SOUTH AFRICAN HISTORY; STORIES AND RIEBEEK KASTEEL.
SOME OF THE POLITICAL DATES IN SOUTH AFRICAN HISTORY
Circa 500BC: Pharaoh Necho of Egypt sends a fleet of ships manned by Phoenician sailor from the Red Sea along the Eastern coastline of Africa. Three years later they enter the Straights of Gibraltar.SOME OF THE POLITICAL DATES IN SOUTH AFRICAN HISTORY
Circa 100ad: Khoikhoi and San people begin to move Southwards into the Southern Cape regions. San are nomadic with no concept of ownership. Khoi or Bushmen are herders of cattle and growers of crops.
1488 -- Bartolomue Dias rounds the Cape in search of a trade route from Lisbon to India
1652 - Landing of Jan van Riebeek; First attempt to build a fort from stones, sticks and mud. Required by the VOC
1661 - Discovery of the Riebeek Valley by Pieter Cruythoff.
1666 - 1679 -- Building of the Castle of Good Hope.
1688 -- French Hugenots (French Protestants) come to the Cape
1803 - 1815 - Napoleonic wars ending with the Battle of Waterloo, led by the Duke of Wellington; and the dissolution of the Holy Roman Empire.
1806 -- Occupation of the Cape by the British
1820 - British Settlers - After the end of the Napoleonic wars many British unemployed. 90 000 applied and 4000 approved travelled to the Cape in 60 parties. Settled in Port Elizabeth, Bathurst, Grahamstown and East London. And then moved northwards to Zululand and King Shaka.
1835 -- Voortrekkers: During 1835 - 1845 around 30 pioneer leaders moved inland from the Cape together with 2500 families.
1867 -- Discovery of Diamonds in South Africa
1880 - 1888 - First Anglo Boer War: following the Annexation of the Transvaal as a British Colony the Boers fought to regain their independence. The boers win this war in August 1888
1886 -- Discovery of Gold in the Rand
1895 -- Jameson Raid. An attempt by British statesman LS Jameson (approved by CJ Rhodes) to overthrow the rule of Paul Kruger in the Transvaal Republic.
1899 - 1902 - 2nd Anglo Boer War (South African war) ended with the Annexation of the Transvaal and the Orange Free state by the British.
1910 -- Union of South Africa (Colonies: Cape; Natal; Orange River; Transvaal)
1919 - End of WW1
1945 - End of WW2
1948 - NP wins the Elections over the United Party; limited franchise granted to coloured and Asian people. Africans had been denied the vote since 1930. And the start of Apartheid Legislation.
1961 -- Republic of South Africa
21.3.1961 -- Sharpville police open fire on 5000 Black Africans protesting against the pass laws and kill 69 people
16.6.1976 -- 20 000 High School students of Soweto riot against the use of Afrikaans in their schools. Over 170 are killed.
1990 -- 11.2.1990 Release of Nelson Mandela (1918 - 2013) from Victor Verster (Paarl) prison (Initially on Robben Island and then Polsmoor Prison)
1994 -- Democratic Elections - Mandela serves as President until 1999
The Jameson Raid (29 December 1895 – 2 January 1896) was a botched raid on Paul Kruger's Transvaal Republic carried out by British colonial statesman Leander Starr Jameson and his Company troops ("police" in the employ of Beit and Rhodes' British South Africa Company) and Bechuanaland policemen over the New Year weekend of 1895–96. It was intended to trigger an uprising by the primarily British expatriate workers (known as Uitlanders) in the Transvaal but failed to do so. The workers were called the Johannesburg conspirators. They were expected to recruit an army and prepare for an insurrection. The raid was ineffective and no uprising took place, but it was an inciting factor in the Second Boer War
Born in Culomberg, Netherlands; Holy Roman Empire.
Considered by many South Africans to be the father of the Afrikaner Nation.
January 1661 Pieter Cruythoff led the first expedition to climb what is now the Bothmaskloof pass. The mountain was named Riebeeks Kasteel after their commander. On 4th February 1661 they gazed down below into the valley and saw 1000's of Hartebees (Dutch for deer is Hert and the Afrikaans word for animal is bees and so the name Harebees was born); quagga (Zebra) and 5 Rhinoceros. Riebeek Kasteel has become a delightful retreat for writers, painters, musicians such as Werner Denner, John Harris and Matthew Satchwell, and anyone seeking beauty and a retreat from the bustle of Cape Town. This village is home to wine farms such as Allesverloren where DF (Danie) Malan was born and Jan Smuts on Ongegund.
Jan Smuts was Prime Minister 1939 - 1948 as leader of the United Party.
DF Malan was Prime Minister 1948 - 1954 as leader of the National Party
The two parties had radically different political outlooks.
