South Africa was the first African country to experience the social stresses resulting from the transformation of an agricultural into an industrial economy. The pace of change between 1900 and the outbreak of the Second World War was faster – and on a larger scale – than in any other part of the continent. By 1939, the concentration of mines and factories on the Witwatersrand was comparable to the industrial regions of Europe and North America. In the centre of the Rand stood Johannesburg, the largest city in Africa except for Cairo. From the Rand, gold flowed to the banking houses of the world, binding South Africa into the web of international finance and commerce. Yet, the fruits of this material prosperity were unevenly distributed. Only gradually did even all the white people reach a high standard of living. Africans, because of their colour, were excluded from all but a meagre share. Political change in no way kept pace with economic advance. The white rulers were restricted by attitudes and policies which had taken root in the nineteenth century or even earlier. They seemed incapable of any fresh approach to the racial tensions which became sharper as more and more Africans were integrated into the expanding economy.

South Africa after the Boer War

After defeating the South African Republic (Transvaal) and the Orange Free State in the Anglo–Boer War, the British felt guilty at the way in which they had bullied the two small Boer republics.