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University of South Africa
Muckleneuk, Pretoria
HSY1512/1/2022–2024
10022619
InDesign, Florida Campus
HSY_Style
CONTENTS
Page
Introductionv
Study unit 1: Precolonial societies: hunter-gatherers, hunter-

herders and mixed farmers 1
1.1 Why do we need an understanding of the history of
precolonial African societies? 1
1.2 How did the natural environment of southern Africa
shape precolonial economies and settlement patterns? 2
1.3 What was the nature of the economy, social organisation
and political structure of the precolonial San? 6
1.4 In what ways was the lifestyle of the precolonial
Khoikhoi similar or different from that of the
precolonial San? 11
1.5 What was the nature of the lifestyle of mixed
farming communities who settled in southern Africa
from around 200 AD? 16
1.6 How did the mixed farming communities interact with
the precolonial Khoikhoi and San? 21
1.7 Conclusion21
Study unit 2: The establishment of a dutch settlement

at the Cape Dutch23
2.1 Introduction23
2.2 Europe and the non-European world 23
2.3 The emergence of Portugal as a world power 25
2.4 The rise of the Netherlands 27
2.5 The foundation and objectives of the Dutch East India
Company (VOC) 28
2.6 The foundation of a refreshment station at the Cape 29
2.7 Conclusion30
Study unit 3: The Dutch settlement at the Cape31

3.1 Introduction31
3.2 The Cape as a refreshment station 31
3.3 Intensive agriculture at the south-western Cape 33
3.4 The south-western Cape during the VOC period 37
3.5 Pastoral farming in the Cape interior 40
3.6 Conclusion46
HSY1512/1/2022–2024(iii)
PAGE
Study unit 4: Khoisan communities and the impact of colonialism47

4.1 The Khoisan before the advent of Europeans 47
4.2 Early encounters between Khoisan and Europeans,
1488–165250
4.3 The expansion of Dutch settlement in the south-western
Cape, 1652–1720 52
4.4 The Khoisan experience during the 18th century 55
4.5 The Khoisan in contemporary South Africa 59
4.6 Conclusion60
Study unit 5: Slavery at the Cape61

5.1 Slavery and bonded labour 61
5.2 The origins and importation of Cape slaves 63
5.3 The role of slaves in the Cape economy 64
5.4 Slave life at the Cape 67
5.5 The reaction of slaves to their conditions 73
5.6 The impact of slavery on the social order 75
5.7 Conclusion76
Study unit 6: The Cape northern frontier78

6.1 The concept of a frontier 78
6.2 Environmental features of the northern frontier 80
6.3 The inhabitants of the northern frontier 81
6.4 Interaction between the inhabitants of the northern frontier 85
6.5 Conclusion90
Study unit 7: The Cape eastern frontier91

7.1 The eastern frontier environment 92
7.2 Interaction between people up to the 1770s 93
7.3 Interaction on the frontier: the late VOC period (1770s
to 1795) 95
7.4 Interaction on the frontier: the period of the first British
occupation (1795 to 1803) 98
7.5 Interaction on the frontier: the Batavian period (1803 to
1806)98
7.6 Interaction on the frontier: the second British
occupation (1806 onwards) 100
7.7 Conclusion101
(iv)
1 INTRODUCTION
Welcome to your studies in the Department of History, and in particular to this module,
entitled ‘Southern Africa until the early 1800s: encounters and transformations’
(HSY1512). We hope that you will find this module interesting and fulfilling, and
that it will stimulate you to further study of the complex but fascinating history of
southern Africa.
As you are surely well aware, we live in a rapidly changing society. We experience frequent
change and ongoing transformation in our families, close networks, communities
and wider society. This means that we are constantly confronted by new questions
about many issues, and we regularly need to evaluate our responses, feelings and
attitudes. Like many spheres of life, the study of history is affected by these changes,
and as society shifts, new questions about the past are necessary.
In the past 20 or 30 years, a considerable number of historians (and other scholars)

have advanced knowledge about the history of southern Africa before 1800. Among
other things, they have shown how important this period was in shaping later
developments in the region. This module aims to bring some of their insights to you.
Purpose and outcomes of this module

This module is offered in the Department of History at the first level of undergraduate
university study (or NQF Level 5).
The formal purpose statement of this module is as follows: ‘Qualifying students

will gain an understanding of the major developments and changes in the history of
southern Africa in both the precolonial and the colonial periods up to the early 19th
century by engaging with and analysing a wide range of sources, and will acquire
multiple perspectives on the importance of this period in the shaping of modern
South Africa.’
Essentially, we hope that we will enable you to gain an understanding of some major
themes in the history of early colonial southern Africa, and to appreciate how this
period of history shaped modern South Africa. We aim to:
• develop an understanding of the historical roots of South African society
• acquire respect, appreciation and understanding of different societies, cultures
and points of view
• produce effective learning, analytical and critical skills which are appropriate to the
discipline of History and are transferable to other disciplines and other contexts.
HSY1512/1(v)
INTRODUCTION
If you work carefully through the learning units in this study guide, you should be
able to achieve the following outcomes:
(1) Discuss the lifestyle of the main societies that lived in the southern African
region before colonisation by Europeans.
Evidence shows that learners are able to:
• show insight into why the history of precolonial southern African societies
is essential to a full understanding of the complexity of the region’s past
• demonstrate an ability to understand the types of sources historians use
to collect relevant information on precolonial hunting, herding and mixed
farming southern African societies
• understand the main features of the economic practices, political structures
and social practices of precolonial hunting, herding and mixed farming com-
munities in southern Africa.
(2) Discuss the reasons for Dutch colonisation of the south-western region of
southern Africa and the main developments in the expansion of the Dutch
colony in the 17th and 18th centuries.
• understand why the Dutch decided to establish a colonial presence in the
south-western part of southern Africa
• demonstrate insight into the nature of the early Dutch settlement, intensive
agriculture and extensive agriculture
• explain the reasons for the emergence of independent pastoral farming in
the Cape interior in the 18th century
• explore the lifestyle of independent pastoral farmers in the Cape interior
in the 18th century.
(3) Analyse the impact of colonialism on indigenous people and imported African
and Asian slaves in the 17th and 18th centuries.
• understand how the loss of land and livestock undermined independent
Khoikhoi communities in the south-western part of southern Africa
• demonstrate insight into the adaptation of Khoikhoi herders and San
hunter-gatherers to white colonisation during the 17th and 18th centuries
• examine the reasons for the importation of African and Asian slaves into
the Cape colonial settlement, as well as the experience, life and resistance
of slaves in the settlement
• explain the impact of the destruction of independent Khoikhoi societies
and of slavery on the racial and social order of the Cape colony during the
17th and 18th centuries.
(4) Analyse the importance of the contact between colonists and colonised peo-
ple in the frontier districts of the Cape colony during the 18th and early 19th
centuries.
• distinguish between the concepts of an ‘opening’ and ‘closing’ frontier
• demonstrate insight into the nature of contact, conflict and cooperation
between people on the Cape northern frontier
• demonstrate similar insight into the nature of contact, conflict and coop-
eration between people on the Cape eastern frontier
(vi)
Introduction
• identify similarities and differences between the northern and eastern

frontier situations of the Cape
• explain the influence of the two frontier situations on the emerging racial
order within Cape colonial society.
Study material
This study guide contains the main material that your lecturers wish to convey to
you, and encourages you to participate actively in learning this material. If you were
studying at a residential university, you would attend a set of lectures and perhaps
tutorials as well, conducted by lecturers and tutors. In a sense, the study guide is
equivalent to a set of ‘lectures’ delivered by a lecturer in a residential university.
The study guide has been divided into seven different units. Each of the units has
a particular theme. Every unit begins with a clear statement of the objectives of the
unit, telling you what knowledge you should master by the time you have completed
working through it. There are also activities that are designed to develop your reading
and writing skills, as well as your ability to select information and to organise it
logically in response to different kinds of questions. All of the activities are available
on the module website.
At the end of this study guide, you will find a list of sources for further reading and
study. There is no prescribed book for this module, but you are encouraged to consult
further sources where possible. Most of the general published histories are available in
public libraries and bookshops, and all of the titles are available in the Unisa library,
although some are in short supply. The list of sources is very selective; there are many
good books and articles which are not listed. You are free to use any books or resources
available to you. When in doubt, consult your lecturers about additional reading.
This study guide is fundamental to your studies. Its main aim is to guide you through
the syllabus of this module.
Overview of the contents of this module

Until approximately the 1960s, some South African historians who took a certain
ideological stance, believed that southern Africa’s history began when people from
Europe started to settle in the area that is now part of the modern Western Cape
province in the middle of the 17th century, 367 years before the present (the year
2019). This process of settlement by people from Europe and their descendants
(commonly referred to as ‘white people’) is called ‘colonisation’. Historians believed
that in the period before colonisation (also known as the precolonial period) there
was no history to be recorded or discussed, because there were no written records
to inform us about the period. Indeed, some even believed and propagated the myth
that nobody lived in the region, and that southern Africa was an ‘empty land’.
The contents of this module show how wrong these early historians were. In the
last 50 years, historians have come to realise the vital importance of the precolonial
period in southern Africa’s past. Through different kinds of research, conducted
mainly by archaeologists, we now know that many people had settled and lived all
over southern Africa for many centuries, indeed millennia, before white people
began to settle in parts of the area 367 years ago. They lived in diverse ways, in
dynamic communities that had regular contact with one another.
HSY1512/1(vii)
INTRODUCTION
We have divided the content of this module into seven learning units. Although we
have divided the history of the region in the period we are examining into these
seven units, which we hope are logical divisions, it needs to be borne in mind that
there is some overlap and regular cross-referencing, and that the seven units do
contribute to a more coherent whole.
• Learning Unit 1 explores some of the major environmental features of the
country that have shaped the destiny of humans in this region, before turning its
attention to the major societies that lived here before colonisation by white people.
Three major economies are discussed: the hunter-gathering and hunter-herding
economies of the Khoisan people, and the mixed farming economies (based on
cultivation of crops and the herding of livestock, with significant trading and
mining activities as well) practised by Bantu-speaking people in the region.
• Learning Unit 2 introduces European explorers and settlers. In the 15th century,
some European countries, particularly Portugal and the Netherlands in the
context of southern Africa, began to sponsor voyages of exploration beyond their
shores. This initiated one of the most significant developments in the history of
humanity in the last 500 years, in which large parts of the world were colonised
by European traders, hunters, missionaries and adventurers. Colonisation was
the process by which these European countries extended their power and control
over other areas. This learning unit looks at the background to this process and
why the Dutch in particular decided to settle in southern Africa, and the early
years of the Dutch settlement and the establishment of agriculture.
• In Learning Unit 3, we look at the expansion of the Cape settlement into the
interior of the country, where white people turned to hunting and pastoralism
as their main economic activities. We also outline the Dutch settlement during
the 18th century, both in the established zone of the south-western Cape as well
as the less settled interior, in order to show that, although the Dutch did not
initially intend to colonise southern Africa in any formal sense, an established
colonial settlement had indeed been founded and developed by the early 1800s.
• From the outset, colonists at the Cape encountered and interacted with indigenous
peoples. In Learning Unit 4, we explore the contact between whites and the
Khoikhoi. Though there was opposition among the Khoikhoi to European
settlement, sometimes violently expressed, their communities declined as they lost
land and livestock, and they were unable to prevent colonisation. Their contact
with white people took various forms in different areas; although many were
uprooted and were impoverished, others managed to retain some independence.
• Learning Unit 5 focuses on the role of slavery at the Cape. The Cape economy
was dependent on slave labour for its productivity, and, as a result, slavery had
an enormous influence on the Cape’s economy and society. We focus not just on
economic issues, however; we also examine slave life and culture, slave resistance
to their conditions, as well as the legacy of the slave system.
• In Learning Units 6 and 7, we discuss the impact of colonisation in the frontier
districts of the Cape, or the areas furthest removed from the established base
of the colony in the south-western Cape. As the white colonists moved into the
interior, they encountered many different peoples in areas to the north and east.
Interaction in these frontier zones took many different forms of co-operation
and conflict. New relationships were forged between individuals and groups, and
new economic and social relationships took shape in both regions.
The main theme of this module is the encounters of people with one another in
southern Africa in the many centuries before the early 1800s, and particularly the
two centuries between the early 1600s and the early 1800s (the early 17th to the early
19th century), which was when colonisation made its influence felt. The main impact
(viii)
Introduction
of colonisation was primarily in the areas which now form the modern provinces of
the Western Cape, Eastern Cape and Northern Cape. Although trading and raiding
activities of white colonists were beginning to affect peoples in parts of present-day
Mpumalanga and KwaZulu-Natal by the end of the 18th century, all the regions
outside the Cape were really only seriously influenced by colonial advance during
the 19th century (the period immediately after the end of this module).
While colonialism is one main focus of this module, we do not concentrate exclusively
on the activities of the white colonists. We are concerned with the history of all the
peoples of southern Africa during this period, on how they shaped their lives and on
how they reacted to new circumstances. At no stage should we assume that Europeans
had exclusive control of the Cape; colonial advances were often determined by the
peoples being colonised.
We are also concerned to stress that patterns of colonialism that affected southern
Africa very significantly after the 16th century emerged within the historical context
of the history of European power. We need to be aware that we should not conflate
these historical developments with the notion that European ways of thinking and
acting are universal and fixed, and should therefore not be questioned or challenged.
As we approach the content of this module, we need to reflect critically on how the
colonial project in southern Africa operated, and be open to challenging both its
power and the patterns of thought that it imposed.
The period up to the early 1800s was of considerable importance in shaping later
developments in southern Africa. Naturally many developments in 19th and 20th
century South Africa affected the growth of the society in which we now live in
crucial ways, but this does not negate the importance of the early period in shaping
human relationships and interaction.
The seven learning units are as follows:

(1) Precolonial societies: hunter-gatherers, hunter-herders and mixed farming com-
munities (Henriëtte Lubbe and Nicholas Southey)
(2) The establishment of a Dutch settlement at the Cape (Melanda Blom and Nicholas
Southey)
(3) The Dutch settlement at the Cape (Melanda Blom and Nicholas Southey)
(4) Khoisan communities and the impact of colonialism (Butho Mtombeni and
Nicholas Southey)
(5) Slavery at the Cape (Nicholas Southey and Wendell Moore)
(6) The Cape northern frontier (Nicholas Southey)
(7) The Cape eastern frontier (Nicholas Southey)
Above all, we hope that the contents of this module will encourage an interest in
South African history, as well as an appreciation of the contribution of all the people
of South Africa to our past.
Nicholas Southey
HSY1512/1(ix)
1 LEARNING UNIT 1
1 Precolonial societies: hunter-gatherers,
hunter-herders and mixed farmers
LEARNING OBJECTIVES
When you have completed this learning unit, you will be able to answer the following
questions:
• Why do we need an understanding of the history of precolonial southern African
societies?
• How did the natural environment of southern Africa shape precolonial economies
and settlement patterns?
• What was the nature of the economy, social organisation and political structure
of the precolonial San?
• In what ways was the lifestyle of the precolonial Khoikhoi similar or different
from that of the precolonial San?
• What was the nature of the lifestyle of mixed farming communities who settled
in southern Africa from around 200 AD?
• How did the mixed farming communities interact with the Khoisan?
1.1 WHY DO WE NEED AN UNDERSTANDING OF THE HISTORY

