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Tuesday, 28 February 2017

The origins of the Order of Good Hope (Part 2)


We continues with our series on the Order of Good Hope:

SOUTH AFRICA


The Order of Good Hope

Deon Fourie
Professor in Strategic Studies (Retd)
and Professor Extraordinarius
of the
University of South Africa
Department of Political Sciences
PO Box 392
Pretoria
0003 South Africa


Despite the obvious need for the institution of civil honours, some thirty years passed after the 1938 proposal before the matter attracted serious attention.  Rules for the acceptance of foreign honours, first the British Foreign Office's rules and then South African rules, published in December, 1963, continued to bar the use of honours as diplomatic gestures.[i]   It is difficult to trace the exact course of subsequent events.  Discussions were not recorded.  However, at last on 4 September, 1969, there was a minute from the Secretary of Foreign Affairs to members of an Interdepartmental Committee on Honours and Decorations - itself an indication of a move towards instituting civilian honours.  This minute referred to a discussion on the need for an award for foreigners, such as diplomats, and the question of a separate honour for distinguished service either for 'non-citizens' or to 'citizens and non-citizens'.[ii]  The possibility of a bravery award was mentioned in passing.   Another year was to pass before the next step appeared on the file.

A Cabinet memorandum in 1970 from the Department raised the question of how to honour heads of state, diplomats and meritorious foreigners.  A rather poorly conceived Decoration for Meritorious Service was instituted in 1970.  However, the Interdepartmental Committee recommended a special honour for foreigners, rather than the award of the DMS.  The DMS was a rather large and ponderous decoration in one class rather than as a flexible order in five classes.  At last, late in 1970, Ambassador Roy H Coaton submitted an extensive and well-reasoned memorandum in response to a request to explore the principles and process of instituting an honour for foreigners.[iii]    Unlike the 1952 military honours instituted at the instance of the Minister of Defence, FC Erasmus, who was obsessed with nationalist symbolism, there was no apparent political or ideological motive involved.  Explaining that the Cabinet had decided on 18 May, 1970, to institute an honour Afor conferment on foreigners “the paper argues that since reciprocity was important and orders played a large part in foreign honours Awe have no option but to project our decoration from the pattern of an ‘order and so to designate it.” [iv]

It referred to earlier proposals and described the attitudes to accepting foreign honours in the Transvaal and Orange Free State republics.  Some comparative data on orders accorded both to citizens and foreigners was drawn from a variety of countries, mainly South American, including Bolivia, Brazil, Chile and Peru, Venezuela, and also from Egypt, Iceland, Iran, Lebanon, and Pakistan.  Various names were considered for the proposed honour, but because they duplicated existing military honours or foreign orders, the choice fell on the Order of Good Hope.  Coaton, whose suggestion it seems to have been, was of the opinion that ‘it translates well and sounds good in any language.’  

Quite remarkably, Roy Coaton’s conception of the order was adopted almost in its entirety, but for a small change to the pattern of the riband for the lowest classes of the order.  It was left to him to pilot the order through its various steps along the path of detailed design, manufacture of a prototype of the collar and of ribands, design and printing of the diplomas to accompany investiture, and the approaches to the Tender Board.  Although the work was commenced in November, 1970, it was not until February, 1973, that the process was completed and the Warrant published.[v]

The Order was eventually instituted for the admission of foreign civilians and members of armed forces who had distinguished themselves by their services in promoting South Africa's international rela­tions and who had earned the respect and gratitude of South Africa.[vi]   This type of order, intended for ceremonial and diplomatic use, is not common.  The majority of countries seem to prefer to make foreigners honorary or associate members of their various orders.  The concept of a special order seems to be seen as having the advantage of ensuring that the motives for awarding honours to one=s own citizens do not take on a political colour.   

Perhaps, also, honours do not appear to be cheapened by the admission of foreign political figures where merit for the award may not be absolutely clear.   In 1978 the Department of Defence decided to consider instituting a similar honour since they found the Department of Foreign Affairs=s procedures too slow.  The concept of a special honour was rejected, however.   In a memorandum , Lieutenant General H deV du Toit, the Chief of Staff of Intelligence, whose brief included military foreign relations, wrote that an honour would have “... more value for a recipient if he knows he is receiving an existing order and not simply something for foreigners ... “.  

He went on that the existing Order of the Star of South Africa, then a military order of two classes for officers of general’s rank would be  ‘... appropriate to link the holder to South Africa’.[vii]    Accordingly, the advice the Department of Defence tendered to the State President was that the OSSA become an order with a parallel civilian division which would also be open to foreign military personnel. [viii]

Structure of the Order of Good Hope


The structure adopted for the Order of Good Hope was similar to that of most modern orders.  The office bearers of the Order were the State President as Grand Master of the Order, the Minister of Foreign Affairs as Grand Chancellor and Depositary of the Order, and the Secretary of Foreign Affairs as Secretary of the Order and Keeper of the Register, a post originally meant for the Chief of Protocol.

