Uitlander

thumb|Uitlander cemetery at Pilgrim's Rest, South Africa|Pilgrim's Rest, [[Mpumalanga]] An uitlander, Afrikaans for "foreigner" (), was a foreign (mainly British) migrant worker during the Witwatersrand Gold Rush in the independent Transvaal Republic following the discovery of gold in 1886. The limited rights granted to this group in the independent Boer Republics was one of the contributing factors behind the Second Boer War. == Second Boer War == thumb|Breathing Time - JM Staniforth. The problem with "Krugerism". thumb|1899 Editorial cartoon|political cartoon by J. M. Staniforth depicting Transvaal President [[Paul Kruger showing a hard line to uitlanders by reversing the residency requirement for voting rights. Colonial Secretary Joseph Chamberlain is staring at the two men with his arms crossed in the background.]] The vast Witwatersrand gold fields were discovered in 1886, and within ten years the uitlander (English) population of the Transvaal was thought to be double that of the ethnic Boer Transvaalers. These workers were primarily concentrated around the Johannesburg area.

The Transvaal government, under President Paul Kruger, were concerned as to the effect this large influx could have on the independence of the Transvaal. The uitlanders were almost entirely British subjects. Therefore enfranchising the uitlanders, at a time when the Crown was keen to consolidate its colonial hold in South Africa, risked creating a powerful fifth column that could ultimately lead to a power shift and the Transvaal passing into British hands, eventually turning it into a British colony. As a result, beginning in 1890 the Transvaal government passed a series of laws refusing voting rights and citizenship to immigrants who had not both resided in the republic for fourteen years and were over forty years of age. This successfully disenfranchised the uitlanders from any meaningful political role. This attitude was called, "Krugerism".