OF PRECOLONIAL AFRICAN SOCIETIES?
In this module you will meet a wide variety of indigenous people who did not only
interact with one another but also with European visitors and colonists. You will
learn how they engaged in conflict with the colonists as the latter settled on Cape
soil and expanded their settlement into the Cape interior. On the other hand, at
times they also cooperated with the colonists for reasons that will become clear in
the learning units to follow.
ACTIVITY 1.1
Access the module website for Activity 1.1
There are six main reasons why knowledge of the precolonial southern African past
may be useful in understanding the complexity of historical developments after 1652:
• The precolonial history of southern Africa is important, because it is in this
sub-continent that human beings first emerged and then spread to other parts
of Africa and the rest of the world.
• Many present-day South Africans, who feel politically marginalised, trace their
cultural roots back to the precolonial period. They argue that the land originally
belonged to their forefathers, the precolonial Khoikhoi and San, and claim that
their political and land claims should therefore be taken more seriously.
HSY1512/11

• Knowledge of our precolonial past also helps us to be critical of the view of

the early European visitors and settlers, who did not understand the nomadic
behaviour and concept of land ownership of the indigenous communities, and
therefore argued that the sub-continent was empty of inhabitants and belonged
to no one.
• An understanding of precolonial hunter-gathering, hunter-herding and mixed
farming lifestyles within the global context of gradual transitions from hunting
and gathering to pastoralism and mixed farming, will broaden our perspective
and will prevent us from viewing historical developments in southern Africa in
isolation.
• If we grasp the nature of the precolonial hunter-gatherer and hunter-herding
lifestyles which suited the natural environment of southern Africa well and
functioned successfully for thousands of years, it will assist us in explaining the
interaction between these indigenous societies and the European settlers during
the colonial era, as discussed in the remainder of this module.
• Finally, an understanding of the emergence of mixed farming during the precolonial
period, which ultimately culminated in very successful kingdoms and powerful
states in the interior of the sub-continent, with global connections through
international trade, will instil in us an appreciation of the historical contribution
and achievements of the Bantu-speaking communities. It will also cast light on
the interaction of the descendants of these communities with other societies,
including the Khoisan, the white trekboer farmers, and the inhabitants of the
Cape northern and eastern frontier regions, covered in later learning units.
ACTIVITY 1.2
1.2 HOW DID THE NATURAL ENVIRONMENT OF SOUTHERN

AFRICA SHAPE PRECOLONIAL ECONOMIES AND
SETTLEMENT PATTERNS?
Throughout precolonial history, people were influenced by the natural environment
in which they lived. The natural environment provided opportunities and presented
obstacles for the economic, social, political and technological development of human
society. In many cases, although not always, it played a determining role in the way
the different communities succeeded or failed in their lifestyles, and in the ways they
interacted with one another.
On the other hand, precolonial communities also had an impact on the environment
in which they lived, either preserving or changing it in their efforts to survive.
Therefore, when studying the early history of southern Africa, it is important to have
an understanding of the main features of the natural environment.
In Learning Unit 2, you will learn how environmental factors such as location, the
coast line and the quality of the soil in the southwestern Cape influenced colonisation
and agricultural production at the Cape. For the purposes of this learning unit,
however, we need to focus more on the role of topography, climate, vegetation, fauna
and minerals in order to explain the precolonial economies and settlement patterns
that were viable in different parts of southern Africa.
2
Topography
Topography refers to the physical characteristics of a region such as the mountains,
plains, plateaus and rivers. This feature gives a clear idea of what the area looks like
and has an important influence on the settlement patterns and migration of both
animals and human beings.
Most of southern Africa is part of the Great African Plateau. A plateau is an area of
fairly level high ground. The South African plateau is between 1200 and 1800 metres
above sea level and is highest in the east and gradually slopes downwards towards the
west (see the map in Activity 1.3, Source 1, on the MyUnisa site of this module). It
has been described as resembling a ‘tilted upside-down saucer’.1 The plateau provided
pasture for wild animals (game) and livestock, ample space for human and animal
migration, as well as space for extensive human settlements towards the east, where
rainfall and vegetation were conducive to mixed farming.
Along the edge of the plateau is a long steep slope which drops towards the sea,
known as the escarpment. The escarpment extends from the Drakensberg mountain
range in the northeast to the Stormberg and Sneeuberg mountains in the southeast
and Nuweveld range in the southwest. From there the escarpment turns north where
the Roggeveld mountains form the edge of the plateau and continues north into the
Damara-Namaqua highlands of Namibia.
The steep seaward slope of the escarpment has been divided into numerous valleys
by the fast-flowing rivers which have cut deep below the level of the surrounding
mountain plains. These river valleys were popular mixed farming regions, because
they provided water and alluvial (surface) soil as well as protection from the wind
– all of which suited the planting of agricultural crops. The valleys also determined
the routes of the various communities moving into the interior.
South Africa does not have many perennial rivers – that is, rivers that flow constantly
throughout the year. Most of the rivers rise on or near the escarpment and flow
fast towards the sea. An example of this is the Tugela River, which begins in the
Drakensberg mountains and flows through KwaZulu-Natal into the Indian ocean.
Other rivers, such as the Gariep (Orange) River, are found on the plateau. The
Gariep River has the greatest basin of any river in the country, but much of the basin
is so dry that the river mouth often closes up, while some of its tributaries such as
the Molopo, Fish and Hartebeest Rivers are also quite frequently dry. The rivers in
South Africa are therefore important only as temporary sources of water. They are
not reliable boundaries and cannot be used for navigation.
Climate
The climate refers to the weather conditions of a particular area. There are three
main determinants of climate: rainfall, wind and temperature. The climate affects
human beings directly in that it influences the crops they can cultivate, their eating
habits, dwellings and clothes. It also affects human beings indirectly because of its
effect on flora (vegetation) and fauna (animal and insect life) and therefore is an
important factor in determining the survival potential of a region.
1 J.M. Nicholson and J.G. Morton, Man’s Environment: Africa (Pietermaritzburg: Shuter and Shooter,
1974), 92.
HSY1512/13
Rainfall is perhaps the most important of the environmental elements in that it
determines so many of the other natural factors. For example, rain is directly related
to the availability of water, which in turn regulates the growth of vegetation, which
in turn attracts animals.
In South Africa the rainfall is generally low. The map of South African rainfall
shows an average annual rainfall of 1 000 millimetres (mm) on the east coast, which
drops to less than 125 mm on the west coast. The internationally accepted minimum
requirement for the successful cultivation of crops and the maintenance of good
grazing is 625 mm of rain a year. About 80 percent of South Africa receives less
than 625 mm per year, while a third of the subcontinent has an annual rainfall of
less than 250 mm In these dry regions the only economic activities that would have
been viable, were hunting, gathering of naturally occurring plant food for human
consumption, and the herding of smaller livestock, for example sheep and goats. The
population distribution would have been sparse and communities would be nomadic.
To make matters worse, much of South Africa’s rain comes in the form of torrential
storms, which washes away the soil and does not allow for much absorption of
moisture. In the interior regions, where temperatures are high during the rainy season,
most of the rain which is received just evaporates. In some areas the evaporation
rate is higher than the total rainfall. Rivers are therefore often dry, and water can
be found only in isolated waterholes or dykes where underground water is brought
to the surface. Moreover, the rainfall throughout the country is also often erratic
(inconsistent/irregular), which increases the chances of drought. This often made
it very difficult for the various communities to survive, and they had to either adapt
their lifestyles accordingly or migrate to other areas.
Wind has a direct bearing on rainfall. In South Africa the wind accounts for the
predominantly summer rainfall pattern in the interior and the winter rainfall in the
southernmost parts of the country. The wind in the south-western Cape is particularly
strong, and is renowned for the devastation the southeaster wind causes both on land
and along the coast. Bear this in mind in the next learning unit when you explore
the failure of intensive agriculture in the south-western Cape during the first decades
of European colonisation.
Vegetation
There is great variety in vegetation (flora) to be found in southern Africa. In order
to understand the lifestyles of the precolonial communities discussed in this unit,
we focus on the following main types of vegetation:
In the dry north-western part of southern Africa, vegetation consists of sparsely
distributed Karoo shrubs and succulents. Karoo shrubs have thick fibrous leaves
that enable them to thrive in areas with very low rainfall, extreme temperatures,
high evaporation rates and compacted soil. They can be found in the interior of the
western Cape, including both the Little and Great Karoo and parts of the Northern
Cape. Although they do not offer nourishment to larger livestock that prefer grass,
they do provide good grazing for sheep and goats. Similarly, Karoo succulents are
extremely drought-resistant and can survive in the low-rainfall desert-like conditions
in the western regions of the Northern Cape. This vegetation is suitable only for
certain small buck and sheep, many of the plants having edible roots and berries.
This explains why the precolonial inhabitants of these dry regions practised hunting,
gathering and herding of smaller livestock, and why they needed to adopt a very
mobile (nomadic) lifestyle.
4
LEARNING UNIT 1: Precolonial societies: hunter-gatherers, hunter-herders and mixed farmers
The north-eastern part of the country, on the other hand, has a higher rainfall and is
therefore suitable for crop cultivation. The region also offers two types of vegetation:
savannah and thornbush, and grassland vegetation, both of which are suitable for
livestock herding (pastoralism), including cattle. Savannah refers to a grassy plain
in a sub-tropical region, and thornbush to fairly hardy thorn trees and bushes. The
savannah and thornbush region stretches along the southern and eastern foothills
of the escarpment in KwaZulu-Natal and Swaziland to the north of Limpopo and
into North West and the Northern Cape.
A wide variety of these kinds of trees and grasses are found in South Africa, and
their density depends on the rainfall. Of the various grasses found in this region
(sweetveld, sourveld and mixed veld) none is suitable for year-round grazing. The
precolonial – and later also the colonial pastoral farmers or trekboers (see Learning
Unit 3) – therefore had to practise seasonal migration in order to get sufficient
grazing throughout the year and provide their livestock with a balanced diet. The
treed areas were probably denser at one time and covered larger areas. However,
over the years both precolonial and colonial communities destroyed many trees. The
various communities used the timber to build houses and make firewood, or cleared
the trees and grasses away to cultivate crops.
Grassveld vegetation includes lush grassland but relatively few trees. It can be found
in the highveld region of the plateau including parts of the Eastern Cape, Lesotho,
Free State, Mpumalanga and Limpopo. The grasses in this region include both
sweetveld and sourveld, which made both precolonial and colonial pastoral farmers
practise seasonal migration.
Fauna
Fauna refers to the natural animal and insect life of a particular region. The southern
African region is renowned for its rich abundance and variety of wild animals (game)
and insects. Both the precolonial and colonial communities relied very heavily on the
hunting of wild animals for food (meat) as well as for ivory and hides, which were often
traded. Game also tended to migrate in response to erratic rainfall patterns. This caused
the precolonial San and the Khoikhoi to follow the game to areas where it had rained.
Insects were often an asset to some precolonial communities as they were a food
source, for example locusts and the mopani worm. On the other hand, certain insects
were a pest as they destroyed both natural vegetation and cultivated crops. Examples
include swarms of locusts and worms. There were also insects that caused diseases
affecting both humans and animals, such as mosquitoes that caused malaria and the
tsetse fly that caused sleeping sickness.
Minerals
South Africa has a wide variety of minerals which have been discovered and
mined over many centuries. The minerals in the region include iron, tin, copper,
gold and diamonds. Many of these resources were used by the precolonial mixed
farming communities of southern Africa as tools (e.g. agricultural equipment and
weapons), ornamentation and trade items.
All the above environmental factors would have a distinctive influence on the
lifestyles and settlement patterns of the precolonial communities discussed in this
learning unit.
HSY1512/15

1.3 WHAT WAS THE NATURE OF THE ECONOMY, SOCIAL

ORGANISATION AND POLITICAL STRUCTURE OF THE
PRECOLONIAL SAN?
Who were the San hunter-gatherers?

The San hunter-gatherers were the earliest indigenous people of southern Africa.
They were the descendants of people who hunted wild animals and gathered plant
foods in the Late Stone Age, about 40 000 to 20 000 years ago.
The San hunter-gatherers were not an isolated phenomenon in world history. Hunter-
gathering societies were common all over the world prior to the practice of livestock
raising and crop growing. They could be found in Africa, Asia, Europe, the Americas
and Australasia, in environments where hunting and gathering could be supported.
Diets naturally varied, as did lifestyles, social organisation and customs, but invariably
groups were small, flexible, nomadic and seldom had formal leadership structures.
The San of precolonial southern Africa lived throughout the region. Late Stone Age
sites and artefacts have been found in the cool mountains of Lesotho, in the dry Karoo
and in wet, subtropical KwaZulu-Natal, as well as in the Namib and Kalahari deserts.
San bands (or small groups) therefore lived in many different natural environments.
Much of our knowledge about the San has come from archaeologists who have
examined remains in rock shelters and caves all over southern Africa. In addition,
anthropologists, who study different cultures around the world, have learnt a great
deal from those San who still survive in parts of the Kalahari desert in Botswana
and in the Nama desert in Namibia. They give us clues about the lifestyle of San
groups over a long period, even though we cannot be sure about the extent to which
this has changed over thousands of years. Moreover, the linguistic study of San
languages, with their many clicks, is important in establishing connections among
various San hunting bands and with other groups such as Khoikhoi herders and
later with African farmers.
In this module we will be using the term ‘San’ in referring to the original inhabitants
of southern Africa. You may encounter various other words in the literature to describe
these hunter-gatherer communities. This is partly because we do not know what they
called themselves, and also because Europeans used the term ‘Bushmen’ in a rather
general way.2 For some people the term ‘Bushmen’ has a negative connotation, but
for others it is a term of preference. For example, there are currently descendants
of the San in various parts of South Africa, Botswana and Namibia who are proud
to be called ‘Bushmen’ because this establishes their identity as the first indigenous
inhabitants of southern Africa.
ACTIVITY 1.3
2 J. Wright, ‘Sonqua, Bosjesmans, Bushmen, abaTwa: Comments and Queries on Pre-modern

Identifications’, South African Historical Journal, 35 (November 1996), 16–29.
6
The economy and technology of the San

The economy of the San was closely linked to the natural environment in which
they lived. As we have seen, South Africa is largely a dry country with unreliable
and low rainfall. Two-thirds of the country is unsuitable for crop cultivation, has
sparse vegetation and cannot sustain cattle farming. Precolonial South Africa did,
however, provide abundant wild life which frequently migrated to where it had rained
and where good grazing could be found. The natural environment also offered a
variety of edible plants, berries and bulbs which were a potential source of food for
both animals and people.
Hunting
One of the San’s main economic activities was hunting for meat as their main
source of protein. Hunting took many forms, and a large number of different game
(wild animals), from giraffe to warthogs, were hunted with the bow and arrow. The
most common prey, however, were various antelope. Another popular method of
hunting was to use snares and traps. These were used to capture small animals, such
as foxes and mongooses, or birds, such as guinea fowl and francolins.
Gathering
Another economic activity which formed the basis of the diet in most San communities,
was gathering, using weighted digging sticks to dig up roots and bulbs. A wide variety
of plant foods, such as fruits, nuts, berries, roots, bulbs, melons, and edible gums
formed a broad subsistence base. Not all plant foods were of equal value; some foods
were prized because of their wide distribution, their abundance, the ease with which
they could be collected, or the seasons in which they were available. In desert areas,
for example, some water-bearing roots enabled the San to survive for weeks at a
time when no standing water was available.
Division of labour
While men were responsible for hunting, women took care of plant gathering, and
this activity was done in groups of three to five members. The gatherers had minimal
but necessary equipment: digging sticks, skin pouches to carry food, and a few stone
tools. A certain well-defined area was exploited each day, and the women returned to
camp during the afternoon, where they distributed among their immediate families
the produce they had gathered.
Concept of wealth
The hunter-gatherer economy of the San aimed at being self-sufficient and meeting
the immediate needs of the community in order to survive in often challenging
environmental conditions. They did not think in terms of material wealth and
therefore did not attempt to store food, accumulate possessions, or actively engage
in trade in order to increase their wealth.
This simple lifestyle has been interpreted negatively by some observers as a lifestyle
of poverty and struggle for survival. However, it could be argued that the hunter-
gathering lifestyle of the San suited the environmental conditions of southern
Africa well, and that San groups lived quite successfully on hunting and gathering
for thousands of years. It was only when herding and farming economies came on
HSY1512/17

the scene that the San lifestyle was put under pressure. We should therefore guard
against portraying the San as victims or heroes.3
The social organisation of the San

