On 11 October 1899 war was officially declared between Britain and the Boers. In March 1901 Lord Kitchener, the commander of the British forces, decided to cut off the Boers supply of food. The Boers were being supported by farmers so he initiated the "scorched earth" policy. About 30 000 Boer farmhouses and more than 40 towns were destroyed and livestock was killed. Boer women and children and black people were put into separate concentration camps. Towards the end of the war approximately 116 000 boer women and children were housed in concentration camps, with camps housing approximately 115 000 black people. These camps were overcrowded, the captives underfed and the conditions poor. There were limited medical supplies and staff and diseases like measles, whooping cough, typhoid fever, diphtheria and dysentery resulted in the death of 1 in every 5 people.  26 370 boer women and children died in the concentration camps and it is estimated that more than 15 000 black people died in the separate black concentration camps. 81% of the total fatalities in the camps were children.

On 30 May 1902 the following was officially reported:

Black Concentration Camps

No of Camps

No of people being housed

No of deaths recorded in May

66

115,700

523

Boer Concentration Camps 

No of Camps

No of people being housed

No of deaths recorded in May

unknown

116,572

196

Links:

1. South African History Online. The Second Anglo-Boer War. | link

2. SAHO's online library. Article: The Department of Native Refugee Camps, By Garth Benneyworth. Black Concentration camps during the Anglo-Boer War. | link

Sources:

1. Pieter G. Cloete (2000).  The Anglo-Boer War: A chronology. ABC Press, Cape Town, p.331.

2. South African History Online. The Second Anglo-Boer War. | link