Riebeek Kasteel is a favourite venue for Weddings and other functions (Talk to Niki Steenkamp Director of The Event Planners niki@theeventplanners.co.za to arrange a wedding or activity)
Jan van Riebeek 1619 - 1677
First commander of the Cape Colony (In office 1652-1662)
In 1651 he volunteered to undertake the command of the initial Dutch settlement in the future South Africa. He landed three ships (Dromedaris; Reijger and Goede Hoop) at the future Cape Town on 6 April 1652 and fortified the site as a way-station for the VOC trade route between the Netherlands and the East Indies. The primary purpose of this way-station was to provide fresh provisions for the VOC fleets sailing between the Dutch Republic and Batavia, as deaths en route were very high. The Walvisch and the Oliphant arrived later in 1652, having had 130 burials at sea.
Van Riebeeck was Commander of the Cape from 1652 to 1662; he was charged with building a fort, with improving the natural anchorage at Table Bay, planting cereals, fruit and vegetables and obtaining livestock from the indigenous Khoi and Nama people. The initial fort, named Fort of Good Hope was made of mud, clay and timber, and had four corners or bastions. This fort was replaced by the Castle of Good Hope, built between 1666 and 1679 after van Riebeeck had left the Cape.
1655 - Jan van Riebeek was the Commander of the Cape Settlement. He was employed by the VOC Vereenigde Oost - Indirsche Compagnie - Founded in 1602 the VOC was the biggest company in the world at that time; it was based in the Netherlands and had its own Army and Navy. He was assigned to provide victuals for passing ships and van Riebeek wanted to explore the north of the Cape Settlement to find Pastoralists with whom he could trade cattle. He had rescued sailors who had been wrecked on the Cape Coast a year earlier and reported that the local people were friendly and had cattle to barter.
On 15th March 1655 Van Riebeek appointed Wintervogel to search for the Nama people. In the distance were the mountains now known as Pardeberg and Kasteel Berg when they came across Hotentots (San People) who at first appeared hostile but who finally became amiable.
The party returned to the Fort on 6 April 1655 without achieving its objective of finding people to barter for cattle or sheep but had opened a route to the north. Jan van Riebeek continued to send expeditions northwards to try to find pastoralists who would barter for their cattle and sheep.
FORMER PREMIERS OF SOUTH AFRICA COME FROM THIS REGION
Next to Riebeek Kasteel is Riebeek West: Two of our former presidents were born here.
Jan Christiaan Smuts (1870 - 1950) was born on the farm Ongegund 24 May 1870. From the age of 12 he attended the School Die Ark in Riebeek West. Later he was at Victoria College in Stellenbosch and 1891, through the University of the Cape of Good Hope, obtained a degree in Science and Literature with Honours. He obtained a scholarship to Cambridge University where he studied law. He returned to South Africa in 1895 to practice law.
He had political positions under the Premier Paul Kruger, Louis Botha and Hertzog. He became Prime Minister of the Union of SA in 1920. And after the defeat of Hertzog he was appointed Premier in 1939 until the elections of 1948 when he resigned and DF Malan took over as leader of what became known as the National Party.
D.F. Malan (1874 - 1959) was born on the farm Allesverloren 1874 and became a minister in the Dutch Reformed Church before entering politics. He was appointed Prime Minister in 1948 - 1954 and was part of the formation of what became known as Apartheid. He died in Stellenbosch in 1959.
UNION OF SOUTH AFRICA 31.5.1910 - 31.5.1961
Previously we were 4 colonies: the Cape Colony; the Transvaal Colony; Natal Colony and the Orange River Colony. After WW1 German South West Africa was under the administration of the Union effectively as another province. In 1990 South-West Africa gained independence as Namibia, but Walvis Bay remained under South African sovereignty. At midnight on 28 February 1994 South Africa formally transferred sovereignty over Walvis Bay to Namibia.
In 1922 a referendum to include the colony of Southern Rhodesia into the Union of South Africa was defeated 60/40.
The Union of South Africa was under the dominion of the British Empire with Queen Elizabeth 2nd as our last reigning queen. 31st May 1961 South Africa became a Sovereign Republic.
4 FEB 1661
At the Lookout Point which the motorist finds coming down the Bothmaskloof pass towards Riebeek Kasteel. Turn left into the Olive Grove and you will find the stone remembering The Pieter Cruijhoff Expedition. 30.1.1661 Corporal Pieter Cruijhoff, Doctor Pieter Meerhoff, a farmer, 10 Soldiers and some Khoi with 5 Oxen set off to find the Nama People to purchase cattle. They named the Mountain Riebeek's Kasteel in honour of their Commander. The valleys below were teeming with wildlife: Horses (which turned out to be Zebra or Quagga); Lion; Rhino; 1000's of Hartebees and Ostrich.
The valley was to have fertile grassland and streams. After these expeditions, the VOC made no attempt to allocate the land to Free Burghers for cattle breeding or growing of wheat however they were permitted to hunt. The Cape settlement in the 1600's was considered to be a victualing station and not a colony. However by 1700 expansion and settlement grew fast. By 1730 the Governor of the Cape wrote: "All sustainable land with water has been allocated".
This area is known as Het Swartland; A likely explanation is that the "Renosterveld that covered most of the uncultivated land has a blackish colour at certain times of the year which would explain the name."