Nomadism
Environmental conditions do not only explain why the San economy was based on
hunting and gathering rather than any other economic activity, but also why the
hunter-gatherers had to adopt a nomadic (migratory) lifestyle.
The San did not wander randomly across vast areas but tended to move in a systematic
way at different times of the year, using the resources available during different
seasons. This meant the San had a loose sense of territorial control and a concept
of place that was linked to animals, plants and seasons. They saw no separation
between people and place or between people and animals.
There has been a debate among researchers about whether the San claimed any clearly
defined territory. Some think they did not, while others think each language group
had water sources which it regarded as its own. Anyone could use these resources,
but permission had to be obtained first.
Egalitarianism
Because the San did not value wealth, no individual was richer or poorer than the
next. All members of the same age group, gender and marital status had the same
access to resources and had the same social status. We call this an egalitarian society.
Egalitarianism does not mean that there are no differences between people. We have
seen, for example, that there was a division of labour between men and women: men
did the hunting and women the gathering. Because hunting was regarded as men’s
work and considered more strenuous and challenging than gathering, successful
hunters were highly regarded in San society and often became shamans (medicine
people). However, this division should not be exaggerated as the economic role of
the women was critical to the survival of the band, and, as we shall see, women
participated fully in decision-making.
Flexible social structures

A high degree of mobility did not only prevent the accumulation of possessions. It
also required small and flexible group structures which would ensure survival in a
harsh environment. Since equality was an important feature of social relations among
the San, groups were not rigid. They often changed, depending on how much fauna
(wild animals) and flora (natural vegetation) were available. This means that they
exercised a ‘strategic flexibility’, not only in how they ‘distributed themselves across the
landscape broadly in proportion to their perception of resource distribution … [but
would also be] flexibly strategic in their response to the elements of food production
and food producers themselves.’4 Apart from responding to the availability of food
3 R.J. Gordon, The Bushman Myth: The Making of a Namibian Underclass (Boulder: Westview Press, 1991),
1–12.
4 J. Parkington and S. Hall, ‘The Appearance of Food Production in Southern Africa, 1,000 to 2,000
Years Ago’, in C. Hamilton, B.K. Mbenga and R. Ross (eds), The Cambridge History of South Africa, Volume
1: From Early Times to 1885 (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2010), 66–7.
8
resources (plants and game), bands could also split up when there were disagreements.
San bands could be as small as a single family or as large as a clan of 80 people.
Sharing ethic
The San are also known for their culture of sharing or sharing ethic. This was closely
linked to the provision of food. Meat from the hunt was shared among the members
of the camp and with other bands of hunter-gatherers on certain occasions, until it
had been completely eaten after a few days; however, plant food that was more readily
available, was shared within the immediate family. The San did not store a surplus
of food, because they saw the environment as a communal storehouse.
Ritual participation among the San

Another element of the San’s social organisation was their ritual ceremonies in which
shamanism, symbolism and trance dances played an important role.
Within the San communities some of the men and women had the ability to enter
into a state of trance and offer ritual services to the group. These trances were
entered into during the regular ritual dancing of the communities, which normally
took place at night around the campfires. No drugs were used to induce the state
of trance; it was reached only through concentration during dancing. The dances
gradually increased in intensity; dancers experienced sweating, shaking and falling,
until they suffered bleeding from the nose and eventual collapse. At this stage they
entered a state of trance, when they were said to ‘die’ and when it was believed that
supernatural potency entered into them.
Those able to enter into trance were referred to as medicine people (shamans). They
were believed to act as links between the physical and supernatural worlds. There
were probably four main categories of medicine people: medicine people of the
game, who had powers over animals and the hunt; medicine people of the rain, who
had powers over rainfall; medicine people of sickness, who controlled illness; and
curers, who were believed to remove sickness. Moreover, these medicine people were
almost certainly the painters of rocks, and the paintings represented their experience
within trance. The symbols and representations of the paintings would have been
clearly understood by the San as containing messages from the supernatural world.
Rock paintings
Scholars now interpret the rock paintings and engravings in the context of the social
and economic life of the San. But equally important is the context of their religious
life, and it is clear that the paintings and engravings contain many religious symbols.
They depict much about, and reflect, the belief system of the San. The paintings are
not simply ‘pretty pictures’ done by a skilled hunter in his spare time. They were
obviously of vital importance within the social and religious life of the San people.
Let us take one example that is very prominent in many paintings – the representation
of the eland. The eland is the largest of the antelopes and was much sought after by
the San. It was fairly common and had a great deal of meat and fat, it played a central
role in important ceremonies, such as those of puberty and marriage, and it served
as a symbol of unity and abundance. For these reasons it was also, not surprisingly,
a central religious symbol. A medicine person who relied on the eland as the source
of his power was most respected. In the paintings the dying eland often shows the
HSY1512/19

same behaviour as the person entering a trance: sweating, trembling, falling over
and bleeding from the nose. The medicine people believed they ‘became’ the animal
whose power they controlled; their identities merged into one, and they acquired the
ability to heal and control the movement of game and rainfall. The representation
of figures that are half human and half antelope, not uncommon in the paintings,
probably portrays the state of the medicine people bridging two worlds.
This single example illustrates the sophistication and complexity of many of the
paintings. They clearly played a more important role in San society than serving as
artistic representations of the immediate environment (although many of them do,
of course, reveal details of this). They were part of the religious and ritual activities
of the San. It is not entirely certain why painters felt it necessary to record their
experiences. One likely reason is that they wished to give people visual reminders of
the power that linked people, animals and the environment. They may have served
as a focus of unity, particularly in times of stress, when it seems that more paintings
were produced.
ACTIVITY 1.4
Political organisation and system of justice

Because of the small size of San bands, the absence of wealth as a foundation for
political power, and the flexibility of the San’s social structures, there were few
signs of chiefly authority in precolonial San society. There were no chiefs, because
decisions were made by the group as a whole. This process included both adult men
and women, while shamans (medicine people) used their wisdom and spiritual powers
to provide guidance during the decision-making process. This informal and equal
political organisation grew out of the fact that all adults had fairly good knowledge of
the natural environment and participated actively in the various economic activities
that ensured survival. Consensus in the group was generally the basis of decision
making, which also influenced how justice and punishment were dealt with in
San communities. Disputes were therefore settled on a one-to-one or family-to-
family basis. If conflict could not be resolved, individuals could join other camps.
ACTIVITY 1.5
10
1.4 IN WHAT WAYS WAS THE LIFESTYLE OF THE PRECOLONIAL

KHOIKHOI SIMILAR OR DIFFERENT FROM THAT OF THE
PRECOLONIAL SAN?
Who were the Khoikhoi?

Although some scholars initially believed that the first Khoikhoi pastoralists emerged
in the present northern or north-eastern Botswana between 2000 and 3000 years
ago, acquiring livestock from Bantu-speaking mixed farmers who were living there,
archaeological excavations have uncovered remains of sheep bones in southern
Africa that pre-date the arrival of Bantu-speakers in Botswana. Some now believe
that the hunter-gatherers may have obtained their first livestock from east Africa.5
As descendants of the hunter-gatherers, it is to be expected that the Khoikhoi’s lifestyle

would be similar to that of the San. Their language, with all its click sounds, is also
related to the languages spoken by many hunter-gatherers. However, the Khoikhoi
introduced livestock into southern Africa for the first time, pastoralism being their
main economic activity. This represented a major transformation in the history of
southern Africa and has sometimes been called ‘the pastoral revolution’.
There are different theories about the dispersal of livestock into and within southern
Africa: some argue that the spreading of livestock occurred through the migration
of people who owned livestock (the Khoikhoi); others are of the view that livestock
were dispersed mainly through trade (not human migration), during which hunter-
gatherer communities obtained livestock through ‘down-the-line exchange’ taking
up at least some elements of pastoralism.6
There is also difference of opinion about the routes of Khoikhoi migration into
southern Africa, the details of which need not be discussed here. What is important,
however, is to realise that the expansion of Khoikhoi herders was not a sudden,
military conquest that immediately changed previous conditions. It took place very
gradually, spreading slowly over vast distances, driven by the need to find water and
grazing for their livestock.
The Khoikhoi economy

The Khoikhoi economy had much in common with that of their San ancestors in that
they also practised hunting and gathering – the former task performed by men and the
latter by women similar to the division of labour in San society. However, their lifestyle
focused primarily on pastoralism (livestock farming), probably having acquired their
first livestock from southward migrating Bantu-speakers. Archaeological evidence
indicates that the Khoikhoi initially herded mainly sheep (and later also goats), but
that cattle became increasingly important. It also shows that the Khoikhoi used
thin-walled pottery probably for storing and transporting milk, although there is
uncertainty about who made the pottery.7
5 N. Swanepoel and C. Bruwer, The Archaeolog y of Southern Africa: Only Study Guide for AGE1501 (Pretoria:
Unisa, 2015), 96.
6 For more information about this debate, see Parkington and Hall, ‘The Appearance of Food Production
in Southern Africa’, 104–8; Swanepoel and Bruwer, The Archaeolog y of Southern Africa: Only Study Guide
for AGE1501, 96, 102–4.
7 Parkington and Hall, ‘The Appearance of Food Production in Southern Africa’, 66, 74, 97–99.
HSY1512/111

Livestock was regarded as a symbol of material wealth in Khoikhoi society and

would therefore be accumulated, nurtured and protected. This influenced the layout
of their settlements which were structured around a central livestock enclosure for
the safe-keeping of livestock at night. Having no wealth to protect, the San simply
lived in caves or in temporary shelters made of branches.
It is also not surprising that the Khoikhoi would frequently engage in livestock raiding
in order to expand their herds or regain their wealth after they had lost livestock as
a result of drought, livestock disease or stock theft. In view of their material value,
livestock was only slaughtered for special and ceremonial reasons and was never used
as a regular supply of meat. This is where hunting for meat played a crucial role in
preserving their livestock and of course their wealth.
Cattle were more valuable than sheep or goats, in that they supplied more milk (the
staple diet), they could be used as pack animals to facilitate easier movement and
transport of camps, and they were valuable items of trade.
Social organisation
We have seen how the ownership of livestock conveyed wealth on individuals in
Khoikhoi society. This in turn led to superior social status and the emergence of
divisions between wealthier and poorer people. This means that Khoikhoi society
was hierarchical unlike the San who were relatively egalitarian (equal in status),
because all adults shared in the economy and the distribution of resources, and
enjoyed fairly equal status.
Group size
Khoikhoi communities were generally much larger than those of the San, as
livestock ownership supported larger concentrations of people. Hunter-gatherer
clans were small, usually numbering fewer than 50 people. They were sometimes
larger during prosperous times and much smaller in periods of scarcity or stress.
The Khoikhoi communities, on the other hand, frequently numbered about
500 people. However, these larger groups were not permanent, because, similar to the
San, flexibility was necessary for survival. Periods of environmental stress required
Khoikhoi clans to split apart and disperse over new areas. On the other hand, new
leaders who had built up livestock herds, offering a reliable diet of dairy products,
attracted followers from a range of clans.
Transhumance
Although both the San and the Khoikhoi practised some form of migration, the
Khoikhoi were less mobile than the San. There were three reasons for this: the
large group size of Khoikhoi communities; their extensive livestock herds; and the
availability of a more stable source of food (dairy products) which made it unnecessary
to relocate all that frequently.
Unlike the more regular and more informal nomadism of the San, the Khoikhoi had
a well-developed pattern of seasonal migration, or transhumance, which provided
their livestock with sufficient water, grazing and a balanced diet. This was necessary
in view of the lack of year-round grazing in southern Africa, discussed earlier in this
learning unit. Similar to the San, who preserved rather than overexploited natural
12
resources, the Khoikhoi also used transhumance to ensure that natural resources
were never seriously depleted. An added benefit of transhumance was that it gave the
Khoikhoi access to fresh plant food and game for human consumption. In short –
transhumance was an essential component of the survival of Khoikhoi communities
and their herds.
Settlement pattern
The Khoikhoi’s concept of wealth indirectly determined where they settled. They
could only survive in areas which had suitable grazing for their livestock (their wealth)
and which had reliable and plentiful water supplies. They therefore settled along the
southern and south-western coastal belt, as well as in some grassland areas of the
interior. San groups, on the other hand, could be found in all geographical regions
of the country (including very arid areas), with the exception of the dense forests of
the southern Cape, where few lived.
Social relationships
Livestock was of great significance in many social relationships among the Khoikhoi.
It was exchanged at marriage ceremonies, and when a household head died, his wife
and children could inherit his livestock. In this manner some individuals considerably
increased their wealth. Livestock also played a central role in the administration of
justice, such as the demand that offenders, who had infringed the rights of other
group members, pay fines in livestock to chiefs or to communities. Moreover,
livestock was slaughtered on important ritual occasions, to mark births, initiation
rites, marriages and deaths, as well as in religious ceremonies in honour of, and
sacrifice to, the god whom they recognised as the Supreme Being. All of this was
absent from San communities who did not possess wealth in the form of livestock.
Gender in Khoikhoi society

In Khoikhoi society women did not have the same social status as men. They were
allowed to inherit livestock, but men and women did not share equally in access to
livestock: as a result, men regularly were more powerful than women. A Khoikhoi
woman could also take over the chief’s office if there was no male heir in patrilineal
succession, but this did not happen frequently. In general, women were excluded
from the formal structures of society, which were dominated by males. In spite of the
important contributions they made to the economy – such as gathering, milking the
cows, producing the mat houses and other utensils, and taking care of their families
– they were not admitted to the council of elders. There were also rules preventing
women from drinking cow’s milk, which was declared a male privilege. In addition,
the inferior status of women was reflected in the way some Khoikhoi groups arranged
their huts in the camp. Unmarried and widowed daughters and sisters had to build
their huts in the section of the camp allocated to servants and clients of the group.
But women were not treated without respect. They had the right to own livestock,
and they played an important role not only in the daily affairs of the household (where
a man was not allowed to eat without his wife’s permission) but also in performing
various ceremonies.
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Political structure
The social organisation of precolonial Khoikhoi communities in turn shaped their
political structure.
We have seen that social equality in San society implied that San bands did not have
formal political structures such as chiefs and councils; all members (men and women)
participated equally in decision-making and the execution of justice. In Khoikhoi
society, on the other hand, high social status based on wealth in livestock, brought
political power to individuals. Khoikhoi chiefs and their advisers were invariably
owners of the largest herds. Chiefs did not own land, but managed all aspects of the
herding economy. One of a chief’s major responsibilities was to ensure fair access
to land and water resources, and to control transhumance. He could also grant
neighbouring clans access to natural resources in return for a payment of tribute
in the form of livestock. Moreover, he could organise cattle raiding in order to
increase his wealth and political influence, and solve disputes within his clan with
the assistance of his Council of Elders.
Chiefs were also able to win followers through the employment of ‘clients’, who in
return for their labour and loyalty were awarded the milk and – usually after longer
service – some of the offspring of the livestock. In this way poorer Khoikhoi who
had lost all their livestock through drought, stock theft or livestock disease, were
offered a survival strategy other than having to resort to hunting and gathering or
engaging in stock theft. In the long run, clientship enabled them to build wealth
for themselves and regain their economic independence which was so important
in Khoikhoi society. You will discover in Learning Unit 4 how this traditional
survival mechanism was disrupted by labour practices on European farms during
the colonial period.
Unlike San women who participated fully in communal decision-making, Khoikhoi

women were excluded from the decision-making process.
ACTIVITY 1.6
Interaction between the hunter-gatherers and hunter-herders

