General Jan C Smuts, once an antagonist of Mahatma Gandhi, turned into an admirer while negotiating the 'Gandhi-Smuts Agreement' in 1914.
In 1913, the government imprisoned hundreds of Indians protesters along with Gandhi. Finally, after a failed attempt, the negotiation between Gandhi and General Jan Christian Smuts that included identifying Hindu marriages and the cancellation of a poll tax for Indians worked out into what today is known as the 'Gandhi-Smuts Agreement.'
When Gandhi left Africa in 1914, Smuts remarked, "The saint has left our shores, I sincerely hope forever." Gandhi also gifted Smuts a sandal he made before he left. Smuts returned them when Gandhi turned seventy-as a mark of friendship, saying, "It was my fate to be the antagonist of a man for whom even then I had the highest respect... he never forgot the human background of the situation, never lost his temper or succumbed to hate…"
In a memorial volume for Gandhi, Smut wrote that they fought their campaign in great spirit in South Africa. "There was no hatred or personal ill-feeling, the spirit of humanity was the atmosphere which kept the peace between the races for many years," reported the Hindustan Times.
Gandhi's non-violent ways influenced General Smut, and there is no mention of Smut ill-treating Gandhi or physically harming him anywhere. Therefore the claim is False.