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Grade 10 The South African War and Union

History practice questions and a worked example

Grade 10 History questions on the South African War and Union cover the war of 1899 to 1902 and what followed: the concentration camps described by Emily Hobhouse, the part black South Africans played in a “white man’s war”, the mining Randlords and the Chamber of Mines, and the Natives Land Act of 1913 recorded by Sol Plaatje. Essay questions ask about the war and how the Land Act laid foundations for apartheid. They come from Grade 10 November papers set by the Eastern Cape (2019, and the 2020 exemplar) and North West (2024) education departments, each with the answer from the marking guideline.

Worked example

SOURCE 3A This source describes how Black South Africans were treated in the concentration camps. Officially, neither the British nor the Boers would allow blacks to join them in fighting against the other side. Yet it is believed that as many as 100 000 blacks served in the war as scouts, spies, drivers, labourers, stretcher bearers and servants. In Mafikeng, 2 000 Africans were chased out and left to starve in the veld because of food shortage. Yet when the Boers attacked Mafikeng, it was largely the Barolong who trapped them, saving the city for the British. No thanks was given to the Barolong. No compensation for their loss of lives and cattle in this “white man’s war”. Many black farmers suffered from loss of crops, cattle theft and burnt-down homes during the war. On the Rand, black workers were trapped when the war started and the mines closed down. They could not get home. Thousands were put into concentration camps and kept there at a cost to Britain of less than a cent a day each. There were hundreds of deaths there, due to weaknesses and infection. In fact, there were even more deaths there than there were in the camps set up for the Boers. [From In Search of History by J. Bottaro et al] 3.1.1 What role did Blacks play during the South African War?

Answer & explanation

• Scouts • Spies • Drivers • Labourers • Stretcher bearers • Servants (Any 4)

1. The question asks about the roles played by Black South Africans during the South African War. The source provides specific roles. 2. According to the source, Blacks served as scouts, spies, drivers, labourers, stretcher bearers, and servants. 3. These roles show how Blacks contributed to the war effort, despite not being officially allowed to fight by either side. 4. The stored answer lists these roles, and any four of them correctly answer the question.

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The South African War and Union

Question 1 of 3

SOURCE 3C This source refers to a story of Emily Hobhouse on conditions in the concentration camps. The shelter was totally inadequate. When the 8, 10 or 12 persons who occupied a bell- tent were all packed into it, either to escape from the fierceness of the sun or dust or rainstorms, there was no room to move, and the atmosphere could not be described, even with the flaps lifted. There was no soap provided. The water supplied would not go around. No bedsteads or mattresses were to be had. Those, and they were the majority, who could not buy these things must go without. Fuel was scarce. The (food) ration was small, but, when the accrual amount did come up to the scale, it became a starvation rate. [From Focus by B. Johannes et al] 3.3.3 What, according to the source, was the consequence of food shortage in the camps?

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SOURCE 3A This source describes how Black South Africans were treated in the concentration camps. Officially, neither the British nor the Boers would allow blacks to join them in fighting against the other side. Yet it is believed that as many as 100 000 blacks served in the war as scouts, spies, drivers, labourers, stretcher bearers and servants. In Mafikeng, 2 000 Africans were chased out and left to starve in the veld because of food shortage. Yet when the Boers attacked Mafikeng, it was largely the Barolong who trapped them, saving the city for the British. No thanks was given to the Barolong. No compensation for their loss of lives and cattle in this “white man’s war”. Many black farmers suffered from loss of crops, cattle theft and burnt-down homes during the war. On the Rand, black workers were trapped when the war started and the mines closed down. They could not get home. Thousands were put into concentration camps and kept there at a cost to Britain of less than a cent a day each. There were hundreds of deaths there, due to weaknesses and infection. In fact, there were even more deaths there than there were in the camps set up for the Boers. [From In Search of History by J. Bottaro et al] 3.1.2 Explain what is meant the ‘white man’s war’.
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SOURCE 3A This source describes how Black South Africans were treated in the concentration camps. Officially, neither the British nor the Boers would allow blacks to join them in fighting against the other side. Yet it is believed that as many as 100 000 blacks served in the war as scouts, spies, drivers, labourers, stretcher bearers and servants. In Mafikeng, 2 000 Africans were chased out and left to starve in the veld because of food shortage. Yet when the Boers attacked Mafikeng, it was largely the Barolong who trapped them, saving the city for the British. No thanks was given to the Barolong. No compensation for their loss of lives and cattle in this “white man’s war”. Many black farmers suffered from loss of crops, cattle theft and burnt-down homes during the war. On the Rand, black workers were trapped when the war started and the mines closed down. They could not get home. Thousands were put into concentration camps and kept there at a cost to Britain of less than a cent a day each. There were hundreds of deaths there, due to weaknesses and infection. In fact, there were even more deaths there than there were in the camps set up for the Boers. [From In Search of History by J. Bottaro et al] 3.1.3 Comment on the British response to the Barolong after they had assisted them in saving Mafikeng.
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SOURCE 3A This source describes how Black South Africans were treated in the concentration camps. Officially, neither the British nor the Boers would allow blacks to join them in fighting against the other side. Yet it is believed that as many as 100 000 blacks served in the war as scouts, spies, drivers, labourers, stretcher bearers and servants. In Mafikeng, 2 000 Africans were chased out and left to starve in the veld because of food shortage. Yet when the Boers attacked Mafikeng, it was largely the Barolong who trapped them, saving the city for the British. No thanks was given to the Barolong. No compensation for their loss of lives and cattle in this “white man’s war”. Many black farmers suffered from loss of crops, cattle theft and burnt-down homes during the war. On the Rand, black workers were trapped when the war started and the mines closed down. They could not get home. Thousands were put into concentration camps and kept there at a cost to Britain of less than a cent a day each. There were hundreds of deaths there, due to weaknesses and infection. In fact, there were even more deaths there than there were in the camps set up for the Boers. [From In Search of History by J. Bottaro et al] 3.1.4 List FOUR ways in which the South African War affected black farmers.
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SOURCE 3A This source describes how Black South Africans were treated in the concentration camps. Officially, neither the British nor the Boers would allow blacks to join them in fighting against the other side. Yet it is believed that as many as 100 000 blacks served in the war as scouts, spies, drivers, labourers, stretcher bearers and servants. In Mafikeng, 2 000 Africans were chased out and left to starve in the veld because of food shortage. Yet when the Boers attacked Mafikeng, it was largely the Barolong who trapped them, saving the city for the British. No thanks was given to the Barolong. No compensation for their loss of lives and cattle in this “white man’s war”. Many black farmers suffered from loss of crops, cattle theft and burnt-down homes during the war. On the Rand, black workers were trapped when the war started and the mines closed down. They could not get home. Thousands were put into concentration camps and kept there at a cost to Britain of less than a cent a day each. There were hundreds of deaths there, due to weaknesses and infection. In fact, there were even more deaths there than there were in the camps set up for the Boers. [From In Search of History by J. Bottaro et al] 3.1.5 Explain why Black South Africans felt betrayed by the British after the war.

Common mistakes

Describing camp conditions without the source’s evidence. The marking guideline’s points come from the source: inadequate shelter, no room to move, no soap, a shortage of water and no bedsteads or mattresses.
Taking “white man’s war” to mean only white people took part. The marking guideline explains it as a war between the Boers and the British, while black South Africans served as scouts, spies, drivers and labourers.
Explaining the 1913 Land Act only as land loss. The marking guideline also gives its economic aims: to stop Africans competing with whites for land and to force sharecroppers and cash tenants to become wage labourers or labour tenants.

Grade 10 The South African War and Union

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