The British in South Africa: Conclusion

Abstract

We began this book posing the question of whether Britishness is a salient identity in contemporary South Africa. Of course, Britishness, Englishness, and of course, Irish, Welsh and Scottish identities, have always been constitutive parts of whiteness in South Africa, as well as a key dynamic in defining the colonial, cultural and institutional history of the country. These identities extend beyond those who were born in the United Kingdom to their descendants and the English-speaking white community. As Dubow argues, Britishness, as an identity or set of values, could be admired and incorporated by Afrikaans-speaking whites and black South Africans, as evidenced by Nelson Mandela’s expressed admiration for English values and modes of behaviour (2009). But what of a British identity today? To what extent is it meaningful to identify a group as ‘the British in South Africa’?