In 1985, a Committee of Inquiry into orders and decorations, chaired by Supreme Court Judge Victor Hiemstra, submitted a report to the State President.  A result of its recommendations was that orders were placed under the control of an Advisory Committee of Orders.  The Secretary-General of the President's Office was now Chancellor of the Chancery of Orders and the State President became the Patron of the Order and no longer Grand Master.  The reintroduction of the restriction to foreign citizens for the Order of Good Hope was also included in the changes.  The strange custom of adding in brackets the words AGold@ and ASilver@ after the titles Grand Cross and Grand Officer was also introduced.  Indeed, this usage as well as others in the 1988 Warrant, such as a provision for posthumous awards and references to the classes as 'orders', indicated a complete misunderstanding of orders - despite the work of the Hiemstra Committee and the existence of a Chancery. [ix]

The Order was initially organized in four classes with a Special Class or Grand Collar, preceding and apart from the four classes of Grand Cross, Grand Officer, Commander and Officer.  It was reserved for heads of state and in special cases for heads of gov­ernment.  Coaton had proposed the structure "... in any event eschewing the appellation >knight= (very frequently encountered even in modern orders) as quite out of keeping with our South African tradition.@  Conditions for admission to the various classes were narrowly defined to reflect the rank or official status of the recipient.  The proposed qualifications for admission to the order retained almost unchanged as they were in the 1973 Warrant, but the 1987 Warrant abolished the Special Class and provided for the addition of the fifth class of Member

On assumption of the office of Grand Master by the State President, it was deemed that he was awarded the Special Class. After its abolition in 1987 heads of state and, in special cases, heads of government qualified for the First Class i.e., Grand Cross. For each class particular categories of merit were prescribed, in rather inflexible and unnecessary detail – again revealing a misapprehension of the character of honours and the traditional intentions behind their organization.  Thus, those considered to have performed 'excellent meritorious' (sic) service in the interests of South Africa could also be appointed to this class.  Coaton=s original formulations seemed more apt and less tortuous.

The Second Class, or Grand Officer, was open to heads of government, ministers, supreme court judges, presidents of legislative bodies, secretaries of state, ambassadors extraordinary and plenipo­tentiary, commanders-in-chief of the armed forces, and other func­tionaries and persons of comparable rank and station.  Others, regarded as having rendered outstanding meritorious service in the interests of South Africa, could also be appointed to this class.  Members of legislative bodies, envoys extraordi­nary and ministers plenipotentiary, general officers of the armed forces other than commanders-­in-chief, other functionaries and persons of comparable rank and station and also those who had rendered exceptionally meritorious service could qualify for the Third Class, that of Commander.  Chargés d=affaires, consuls general, colonels and lieutenant-colonels or equivalent ranks, other funct­ionaries and persons of comparable rank and station and persons who had rendered meritorious service could be admitted to the Fourth Class, that of Officer.  Finally, the Fifth Class, or that of Member, was open to secretaries of diplomatic missions, consuls, lower ranking officers of the armed forces and other officials or persons of comparable rank and station and to persons who have rendered exceptional service in the interests of the Republic. [x]





[i] 'Government Notice No. 2004' of the 27 December, 1963, entitled >Rules for the Acceptance and Wearing of Foreign Awards of Honour by South African Citizens=, stipulated that A2.  (b) Permission will not be granted to - (i) South African diplomatic, consular and other representatives abroad when leaving their stations on transfer or final retirement; and (ii) officers of the State visiting foreign countries officially or otherwise.@ Government Gazette, No.684 of 27 December, 1963. These provisions were omitted from the Rules from 1980 onwards. Government Gazette, No.7267 of 24 October, 1980, and Government Gazette, No.10106 of 28 February, 1986 – which has never been brought up to date.

[ii] The minute dated 4 September, 1969, appears on 113/35/4, volume 1.  The members of the Committee were the Secretaries of the Prime Minister's Office, the Interior, Justice, and Cultural Affairs, as well as the Commandant-General of the Defence Force and the Commissioner of Police.

[iii] Memorandum AProposed South African Decoration for Citizens of Foreign Countries@, 113/35/4 dated 25 November, 1970.  There is reference in this memorandum to Cabinet Memoranda P.M. 20/35-20/3-20/18-20/7 dated 26 March, 1963, and MB C2 (38) 10A of 30 September, 1969 from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs which raised question of how to honour heads of state, diplomats and meritorious foreigners.  A minute by CH Taljaard, Chief of Protocol, to the Interdepartmental Committee emphasized that the author of the paper had devoted 'much study' to the question.113/35/4PRO.