The migration of the Khoikhoi pastoralists into southern Africa compelled the
hunter-gatherers to make major adjustments to their lifestyle. The herding lifestyle of
the Khoikhoi led to competition for natural resources such as water, vegetation and
game. The San argued that the Khoikhoi were settling on their traditional hunting
and gathering areas, used up the pasture and chased away the game. This led to
friction between the two societies. The Khoikhoi and San also had very different
perceptions of animals: the Khoikhoi regarded animals as a source of wealth that
needed to be preserved and protected, whereas the San viewed all animals (including
livestock) as a source of food that could be hunted. This led to conflict in the form
of stock theft and clashes, while the hunter-gatherers were often driven into less
hospitable regions which were not suitable for livestock farming.
14
However, archaeological evidence suggests that San and Khoikhoi communities often
co-existed peacefully in the same area. They cooperated with one another in the form
of trade, intermarriage, and clientship relations, in which the San performed various
tasks for the herders as hunters, guides and servants. This was made possible by the
economic similarities between the two societies and the flexibility of the Khoikhoi’s
social and political structures, which made it relatively easy to incorporate those
hunter-gatherers who were prepared to adopt the new pastoral lifestyle.
This brings us to the blurring of boundaries between the San and the Khoikhoi.
The Khoikhoi and San were not only genetically related in that they had common
ancestors, but both also practised hunting and gathering as part of their economy.
In addition, close interaction between the Khoikhoi herders and their San clients
made it difficult to distinguish between hunter-herders and hunter-gatherers. Another
aspect to bear in mind is that Khoikhoi individuals who had lost their livestock often
resorted to hunting and gathering to survive.
It is therefore not surprising that the Europeans who would later settle at the Cape,
often found it difficult to distinguish between the San and the Khoikhoi. People
without livestock who pursued a hunter-gathering lifestyle were frequently identified
as San or ‘Bushmen’, while those who were in possession of livestock were taken
as Khoikhoi. Sometimes the differences between the two groups were associated
with physical characteristics. The Khoikhoi were thought to be taller than hunter-
gatherers because they had a fairly regular provision of milk from their herds, and
were therefore better nourished. But such distinctions are generally unreliable,
especially because the Khoikhoi and San were biologically related.
The fluidity of boundaries between the San and the Khoikhoi would be strengthened
further during the colonial era by the disintegration of Khoehoe society as a result
of the loss of land and livestock – a theme which will be discussed more fully in
Learning Unit 4.
From the above discussion, it should be clear that it would be unwise to draw very rigid
distinctions between the San and the Khoikhoi. Archaeologists have, for example,
excavated animal bones, pottery and other artefacts at the site of Kasteelberg in the
northern Cape. This site was occupied by herders between 1 800 and 1 600 years
ago. Other locations nearby show that there was a greater proportion of bones of
wild animals rather than of domesticated stock. Stone tools and arrows of different
styles were discovered at the various excavation sites, which constitutes further
evidence of the distinction between hunters and herders. These findings suggest
that Kasteelberg was inhabited by herders who also hunted, while the other places
were occupied by hunters who also owned small numbers of livestock, probably
exchanged or stolen from herders. The scholars involved in this project have therefore
concluded with a degree of certainty that hunters did indeed differ from herders in
the precolonial period.
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1.5 WHAT WAS THE NATURE OF THE LIFESTYLE OF MIXED
FARMING COMMUNITIES WHO SETTLED IN SOUTHERN
AFRICA FROM AROUND 200 AD?
From around 200 (third century) AD a new lifestyle emerged in southern Africa
which differed significantly from the hunter-gathering and hunter-herding lifestyles
of the San and Khoikhoi discussed so far. This new lifestyle – which was introduced
to the sub-continent by Bantu-speakers from East and Central Africa through a very
gradual process of southward migration – marked the beginning of the emergence
of a new and dynamic society, and a long process of continuity and change which
we will explore in this section of the learning unit.
We prefer to refer to this period as the mixed farming period, because the term
accurately captures the most important economic change to the lifestyle of precolonial
South Africans – that of crop cultivation as part of a mixed economy. The period is
sometimes also referred to as the ‘Iron Age’ of precolonial southern African history,
because the farmers mined and processed minerals such as iron. In our discussion
of continuity and change in the mixed farming lifestyle, we will refer to the early
mixed farming period (roughly 200 AD to 1000 AD) and the late mixed farming
period (after 1000 AD) when important shifts in the economy, social organisation
and political structure of the mixed farming communities became apparent.
Economy
The shift from crop cultivation to herding

The economy of the early mixed farming communities was more diverse than that
of the San hunter-gatherers or Khoikhoi herders who had settled in southern Africa
before them. The early mixed farmers practised a mixed economy consisting of crop
cultivation, livestock herding, hunting, mining and trade. They planted a variety
of crops such as millet, sorghum, legumes, squashes and pumpkins; herded sheep,
goats and cattle; hunted for meat and ivory; mined and processed minerals such as
iron (for agricultural implements and weapons) and copper (for ornamentation); and
engaged in trade (in crops and/or minerals), mostly with neighbouring communities
but sometimes also with communities living further afield. These activities remained
key components of the mixed farming economy for centuries, which points to
continuity between the early and late mixed farming lifestyle.
What is further significant here, is that crops such as millet and sorghum were not
indigenous to southern Africa, while livestock such as sheep, goats and cattle were
first domesticated in the near east and North Africa. Similarly pottery-making had
its roots in North-Africa, whereas the skill to mine and process minerals were also
introduced from outside the sub-continent.8
But societies do not remain static – they change over time. In this case, the early
mixed farmers gradually developed over the centuries, and crop cultivation slowly
gave way to a greater emphasis on livestock herding. As early as approximately
500 AD, livestock herding became more prevalent. By the time we reach the late
mixed farming period, from about 1000 AD, livestock herding had supplanted crop
cultivation as the most important economic activity, and crop cultivation became of
secondary importance in this period. The shift in emphasis from crop cultivation to
livestock herding led to significant changes over time in their lifestyle.
8 Parkington and Hall, ‘The Appearance of Food Production in Southern Africa’, 69.
16
Hunting
Both societies also hunted for meat, skins and items of trade, but in the late mixed
farming period, the hunting of elephants for ivory became a lucrative activity, because
ivory could be traded for many useful luxuries.
Trade
This brings us to trade, which both communities engaged in, but once again there
was a difference: trade in the early mixed farming period was fairly localised in
nature. Neighbouring villages traded with each other for items that they could not
produce themselves, such as iron, crops or salt. As time progressed, however, the
early mixed farmers established regional and even long-distance trading networks,
making contact with Arabian traders by roughly 800–900 AD. Trade routes gradually
became more important, and by the time we enter the late mixed farming period,
trading was much more extensive and important to the economy. The late mixed
farmers had access to extensive trading networks and could trade gold, ivory and
other items for a variety of exotic items, such as cotton cloth from India or even
porcelain vases from China. The case study on Mapungubwe later in this unit (see
Activity 1.12 on the MyUnisa site of this module), provides clear evidence of how
control of long-distance trade during the late mixed farming period, led to the
emergence of a very wealthy ruling class, controlling a vast geographical area, large
cattle herds and thousands of people.
Mining
Both societies also practised mining, but once again the scale differed. The early
mixed farmers mined iron and copper, as well as a little gold found in alluvial deposits.
However, as time progressed and mining techniques improved in combination
with a greater demand for mineral resources, especially gold and copper for trading
purposes, the scale of mining became more extensive. Mining in the late mixed
farming period was therefore on a much larger scale.
Social organisation
With regard to social organisation, we again notice both continuity and change from
the early to the late mixed farming period.
Settlement pattern
The early mixed farmers preferred to settle in low-lying regions near the coast or in
river valleys, which offered abundant water and fertile soil suitable for crop cultivation
(their main economic activity). Their settlements were relatively stable, but due to
the practice of slash-and-burn agriculture, they moved every few years to a new site
once the old fields had lost their fertility.
In contrast, the late mixed farmers emphasised livestock herding, especially with
cattle, as their main economic activity. They therefore settled in high-lying grasslands,
for example on the Highveld plateau, which provided their livestock with suitable
and abundant grazing.
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Population density
Early mixed farming communities had a higher population density than
Khoikhoi communities and San bands. There were three main reasons for this:
they had a balanced diet in the form of meat, milk and agricultural crops and could
therefore raise healthier children; they were able to build up a food surplus which
could sustain larger communities; and lastly, they had a more stable and settled lifestyle
than the Khoisan who regularly migrated in response to changing environmental
conditions.
Due to a higher population density, the early mixed farmers had a more elaborate
social organisation than the Khoikhoi and San. They lived and worked in family
homesteads which were grouped together into organised villages. These villages
were relatively self-sufficient, producing and storing food for their own use. The late
mixed farmers had an even higher population density than the early mixed farmers,
as a result of extensive cattle herding. They therefore also lived in organised societies,
and, similar to the early mixed farmers, they operated in family homesteads. However,
unlike the early mixed farmers, the family homestead supplanted the village as
the most important economic unit. This was primarily caused by a more scattered
settlement pattern which facilitated access to larger grazing areas. Higher population
density meant that late mixed farming society was more hierarchical than the early
mixed farmers, with a much clearer divide between the ruling classes and the poor.
Division of labour
More continuity can be noticed in the division of labour, but there were also a few
noteworthy changes in the late mixed farming period. In the early mixed farming
period, women and girls were mainly responsible for crop cultivation, and looked
after the children and prepared food. This continued to be the case in the late period,
except that women were now also responsible for pottery making, which previously
was a male task. The division of labour became more pronounced in the late mixed
farming period due to the dominance of livestock herding. Since livestock was so
important, men assumed responsibility for it and spent much of their time in the
veld looking after the cattle. Younger boys, in both the early and late mixed farming
periods, were assigned to look after the smaller livestock, such as goats, calves and
sheep. In addition, men dominated the other very important source of wealth, which
was trading, and they also were responsible for mining. Lastly, hunting activities
continued to be the task of men, as was the case in the early mixed farming period.
Status of women and men

In the early mixed farming communities, women did not enjoy the same social
status as men. For example, they were excluded from male-dominated decision-
making and were prohibited from entering the livestock enclosure. Women also
did not own the crops they produced; these belonged to the head of the patriarchal
household. Women, however, were not completely marginalised. Since they were
closely involved with crop cultivation, and the trading of crops was an important
form of social interaction between communities, women did play an important role
in social relations. Archaeologists have even found evidence at a few sites of women
who were buried in the kraal (the traditional male domain), which suggests that
although women were lower on the social ladder, they did at least have some status.
18
In comparison, women in the late mixed farming communities had an even lower
social status. This was mainly caused by the fact that men completely dominated
the wealth of the community, namely cattle ownership and trading. Men were also
totally in control of the products produced by crop cultivation, despite the fact that
women were the main crop producers. As a result, women had significantly less
power in a society that had become highly stratified due to greater levels of wealth,
which was controlled by men.
ACTIVITY 1.7
Social practices
Again we notice some continuity, but also slight changes between the two periods
in terms of social practices. In the early mixed farming period, men exchanged
cattle for wives. In the late mixed farming period, this practice continued, but it
became much more common and widespread thanks to the dominance of livestock
herding, and the practice became known as lobolo (bride wealth usually in the form
of livestock). Through lobolo, men could enhance their wealth, because the more
wives they had, the more fields could be cultivated – and since more wives also
meant more children, the patriarch would also have more labour available to look
after livestock and for other activities.
In the late mixed farming period, the practice of mafisa was introduced, which did
not appear to have been prevalent in the early mixed farming period. Mafisa involved
richer livestock owners lending cattle to poorer members of society, who could then
use the milk and sometimes meat. In this way, the rich livestock owner built up a
group of loyal dependents, who in turn increased his political influence in society.
The last cultural practice, which characterised both periods, was initiation. Initiation
ceremonies involved both boys and girls, and these ceremonies were important rites
of passage to help mould them into responsible adults in society.
Architecture and art

The late mixed farmers continued to dwell in houses similar to those built in the
earlier period. These houses were circular in shape, and poles, reeds, dhaka (mud)
and grass were used as building material. A significant change in late mixed farming
period, however, was the extensive use of stone as building material. This is evidenced
by Late Iron Age stone ruins in parts of KwaZulu-Natal, Gauteng, Limpopo, Free
State and Zimbabwe.
Mixed farmers from both periods practised pottery-making and art. Being crop
cultivators, they manufactured clay pots for the purpose of storing food. However,
pottery also had a symbolic meaning. Pots were associated with puberty rituals,
and the decoration of pots used in trading was often a method of signifying and
reaffirming social relations between villages, based on the exchange of cereal crops.
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Other examples of art are bone, soapstone and ivory carvings as well as ceramic
images of animals. These animal figurines may well have been used during ritual
ceremonies and were probably also used to teach children proper social behaviour.
The mixed farmers also made rock engravings which clearly differed from those
made by the San. Whereas the San depicted animals, humans and symbols that
formed part of their religious beliefs, the engravings performed by the mixed farmers
showed homesteads and sometimes humans, animals and weapons such as shields.
Religion
With regard to religion, it is likely that there was more continuity than differences
between the early and late mixed farming periods, and both societies followed a
form of traditional African religion. The late mixed farmers were ancestors of the
present Bantu-speaking people, and their religion seems to have been similar in
many respects to more modern forms of African traditional religion. They believed
in a Superior Being with whom they communicated through their ancestors. Objects
which are thought to have served as religious symbols have also been discovered
in some late mixed farming sites. One example is soapstone images of birds and
snakes that were found at Great Zimbabwe. It is believed that these soapstone birds
symbolised the ancestors of the late mixed farming communities and therefore had
an important role to play in religion.9
Political organisation
Due to a larger population because of their mixed farming practices, the early
mixed farmers needed some form of formal political structure, although during this
period it was still small-scale. Villages were small, and the fact that buildings were
very similar to each other indicates that their society was not yet highly stratified.
Villages generally did not accumulate more wealth than other villages, which meant
each village operated more or less on its own and shared resources with neighbours.
There were therefore no large chiefdoms, states or kingdoms. Within each village,
there were certainly some individuals who were wealthier than others, which meant
that at some villages there was a form of chiefdom, where the chief would settle
disputes and organise food production effectively.
As time progressed, however, and wealth increased because of the growing importance
of livestock, political structures also changed. By the time of the late mixed farming
period, several communities enjoyed a significant increase in wealth due to the
ownership of livestock and their trading activities. As a result, their political structures
became more sophisticated, as a clear divide between rich and poor emerged in more
highly stratified societies. In addition, the late mixed farming communities had much
larger populations, and, as a result, they required more hierarchical political and
social structures for these large communities to function effectively. The wealthiest
men assumed the role of powerful chiefs, who maintained their power through their
control of livestock and trade. Chiefdoms became the basic political unit of the late
period as a result. Several chiefdoms would combine under the rule of a single chief,
and thus the foundations for the formation of states and kingdoms were laid. As one
chiefdom absorbed smaller chiefdoms, it became increasingly powerful. This process
eventually led to the emergence of states and kingdoms, such as Mapungubwe and
Great Zimbabwe.
9 T.N. Huffman, Snakes and Crocodiles: Power and Symbolism in Great Zimbabwe ( Johannesburg:
Witwatersrand University Press, 1996), 134–136.
20
ACTIVITY 1.8
1.6 HOW DID THE MIXED FARMING COMMUNITIES INTERACT