Jan van Riebeeck is of cultural and historical significance to South Africa. Many of the Afrikaner population view him as the founding father of their nation. This regard was also prevalent in that his image appeared ubiquitously on stamps and the South African currency from the 1940s up until 1993 when the South African Reserve Bank changed the currency to an apolitical design of the fauna and flora of the region. The image used on the currency notes was not that of Van Riebeeck, but of Bartholomeus Vermuyden.
6 April used to be known as Van Riebeeck's Day, and later as Founders' Day but the holiday was abolished by the ANC government after the elections of 1994. His image no longer features on any official currency or stamps, but statues of him and his wife remain in Adderley Street, Cape Town. The coat of arms of the city of Cape Town is based on the Van Riebeeck family coat of arms.
Many South African towns and villages have streets named after him. Riebeek-Kasteel is one of the oldest towns in South Africa, situated 75 km from Cape Town in the Riebeek Valley together with its sister town Riebeek West.
During his time at the Cape, Van Riebeeck oversaw a sustained, systematic effort to establish an impressive range of useful plants in the novel conditions on the Cape Peninsula – in the process changing the natural environment forever. Some of these, including grapes, cereals, ground nuts, potatoes, apples and citrus, had an important and lasting influence on the societies and economies of the region. The daily diary entries kept throughout his time at the Cape (VOC policy) provided the basis for future exploration of the natural environment and its natural resources. Careful reading of his diaries indicate that some of his knowledge was learned from the indigenous peoples inhabiting the region
THE FRENCH HUGUENOTS
Even before the large-scale arrival of the Huguenots at the Cape of Good Hope in the 17th century, a small number of individual Huguenot refugees settled there. They included Francois Villion, later known as Viljoen, and the Du Toit brothers. In fact, the first Huguenot to arrive at the Cape of Good Hope was Maria de la Quellerie, the wife of governor Jan van Riebeeck, who started the settlement at the Cape of Good Hope in 1652 on behalf of the Dutch East India Company; however, she and her husband left for Batavia after ten years. After a commissioner was sent out from the Cape Colony in 1685 to attract more settlers, a more dedicated group of immigrants began to arrive. A larger number of French refugees began to arrive in the Cape after leaving their country as a result of the Edict of Fontainebleau which revoked the Edict of Nantes granting religious toleration of Protestants.
On 31 December 1687 a group of Huguenots set sail from France as the first of the large scale emigration of Huguenots to the Cape of Good Hope, which took place during 1688 and 1689. In total some 180 Huguenots from France, and 18 Walloons from the present-day Belgium, eventually settled at the Cape of Good Hope. A notable example of this is the emigration of Huguenots from La Motte d'Aigues in Provence, France. After this large scale emigration, individual Huguenot immigrant families arrived at the Cape of Good Hope as late as the first quarter of the 18th century, and the state-subsidised emigration of Huguenots was stopped in 1706.
This small body of immigrants had a marked influence on the character of the Dutch settlers. They were purposely spread out and given farms amongst the Dutch farmers. Owing to the policy instituted in 1701 of the Dutch East India Company which dictated that schools should teach exclusively in Dutch, that all official correspondence had to be done in Dutch, and strict laws of assembly, the Huguenots ceased by the middle of the 18th century to maintain a distinct identity, and the knowledge of French diminished and eventually disappeared as a home language. This assimilation into the colonial population was also due to the fact that many Huguenot descendants married individuals from the Dutch population.
Franschhoek
Many of these settlers were allocated farms in an area later called Franschhoek, Dutch for "French corner", in the present-day Western Cape province of South Africa. The valley was originally known as Olifantshoek ("Elephant's Corner"), so named because of the vast herds of elephants that roamed the area. The name of the area soon changed to le Coin Français ("the French Corner"), and later to Franschhoek, with many of the settlers naming their new farms after the areas in France from which they came. La Motte, La Cotte, Cabriere, Provence, Chamonix, Dieu Donne and La Dauphine were among some of the first established farms-—most of which still retain their original farm houses today.
THE FIRST CHURCH OF THE KASTEEL VALLEY BUILT 1863.
ERECTED WITH THANKS
8 OCTOBER 1985
RAPPORTRYERS; VAN RIEBEEK
The Rapportryers – this group was launched as counterpart to the Lions and Rotary organisations.
THE CHURCH IS NOW A MUSEUM
MUSEUM HOURS -- MONDAY TO FRIDAY 9AM TO 4PM; FIRST AND THIRD SATURDAYS 9AM TO 1PM.
This is the Old Church (Die Oude Kerk) of Riebeek Kasteel. It was built in 1863 to serve the Riebeek Valley community who had previously attended church services in Malmesbury four times a year to participate in Communion (Nagmaal). This church was replaced in 1915 by the church erected in the main street.
The church was sold in the 1980's to a construction company (owned by two brothers) and used for general storage. One of the brothers hanged himself from the rafters of the vestry. His ghost continues to open doors and appears as a non threatening, stubborn apparition.
