Decolonizing Veterinary History: On the benefits of telling the story of Dr Jotello Soga, the first South African veterinarian

Abstract

Although nearly erased from history, the first formally trained South African veterinarian was the little-known Dr Jotello Festiri Soga (1865–1906), son of the Xhosa Reverend Tiyo Soga and his Scottish wife. By detailing Soga's remarkable trajectory, this paper helps to decolonize the history of veterinary medicine, long dominated by the ‘great deeds’ of a succession of white men, and only recently beginning to diversify. This sort of knowledge decolonization has been increasingly advocated by numerous scholars and a growing number of students globally. Dr Soga qualified as a Member of the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons in 1886, after studying at the Royal (Dick's) Veterinary School in Edinburgh. Appointed Assistant Veterinary Surgeon for Cape Colony in 1889, he made pioneering contributions to veterinary toxicology and vaccination methods over the next decade. Soga was also one of the earliest to warn of the impending disaster of rinderpest, and he played an instrumental role in the containment and eventual eradication of this devastating disease. He provided essential help in communicating with indigenous South Africans about livestock diseases, although his feelings about his countrymen were sometimes conflicted. The processes of decolonization are complex, and frequently difficult, but the benefits are great.