WITH THE PRECOLONIAL KHOIKHOI AND SAN?
The early mixed farming communities moved into territory inhabited by San hunter-
gatherers and Khoikhoi hunter-herders. However, they did not occupy all the land
and automatically displace the original inhabitants of the region. On the contrary,
their presence sometimes encouraged hunter-gatherers to settle in the same area,
making it possible for the two societies to interact for their mutual benefit. At first
the mixed farmers had only sporadic relations with the Khoikhoi and San. They
regarded the San as inferior to their more nuanced economy and settled lifestyle.
On the other hand, they also admired the San for their environmental knowledge,
rain-making skills and spirituality.10 As more substantial farming villages emerged,
this interaction became more complex, and long-term alliances were established.
Although some Khoikhoi and San communities were hostile to the incursion of
the mixed farmers into their traditional territory and withdrew from areas occupied
by the newcomers, the mixed farmers coexisted and interacted with the Khoikhoi
and San for many centuries, usually peacefully through trade, intermarriage and
clientship. The Khoikhoi and San probably acted as hunters, rain-makers, tool makers,
healers and herders for the mixed farmers in exchange for food (agricultural crops)
and iron implements. While some Khoikhoi and San communities adopted some
or all of the new farming techniques as well as social and cultural practices, others
maintained their culture and traditional lifestyle. Bantu-speaking mixed farmers, on
the other hand, were also influenced by their interaction with the Khoikhoi and San.
For example, linguists have shown that the ‘click’ sounds in the Zulu and Xhosa
languages are borrowings from the Khoikhoi and San languages.
1.7 CONCLUSION
In this learning unit we have explored the lifestyles of the precolonial San hunter-
gatherers, Khoikhoi hunter-herders and mixed farming communities of southern
Africa. These are the people whose descendants – following lifestyles very similar
to those of their predecessors – you will meet in the remaining learning units which
focus on the early colonial history of South Africa.
We have traced important continuities in lifestyle through time, but have also indicated
how precolonial economies became progressively more varied and complicated: from
hunter-gathering to hunter-herding and eventually mixed farming. We have seen
how these transitions occurred very gradually and only in those parts of the sub-
continent where environmental conditions were suitable. Moreover, we have noted
how new economies did not necessarily replace the former, but rather interacted and
often co-existed with earlier economies in the same geographical region.
Another major focus of the unit was to show how continuity and change in terms of
economy affected the social and political organisation of the precolonial societies,
10 Parkington and Hall, ‘The Appearance of Food Production in Southern Africa’, 92–97.
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ultimately culminating in powerful Late Iron Age states based on enormous wealth,
successful food production and international trading connections. Remember this
when you read in Learning Unit 2 about how the early Dutch settlement at the Cape
almost collapsed during the 1650s.
Lastly, we have taken a brief look at how the precolonial communities interacted
with one another through different forms of conflict and cooperation – a theme
that runs through all the learning units.
In the next learning unit, we introduce you to a new people entering southern Africa
in the mid-seventeenth century – people with a European cultural background,
perceptions of individual land ownership, a money economy and firearms – and the
significant impact that this development would have on the history of southern Africa.
22
2 LEARNING UNIT 2
2 The establishment of a dutch settlement
at the Cape Dutch
LEARNING OUTCOMES
questions:
• Why did Europe manage to build its power to the extent that it began to dominate
other parts of the world?
• Why did Portugal and the Netherlands become prominent European powers?
• What was the Dutch East India Company and what were its objectives?
• Why was a refreshment station established on the Cape coast of southern Africa
in the middle of the 17th century?
2.1 INTRODUCTION
One of the questions facing scholars of the modern world is that of the rise and
expansion of Europe. There is nothing automatic or self-evident about the fact that
it was Europe, rather than any other part of the world, that was the first to expand
beyond its own boundaries, found colonies of settlement, and come to conquer large
parts of the world’s population.
This unit will briefly outline some of the achievements of the non-European world
and explain Europe’s rise to dominance which commenced in the 15th century.
It will then discuss the establishment of a colonial settlement by the Dutch in Table
Bay at the Cape.
We focus on the following:

• Europe and the non-European world
• the emergence of Portugal as a world power
• the rise of the Netherlands
• the foundation and objectives of the Dutch East India Company (VOC)
• the foundation of a refreshment station at the Cape
2.2 EUROPE AND THE NON-EUROPEAN WORLD

The process known as the ‘expansion of Europe’ has often been seen as the basis of
the ‘birth of the modern world’ or the equivalent of the ‘rise of modernity’. Many
people have regarded European politics, economics, ideas, and culture as central
in shaping modern history, and suggested that European actions arising from its
alleged superior civilisation enabled Europeans to dominate world events from the
15th century through to the 20th century.
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It can be strongly argued, however, that the ‘rise of Europe’ was never inevitable,
and neither was European power certain. Indeed, if one looks at the period before
European power and influence in world affairs began to increase during the 15th
century (the period from the 10th to the 14th centuries), other regions of the world
significantly outstripped Europe in terms of technological sophistication. We can
take a few examples briefly:
• The development of agriculture. In most parts of the world, agriculture had been
established for many centuries, to as far back as between 6000 and 8000 years ago.
Before this, people survived mainly by hunting and gathering, and sometimes by
herding livestock, but agriculture enabled greater quantities of food to be produced
for larger numbers of people, and the world’s population could gradually increase.
This process was not accidental, but involved a great deal of experimentation. In
this process, the world’s great staple foods emerged: maize, wheat and rice. None
of these was produced in Europe. The earliest evidence of maize cultivation is
to be found in Central America, of wheat production in the Middle East and in
northern Africa, and rice in the eastern parts of Asia.
• The development of non-agricultural economic activities. Once agriculture was well
established, and food supplies secure and able to support a growing population,
societies could develop knowledge in other spheres of life and become involved
in non-agricultural pursuits. In China, for example, agricultural productivity
underpinned the growth of domestic trade, and the region developed an
extensive network of paved roads and canals. Another example is the people of
central and South America, who produced a sophisticated calendar and magnificent
architecture long before any contact with Europeans. We know that the Arabs
developed algebra and trigonometry, and the Chinese developed mathematics
and science, all of which were considerably more advanced than these areas of
knowledge in Europe.
• Knowledge of other societies. Europe had very limited knowledge of other regions in
the period of the 10th to 14th centuries. They had no idea that the American
continent existed. Arab and Chinese sailors possessed far greater knowledge of the
world’s oceans. China and India were also significantly wealthier than Europe. In
1400, China possessed the world’s largest mechanised industry, producing cotton,
silks, porcelains and firearms. The Chinese also engaged in extensive regional
and even intercontinental trade. By the early 1400s, Chinese ships were trading in
the Persian Gulf and East Africa, and it is even possible that the Chinese might
have reached the southern African coast (which we know now as the western
Cape) in the 14th century.
• The building of states. In various parts of the world, extensive state-building occurred
before these regions came into contact with Europe. This contrasts markedly
with Europe, where states were weak. The Aztecs, for example, with their base
in Mexico, built an empire that stretched from the Caribbean Sea to the Pacific
Ocean, and incorporated between 11 and 25 million people within their area of
control. The Inca built an empire that included present-day Peru, Chile, Bolivia and
Ecuador, incorporating between 7 and 9 million people. In China, between 1368
and 1644, the Ming dynasty ruled over a massive empire of 200 million people.
We can therefore see that in around the years 1000 to 1400, significant powers
dominated large parts of Asia and South America (all outside Europe). These
dominant societies did not, however, use their power to expand to other regions of
the world, and indeed most experienced decline as they reached their peak. Reasons
include rapid population growth, a decline in agricultural production, technological
stagnation, and a breakdown in state authority which saw power devolved to localised
levels in smaller regions.
24
LEARNING UNIT 2: The establishment of a dutch settlement at the Cape
Thus, by 1500, when most of the world’s powerful societies had lost momentum,
European power began to assert itself in a major way.
Europe slowly began its rise to dominance after a catastrophic plague in the
14th century killed large numbers of people, perhaps as much as 40 per cent of the
European population. Some historians have argued that this provoked a deep crisis
for European ruling classes. The decline in the numbers of peasants (or dependent
workers on the land owned by the ruling classes in Europe) following the plague
meant a decline in income received by the ruling classes, or nobility. The nobility
therefore tried to restore its position by demanding more labour services from the
peasants. This resulted in widespread peasant unrest across large parts of Europe, and
encouraged the European nobility to look elsewhere for ways of increasing revenue.
This saw them beginning to explore new areas outside Europe. If they could find,
seize and distribute resources outside of Europe, the wealth they obtained would
generate additional surplus for them. Essentially, the success of these new ventures
set Europe upon the path of world-wide conquest and dominance.
In addition, in the period after the plague, Europe also experienced significant
improvements in agricultural productivity, and strong states began to emerge. Most
important among them were Portugal, Spain, France, England and the Netherlands.
The two which were initially most influential around Africa, and particularly southern
Africa, were Portugal and the Netherlands.
2.3 THE EMERGENCE OF PORTUGAL AS A WORLD POWER

Portugal was the first European state to embark upon sustained overseas expansion.
At the time that expansion occurred, during the 1400s, this seemed unlikely. Portugal
was a poor agricultural country, with a population of only about one million people.
How could so small a country have been responsible for such major exploration
and discoveries? Some historians have argued that Portuguese expansion was solely
due to the role of its chief maritime patron, Infante Henrique (otherwise known as
Prince Henry, the Navigator). Infante Henrique was a member of the nobility as
well as an important merchant. He was also Administrator of the Order of Christ, a
Christian order dedicated to countering Muslim power. Between the years 1410 and
1460, Infante Henrique sponsored a large number of voyages down Africa’s Atlantic
coast. But this was not a sufficient explanation of Portuguese expansion.
Other historians have suggested that the declining population following the plague
meant that the nobility needed to search for labour. This does not seem likely,
however, because large numbers of slaves were imported into Portugal. It is also
unlikely that Portugal went in search of food, as some have suggested, since there
were no serious food shortages.
The most likely explanation seems to be that Portuguese overseas expansion was
motivated by the search for resources by Portugal’s nobility. The king of Portugal at
the end of the 1400s acknowledged that the great majority of those who left Europe
did so for profit.
Europeans certainly had knowledge of the extensive gold fields of West Africa, an
area which had been a source of gold for countries for many centuries. While Infante
Henrique was certainly motivated by the desire to convert people to Christianity,
he was also attracted by the prospects for material wealth. Members of the nobility
HSY1512/125

and merchants who began to settle outside Portugal discovered many opportunities
for material gain.
Geographical factors certainly aided Portuguese expansion. The country was well-
placed to commence overseas expansion, because it was part of Europe that was
closest to Africa. Portugal was also able to take advantage of favourable wind systems
prevailing down the African coast. What has been called the ‘maritime revolution’
of the 15th and 16th centuries was really the discovery of the wind systems of the
world. By the middle of the 15th century, the Portuguese had learnt to navigate their
ships according to these wind systems.
Portuguese expansion underwent several notable phases during the 15th century,
each of which built on the former one, and each seeing Portuguese influence further
and further away from Portugal itself:
• In 1415, the Portuguese captured Ceuta in Morocco. Here they learnt details of
the gold routes of the Sahara Desert, to the south of Ceuta.
• Between 1419 and 1460, the North Atlantic islands of Madeira, Azores and Cape
Verde were respectively settled. These islands provided a base from which to
explore the Atlantic Ocean.
• By 1460, expansion along the west coast of the African mainland was beginning
to develop, when the Portuguese reached Sierra Leone.
• By 1471, Portuguese sailors reached the so-called Gold Coast.
• In 1483, Portuguese traders entered Congo.
• In 1488, Bartholomeus Dias rounded the Cape of Good Hope (in southern Africa)
in the hope of finding a sea route to the Indian subcontinent.
• Finally, in 1497, the aristocrat Vasco da Gama navigated all the way to India,
round the Cape and via east Africa. This opened the way to the highly profitable
spice trade with parts of India and the East Indies.
The Portuguese navigation of the entire Atlantic coast of Africa was therefore a slow
process. It took Portugal roughly 100 years to accomplish this task. In the process
the Portuguese established themselves all along the coast by building forts at many
places, and this had lasting consequences for Africans right into the 20th century.
In the north Atlantic, the Portuguese established themselves on Cape Verde and
Sao Tomé; in central Africa at Luanda, off the coast of present-day Angola; and on
the east African coast, on the Indian Ocean, they developed a strong presence on
the Mozambique coast.
Once these key bases in Africa were established, the Portuguese were in a position
to begin to control the Indian Ocean spice trade. Pepper, by far the most important
spice, came from the Indian coast, while cinnamon came from Sri Lanka, and cloves,
nutmeg and mace from the Maluku and the Banda Islands. Although the Portuguese
were never able to monopolise the spice trade to Europe, by the 1560s, they were
responsible for half the spices that reached Europe.
The exploration of the African coast made Portugal, with its small population,
extremely wealthy. After the discovery of the Gold Coast, large quantities of gold
found its way to Lisbon. Crucial, also, was the trade in slaves and spices, and Portugal
became one of the leading states of Europe as a result of the profits that this trade
bestowed. By the beginning of the 17th century, Lisbon was the third largest city in
Europe. Portugal held almost exclusive control over slave trading out of Africa from
about the 1450s to 1600. Portuguese forts were strategically located to control the
26
growing Atlantic slave trade, and the profits of the trade in slaves made continual
exploration possible.
This is not to suggest that the Portuguese were simply able to defeat and conquer
Africans. They entered into many treaties and agreements with different Africans
along the coast, and many Africans were able to engage in this trade on their own
terms. Many African coastal rulers were presented with gifts or tribute by the
Portuguese in return for the right to trade. The profits were much more favourable
to the Portuguese, however, and by the 1500s, the kings of Portugal derived almost
three-quarters of their wealth and revenue from the trade in Indian spices, African
gold and African slaves.
Although the Portuguese were the first European power to sail around the Cape
of Good Hope, they made little attempt to establish a settlement on the coast of
southern Africa. Even though much of southern Africa was better suited climatically to
European settlement than other parts of the continent, the area had a bad reputation
among Portuguese sailors, for several reasons:
• They found the coastline difficult to navigate, because there were dangerous sea
currents, powerful gales and limited shelters in the bays.
• In addition, they found there were no navigable rivers leading inland and there
was a very limited supply of fresh water.
• They also found the local Khoikhoi inhabitants hostile to their settlement.
Alternative bases north of southern Africa, on both the Atlantic and Indian
Ocean coasts (areas now known as Angola and Mozambique), were more suited
to their purposes.
ACTIVITY 2.1
2.4 THE RISE OF THE NETHERLANDS