The Church is now a museum which, houses a horse drawn hearse and may explain the appearance of a gentleman in dark clothing and top hat. He startles people, gliding from the front door and into the museum. He does not trigger the motion detectors of the alarm system. It could be that he is the coachman checking on his hearse or that he is a church elder doomed to wander about this Swartland village.
Over the years there have been reports of a shady lady who wanders about. She ignores any greetings and fades away after a brief period. This lady appears to have a regal bearing and has, thus far, been non threatening.
John Harris, is a local resident of "The Valley"; and on 25th April 2016 confirmed the above stories. We were in Riebeek Kasteel for Easter Weekend and the Two Oceans Marathon (21k for me). John owned the restaurant -- Tujays, with his ex wife Jody from 2007 to 2010 in the church annex.
John has, at different times, experienced the following:
- Pots rearranged on the floor in front of the sink. Legend has it that the lady who used to prepare the chickens for the church functions, dropped dead one day in front of the sink. She carries on regardless.
- He experienced a cleaning lady coming into the hall from the front and as he spoke to her she disappeared from sight.
- The Museum has a Perambulator (old babies pram) which he noticed was being moved on occasion; so he took chalk and marked exactly where the wheels were and then the next morning checked to find that the wheels were half a meter from where he had put the chalk marks.
- On one occasion John had to sleep in the restaurant after a very late night. He placed a mattress and pillow on the long table and found that he simply could not sleep due to the presence of invisible things pressing on him. Almost like a body or weight being placed on his body as he lay down.
- John tells me that he has also slept in the Hearse on occasion as it was more comfortable than the table! He reports that he slept well.
SIMON VAN DER STEL AND HIS SON WILLEM ADRIAAN VAN DER STEL.
Simon van der Stel was governor of the Cape Colony 1691- 1699. Simon was the son of Adriaan van der Stel, an official of the Dutch East India Company (VOC, Verenigde Oos-Indiese Kompanjie).
His mother was Maria Lievens, daughter of a freed Indian slave woman
Simon van der Stel was also the first Cape Governor to be of mixed race-origin, a fact that was largely unacknowledged by the Apartheid government
Simons Town and Stellebosch both get their names from Simon Van Der Stel.
Simon established his wine estate at Groot Constantia in 1680.
ALLESVERLOREN
France: 1685 as a result of the Edict of Fontainebleau the Edict of Nantes of 1598 was revoked. The Edict of Nantes gave freedom to Protestants of France (Also known as Hugenots). This meant that there was a general exodus of Hugenots from France to various protestant countries such as Britain and Holland. Simon van der Stel requested those with knowledge of Wine should be sent to the Cape. 180 Hugenots arrived at the Cape in 1688. Many settled in the Franschhoek area. One of the early wine farms to be established in the Kasteelberg area is where the farmhouse was built in 1696. When the farmers were away on a long tedious journey to Stellenbosch to attend church and to purchase provisions. the farm was plundered and invaded by the San. The house had been burnt down and the cattle stolen. In a moment of despair the farm was named Allesverloren (All is Lost). They rebuilt the farmhouse and replenished the livestock. The farm changed hands a number of times but in 1870 the Malan family took ownership and the fifth generation continue to operate Allesverloren as a successful wine and port brand to this day. DF Malan became the first National Party Prime Minister in 1948.
Willem Adriaan van der Stel (Son of Simon) was Second Governor of the Cape Colony 1699 - 1707;
He opened the new areas of Tulbach and the Riebeek valley. Riebeek Kasteel became an outpost manned by a corporal and 8 men. A cannon can be found in the village. This cannon placed on the top of Kasteelberg and was used to signal that a ship was in the harbour and needed replenishing with produce.
THE CHURCH OF RIEBEEK KASTEEL
The Church in Malmesbury was established in 1745 and the residents of Riebeek Kasteel would journey there four times a year to attend services and also to barter goods and produce. In the 1850's the community decided to build a church of their own. The cornerstone of the church was laid 8th August 1855.
This upset the neighbouring farmers from further down the valley (Riebeek West)
The Kasteel Residents went ahead and established the Congregation of Riebeek Kasteel with 177 members in October 1863.
On 26th December 1858 the Congregation of Riebeek West was established with 144 members.
While the Riebeek Kasteel church was replaced in 1914; the church of Riebeek West has been enlarged over the years and continues to operate.
Kasteel developed into a working town with humble dwellings whereas West became a retirement village for the farmers and families of the valley.
SWARTLAND MURDER MYSTERY
THE MYSTERIOUS DISAPPEARANCE OF FRANS JOOSTEN 3 JANUARY 1714
- Frans born Germany 1670. Joined the army of the Dutch East India Company. Arrived in Table Bay 1693. Started working as a farm labourer. By 1700 VOC had to expand food production due to under supply to passing ships. And they offered farmland to suitable candidates.
- Frans made an application for land in the Vogelvallei near to Hermon (about 90km from Cape Town). It seems that the name of this farm was Bartholomeusklip.
- He purchased a span of oxen; a plough, a wagon, seeds and building materials.
- 1706 Frans married Maria Mouton who was 16 years old at the time. Frans must have been about 36.
