Recruiting Natives for the Rand.

Kaipara and Waitemata Echo, 5 June 1914, Page 2

Recruiting Natives for the Rand.

This has now become an established calling for a fairly large number of Europeans throughout the whole of South Africa, and in many cases a very profitable one. Since the Chinese have been repatriated the mine authorities have fo-und it extremely difficult to secure sufficient native labourers for work on the mines, and have been compelled to institute a very elaborate and expensive system of recruiting them. Through the various native territories of South Africa,' viz., Zululand, Basotoland, Swaziland, etc., a considerable number of white men are employed as recruiters. These men are selected for their knowledge of the various territories in which they are required to recruit, their knowledge of the language of the natives living in that territory, and their general popularity among them. I am a recruiter in Swaziland, and will therefore confine my remarks to my own experiences in that country. Swaziland is divided for recruiting purposes into districts, over each of which is placed a white man, who is supplied with a number of native "runners" to assist him to recruit, and also, from time to time, large sums of money to make advances to the natives recruited. I have a district the area ot J which is about 1,600 square miles, and I employ six "runners." These men I send out to the various kraals (native villages) in the district. Their duty is to talk to the natives and endeavour to persuade them to go to work on any of the mines which I represent. I patrol the district periodically to recruit and to as- i certain that the "runners" are doing their work. When a native is recruited he may, if he chooses, take an advance of cash or kind up to the value of £5, and may practically state his own time for going to work, some being allowed as much as six or even twelve months before they need leave home. In this connection I may state that it is remarkable how few natives abscond with their moneys advanced to them. This, I think, is chiefly due to the .very excellent system of tax collection adopted by the Government, which makes it almost impossible for a native to abscond without detection unless he leaves his own tribe, which, as a rule, he does not care to do. Before leaving Swaziland for the Rand, all natives recruited are attested by the Government official, to whom they state the amount they have received as an advance, bo that they are protected in every way against fraud either by the white " recruiters " or the mine authorities. When at work a native labourer can earn anything from three to ten pounds per month, board, lodging, and medical attendance being free. It may seem almost incredible to many of my readers that, with the wages ranging so high (for an absolutely illiterate savage), it is so difficult to persuade him to work, but it must be rememl>ered that the South African native, as a rule, will not work until he is absolutely obliged to, either from starvation or to obtain cattle to pay for his bride. When patrolling my district I frequently have to spend considerable sums in advertising, the native being very much like the school boy in this respect, that the nearest way to his heart is through his stomach. Moreover he believes a white man's resources to be inexhaustible. The Swazi is a notorious beggar, and cannot be convinced that there is such a thing as a poor white man, and implicitly . believes that we dig our gold from the ground with as little trouble as he does his own pot clay. This idea I think took root in the early eighties, when a few comparatively rich white men came to this country with a view to obtaining grants of lands and other concessions from the then King "Mbandini," a generous and openhearted old savage ver v friendly towards the white man. These gentlemen spent considerable sums on the different chiefs and among the natives generally in order to gain the goodwill of the King and his people. Thus I think the native's idea of the white man's fabulous wealth has sprung up. Among the numerous difficulties the recruiter has to contend with are the native's indolence and utter lack of ambition. He lives for the day only, and so long as he has sufficient to eat cares nothing for to-morrow. He will remain at his kraal until every morsel of food is eaten, and then, but not till then, will he seek out his friend the recruiter. This indolence and lack of ambition have been caused, I think, by centuries of mis-rule and bad customs. In the bad old days, before the advent of the white man, a native dare not acquire riches, for, should he become possessed of too many cattle and good-looking young wives he would be promptly smelled out as a witch and killed, together with all his family, saving only the best looking girls, and the cattle driven to the king's kraal. When once recruited the Swazi makes a very good workman under proper control. He has a natural respect for authority, and it very amenable to discipline. Having lived among the Swazi s kpr the last five years as a trader I

aa« recruiter, I may say they are kindly disposed to most white men, especially the English. I have never yet visited a kraal where I was not offered what food there was obtainable, and not infrequently has a goat or sheep been killed in my honour ; also, if one arrives at a kraal at night, the best hut is given one to sleep in, even if a whole family has to be turned out to do so. Recruiting is a very interesting and healthy life, especially to those who, like myself, enjoy an open-air life in the saddle and care to make a study of the natives among whom they work. In the winter months the life is, at least from my point of view, almost idyllic. In the low veldt game is plentiful, and good shooting is to be had,. also the climate at this season of the year is perfect. To those of my readers who are interested in the welfare of coloured people generally, it may be interesting to know that the natives here in Swaziland are far better off and far better treated than many of our poor in the great cities of Engl a nd. —" Week ly Tel egraph.' '■