The Portuguese faced increasing competition from rival European powers, particularly
Spain and the Netherlands. In 1492, the Spanish, who were also in search of spices
from the East Indies, but were exploring different routes from the Portuguese,
inadvertently stumbled across the Americas, which they called the ‘New World’.
Thereafter, they concentrated on exploring and exploiting this region, while Portugal
maintained its control of the trade from the East until rivalry from the Netherlands
began.
Until the end of the 16th century, the Dutch obtained spices through trading with
Spain and Portugal, rather than through any direct trading activities themselves.
However, war in Europe in the 1590s cut the Dutch off from a great deal of this
trade, and as a result the Dutch began to try to locate spices directly in Asia.
The process of Dutch overseas expansion was made possible by wealth founded upon
massive improvements in Dutch agriculture. Further, they began to build a huge
maritime industry. During the 16th century, the Dutch had come to dominate the
European shipping trade because they could carry goods more cheaply than any other
power. Other significant developments included urbanisation in the Netherlands, as
well as the development of Amsterdam as Europe’s main financial centre.
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By 1600, the Dutch had achieved relatively little by way of overseas expansion because
of rivalry among many competing Dutch ports and companies. This fierce competition
between Dutch companies had the effect of increasing the prices of spices in Asia,
but lowering them in Europe. It was thus proposed that numerous small companies
co-operate with one another rather than compete, and thereby advance Dutch power
at the expense of that of the other European powers, particularly Portugal. This
search for cooperation led to the founding of a powerful commercial company, called
the Dutch East India Company (or the VOC).
ACTIVITY 2.2
2.5 THE FOUNDATION AND OBJECTIVES OF THE DUTCH EAST

INDIA COMPANY (VOC)
The breakthrough in Dutch overseas expansion came with the founding of the
Vereenigde Oost-Indische Compagnie (VOC) – the Dutch East India Company – in 1602.
In this year, the States General, which was the highest governing authority in the
Netherlands, granted the VOC its charter, which gave the company certain privileges
and rights. In particular, the charter gave the VOC a trade monopoly in the East,
which meant that no other Dutch company would be allowed to trade there.
Within about a decade, the Dutch had established themselves in the Banda islands
and the Moluccas, the very centre of clove and nutmeg production in the East. The
process was violent – for example, they entirely eliminated the indigenous population
of the Banda islands. In 1619, the Dutch conquered Jakarta, or Java, where they
erected fortresses and renamed it Batavia. By 1650, they had also conquered the
island of Ceylon (later known as Sri Lanka).
So powerful did the VOC become, and in such a short time, that the Portuguese
were not able to hold their own against the superior ships, capital resources and
organisational strength of the Dutch. Their control of trade was destroyed, and
Dutch merchants were able to take advantage of the collapse of Portuguese power.
Some knowledge of the structure and objectives of the VOC is necessary to understand
the later settlement and administration of the Cape by the Dutch. The VOC operated
for commercial benefit, according to the principles of monopoly, maximum profit
and direct returns.
The monopolistic nature of the VOC operated at three levels:

• First, there was the monopolisation of trade between the East and the Netherlands:
the VOC held the sole right to trade and sell Asian goods. This was the most
valuable aspect of the monopoly, since the largest profits came from the sale of
spices in Europe.
• Second, the VOC had the sole right to trade in different parts of the East, and
this gave the company almost unlimited authority in the region. In terms of the
charter which it obtained from the state, it could make treaties with local rulers,
occupy lands and declare war.
28
• And third, the Company had the sole right to profit by internal trading activities
in the area it controlled. As a result, even where private individuals were allowed
to participate in the trading economy, the VOC could dictate what they could
produce, which products they could trade and at what prices they could sell to
the company.
Another cornerstone of VOC policy was the principle of maximum profit for
minimum expenditure. Expenditure was always kept as low as possible in order
to obtain the greatest short-term profit, and goods were always sold at the highest
possible prices.
Finally, the VOC desired direct, rather than indirect, returns. This meant that they
wished to have immediate profits on investments, and they avoided investments that
would only yield a profit after some years. The result of this policy was that little
was done to create an infrastructure (such as building roads or bridges) in Dutch
colonies, or to improve areas under VOC control.
This business model worked very effectively in the first half of the 17th century for
the VOC. It attempted to enforce its monopoly wherever it operated, and by 1650,
two-thirds of Europe’s pepper was supplied by the VOC. It also had effective control
of nutmeg and cinnamon production.
Despite controlling these resources, the VOC did not set out to be a territorial power.
It was first and foremost a business institution. Where it did occupy islands or tracts
of land, it did so merely out of a desire to control agricultural production, not to found
colonies of settlement. After it eliminated the indigenous population of the Banda
islands, it divided the land among Dutch planters, each working a holding of fifty
nutmeg trees with slave labour. But the VOC supplied the slaves, bought the crop
at its own price and taxed the planters. The majority of Dutch nationals in the East
were soldiers, seamen, artisans and officials, not colonists, although settlers – who the
Dutch called freeburghers – were allowed to settle in Batavia and a few other places.
ACTIVITY 2.3
2.6 THE FOUNDATION OF A REFRESHMENT STATION AT THE

CAPE
We have noted above that the Portuguese preferred to avoid the Cape, for various
reasons. By the 1640s, the Dutch, however, had no possessions on the African coast
or along the route to the East, and they began to investigate the potential advantages
for the obtaining of fresh water and provisions that the Cape offered.
One significant attraction for the Dutch was the favourable situation of the Cape.
It was roughly halfway between the Netherlands and the VOC-controlled territories
in the East. This strategic location made it suitable for ships on both the outgoing
and return voyages.
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In March 1647, a VOC ship, the Nieuwe Haerlem, ran aground in Table Bay. A whole
year passed before the 60-member crew of this vessel were rescued by a returning
Dutch fleet. During this time at the Cape, they built a small fort, planted and sowed
some crops, and hunted and traded with the Khoikhoi pastoralists in the area for
livestock. On their return to the Netherlands, they were able to give first-hand
information to the VOC about conditions at the Cape, which proved very valuable
to the Company.
In 1649, a report written by Leendert Janzsen (one of the stranded crew) and
Mattijs Proot gave details about the Cape. This document has become known as the
Remonstrantie. Janzsen and Proot strongly advocated to the VOC that a Dutch base be
established at the Cape. They provided a very positive description of conditions in
the region. The report asserted that water was plentiful, and that the soil was fertile
for the growth of abundant fruit and vegetables. Cattle, sheep and pigs could be
acquired without difficulty, and prospects for fishing were excellent. Table Bay was
navigable, particularly if a wharf were built and pilot boats could guide ships in the
bay. As far as the Khoikhoi inhabitants were concerned, the Remonstrantie reported
that they were not aggressive, they were interested in trade and were potentially
willing to learn Dutch and be converted to Christianity.
The Council of Seventeen, who formed the governing board of the VOC, accepted
the recommendations of the Remonstrantie and decided in March 1651 to establish a
refreshment station at the Cape. No-one thought of the Cape as a potential colony
or even a fully-fledged trading post. It was intended to be a mere stopping point for
ships on the way to and from the East.
The VOC appointed Jan van Riebeeck, a merchant employed by the company, to
establish the refreshment post, and gave him the position of commander. There was
no thought that he would be the founder of a European colony in Africa. The aim
was to keep the refreshment post as small as possible, in order to cut costs. There
was even a plan to dig a canal between False Bay and Table Bay to isolate the Cape
peninsula from the rest of the region, although this scheme was not in fact carried out.
ACTIVITY 2.4
2.7 CONCLUSION
Jan van Riebeeck and his followers settled at Table Bay, at the foot of Table Mountain,
in April 1652. Despite fairly regular contact between various Europeans (the
Portuguese, Dutch and others) and southern African groups over the previous 150
years, this date is commonly regarded as the first time that a permanent European
presence was established in southern Africa.
Although the VOC intended that the settlement of Van Riebeeck should be contained
and limited, it instead was to become an extensive colony. These developments form
the focus of the next learning unit.
30
3 LEARNING UNIT 3
3 The Dutch settlement at the Cape
LEARNING OBJECTIVES
questions:
• Explain the early objectives of the VOC at the refreshment station in Table Bay.
• Discuss early agricultural farming at the Cape.
• What were the difficulties of agricultural farmers in the south-western Cape?
• Explain why some agricultural farmers became pastoral farmers and moved into
the Cape interior.
• Discuss the lifestyle of pastoral farmers in the interior.
3.1 INTRODUCTION
When it founded the refreshment station in Table Bay, the Dutch East India Company
(the VOC) intended to establish nothing more than a small and contained settlement.
The primary objective of this settlement was to supply the needs of passing ships.
However, over the next century, and under the control of the VOC, a large and
extended colony came into being. This unit explores these developments, and this
unintended transformation.
We will look at the following issues in this unit:

• The Cape as a refreshment station
• Intensive agriculture at the south-western Cape
• The south-western Cape during the VOC period
• Pastoral farming in the Cape interior
3.2 THE CAPE AS A REFRESHMENT STATION

As we saw in the last learning unit, although the Dutch crossed the Atlantic and the
Indian oceans to trade, ideas of permanent colonisation were not their main objective.
In the charter of the VOC, there was no reference to colonisation. The aim of the
VOC was not to win overseas colonies, but was to secure trading items and trading
routes. In cases where it did occupy territories, the intention was solely to ensure its
own security and to eliminate competition from other traders.
The settlement at the Cape was not intended even to be a major trading post.
Extensive trading interests and related activities did not lead to its establishment.
The principal reason was the need to obtain supplies (fresh water and food) for the
increasing number of ships that were plying the seas between Europe and East Asia.
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Early goals
When Jan van Riebeeck arrived at the Cape in 1652 as an official of the VOC, there
was no question of establishing a colony. The place was to be a halfway station that
would place the immediate interests of the VOC above all else. The Cape would
remain a small outpost and not be expanded at all. The group of white officials and
soldiers (about 80 of them) who accompanied Van Riebeeck were all in the service of
the VOC, and their task was to obtain sufficient food for themselves and the ships
calling at Table Bay. They would do this through the produce of a small vegetable
garden that they would tend themselves and from trade with the local Khoikhoi in
the immediate vicinity. The profit motive of the VOC was paramount: the cheaper
that commodities could be supplied to passing ships and the lower the administration
and defence costs of the Cape, the better.
Van Riebeeck began to carry out his tasks with enthusiasm. He aspired to a higher
position within the VOC (at one of its possessions in the East) and he hoped to fulfil
his obligations at the Cape within a year. These essentially involved:
• the building of a fort;
• the laying out of a garden;
• the supplying of fresh provisions to VOC ships; and
• the obtaining of livestock from the Khoikhoi.
His expectations were not realised, however: he was to spend ten years at the Cape,
and when he finally left in 1662, he had not completed his instructions to establish
a compact and profitable refreshment station.
Early experiences
During the first few years, the small refreshment station teetered on the brink of
disaster. It appeared impossible to satisfy the needs of the soldiers in the fort, let
alone to supply passing ships. Indeed, at times, ship crews themselves had to save
the members of the struggling settlement from starvation, rather than the other way
round. This state of affairs was mainly the result of the VOC’s policy of saving money
wherever it could. The VOC did not supply Van Riebeeck with sufficient staff, and
the people who were based at the Cape struggled to carry out their responsibilities
in difficult circumstances.
By 1655, it appeared that the gardens were incapable of providing sufficient vegetables
and fruit, partly as a result of environmental conditions such as droughts, floods,
strong winds and infertile soil. Moreover, the cattle trade with the Khoikhoi did
not yield the required meat supply. The gardens were all planted and harvested by
the employees of the VOC, but Van Riebeeck began to believe that if these people
were permitted to farm more independently, outside the direct service of the VOC,
solutions to the problems would be found.
Thus, Van Riebeeck recommended to the VOC’s directors that a system of freeburgher
(‘free citizen’) farming be instituted at the Cape. This would allow these employees
and officials of the VOC at the Cape to make a living on their own.
32
LEARNING UNIT 3: The dutch settlement at the Cape
Emergence of freeburgher farmers

After initial reluctance, the VOC approved Van Riebeeck’s plan, particularly after
Van Riebeeck argued that this proposal would save the VOC money.
• The VOC planned to purchase the produce of the freeburghers at fixed prices,
which it would set as low as possible.
• Further, VOC officials at the Cape would also buy their own provisions from the
freeburghers themselves, thus saving the VOC the expense of supplying these
to them.
• The VOC also hoped that the freeburghers would do military service and pay
various taxes to boost VOC profits.
• Thus, the VOC became attracted by the possibility of achieving savings and
limiting its costs from the system of freeburgher farming.
In February 1657, the first nine officials, at their own request, left the service of the
VOC to make an independent living as agricultural farmers, or freeburghers. Each
of these new freeburghers received a farm of 11,3 hectares in the Rondebosch area,
some distance away from the Company gardens and the fort. This sounds small, but
such a farm in the Netherlands, where intensive agricultural methods such as the
cultivation of forage crops, fertilisation of the soil and stable feeding were applied,
would have been large. The VOC envisaged similar methods of farming at the Cape.
In addition to providing produce for human consumption, Van Riebeeck expected
the farmers to cultivate fodder crops as pasture for cattle, which, in turn, would
provide manure for the soil.
When Van Riebeeck left the Cape in 1662, there were about 60 freeburgher farmers,
but the expectation that they would make a success of farming was not yet fulfilled.
We shall now explore the reasons for this failure.
ACTIVITY 3.1
3.3 INTENSIVE AGRICULTURE AT THE SOUTH-WESTERN CAPE

