WORLDWIDE

BY BOB LAMB
IN A NUTSHELL
AP Columnist

SOUTH AFRICA
Status: Parliamentary Republic
Population: 55,380,210 (2018 estimate)
Area: 468,909 square miles
Currency: 100 cents = 1 rand (R1 = 7¢ US)

S
outhern Africa was a barren, sparsely populated land when the Portuguese arrived in
1488. King John II optimistically named Africa’s tip “the Cape of Good Hope,” though
his navigators favored the “Cape of Storms.” By the 17th century, the Dutch were the
principal maritime power in the region. They established a permanent settlement near Cape
Town. Private farmers called Boers raised crops to support the growing ship traffic.
Britain took Dutch settlements as prizes of the Napoleonic Wars. Because of its strategic im-
portance, the British made it the Cape a crown colony in 1815 and encouraged settlement, while
the Boers moved further inland onto African lands. Tensions grew be-
tween the British, the Boers and the African tribes. The Boers estab- In World War II South Africa
downsized postage and
lished several states in their migration northward; the South Afri- printed so-called Bantam
can Republic, the Orange Free State and Transvaal are known stamps in rouletted pairs,
to philatelists. The British established new jurisdictions as including these 1943 2p
bilingual Sailors, Scott 93.
they subjugated African nations; among those
with a philatelic legacy are British Bechuana-
This 1857 Cape of Good Hope 1-penny land, Zululand, Griqualand West and Natal.
rose Triangle, Scott 3, was one of the first At the end of the 19th century, diamonds
stamps used in what later became South
Africa.
and gold were found on Afrikaner lands.
Whereas the British had considered the
Boers a nuisance, their new wealth made them a strategic threat. From 1880 to 1902,
two Anglo-Boer wars were fought before the British finally conquered them.
In 1910, the four existing states of Cape Colony, Orange Free State, Natal and
Transvaal formed the Union of South Africa. It restricted the rights of non-whites From 1926 to 1949 regular South
and in 1948 formally adopted the segregationist policy of Apartheid. In 1951, it estab- African stamps were issued in bilingual
pairs with text in English and Afrikaans,
lished so-called black “Homelands” for specific tribal groups. Four of these—Transkei like these 1926 6p Orange Trees, Scott
(1976), Bophuthatswana (1977), Venda (1979) and Ciskei (1981) — were nominally 25.
independent and issued postage stamps. In the 1990s an accommodation was sought
with the African community. Free elections were held in 1994 and, on April 27, 1994, the “Homelands” were re-incorporated
into South Africa.
The Cape Colony issued two triangular stamps in 1853, denominated 1p and 4p. Natal was annexed in 1843 to block Boer
control of the eastern coast, and issued stamps in 1857. Orange Free State was recognized as an independent republic in 1854
and its stamps appeared in 1868. Transvaal, or the South African Republic, was created in 1857 and issued stamps in 1869.
These four states formed the Union of South Africa in 1910, and were intended to
have common stamps. A 2½p stamp was issued for the opening of Parliament in No-
vember, but failure to agree on a design delayed common definitives until 1913. Pro-
vincial stamps were declared valid throughout the Union and continued until 1938,
25 years after the Union was created.
During WWII, Bantam stamps were issued to conserve the available stocks of pa-
per. The paper saved by this war-time measure was equivalent to 556,086,020 stamps.
Today much South African mail service is provided by a private firm, which many
A century after the first Cape Triangles people consider faster and more reliable than the post office. Most post offices use
were issued, this 1953 4p stamp,
Scott 194, celebrated their enduring meters and do not sell stamps, though they are still available at post offices near major
popularity. tourist attractions.
776 AMERICAN PHILATELIST / AUGUST 2019