- They had two children. Frans purchased two slaves: Titus van Bengal and Fortuyn van Angola. Frans also borrowed another slave: Pieter van Madagascar.
- By 1713 the farm was flourishing. It comprised a farmhouse, two barns, a kraal, a vineyard and wheat field and livestock.
- On 3 January 1714 Frans disappeared. Isaac Visagie came looking for Frans and Maria told him that Frans was in the veld checking up on the cattle.
- Four days later Maria reported that Frans was missing to the magistrate of the Drakenstein District.
- The magistrate visited the farm to find 5 slaves in the kitchen eating and drinking wine. This disturbed him and he admonished Maria.
- Rumours began to circulate that Maria was responsible for her husband's death and that she had ordered the slaves to kill him. It is easy to see how wicked rumours can spread between locals who have nothing better to do.
- The slave, Pieter became a suspect as he had disagreements with Frans and had absconded and stole cattle. He confessed to this but denied having anything to do with the disappearance of Frans.
- In May, upon questioning, Maria suggested that Pieter was a difficult person and had threatened Frans and that he was probably responsible for the disappearance of Frans.
- Pieter made a counter allegation that Titus had approached him to kill Frans and Maria had also been part of such a conspiracy. Pieter had declined.
- Fortuyn was questioned and admitted that Titus and Maria were having an affair. This was an absolute bombshell! A sexual relationship between a White Christian woman and a coloured slave! Totally unacceptable. There was a stunned silence in the courtroom.
- Titus later confirmed that Maria had come to his bed one night and he had slept with her. And that this had happened while Frans was alive and had been going on for three years.
- Maria was again questioned and she now alleged that Titus had shot her husband and that she had ordered him to be buried in a Porcupine Burrow behind the farmhouse.
- Titus was questioned and, due to the pressure of questioning, he now said that Maria had bludgeoned her husband to death while he was asleep and that they had buried the body in a Porcupine Burrow.
- The body of Frans was found in the Porcupine Burrow behind the farmhouse.
- On 18th July 7014 the trial of Maria, Titus and Fortuyn began. Accusations; half truths; contradictions and denials abounded until on 13th August the Magistrate gave all parties two days to reconsider their statements after which they would be tortured until the truth was established.
- But before that could happen one of the children of Frans and Maria told the following story: His mother and father were arguing, Maria ran out of the house with Frans in pursuit. Titus grabbed the gun and fired at Frans but missed. Fortuyn became involved and hit Frans a mighty blow on the back of the neck with a knobkerrie. Both slaves proceeded to beat Frans to death. They then buried the body in the Porcupine Burrow.
- Fortuyn broke down the following day and confessed that the child's version was correct.
- The Council of Justice considered the matter for two weeks as to sentence a European Christian woman to death was unheard of and would be shocking to the public and would set a precedent in the Cape.
- Finally on 30th August 7014 Maria, Titus and Fortuyn were sentenced to the most horrific public executions. Pieter was hanged for his crimes of cattle theft and absconding.
OLIVES IN THE KASTEEL VALLEY
Easter Weekend of 25th March 2016: On Saturday morning I run the 2 Oceans 21k. I have been running this event (56k and 21k) since 1987. I was injured one year and we were overseas on another occasion. I bailed one race when, in Hout Bay, I climbed into a bus as I simply was too sore and tired to continue. So I have completed a total of 27 events - 19 of the 56k and 8 of the 21k over the past 30 years. Barbara and I had stayed over with Patrick in Claremont which allows me to walk to the start and then after the event we drove back to Riebeek Kasteel where Nicky and Werner live. As we drive over the Bothmaskloofpas we turn left in to the Olive Groves to find the olive trees dripping with olives.
Olive oil consists of 75% monounsaturated fat. It contains compounds such as Oleocanthal, which has a strong anti inflammatory action to fight heart disease and Cancer. It also has natural anti oxidants Polyphenol which is said to lower cholesterol, blood pressure and the risk of chronic heart disease.
Olive trees can live for hundreds and even thousands of years. Jan van Riebeek planted two olive trees in 1661.
One of the first areas in the Riebeek Valley where trees were planted was in the grounds of PPC at Riebeek West. In 1985 250 trees were planted.
The farm on the Bothmaskloof Pass is known as Kloovenburg. Here 600 trees are planted producing 200 tonnes of olives per annum. There are now 7 Olive farms in the area. The establishment of the Olive Boutique with a small press which can serve smaller farmers. They press the olives and help the farmers to market their products. Juliana Meredith is the owner of this business. She has a passion for olives and as a result of the increased interest in Olives, Juliana, in 2000, opened the business the Olive Boutique.
Juliana organised an olive festival in Riebeek Kasteel in 2000. This has become an annual event and takes place in the first weekend of May each year. This event attracts thousands of visitors each year and accommodation in the village is at a premium.
PICKETBERG AND THE FIRST IRON BRIDGE ACROSS THE BERG RIVER
"DE BRUG"
Drive on the N7 from Cape Town to Picketberg. You will pass a signpost to the right: "De Brug". This section of road was the main road between Eendekuil and Picketberg.