The early freeburghers were unable to farm successfully. Indeed, until about 1680
(over 20 years after the freeburgher experiment began), the farmers could not satisfy
their own needs, let alone supply sufficient produce for the market.
It proved to be impossible for the freeburghers to cultivate their farms according

to the methods envisaged by Van Riebeeck and the VOC. There are a number of
reasons for this:
• Inexperience of the first freeburghers: The first generation of freeburgher farmers had no
experience of the local climate and soil conditions at the Cape. They also lacked
farming skills and the right kind of motivation, seeing that many who became
freeburghers did so not because they wanted to farm independently, but because
they wanted to distance themselves from the authority of the VOC. Thus, Van
Riebeeck and his successors complained frequently of the inefficiency of the
majority of the freeburghers.
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It is true that the first freeburghers were inexperienced, but this was not the only
reason for their difficulties.
• Financial matters: Capital investment was needed to establish a profitable, intensive
farming industry in the new area of the south-western Cape. This was beyond the
capabilities of the freeburghers themselves, most of whom had limited or even
no funds. Most of them came from backgrounds of poverty. Thus, all of them
began their farming careers by going into debt in order to establish themselves
on their new farms. The VOC could have assisted them by granting credit at a
low rate of interest, or by fixing prices high enough to enable farmers to build
up the necessary capital themselves, but it adopted neither of these strategies. Its
policy of economising, which was aimed at achieving the highest possible profit
on the lowest possible expenditure, handicapped the freeburghers and eventually
defeated the aims of the VOC as well.
• VOC control of farming and marketing activities: Apart from offering no financial
support to the freeburghers, the VOC also tried to interfere directly in many
aspects of their farming activities. It laid down what crops had to be planted, and
what seeds sown. Sometimes these instructions were irrational, such as demands
that freeburghers plant a certain quantity of rice every year, despite the fact that
rice crops failed each year, or a ban on the cultivation of tobacco, which thrived
at the Cape. Even when farmers managed to produce a good wheat crop, there
was little chance of a decent profit, since farmers were not permitted to sell their
harvests on an open market. The VOC was the sole buyer of crops, and it fixed
the prices. Despite rising production costs faced by freeburghers, prices were
seldom increased, with the result that it became impossible for the freeburghers
to accumulate sufficient capital to invest in their farming activities.
• VOC continuing its own farming activities: A further problem for the freeburghers
was that the VOC did not abandon its own farming operations after it started the
freeburgher system. In addition, although it was illegal to do so, VOC officials
themselves also farmed. These officials were in a very privileged position, because
they often allocated the best land to themselves, and they were also able to control
the market to a significant degree. Some of them, such as two governors, Simon
van der Stel and his son Willem Adriaen, were wealthy and well known, but
there were others too. Such competition from VOC officials who were farmers
contributed to the difficulties faced by the freeburghers.
• Climate and soil: Environmental factors also played a role in contributing to the
initial failure of agriculture. Farmers suffered heavy losses on account of periodic
droughts, floods, and the destruction caused by strong south-easterly and north-
westerly winds during summer and winter respectively. In 1665, for instance, some
farmers could not even recover enough seed for the following season, because
of the drought and the heat. In addition, soil in some areas was very stony, or in
other areas very sandy and infertile. Without proper implements, draught oxen and
fertiliser, it was almost impossible for the freeburghers to produce a good harvest.
• Labour issues: Another problem that seriously handicapped the freeburghers was
a chronic shortage of labour. It was initially hoped that the Khoikhoi could
be employed as labourers, but when this proved impossible – mainly because
the Khoikhoi were a nomadic people who were unfamiliar with agricultural
farming and refused to give up their independent hunter-herding lifestyle – Van
Riebeeck was compelled to make VOC soldiers available as labourers. This form of
labour, however, was both expensive and in short supply. Further, soldiers lacked
agricultural skills and frequently refused to work or they deserted. Labourers
from the Netherlands were almost impossible to recruit, as few people wished to
leave that country for destinations far away about which they knew little in order
34
to be labourers. Immigrants who did come to the Cape had no desire to work as
labourers, but preferred to try to farm themselves, and hence required labourers
themselves. When immigrants did arrive, especially during the administration of
Simon van der Stel, the situation worsened rather than eased. The issue of labour
difficulties caused many freeburghers to seek other forms of income and lessen
their dependence on crop farming.
In an attempt to solve the labour problem, slaves were imported in ever-increasing
numbers from 1658 onwards. The VOC did not strongly support the importation
of slaves, because their experience in the East had shown that when the Dutch
became slave owners, they were reluctant to work themselves. Initially, in any case,
slaves did not solve the labour problems, both because they were untrained as
agricultural workers and because freeburgher farmers lacked the capital to be able
to buy them. Towards the end of the 17th century, however, when larger numbers
of slaves were imported during the administration of Simon van der Stel, the labour
problem eased and slaves became the most important source of farm labour.
(We will look at the importance of slavery in more detail in Learning Unit 5.)
The combination of low grain prices, high production costs, labour difficulties and
repeated crop failures affected agriculture so negatively that many freeburghers
could not make a proper living and fell deeper into debt. By 1664, the situation had
deteriorated to the point that the VOC decided to allocate church collections and
money from some fines to assist needy freeburghers. Six years later, in 1670, the crisis
in freeburgher farming had deepened further and the complete collapse of wheat
farming was imminent. After desperate petitions from the freeburghers, the VOC
agreed to increase the price of wheat, although its main motive was to prevent the
collapse of the entire refreshment station, rather than merely to assist the freeburghers.
Despite this price increase, many farmers could still not produce crops at a profit.
Some freeburghers had to abandon farming completely, because of bankruptcy and

poverty. Many asked to be re-employed by the VOC, and some left the Cape completely,
returning either to the Netherlands or going to the East. A few explored possibilities
of becoming artisans, fishermen or bakers in Cape Town – the small town that was
developing around the harbour in Table Bay and the fort – but here, too, the VOC
applied strict controls. It employed its own tradesmen, so independent artisans were
restricted to working for the small numbers of freeburghers and could therefore
hardly make a proper living. Also, as soon as any economic pursuit started to show
a profit, the VOC took it over. This happened in the case of seal-hunting, whale-oil
refining and fishing. The VOC generally prevented any chance of a person making
an independent living from any kind of trade.
The arrival of Governor Simon van der Stel

After the arrival of Simon van der Stel as Governor of the Cape in 1679, the situation
changed. He promoted the expansion of the settlement through a new land allocation
system. He issued land to prospective freeburghers on a freehold basis, giving each
farmer as much land as he thought he could cultivate. The first freeburghers of the
Stellenbosch district were allocated large stretches of land next to the rivers, and
these farms were large enough to enable the farmers to make a living using extensive
agricultural methods. This meant that they occupied as large an area as possible with
little or no attention to conserving or improving the land (as happened with intensive
farming). They did not grow clover or other forage crops, nor did they graze their
cattle in cultivated areas, but used the open fields adjoining their properties for this
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purpose, having been given access by Van der Stel to large communal grazing areas
that surrounded their freehold land. This meant the loss of manure to fertilise the
lands. This led to an increase in stockfarming, and to a wider and sparser distribution
of the freeburgher population.
In time, overproduction became a problem, especially after increasing numbers of

immigrants arrived during the administration of Van der Stel. Wheat prices were
raised considerably as an incentive to wheat farmers to produce more. As a result,
by the end of the 17th century, wheat production had risen to the point where the
Cape not only supplied its own needs but could start exporting a surplus. However,
the isolation of the Cape market and the consequent high cost of transportation
presented serious obstacles to successful exports. Large stocks of wheat began to
rot during the 1690s owing to these difficulties in selling wheat. As a result, farmers
began to limit wheat production and plant only for their own needs.
Wheat farmers were now compelled to seek other sources of income or to cultivate
different crops. Some turned to stock farming, while others turned to extensive
farming. Because the veld in the south-western Cape provided limited grazing for
livestock, large areas of pasture were required to support livestock. Wheat was grown
on an extensive rather than an intensive basis: instead of intensively planting and
fertilising small patches of land to obtain a high yield, farmers sowed wheat over
a wide area, which was not fertilised or carefully tended. Yields per unit of land
therefore became extremely low.
The VOC made little effort to oppose this trend. On the contrary, grazing rights
to unused land were freely granted. The VOC now began to go against its policy of
maintaining a contained settlement at the Cape, to ensure that sufficient grain and
meat were produced. Van Riebeeck himself had even begun to see that the policy
was doomed to failure. Before his departure in 1662, he conceded that the small
area which he had initially believed would support 1 000 families was not able to
accommodate more than about 15 farms. By the end of the 17th century, the compact
settlement envisaged by the VOC did not exist at all. It was evident that most farmers
were unable to make a living from intensive agriculture alone. Extensive farming,
supplemented by livestock farming to a greater or lesser extent, had to be introduced
for people to survive, and was becoming the main form of agriculture at the Cape.
Thus, livestock farming was initially a supplementary economic activity to wheat

cultivation, but it was to grow significantly and even become more popular than
crop farming. This is revealed in the records of the period: in 1673, the livestock
herds of freeburghers numbered about 600; these had grown to 1 000 by 1682 and
to 2 600 by 1689.
ACTIVITY 3.2
36
3.4 THE SOUTH-WESTERN CAPE DURING THE VOC PERIOD

As we have stressed, the VOC never envisaged territorial expansion at the Cape.
The dispersal of white people throughout the south-western Cape during the 17th
and 18th century was not initially the result of a deliberate colonisation policy. In
addition, the VOC rarely attempted to bring people to the Cape, so the number of
immigrants was never large.
For the Dutch people, there was little incentive to leave the Netherlands at this time,
as it was relatively prosperous and there was no political or religious persecution
from which people wished to escape. Those who did emigrate chose to go to the
East Indies. The Cape, with its poverty and uncertain future, held little appeal.
Although the Dutch were therefore sometimes reluctant settlers at the Cape, Europeans
from other countries did immigrate there. By the end of the 17th century, roughly
20 per cent of the Cape settlers were of German descent. Many Germans fled to
the Netherlands after the devastating Thirty Years War in Europe (1618–1648) and
some of these people joined the VOC as soldiers. In this way, some ended up at the
Cape, and became freeburghers. In 1688, the Cape also experienced an unexpected
influx of French refugees (Huguenots) as settlers. They had fled from France to the
Netherlands to avoid religious persecution. These German and French settlers were
gradually assimilated into the Dutch settlement.
In 1717, the VOC decided to try to end white immigration completely, and allow the
economy to be boosted by the importation of slaves only. Thereafter, white population
growth was mainly dependent on natural increase. By the end of the VOC period
in 1795, the white population numbered about 27 000 people.
The white population was unevenly distributed between Cape Town, which became
the only town of a substantial size during the 17th and 18th centuries, the farms of
the south-western Cape and people who left the area of settlement and moved into
the Cape interior.
Cape Town
Cape Town, where the white settlement began, and where the VOC had hoped that
it would be permanently contained, had about 1 000 inhabitants by 1710. By the end
of the 18th century, this had grown to about 16 500 people, of whom about one-third
were of European background. Despite this increase in the number of inhabitants, the
harbour town continued to be regarded by the VOC as no more than a refreshment
station. For the Cape settlers, however, it was the most important market, and the
place where all goods were traded, exported and imported. The economy was largely
dependent on the number of ships that called at the harbour. This number fluctuated
greatly, depending on the amount of trade Europeans were conducting and whether
or not European powers were at peace or at war. The ships did not engage in official
trade only, but also offered good opportunities for smuggling, of which some Cape
Town dwellers were able to take advantage.
Cape Town was the home of a large number of VOC officials. The senior officials
formed a small, closely knit group. Many were related to each other. They wielded
considerable power because of their position within the VOC and because they were
members of the governing structures of the Company. Although some of these
officials had contact with the freeburgher farmers of the south-western Cape, they
often tended to disregard the farmers, and it is not surprising that many farmers
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accused officials of having no interest in their welfare and of offering them little
support.
VOC officials in the lower ranks formed another group. Their salaries were very
low, and it was common knowledge that many of them supplemented their income
through private trading or smuggling. They sometimes remained at the Cape for
lengthy periods but, like the senior officials, they could be transferred to the VOC’s
territories in the East.
A relatively large number of soldiers were stationed in Cape Town. Not all were Dutch,
but included Germans, French, Danes and other Europeans. Many of them had signed
five-year contracts with the VOC, and were displaced and impoverished persons.
Few soldiers renewed their contracts, and when they left the Cape and returned to
the Netherlands, they often left their children, born in many cases to slave women,
behind. For a few, however, social advancement was possible, and some came to
occupy senior positions in the VOC administration or became wealthy freeburghers.
The ordinary white citizens of Cape Town made a living from renting accommodation,
ox-wagons and slaves, and from trading and smuggling. Some enjoyed a high standard
of living, others less so.
The majority of Cape Town’s population consisted of ‘free blacks’ (slaves who were
granted freedom on an individual basis – see Learning Unit 5), slaves and Khoikhoi.
Various trades were practised by free blacks, who constituted a small percentage
(about 10 per cent) of the free population. They had occupations such as tailors
and shoemakers, builders and bricklayers, harness- and saddle-makers, fishermen,
bakers and vegetable sellers. Many of the free blacks struggled for survival. An
official report in 1732 described the majority of free blacks as ‘very poor’. Some of
them did succeed in making a good living, and a few even became rich enough to
become slave owners, but this was very rare. Socially they tended to be excluded
by the white community, even though many worshipped in the main Cape Town
church and received a Christian education. By the end of the 18th century, significant
numbers of them had converted to Islam.
From the beginning of the VOC settlement, there were some Khoikhoi people living
in Cape Town, but their numbers were small. Most worked as servants.
There was also an Asian, more specifically an Indonesian and Malay, element to Cape
Town’s population. This came about because of the connections through the VOC
between Cape Town and the East. VOC officials often served duties in the East
before settling in Cape Town, and they, together with the slaves they brought with
them, introduced various Asian fashions and customs, in architectural, furniture
and cooking styles. The diversity of people at the Cape gave Cape Town a somewhat
multilingual character. Besides Dutch and the northern European languages, other
languages included Portuguese and Malay. The official language was high Dutch, as
this was the language of the senior VOC officials from the Netherlands.
Agricultural districts of the south-western Cape

In the south-western Cape lay the agricultural districts outside Cape Town. Among
the white farming population, there were close ties, of language, culture and religious
affiliation. There was also a lack of job opportunity, and almost all of these people
had to become farmers, which contributed to the formation of a relatively close-
knit community with a common destiny. The community was divided, however, into
38
two distinct groups, or classes: white people who constituted the free population,
and black people who formed the slave or labouring class. Although a few slaves
on farms attained their legal freedom and became free blacks, almost all of them
moved away from the agricultural districts to settle in Cape Town.
By the 1730s, the majority of the white population had been born in the Cape, and
were not first-generation immigrants. Different degrees of wealth determined their
social status. Some were wealthy farm owners, while others were less well-off and
had to struggle to maintain their position, particularly as they could not compete
with the wealthy farmers who were favoured by the VOC administration. There
were also landless white people who worked for other farmers, mainly as overseers.
The economic position of the farmers, whose chief farming activities were the
production of grain and wine, was not always stable, since their farming activities
were subject to the Cape market. As we have seen, the great majority struggled
greatly before the 1680s. Thereafter, for the next century, at times they enjoyed great
prosperity, such as between 1781 and 1784, when a French fleet was stationed at the
Cape to protect the Cape against a possible attack by the English. The presence of
the French caused a great demand for agricultural produce, and prices soared. At
other times, however, prices were so low that crop cultivation was uneconomical,
and many abandoned agriculture for stock farming.
The wine farmers were the only group that, to some extent, practised intensive
agriculture according to the European model. They planted their vineyards in
sheltered valleys, out of the path of the south-east wind and in well-drained soil.
The Cape wines, however, were of relatively poor quality, and the excessive sunshine
tended to make them sweet and heavy, which did not suit the European market.
Outdated manufacturing techniques contributed towards the low quality. There
was little incentive to improve the standard, since the authorities paid low prices
and purchased only a limited amount of wine and brandy. Wine was nonetheless an
important commodity, and was in great demand in Cape Town taverns and boarding
houses, and on ships that called at the settlement. The VOC authorities also benefited
from the sale of wine, as they had a monopoly, as well as from the taxes they imposed.
Wheat farming, in contrast with wine farming, was practised on a more extensive
scale. The farmers who lived relatively close to Cape Town earned a good income,
but those who lived further away had their profits cut by high transport costs, and
so had to supplement their incomes from stock farming. Wheat production still
generally rose throughout the 18th century.
Both wine and wheat farmers owned their land according to the freehold system.
Land allocated, inherited or purchased according to this system became the farmer’s
property. There were, however, certain conditions. In the early VOC period, the
owner had to pay one-tenth of his harvest to the VOC. It was also frequently stated
that an owner had to cultivate all his land, and that if he failed to do so, his farm
could be expropriated.
The success of the farmers in the south-western Cape depended on having sufficient
labour at their disposal. This was mainly met by slave labour, but slaves were often
expensive and hence affected the economic viability of farms. The Cape farmers
were also reliant on the provision of roads to Cape Town for the transporting of their
produce. In this regard, the VOC’s desire to keep costs to a minimum negatively
affected farmers. The VOC only spent money on fortifications around Cape Town and
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on public works directly related to shipping. Even by the 1770s, roads were not much
more than wagon tracks, and there were still no bridges in the south-western Cape.
ACTIVITY 3.3
3.5 PASTORAL FARMING IN THE CAPE INTERIOR

