Short answers, pulled from the story.
Queen Victoria established the Queen's South Africa Medal in 1900 to recognize service during the Second Boer War from October 1899 to May 1902. The conflict proved far longer than anyone predicted at its start.
Recipients included members of the Royal Navy hospital nurses, colonial forces from Australia Canada New Zealand and India, and locally raised units from the Cape of Good Hope and Natal. Collaborators known as hensoppers from the South African Republic and civilians employed in an official capacity also received the award alongside military personnel.
Twenty-six distinct clasps denoted participation in specific actions throughout the war while a single recipient could earn up to nine different clasps during their service. Battle State and Date clasps formed three primary categories for classification including Defence clasp for Mafeking and Relief clasp for the same location.
Bronze versions went to non-combatant Indian troops and other men drawing military pay while silver medals sometimes reached native troops despite standard practice. Designer G. W. de Saulles created the reverse side showing Britannia holding flags with Neptune's Trident lying on the ground alongside Britannia's shield in the foreground.
Union of South Africa instituted its own decorations on the 6th of April 1952 which preceded all earlier British decorations except Victoria Cross itself. Government Notice no. 1982 published the 1st of October 1954 clarified local precedence rules before Republic of South Africa Government Gazette Vol. 477 updated these standards again in March 2005.