In 1850 the ship carrying this bridge destined for Australia needed repair and docked in Cape Town. The bridge was removed from the ship but when the repairs were completed it became impossible to put the bridge back on the ship. So the ship continued on its journey to Australia and left the bridge behind. It remained on the dockside until in 1863 the 110m steel bridge was fitted to this section of road across the Berg River.
The bridge continues to be a functional bridge for passing motorists who probably know little of its origin.
THE STORY OF JAN VAN RIEBEEK AND THE FIRST SETTLERS IN THE CAPE
On 24 December 1651, accompanied by his wife and son, Jan van Riebeeck set off from Texel in The Netherlands for the Cape of Good Hope. Van Riebeeck had signed a contract with the Dutch East India Company (VOC) to oversee the setting up of a refreshment station to supply Dutch ships on their way to the East. Sailing on the Dromedaris with two other ships, the Rejiger and De Goede Hoop, Van Riebeeck was accompanied by 82 men and 8 women.
When Van Riebeeck left The Netherlands in 1651, the Council of Policy, a bureaucratic governing structure for the refreshment station, had already been established. On board the Dromedaris Van Riebeeck conducted meetings with his officials – minutes of the meetings of the Council of Policy, dated from December 1651, have been carefully archived.
Charles Bell (1813-1882) painting of Jan van Riebeeck arrives in Table Bay in April 1652
Land was sighted on 5 April 1652 and the ships docked the next day. Within a week of the arrival of the three ships, work had begun on the Fort of Good Hope. The aim was to establish a refreshment station to supply the crew of the Company's passing trading ships with fresh water, vegetables and fruit, meat and medical assistance. However, the first winter experienced by Van Riebeeck and his crew was extremely harsh, as they lived in wooden huts and their gardens were washed away by the heavy rains. As a result their food dwindled and at the end of the winter approximately 19 men had died.
The arrival of Van Riebeeck marked the beginning of permanent European settlement in the region. Along with the Council of Policy, Van Riebeeck came equipped with a document called the ‘Remonstrantie’, drawn up in the Netherlands in 1649, which was a recommendation on the suitability of the Cape for this VOC project.
Van Riebeeck was under strict instructions not to colonise the region but to build a fort and to erect a flagpole for signaling to ships and boats to escort them into the bay. However, a few months after their arrival in the Cape, the Dutch Republic and England became engaged in a naval war (10 July 1652 to 5 April 1654). This meant that the completion of the fort became urgent. Fort de Goede Hoop – a fort with four corners made of mud, clay and timber – was built in the middle of what is today Adderley Street. Around this a garden was planted and meat was bartered for with the Khoikhoi (who were initially called Goringhaikwa, and later Kaapmans). The construction for Castle of Good Hope which stands today only began in 1666, after Van Riebeeck had left the Cape, and was completed 13 years later.
Van Riebeeck’s Original Fort on the Shores of Table Bay, 1658 by Wouter Schouten (1638-1704) .
Although the VOC did not originally intend to establish a colony at the Cape, permits were issued in February 1657 to free nine company servants (who became the Free Burghers) to farm along the Liesbeeck River in order to deal with a wheat shortage. They were given as much land as they could cultivate in three years but were forbidden to trade with anyone other than the VOC. With the number of private farms increasing, by 1659 the station was producing enough to supply any passing ship. The station also began to experience a chronic labour shortage and because the Khoisan were seen as ‘uncooperative’, slaves were imported from Batavia (now northern Jakarta) and Madagascar in 1657.
The land on which the Dutch farmed was used by the Khoikhoi and the San, who lived a semi-nomadic culture which included hunting and gathering. Since they did not have a written culture, they had neither written title deeds for their land, nor did they have the bureaucratic framework within which to negotiate the sale or renting of land with strangers from a culture using written records supported by a bureaucratic system of governance. Hence Van Riebeeck, coming as he did from a bureaucratic culture with a unilateral, albeit written, mandate to establish a refreshment station, refused to acknowledge that land ownership could be organised in ways different from the Dutch/European way. He denied the Khoisan rights and title to the land, claiming that there was no written evidence of the true ownership of the land. Consequently in 1659 the Khoikhoi embarked on the first of a series of unsuccessful armed uprisings against the Dutch invasion and appropriation of their land – their resistance would continue for at least 150 years.
In response to the growing skirmishes with the local population, in 1660 Van Riebeeck planted a wild almond hedge to protect his settlement. By the end of the same year, under pressure from the Free Burghers, Van Riebeeck sent the first of many search parties to explore the hinterland. Van Riebeeck remained leader of the Cape until 1662. By the time he left the settlement in May 1662 it had grown to 134 officials, 35 Free Burghers, 15 women, 22 children and 180 slaves.
