Merk's statement isn't an exaggeration, because the Boers don't have an electricity system, making it impossible to coordinate and organize counterattacks in various battlefields promptly.
The telegraph line construction in East Africa is the best across the entire continent of Africa, whereas within the Boer Republic, there is only one professional telegraph line, which leads from Cape Town to the Kimberley mining area.
Now, unlike in the previous era, the Boer Republic does not hold the gold mines of South Africa, so construction in all aspects is very backward, and they have to maintain a large military force, which results in almost zero infrastructure development.
As for the telegraph line in the Kimberley area, it is controlled by the British, and is the only significant mineral resource of the Boer Republic, built by those British merchants in the diamond-producing region.
