How did colonialism have a negative impact on the natural and cultural heritage of south Africa?

Answer 1

Colonialism is a process of increasing the extraction of natural resources through mining and agriculture. It also , in modern times, transforms a society living in a peasant or feudal economy into one under capitalist conditions. Further, it usually is accompanied by religious transformation and the introduction of foreign languages, culture and a wider exposure to the world.

Under such pressure the natural systems give way to the extraction of resources and increased urbanisation. Social, including cultural aspects of society are radically changed and the traditional way of life becomes a curiosity, to be preserved in museums or (as in Japan) in national living treasures - people who still retain one of the skills from a past way of life.

Whether that is a negative impact is debatable. More people gain access to better living conditions, health services, education and wider access to the world. The natural environment is seriously pressured by human activity, but unencumbered rapacious exploitation is being reduced and some sense is returning with the growth of the sustainability movement.