Statue of Jan van Riebeeck, Adderly Street, Cape Town
The day of Jan Van Riebeeck’s arrival became a public holiday with the 300th anniversary in 1952 and was celebrated as Van Riebeeck’s Day until 1974. During the tercentenary celebration on 6 April 1952, the Joint Planning Council (made up of members from the ANC, SAIC, SACP and COD) held mass meetings and demonstrations throughout the country as part of the lead up to the Defiance Campaign. The ANC and TIC issued a flyer entitled ‘April 6: People Protest Day’.
In 1980 the public holiday was changed to Founder’s Day. The holiday was abolished in 1994 by the democratically elected ANC government. However, statues of Jan van Riebeeck and his wife remain in Adderley Street, Cape Town. The coat of arms of the city of Cape Town is also based on that of the Van Riebeeck family, and Hoërskool Jan van Riebeeck is a popular Afrikaans high school in the centre of Cape Town.
By the beginning of the Christian era, human communities had lived in the Cape Peninsula and Western Cape by hunting, fishing and collecting edible plants for many thousands of years. They are the ancestors of the Khoisan peoples of modern times - the Bushmen (San) and the Hottentot (Khoikhoi). The Bushmen were hunter-gatherers while the Hottentot were mainly herders. Both groups were thought to have migrated southward, ahead of the Bantu-speaking peoples whose ancestral home lay well to the north.
In historic times the Bushmen south of the Orange River may never have exceeded twenty thousand. They lived in small, loosely knit patrilineal bands of about 20 to 22 persons. They were highly mobile on account of their dependence on game, and for the same reason widely dispersed territorially. Their political organisation was very rudimentary. Chiefs, about whom little is known, had ritual importance in rain-making and in various other ways, and were respected as the leaders of kin-groups, but had almost no institutionalised authority. The Hottentot were mainly located along the Orange River and in the coastal belt stretching from Namibia to the Umzimvubu River in the Eastern Cape. It seems that before the arrival of the Dutch, they conducted trade with their Bantu-speaking neighbours in cattle and dagga (marijuana), and to a lesser extent in iron and copper. After the arrival of men from Europe, they traded their cattle for tobacco, and began to act as brokers in developing trade between the Europeans and the Xhosa tribes to the east. The European advance eventually cost the Hottentot their land, stock, and trading role. Twice defeated in battle and decimated by smallpox in 1713 and 1755, they ultimately lost their identity as a distinct cultural group and intermarried with slaves and others to form the Cape Coloured people. In the middle of the seventeenth century, when Europeans began to settle in the Cape Peninsula, the Bushmen and Hottentot were still in sole occupation of this region.
The 'Ancients'
Nearly all the stories of travel in and around South Africa that have come down to us are about journeys that were made less than five hundred years ago. But these were not the first visits of 'foreigners' to this country, and though scarcely anything is known of earlier travellers, just enough record remains to help us realise that the stories which were never written, or of which the accounts have not been discovered, may have been more interesting than those of which we know.About 2500 years ago, Pharaoh Necho was ruler of Egypt. He prepared a number of ships and manned them with Phoenician sailors, the most daring and resourceful explorers in the world. They left Egypt, by way of the Red Sea, and sailed to explore the east coast of Africa. With such small ships and with no chart to guide them, they did not venture out of sight of land and landed frequently to collect food and water, and sometimes to plant and harvest crops. They sailed around the Cape where they were most likely to land, and onward up the west coast of Africa. Three years after their departure they entered the Pillars of Hercules (Straits of Gibraltar) and headed back along a well known track to Egypt. This story is told by Herodotus, a famous Greek historian, who lived about 400 BC. After telling this story he adds an interesting remark. On their return they declared that in sailing round Libya they had the sun upon their right hand. This tells us that, as these daring voyagers sailed around the southern coast of Africa, the sun at noon was on their right hand side, and though the thinking men of their own time found this hard to believe, we know that it is highly probable that these sailors were among the earliest visitors to the land we call South Africa.
The Portuguese
From the time of the first recorded discovery of the Cape Of Good Hope by Portugal's Bartholomew Diaz, seafarers looked forward to the sight of Table Mountain, like a gigantic sign of an inn promising hospitality, it could be seen by approaching ships from over 150 km away. It served as an unmistakable beacon and a major landfall on one of the busiest arteries of world commerce. But the sudden knowledge of the Cape was not immediately followed by settlement. One hundred and sixty years after its discovery in 1488, the Peninsula was still a part of primeval Africa, almost unaffected by the tide of commerce which ebbed and flowed around its southern shores. Outward bound from Europe, the early navigators were too eager to reach the East. Homeward bound, they were too impatient to reap the profits in the European ports. Passing ships would leave postal matter under inscribed stones for other ships to find and carry forward. These so-called post office stones are still found in excavations and there is an interesting collection of them in the South African Museum in the Company's Gardens. Portuguese sailors encountered such ferocious storms around the Cape Peninsula that they christened it "Cabo Tormentosa "(Bay of Storms). In 1580, Sir Francis Drake sailed around the Cape in The Golden Hind and the ruggedness and breathtaking beauty of the peninsula caused him to write - "This Cape is a most stately thing, and the fairest Cape in the whole circumference of the earth". The unsurpassed beauty of Cape Point where the winds have blown relentlessly for generations, marks the meeting place of two great currents, one from the equator (Agulhas Current- the strongest north-south current in the southern hemisphere) and the other from the Antarctic (Benguela Current), causing turbulent seas and monstrous waves. Antonio de Saldanha was the first European to land in Table Bay. He climbed the mighty mountain in 1503 and named it 'Table Mountain'. The great cross carved by the Portuguese navigators in the rock of Lion's Head is still traceable. Table Bay became known as 'Saldanha' until 1601 when the dutchman van Spilbergen named it 'Table Bay'.
