The South African Red Cross Society is a philanthropic non-profit organisation primarily interested in providing medical and social services, especially in times of need and emergencies. The Red Cross National Council resides in Johannesburg, although the regions all have considerable autonomy.
The South African Red Cross Society had its beginnings at the turn of the twentieth century. In the late 1890s three ambulance corps and medical assistance organisations had been founded in the various South African republics and colonies, and during the South African War (1899-1902) these three organisations worked to alleviate the suffering of the wounded on both the Boer and British sides. All three regional societies received assistance from other International Red Cross Societies around the world. After the South African War and up to the World War I, these organisations in South Africa were primarily engaged in First Aid instruction and the organisation of certificated volunteers, who provided assistance and carried out relief work where necessary. It was World War I that gave the South African Red Cross Society its first opportunity to work as an integrated body with recognition, at home and abroad, of its special status under the First Geneva Convention of 1864.
It was World War II, however, that was to give the South African Red Cross Society its greatest challenge and opportunity. Not only did the Red Cross continue to perform its usual functions but it also dealt with everything connected to South African prisoners of war, including letters, telegrams and parcels. The organisation also helped dispatch packages for South African soldiers, assisted enemy prisoners of war in South Africa and played a major role in locating refugees and displaced persons for relatives in South Africa and abroad. In addition, nine auxiliary hospitals and three convalescent homes were financed and staffed by the society ( see Files No 3 and 5 for minutes relating to "Caister House", a convalescent home run by the Natal Red Cross in Durban). After World War II, the society's main activities on an international level was participating in, and sometimes initiating, the relief of communities stricken by natural or man-made disaster. On a national level, the society's priorities were the maintenance of a corps of trained men, women and youth volunteers to assist in public and emergency services, as well as the promotion of health education, ambulance services and various other medically and socially orientated assistance schemes. Training mine workers in first aid was also a large project undertaken by the organisation.
Natal Council has been chosen as a blanket heading for the regional council of the South African Red Cross Society in Natal. Although the same committee, it was known at different times by different names, including Natal Council, Natal Branch Council and Natal Regional Council.
