December 21, 1919
With the greatest of fanfare Jan Smuts placed the new map in his office. Transvaal, Natal, Orange Free State, and Cape of Good Hope were now joined by a 5th province: South-west Africa. Only with a firm push from Smuts and a rally of the Parliament vote did it narrowly pass. His smile glowed as it radiated across his face and the room. German citizens were welcome on the same terms as the Afrikaaners, and though an "Entrenched Language Allowances" was made to permit German to remain a provincial language alongside Dutch and English. Within a year construction had begun on railways to link Windhoek to Capetown and Pretoria.
With the greatest of fanfare Jan Smuts placed the new map in his office. Transvaal, Natal, Orange Free State, and Cape of Good Hope were now joined by a 5th province: South-west Africa. Only with a firm push from Smuts and a rally of the Parliament vote did it narrowly pass. His smile glowed as it radiated across his face and the room. German citizens were welcome on the same terms as the Afrikaaners, and though an "Entrenched Language Allowances" was made to permit German to remain a provincial language alongside Dutch and English. Within a year construction had begun on railways to link Windhoek to Capetown and Pretoria.