The Dutch
 In 1652 the Dutch East India Company, yielding to repeated petitions and recommendations from their ships' officers, at last decided to establish a post at Table Bay. They sent three small ships, the Dromedaris, the Reijger and the Goede Hoop under the command of the 23-year-old Jan Antony van Riebeeck, a ship's surgeon, to establish a stronghold on the shores of Table Bay. Their objective was to grow vegetables, barter for livestock, with the Hottentot tribes, and build a hospital and a sanctuary for the repair of ships. Jan van Riebeeck's first fort, subsequently replaced by the existing Castle of Good Hope, was Cape Town's first building. (Note: Van Riebeek was born 1619 and so must have been 33 at the time -- Not 23 as stated in this article).The seventeenth century was the Golden Age of the Dutch Republic. Its merchants were the most successful businessmen in Europe; their Dutch East India Company was the world's greatest trading corporation and had sovereign rights in the East and the Cape of Good Hope, and by mid-century was the dominant European maritime power in southeast Asia. Its fleet, numbering some six thousand ships totalling at least 600 000 tons, was manned by perhaps 48 000 sailors. The Cape became an outstation of the Dutch East India Company's eastern empire, based in Batavia in Java, and fell directly under the Governor-General of the Indies. From 1672 the Cape had a Governor of its own, but remained under eastern control until the end of the Company period in 1795. From Table Bay the Cape Peninsula extends southward, a long narrow mass of highlands varying in width from three to seven miles, until it tapers to the high narrow promontory of Cape Point, nearly 48 kilometres away. Only in the neighbourhood of Table Bay and along the eastern flank of the mountains as far as False Bay were there large areas of relatively level lowland favourable to early settlement. The Cape Flats, which links the Peninsula to the mainland of Africa, was then covered by sand dunes and dune vegetation. Hollows between the dunes were flooded every winter by the rains. Some of the larger ones, such as Princess Vlei, persisted as lakes throughout the year. These were the haunt of the hippopotamus, as the name Zeekoevlei still reminds us. The wagon road used by the woodcutters to the tree-covered mountain slopes of Newlands and Kirstenbosch was the first road to be opened by the European settlers. The patches of forest in Orange Kloof were preserved a little longer by their inaccessibility, but the woodcutters were soon at work in the moist valley bottom below. From the nearby anchorage near Orange Kloof, which was named Hout Bay (Wood Bay), the wood was shipped around the Mountain to Table Bay. The forests of the peninsula, never extensive, lasted barely a generation. Though trees now cover large areas of the mountain slopes once again, they are mostly exotic species. Trial crops of wheat, oats and barley succeeded admirably on the deep, loamy soils of the Liesbeek River valley, and this led to the Company's grain-farming enterprise being transferred there in 1657. A large granary, De Schuur, was built near a round grove of thorn trees known at first as Rondedoornbosjen (modern Rondebosch). The residence Groote Schuur, reconstructed in 1896 on this site is a beautiful example of old Cape architecture. It was formerly the residence of Prime Minister Cecil John Rhodes and was bequeathed by him as the official residence of the Prime Minister of South Africa. To supplement the Company's crops, a number of its servants were given their discharge and settled as independent farmers along the valley in the area now known as Rondebosch and Rosebank. Van Riebeeck himself acquired an estate farther upstream, a wooded hillside known as Bosheuvel (now the Bishopscourt Estate) on whose granitic soils he established, in 1658, the first extensive wynberg or vineyard in South Africa. Van Riebeeck handed over the government of the Colony in 1662 to Zacharias Wagenaar and returned home to his native land. During Wagenaar's term of office a site was chosen for a stronger fortress. In 1666, the foundation stones of the Castle of Good Hope were laid. Its plan was pentagonal and the Company garrisoned its soldiers there from 1674 onwards. In about 1667 the Company established a new cattle-post on the other side of Table Mountain, in the Hout Bay valley. |
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An interesting and informative guide to Devils Peak.
Peter Giddy
The information contained in this blog has been obtained from personal visits, personal chats, Internet searches. However the main source of information has been from a book borrowed from Tony at the café; "Wicked Treats" in Riebeek Kasteel: Riebeek's Castle: A journey into the colourful and fascinating history of the Swartland: Edited and Compiled by Gabriel and Louise Athiros & Mike Turner. First Edition - July 2011
There are the names of two pedophiles in this article, in fact the article was sourced in part from one of them. Kindly update or remove it. Not good for the valley!
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