SAIIA SOUTH AFRICAN DIPLOMATS ABROAD.pdf

Beginnings of South African Diplomacy
HE Union of South Africa enjoys the distinction of having
T the most varied diplomatic history'and probably the most elaborate
diplomatic apparatus to be found amongst the members
of the British Commonwealth of Nations. This is due, partly to
the geographical situation of the country and partly to the
circumstances of its development. Comparing the Union with
Australia and New Zealand on the one hand, and with Canada and
India on the other, it is worth noting that the external relations
of the first two are in a very early stage of development while
those of the latter already show considerable achievements.
Perhaps this is the result of the essentially peaceful history of
Australia and New Zealand and of the fact that their populations
are, in the main, of homogeneous origin. Canada which resembles
South Africa in having two major racial groups, has also been
involved in a series of wars as battleground and participant, while
India—for so long in the melting pot as far as its constitution was
concerned—was forced to devote a surprising amount of attention
to its external relations by the varied grouping of its inhabitants,
frequent unrest on both sides of its borders, and the presence
of powerful neighbours.
In a sense South African diplomatic history 'goes back to the
birth of white settlement, for every contact between pioneers and
native chiefs involved the use of the diplomatic art. "It" is no
exaggeration to say that many of the early leaders—particularlythose
oftheVoortrekkers—were negotiators of great ability. This gift was
shown again when men o( a later generation like President Kruger
and Sir John Brand were acknowledged to be outstan3ing
diplomatists even'cm the stage of world affairs.
In spite of this, however, the evolution of our South African
"Foreign Office" is of much more recent date. Its beginnings
go back to the nineteenth century and are intimately bound up
with the rise of the Boer Republics in the Transvaal and the
Orange Free State.
Relations between the Voortrekker settlements in Natalia
(as their first community was called) and the British Crown
gave rise to the earliest attempts to establish international contacts.
For a long time Downing Street declined to admit that the Boers
who had emigrated from the Cape had any status which would
entitle them to negotiate at all. They were, in the words of
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