The history of English in South Africa dates from the arrival of the British at the Cape in 1806.In the early years of the 19th century English was introduced into many black communities of the
Eastern Cape (and subsequently Natal) by missionaries - who at the same time codified Xhosa,
and later the other African languages.It
took root as a southern African language as a result of the settlements of 1820 (in the Eastern
Cape) and 1848-1862 (in Natal), and of the influx to the diamond mines of Kimberley (1870)
and the gold mines of the Witwatersrand (1886).There was an attempt to make English the sole language of the law and of education,
even in the overwhelmingly Dutch/Afrikaans-speaking rural areas, causing a deep resentment
which is still noticeable in some Afrikaner groups today.Afrikaner hostility towards English was
of course considerably hardened by the South African (or 'Boer') War of 1899-1902, and
English became die vyand se taal, 'the language of the enemy'.As was the case in most colonies, English was brought to South Africa during the 19th century
initially by soldiers, and then by administrators, missionaries, settlers, and fortune-seekers.English has evoked differing reactions in the different South African language communities.