National Scouts

The National Scouts were a military unit in South Africa created by the British authorities in 1900 during the Second Boer War (11 October 1899 – 31 May 1902). Its membership consisted of former Boer Orange Free State and South African Republic military. They were recruited in significant numbers towards the end of the war from Afrikaner prisoners and defectors, and were commonly known as hensoppers (Afrikaans for Hands-uppers) or joiners among the Boers. Many of their fellow citizens despised them as traitors so that the label of National Scout became a swear word. According to official figures there were 1,480 members in May 1902. After the war, they were largely ostracized by the community and a number of them founded their own church, known as the Kruiskerk (Church of the Cross) in the Transvaal Colony.