[iv] Originally based on the concept of devout knights formed as brotherhoods of soldier-monks during the Crusades, orders, when constituted according to custom, are associations of members organised hierarchically.  After the Crusades, the concept was secularised into military and ceremonial orders, to which members were admitted for meritorious conduct in war or in service to the monarch, e.g., the Spanish Order of Calatrava established in 1158, and the British Most Noble Order of the Garter founded in 1348.  While the older orders consisted of only one class, Napoleon's Ordre de la Légion d=Honneur (instituted on 29 Floréal of the Year X of the Revolution, that is, 19 May 1802) established the concept of five classes or ranks through which members could be promoted for continuing merit.  This has been followed widely by other countries.  Rather than being mere badges, the honour they bestow is that of admission to one of the classes or ranks of rather exclusive associations - which have fewer members higher in the hierarchy.  See Ackermann, GA, Ordensbuch - sämtlicher in Europa blühender und erloschener Orden und Ehrenzeichen, Reprint-Verlag Leipzig, Leipzig, n.d. (1855); Administration des Monnaies et Medailles, Décorations Officielles Françaises, Imprimerie Nationale, Paris, 1956; Hieronymussen, P Orders, Medals and Decorations of Britain and Europe, Blandford Press, London, 1975.

[v] Memorandum dated 3 December, 1970, on the design.  Cabinet Memorandum sent in February, 1971, to all Ministers and another of 10 February, requested Cabinet approval, MB5/1/1 (C2) (44).   A letter to the Mint, on 4 March 1971, warned of the demands the insignia would set and resulted in manufacturing simplification.  On 5 March, 1971 quotations for ribands were requested from the well-known British manufacturer, Toye & Co.  A note to the Chief of Protocol of 8 March, 1971, asked for the manufacture of a Register.  The Warrant, drafted by Coaton, was not sent to the Interdepartmental Committee until 8 June.  Only the Defence Force responded, enquiring about the absence of provisions for presenting examples of insignia to museums, the wearing of insignia by women, the cancellation of appointments, and for the cessation of wearing the insignia of lower classes upon promotion within the order.  They expressed a preference for the more standard five classes, with the fifth class of Member.  Finally, they enquired about the absence of provision for what was wrongly called 'post-nominal titles', more correctly 'post-nominal abbreviations'.  To the latter enquiry Taljaard simply replied that the Order would not be associated with titles although post-nominal abbreviations had originally been contemplated.  Tender Board approval was requested on 17 September, 1971 and Treasury authority to establish a new item under Sub-head AE@  was requested on 7 October, 1971.  The Language Services Bureau was sent the Warrant on the 23 September.

[vi] Cabinet Minute No.275 dated 22 February, 1973, asked for an order to be instituted for Aforeigners who had distinguished themselves in the mutual advancement of international relations between the countries they represented and South Africa@.  File 113/35/4 (32).>Warrant relating to the Order of Good Hope=, No.R311 dated 2 March, 1973, Government Gazette, No. 3793 of 2 March, 1973.  On 23 March, 1973, the Secretary sent a note verbale to all heads of foreign missions in Pretoria enclosing a copy of the Government Gazette of the 2 March.  See also Warrant dated 18 December, 1986, Government Gazette, No.10574, vol. 259, dated 9 January, 1987.

[vii] Minute HSP (2) 104/13/1/14 of the 27 September, 1978.

[viii] Designs were forwarded by Cabinet Minute to the State President, 17 October 1978.  The Warrant Ato institute a civilian section [sic] of the Order of the Star of South Africa@, signed by the Minister of Defence and the State President, BJ Vorster, was published in Government Gazette No. 6193 dated 20 October 1978. Changes to the metals of the badges and the riband for the civilian division indicated differences much the same as the Order of the British Empire.  See Recommendation by General MA deM Malan, Chief of the SA Defence Force, in Minute 12/Oct/78, in GP6CSP Box 945 104/13/1/14 Award of SA Orders, Decorations and Medals to Foreigners, and Verslag: Komitee van Ondersoek na Dekorasies en Medaljes in die SAW, (ie, 'Report: Committee of Enquiry into Decorations and Medals in the SADF') Letter 103 in MV/MS/42/2 Vol 1, Box 44 of MVB (PW Botha Series). 'State President' was the title of the head of state of the South African Republic (1860-1902). From 1994 the South African head of State has been called the President. 

[ix] Warrant dated 5 October, 1988, in Government Gazette, No. 11547, Vol. 280, dated 21 October, 1988.  The changes did not meet with the Director-General's unqualified approval according to Minute 113/35/4 of 11 August, 1994 addressed to the Chancellor of Orders. The usage of adding the metal to the designation persists with the orders instituted since 2003, and now includes 'platinum' for the highest class of one order.

[x] The Warrant in the Government Gazette, Vol 280 no.11547 dated 21 October, 1988, repeated the 1973 Warrant and amended the classes to Class 1, Grand Cross (Gold); Class 2, Grand Officer (Silver); Class 3, Commander; class 4, Officers, and class 5, that of Member.

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