed to represent all those who considered Africa to be their home, rather than Europe. These so-defined "Afrikanders" were predominantly white farmers of Dutch extraction, though the initial bond was explicitly defined as a non-racial organisation, open to people of all races. Its stated aim was to advance "Afrikander" interests from the Cape to the Limpopo River.J.L.McCracken: ''The Cape Parliament''. Clarendon Press: Oxford. 1967.

Governance in the Cape

Although frequently having a majority in the Cape Parliament, it never governed directly, generally forming coalitions with English-speaking politicians. These included the Thomas Scanlen ministry, the administration of Cecil John Rhodes with which it split after the

Jameson Raid The Jameson Raid (29 December 1895 – 2 January 1896) was a botched raid against the South African Republic (commonly known as the Transvaal) carried out by British colonial administrator Leander Starr Jameson, under the employment of Cecil ...

and

John X. Merriman John Xavier Merriman (15 March 1841 – 1 August 1926) was the last prime minister of the Cape Colony before the formation of the Union of South Africa in 1910. Early life He was born in Street, Somerset, England. His parents were Nathaniel Jame ...

, the last Prime Minister of the Cape Colony, 1908–1910, prior to the formation of the

Union of South Africa The Union of South Africa ( nl, Unie van Zuid-Afrika; af, Unie van Suid-Afrika; ) was the historical predecessor to the present-day Republic of South Africa. It came into existence on 31 May 1910 with the unification of the Cape, Natal, Tr ...

on 31 May 1910. After Union, it ceased to be an independent party, merging with the South African Party of the Cape, Het Volk of the Transvaal and

Orangia Unie Orangia Unie (United Orange) was a political party established in May 1906 in the Orange River Colony (formerly the Orange Free State) under the leadership of Abraham Fischer, Martinus Theunis Steyn and J. B. M. Hertzog. When the colony gained sel ...

of the Orange Free State to form a new Union-wide South African Party. In 1882 it was able to have Dutch recognised as an official language of the Cape Colony.

References

{{Authority control Afrikaner organizations Political parties established in 1881 Defunct political parties in South Africa Politics of the Cape Colony 1881 establishments in the Orange Free State