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Nigerians
visiting South Africa for the opening game of the 2010 World Cup on
June 11 may not appreciate that they are experiencing not one African
first – a World Cup on African soil; but two! May 31, 2010 marked the
end of the first century of South Africa’s existence as a state in its
current boundaries with internal autonomy, akin to the other British
dominions of Canada, Australia, and New Zealand.

The Act of Union of
May 31, 1910 combining two former colonies- (the Cape Province and
Natal)—and two former Afrikaner republics—(the Orange Free State and
the Transvaal Republic) -into one state liberated white South Africans
from colonial rule while entrenching the oppression of non-white South
Africans by white South Africans. In fact, all South Africans were to
cast their first vote in one election only in 1994; hence the view of
many Africans that South Africa became “independent” only in 1994. As a
matter of law, that popular view is false. South Africa was the first
European colony in Africa to acquire autonomy over its internal affairs.

Should the
formation of South Africa in 1910 be counted as an event worthy of
celebration by Africans? The answer turns on two other questions.
First: were white South Africans “Africans” and have they behaved like
other “Africans” since 1910? Second: did May 31, 1910 signify the end
of some anti-colonial struggle in Africa? There is no doubt in my mind
that the Afrikaners were “African” by 1910. They had lived in Africa
for a couple of centuries, elevated their own dialect of Dutch into an
independent language, forged their own history, and formed themselves
into a distinct community. The non-Afrikaner speaking white immigrants
(then known as “Uitlanders”) have become Africans.

Like many other
African tribes, which succeeded British colonialists, the Afrikaners
and the English speakers used freedom from colonial rule to oppress
their fellow citizens. Through apartheid, white South Africans
confirmed their place as a quintessential first generation African
ruling tribe in independent Africa. Like the Asantes who fought against
the British in the Yaa Asantewa war of 1900-1902, the Afrikaners fought
the British Empire from 1899 to 1902 to control their own destiny and
the gold resources within the Transvaal Republic.

The British spent
the equivalent of 16.2 billion Pounds (in today’s money) to win the
South Africa war (also known as the “Anglo-Boer war”), the deadliest
war fought by the English between the defeat of Napoleon and the First
World War. At least 20,000 white men, women, and children and 10,000
black and colored people died in the 20th century’s first concentration
camps opened by the British on the South African veld. South Africans
lost that war, but they won the peace and freedom on May 31, 2010 for
themselves, and, eventually, other Africans! South Africa presents an
urban face of “First World” development to the world. Johannesburg and
Cape Town can hold their own, with ease, against many a European or
American city. Indeed, many white South Africans use that face to
suggest that they were effective rulers of South Africa until 1994.
That face is used also to characterise any number of South African
attributes as the “best” in Africa. But, they forget to mention that,
as a dominion, white South Africa received the majority of foreign
investment poured into Africa during the 20th century, and is,
therefore, likely to be the “best” in Africa. Consequently, I prefer to
measure the performance of South Africa’s rulers against the
performance of other former British dominions, which received similar
levels of investment.

How do South
African living standards stack up against those of Australia, for
example? Using the real wage rate of white workers in the building
trade in 1910 in South Africa as a base, Australian building workers in
1910 earned 97.6% of South African wages. A South African plumber today
earns about 80,000 Rands (about $11,000) while his Australian
counterpart earns at least A$75,000 (or $63,750). South Africa has been
the poorest of the dominions for at least one generation! Why? Its
rulers spent its first century concentrating on extracting unjustified
compensation from those devoid of political power instead of baking a
bigger pie for all their citizens. They should devote their second
century to deepening the productive capacity and living standards of
all South Africans.

In a few days the
World Cup will open South Africa to the world. Let the 2010 World Cup
fiesta usher in a productive African century.