1939 - WWII Increases Tension between British and Afrikaners

September 1939, South Africa enters the war on the side of the British and made significant contributions to the Allied war effort. Some 135,000 white South Africans and 70,000 Blacks and Coloureds served. When the Mediterranean Sea was closed to the Allies, Durban and Cape Town provisioned a vast number of ships en route from Britain to the Suez.

The war proved to be an economic stimulant for South Africa; platinum, uranium, and steel became valuable resources. The manufacturing and service industries expanded rapidly, and the Blacks flocked to the towns. By the war’s end, more Blacks than whites lived in the cities. They set up vast squatter camps on the cities’ outskirts and built improvised shelters from whatever materials they could find. 

The nationalistic Afrikans were sympathetic to Germany, not fond of the British and refused to ally with the British during the war. Afrikaner nationalism, fuelled by job losses stemming from a worldwide recession, was on the rise. Afrikaners felt threatened by the concessions given to Blacks. They created a series of ethnic organizations to promote their interests, including the “Afrikaner Broederbond”, a secret society of Afrikaner cultural leaders. During the war, many Afrikaners welcomed the early German victories, and some of them even committed acts of sabotage.