Jan Smuts. Unafraid of greatness

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Notes

1. This book is compiled from previously published work about Smuts in the form of biographies in the main and newspaper articles. There is a single interview, conducted with granddaughters Mary Hehir and Mary Smuts about the parentage of the adopted daughter, Kathleen Mincher (p. 180).

2. Smuts had a photographic memory.

3. While in office he was instrumental in instituting state-led enterprises that led to the rapid industrialisation of South Africa such as: ESKOM (1923) (electricity), Iscor (1934) (steel), the Industrial Development Corporation IDC (1940) (finance). He appointed the very able Dr H.J. van der Bijl to implement the plan. The state-led industrialisation of South Africa is Smuts’ most enduring legacy.

4. Smuts was an amateur, who philosophised about science. His practical experience was as an enthusiastic collector of grasses near his home at Doornkloof. It is doubtful if his maths was above secondary school level with no statistics or calculus, which would make him a novice in the linqua franca of science. He would therefore have been unable to follow Einstein’s maths although: ‘In 1936 Einstein said of Smuts that he was one of only eleven men in the world who conceptually understood the theory of relativity’ (p. 170).

5. Nowhere in this book does Steyn report that Smuts ever did anything as frivolous as sing, dance, paint a picture, even drink a beer at the braai and discuss the rugby.

6. It is interesting to compare Smuts with another South African leader who herded cattle as a child, who is demonised by a section of the population whilst at the same time being idolised by a sufficient majority for him to retain power. President Jacob Zuma is despised by the middle classes irrespective of their colour because he is uneducated. Smuts was despised because he was thought to have sold out to the British. Smuts thought he was always the best man for any job and so would routinely take upon himself several ministries in order not to have to delegate authority. Zuma is wholly dependent upon his appointees since according to the mentioned critics, he has not even a rudimentary knowledge of their portfolios. He is therefore also incapable of judging whether said appointees are doing a job badly or well. Yet the ship of state (considerably larger than in Smuts’s time), sails on despite the worst prognostications of the pundits from the chattering classes, apparently under its own momentum. Zuma is a good singer, laughs a lot and is a better dancer even than Mandela.

7. On the last visit about a year ago, it was noted that several of the plates had been removed by vandals.

8. It may be simply that Smuts succumbed to the well-known habit of women to adjust their opinions to those of their male companions, thus making themselves even more attractive.

9. In an adult life of 60 years this averages out at 383 per year or more than 1 per day! It is difficult to imagine how he found time for anything else. Perhaps he just worked very quickly …

10. This is similar to the mathematical process of ever greater generalisation where: Dependent Variables = f (Independent Variables). Here the function, f, can be equated to the ‘sum of the parts’, with its separate but related meaning.

11. Smuts formed strong ‘father-son’ bonds with older, socially–astute, Afrikaner leaders such as Kruger and Botha. There was a more complex bond with J.B.M. Hertzog, his political foe but fellow-Afrikaner, with whom he served as deputy in a political coalition for many years.

12. After local pressure by the NRC (Native Representative Council), the ANC (African National Congress) and the Indian National Congress, there was ‘increased international criticism of Smuts’ (p. 229).

13. E.g. the ‘notion of “mandates” for former German colonies’ (p. 235).