257mm x 345mm
Some fading, especially on the spine; creased; corners worn.

R800

Rhodesia Box 2, No 9

The Annual of South Africa 1949–1950 captures a profound political, social, and economic turning point in 20th-century South African history.

Key Historical Aspects

• The Aftermath of the 1948 Political Watershed: Published just months after D.F. Malan’s National Party won the pivotal 1948 general election, the 1949–1950 volume documents the nation at the exact moment the legal and administrative foundations of statutory apartheid were being codified. Landmark legislation—such as the Prohibition of Mixed Marriages Act (1949) and the early drafts of the Population Registration and Group Areas Acts (1950)—was enacted during this exact publishing window.

• Voortrekker Monument Inauguration (December 1949): The 1949–1950 period coincided with one of the largest public gatherings in South African history: the official inauguration of the Voortrekker Monument outside Pretoria on December 16, 1949. Attended by over 250,000 people, the event was heavily covered in national reviews and annuals as a defining symbol of Afrikaner nationalism.

• Post-War Industrialization & Gold on the Free State Veld: Economically, this edition captures the massive speculative and industrial boom following the post-WWII discovery of rich gold reefs in the Orange Free State (around Welkom and Odendaalsrus). Mining houses, infrastructure projects, and manufacturing plants expanded rapidly across the Highveld, heavily driving foreign investment.

• Minimalist Binding & Hardcover Format: Unlike the bright, pictorial paper covers typical of regional tourist annuals, the Annual of South Africa series was published as a substantial, cloth-bound hardcover volume with gold-foil lettering. Designed as an authoritative reference book for corporate boardrooms, government offices, and foreign consulates, it provided an exhaustive trade, industrial, and municipal review of the Union of South Africa, South West Africa, and neighbouring territories.