Episode 9: 'Formalising Tyranny' - Early British Imperialism in Mzansi (1795 - 1850)

Goodnight Azania

The colonial past of South Africa, heralded most pointedly, by the set-up of mercantile commerce and its attendant support-services in present day Cape Town, is said to be the first leg in the double colonisation of this part of the continent.

In the ninth episode of Goodnight Azania I explore the second leg of this history of colonisation and its role in the protected spread of colonial society along what is today popularly referred to as The Garden Route in the Eastern Cape and into the heart of the country, past the Orange River.

In the effort of exploring this topic I am rejoined by the notable Professor Robert Ross of Leiden University. Robert Ross was born in London. He studied in Cambridge, obtaining a Ph.D. in 1974 on the history of the Griquas in central South Africa. Since 1976 he has lived and worked in Leiden, as coordinator and (later) professor in African history. His teaching has been in the BA degree course Languages and Cultures of Africa, and the MAs (including the Research MA) on African Studies. In addition to his specialised research, he has written general works on South African history, and was involved as senior editor in the Cambridge History of South Africa (Cambridge, Cambridge UP, 2010 and 2012)