The Dutch In South Africa | Arrival Of Dutch In The Cape

The Dutch In South Africa | Arrival Of Dutch In The Cape

Ship that belongs to Europeans ( Holland) normally passes through the Cape. It happened that one of those days, the ship wrecked. Some of the crew members who could swim, swan to the cape and waited for rescue which normally comes after three months. When the rescue team came, they noticed how beautiful Cape is. Some of the beautiful things the noticed about the cape were.

1. The cape had a good climatic condition
2. Cape is free from tropical diseases which was as the climatic condition of the place which was boasted by thee two oceans.
3. They noticed that cape can be very nice for the cultivation of vegetables and flowers.
4. They noticed that cape is also good for the rearing of transport animals.
5. The people living in the cape were not many and were not military strengthened.

Having noticed all these attractive things about the cape, the rescue team narrated everything to the council of 17 and convinced them to open a refreshing center where vegetables and meat will be sold to the passive voyage so as to reduce Scurvy.

However, in 24th December 1661, Janvan Riebbeck was sent to the Cape with 221 workers and 31 sheep. Janvan Riebbeck, his wife and three children arrives Cape on 6th April 1662.

Moreover, Janvan were given specific instructions by the council of 17 concerning what they should do on their arrival to the Cape. These instructions are:

1. They must establish a refreshing center in the Cape.
2. They must establish a ford which will have health center and security.
3. They must not take over the occupation of the indigenous people of the Cape.
4. They should inter-marry with the indigenous people of the Cape.
5. They must establish a vegetation garden.
6. They must set up a navigation map.

Arriving to the Cape, Janvan Riebbeckand his crew did what they were instructed to do. After sometimes, they began to face a lot of challenges and problems in the cape. That was because they arrived at the cape when they has a long period of drought. The problem resulted to:

1. Inadequate production
2. Inadequate equipment
3. Company workers killed by animals
4. Company workers stealing company equipment.

After a period of time, the Dutch Eastern Company released about  workers who went into farming. But the workers were bounded and were given specific instructions which were:

1. They must sell their farm products to the company alone.
2. They must sell their farm products at the company’s fixed price.
3. They must not grow tobacco.
4. They must not sell their products to the passive voyage.

Finally, the 9 company workers who were released established their own farm but had limited laborers for the farm work. About 12 slaves were imported. After sometimes, a group of protestants who fled from France during the reign of Luis xiv during the time he established an absolute monarchism.

However, when these protestants fled from France to Holland, they were taken to the Cape which made them to see cape as their own home. But they were instructed never to speak French Language or open another church except the church already established in the cape.

However, the products these company workers were producing were perishable. They went into the interior for land and rearing of animals. In no time, problems cape up between the blacks and the white. Where some of them were saying that some of them stole their cattle while others said that we didn’t steal your cattle that our cattle is thin in the stomach with hairy body. To solve this problem, the Dutch Eastern Company established a hedge between the white and blacks. The hedge could not solve the problem because it was established by the whites over the indigenous people of the cape.

Consequently, the Dutch established commandos in order to exterminate the SAN. These failed because of the SAN’S resistance to the Dutch. They also established percification policy which also failed.

Finally, they established policy of extermination stating that anyone who killed the SAN and capture his wife will receive three pounds. This policy reduced the population of the SAN drastically that about 50 percent survived and went to the Western region of the Cape.