We have discussed the development of the Cape settlement and changes to agriculture,
as intensive farming methods gave way to extensive farming and livestock rearing.
Now we will consider the emergence of a community of white hunter-herders who
abandoned agriculture altogether. They were often called the ‘trekboers’ – which
literally means ‘journeying farmers’ or ‘migrant farmers’.
By the end of the VOC period (1795) they comprised two-thirds of the white
farming community at the Cape. They extended the frontiers of the Cape to the
Gariep (Orange) River in the north and the Great Fish River in the east. This
expansion greatly widened the area of interaction between white colonists and
indigenous peoples. It also gave rise to a colony that was sparsely populated and
economically backward.
We will consider the following:

• the origins of the trekboer economy
• white expansion into the Cape interior
• characteristics of the trekboer lifestyle
The origins of the trekboer economy

The dispersal of the trekboers completed the transition of the Cape from a refreshment
station into a colony. This process began with the release of the first freeburghers in
1657. The trekboers, to a far greater extent than the other whites at the Cape, weakened
ties with Europe and began to regard themselves as permanent inhabitants of Africa.
Whites began to move away from the south-western Cape at the beginning of the
18th century, some 50 years after Van Riebeeck established the refreshment station
in Table Bay. There were a number of reasons for this. These have sometimes been
divided into two sets, called ‘push factors’ and ‘pull factors’. The ‘push factors’ were
those issues which forced (or ‘pushed’) some whites out of the south-western Cape,
while the ‘pull factors’ were those which attracted (or ‘pulled’) them into the interior.
The ‘push factors’ essentially consisted of the problems facing most of the freeburghers
in the south-western Cape, which we discussed above in Section 3.3.
Remember that by the end of the 17th century, although these problems had affected
many whites in the south-western Cape, some whites had managed to establish
successful farms, and that agricultural activities, particularly grain and wine farming,
supplemented by pastoral farming, were well established.
40
Many whites, however, found that they were unable to make a living as independent
farmers in the south-western Cape, and so they began to explore the Cape interior.
They were attracted by a number of factors.
Let us examine these in a little detail:

• Stock-farming: Stock-farming offered an alternative means of making a living to
many of the struggling small-scale cultivators in the south-western Cape. The
undeveloped Cape economy offered few openings in the trades or in commerce,
and potentially profitable enterprises such as whaling and fishing were monopolised
by the VOC. Jobs on the farms of other freeburghers were few, and often regarded
as demeaning. Menial and hard labour was done by slaves. The most viable option
was to turn to a herding and hunting life. This afforded economic independence,
which many whites craved above all else.
Some members of trekboer society did not register land for themselves. The young
and the poor, and even those who just desired another lifestyle, could commence
their herding activities on the loan farms of others as bywoners (landless squatters).
In the 18th century, this was not regarded as demeaning. While land was still
plentiful, it was readily shared, as the bywoner provided welcome assistance and
additional security on farms.
Not all trekboers concentrated on pastoralism. Some kept small herds but subsisted
mainly by hunting, trading and raiding. These trekboers tended to be single
men with no family ties or other social commitments – they were often called
eenlopendes – and did not conform to colonial society. They were often more
nomadic and formed closer ties with indigenous communities than the family
groups, who were the majority of trekboers. Although relatively few in number,
they were a significant element in the community as they were the ‘cutting edge’
of white expansion.
For all these different pioneers, the interior of the Cape offered the opportunity
of remaining economically independent as long as they could maintain themselves
on the natural resources there.
The main attraction of the trekboer life was the relative ease with which a man
could establish himself as a pastoralist. Stock farmers were not subject to many
of the problems that confronted the freeburghers.
• Environment: Problems such as drought and exhausted soil could be overcome
by the adoption of a semi-nomadic lifestyle. Unlike the agriculturalist, who was
tied to his cultivated lands, and above all to the market, where he had to sell his
produce, the trekboer could migrate when an area could no longer support him
and his herds.
• Capital: A stock-farmer needed little capital. He did not require special equipment
as the agriculturalist did; land and labour suitable for pastoral farming could be
found more easily, and herds could be built up with little difficulty.
The first settlers did not bring livestock with them to the Cape, but acquired
animals through trade with the Khoikhoi, despite the ban imposed on such
independent and individual trading that the VOC tried to enforce. In this way,
as well as through uncontrolled breeding, white-owned stock increased from
350 head in 1658 to over 76 000 by the end of the 17th century, and thereafter
individually owned herds grew very rapidly. For example, by 1673 some of the
largest cattle holdings were in the region of 600 head; by 1689, the biggest
numbered as many as 2 600.
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• Land: The free issue of grazing permits by the VOC after 1703, and later extensions
of the loan farm scheme, effectively gave trekboers access to unlimited land for
much of the 18th century. When grazing was exhausted in one area, the trekboer
simply migrated and settled on a new loan farm. He was therefore spared the high
price that freehold landowners had to pay for agricultural land in the settled south-
western Cape, as well as the capital and labour costs required for improving land.
• Labour and farming skills: Stock farming was far less labour intensive than agricultural
farming. In addition, the services of uprooted and impoverished Khoikhoi were
available at small cost to trekboers. Khoikhoi labourers had been of little use to
crop farmers, since as a pastoral people they were unreliable and lacked expertise
in agriculture. But they were very competent herdsmen, and trekboers could rely
on their experience and knowledge. The use of Khoikhoi labour also spared the
trekboers from the expense of purchasing slaves.
• Marketing problems: Whereas agriculturalists had to transport perishable produce
at great cost over difficult routes, stock-farmers could drive their animals to the
market. However, as the trekboers moved into the interior, even slaughter-stock
suffered from the long trip back to Cape Town. Also, as markets were controlled
by the VOC, profits were not sufficient to encourage trekboers to trade on a large
scale. Hunting and pastoralism offered a good subsistence base for trekboers,
however, which reduced their dependence on the market. To a large extent, many
avoided the problems of the market altogether.
ACTIVITY 3.4
White expansion into the Cape interior

The VOC had not envisaged territorial expansion; indeed, it opposed it, so the
dispersal of whites into the interior was not the result of any planned colonisation.
Some of the governors, such as Simon van der Stel, were interested in colonising
further, but their influence was short-lived and did not reflect VOC policy.
The reasons for the extension of the area of white settlement over a large area of the
Cape must be found in a combination of local circumstances and not in deliberate
policy or official initiative.
• Population growth: In 1707, the VOC abandoned assisted immigration to the Cape,
when it sponsored whites who had expressed a desire to go to the Cape to help
to make the settlement profitable. After this, population growth at the Cape was
largely self-generated, apart from a trickle of former VOC employees who elected
to stay on after their contracts with the VOC had expired. White population
increase was relatively strong throughout the 18th century, owing to the very
large families which were common in rural society at this time. Sons of farmers
established independent households, especially on the death of their fathers.
Thus, expansion of the area of white settlement accelerated with the maturing
of each generation.
42
• Stock farming: In the first fifty years of the VOC settlement, it was the agriculturalist
freeburghers in the south-western Cape who led expansion, in their search for
more fertile farming land. Thereafter, the increase in stock-farming provided the
major impetus to expansion. As herds increased, however, they could no longer
be accommodated only in the settled area. The VOC initially issued grazing
concessions to farmers further inland, and these were used seasonally, particularly
in summer, when grazing land in the dry south-western Cape became parched.
Soon, however, livestock was left permanently at cattle posts in the interior and
stock-farmers themselves moved there.
From the beginning of the 18th century, dispersal of whites into the interior grew
rapidly. Governor W.A. van der Stel encouraged this by granting grazing licences
more freely than before. Later governors did not give similar support to stock-
farmers, but the process of stock-farming in the interior had its own momentum
by then, and there was little they could do to control farming in the interior.
The extensive use of natural resources for hunting and pastoralism became a
way of life for an increasing proportion of the white population. Geographical
expansion was the inevitable result.
In 1717, the northern-most cattle post was at Piketberg; by 1725 it had moved to
the Olifants River, and by 1750 farmers had spread as far as the Kamiesberg area.
Further expansion north was limited by semi-desert conditions and Khoikhoi
and San resistance. Other trekboers moved in an easterly direction, along the
mountain ranges. When Swellendam was established in 1745, to administer the
eastern parts of the settlement, trekboers had already reached the Great Brak River
area, and some were moving beyond this region. By 1770, they reached Bruintjes
Hoogte and certainly would have trekked further had they not been halted in
the vicinity of the Fish River by the south-westerly expansion of Xhosa farmers.
• VOC land policy: Whereas stock-farming and territorial expansion were not
encouraged directly by the VOC, its allocation of land encouraged these
developments. Its original grants of land to freeburghers were not suitable for Cape
conditions, as the area of land granted was too small. By the 1680s, freeburghers
and immigrants in the Stellenbosch, Drakenstein and Franschhoek areas were
given full possession of land allotments of reasonable size for cultivation, and
then given grazing rights (but not ownership) to adjoining common land. These
allocations were orderly, as the land was surveyed and registered by the VOC,
but could not keep pace with demand.
To satisfy the need for more land, especially grazing land, a system of free grazing
permits was introduced from 1703. Under this system, farmers could graze their
stock on land which was not formally surveyed and registered. This gave way in
1714 to the leeningsplaats (loan farm) system, in terms of which farmers themselves
could select and register a vast area of land at the cost of a small rental payment
each year.
Under this system, the land did not belong to the farmer, and the grant could be
revoked by the VOC. In practice, however, the farmer’s tenure of the land was
secure. Land itself could technically not be inherited or sold, since it was on loan
from the VOC, but since structures built on farms could be sold, land began to
trade between farmers, sometimes at significant values.
Also, it was very simple for people to acquire their own loan farms; they had
merely to go out and claim some land. This encouraged rapid expansion into
the interior, as children of pastoral farmers moved to claim their own land. In
addition, land that was depleted by overgrazing was readily abandoned for new
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farms further inland. Loan farms in the interior were also large (usually about
6 000 acres), which further encouraged rapid expansion away from the south-
western Cape into the interior.
• Hunting opportunities: Hunting was an important aspect of the trekboer economy,
as is indicated by the fact that the first grazing licences were applied for in good
hunting areas. Trekboer hunters with horses and firearms were able to deplete
game in a given area far more rapidly than indigenous hunters. In addition, their
livestock depleted the grazing resources of wild animals. Often it was the hunters
who led the way into the interior, in their quest for game.
• Breakdown of Khoikhoi society: As you will see in Learning Unit 4, the breakdown
of Khoikhoi society meant that land was vacated for white expansion. Many
Khoikhoi retreated into the interior in an attempt to escape the areas of white
settlement, but in doing so they unwittingly guided whites to good hunting and
grazing areas.
• Environmental factors: Once the trekboers had penetrated the mountain ranges which
surrounded the south-western Cape, expansion into the interior was relatively
easy, in that there were few significant geographical barriers. Although parts of
the interior were very dry, which meant that grazing could be quickly exhausted,
the open plains facilitated travel. The favourable climate and distribution of
vegetation also did not restrict expansion.
• Psychological factors: Some attitudes played a role in the process of expansion. The
desire for independence from the VOC and the aversion to manual labour of
many whites were significant factors. Individualism and intolerance were two
characteristics which manifested themselves in the interior, and contributed to the
tendency to maintain distance from neighbours and government. The compulsion
to keep moving seems to have become very embedded in trekboer society.
Expansion did not take place without resistance from indigenous groups. Many
Khoikhoi communities had fragmented by the beginning of the 18th century,
but they continued to resist encroachment on their traditional land, mainly by
small-scale but persistent raiding, which delayed and diverted expansion, especially
in the northern areas. Scattered San bands were often even more of an obstacle
to the trekboers. Totally dependent on the environment for their survival, they
were most threatened by advancing white pastoralists, and resisted fiercely and
effectively in some regions, such as in the Sneeuberg region.
• The limits of expansion: Children of trekboers tended to follow the lifestyle of their
parents, thus accelerating the expansion process. In the short term, hunting and
stock farming offered considerable advantages, enabling subsistence where few
alternatives existed. But the advantages soon disappeared when the increase
in population placed excessive demands on available land, and long-term
disadvantages started to become obvious.
To improve farming methods, stock farmers needed markets, supplies, and better
transport. These could not be provided until population density and commercial
opportunities attracted traders and merchants into the interior in sufficient
numbers to allow villages and small towns to grow. This had not happened by
the 1780s, when trekboers could no longer continue to move freely in search of
new grazing land, in both the north and the east. In the north, the region became
increasingly inhospitable, and the competition for resources more intense, while
in the east they encountered strong resistance from the Xhosa and the San people.
44
Trekboer farming methods were, in addition, wasteful, and had led to a serious
deterioration in the quality of land and grazing. These factors led to a severe
crisis during the 1780s and 1790s, when continued and relatively unhindered
expansion proved impossible.
It was thus a combination of factors which led to the expansion of the area of white
settlement.
ACTIVITY 3.5
Characteristics of the trekboer lifestyle

The trekboer lifestyle was very different from that of the freeburgher farmers
of the south-western Cape. The different economic base of their society led to
the development of a distinct way of life, in some respects very similar to that of
indigenous inhabitants such as the Khoikhoi. This represented an adaptation to
local conditions, markedly different from their traditional European background.
• Trekboer economy: Hunting and pastoralism formed the economic foundation of
trekboer life. These, together with some small-scale planting, provided them
with the bulk of their food requirements and raw materials. Hunting and herding
also provided the trekboers with their only source of trade. Ivory and feathers
in particular were popular in the Cape Town market and brought good returns.
These enabled the trekboers to meet their few cash commitments, such as rentals
and taxes for their loan farms.
There seems to have been little incentive for the trekboers to become more than
marginally involved in commerce and trade. Transport was time-consuming
and hazardous, and most commodities sent to Cape Town suffered spoilage.
The livestock market was, in addition, manipulated by the VOC and prices were
frequently artificially low. Goods had either to be transported from Cape Town
by the trekboers themselves, which was difficult, or obtained from the few traders
in the interior, who could demand high prices as they had no competition.
In these circumstances, exchanges were kept to a minimum, and the trekboer
households became virtually self-sufficient, not only in food but in all respects.
They met their needs with their own skills and available materials, such as timber,
stone, animal hides and horns. There were no specialists, such as carpenters or
builders, in the interior, since there were no towns or centres of settlement where
they could practise such trades successfully.
There has been considerable debate about the extent to which trekboers were tied
into the market economy of Cape Town and the south-western Cape. Certainly,
the degree of market involvement varied. Some trekboers, particularly those closer
to the south-western Cape, were more closely tied into the market economy than
those further in the interior. In general, however, the majority only operated on
the fringes of the market-exchange economy.
• Social life: The sparse and scattered settlement in the interior resulted in physical
isolation, and consequently led to social and cultural impoverishment. With
no community life, schools or churches, intellectual and spiritual life were limited.
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Trekboer material culture was similarly restricted. In addition to the scarcity of

money and the difficulties of supply, the mobility of the trekboers prevented the
establishment of elaborate homes and the accumulation of possessions.
Domestic arrangements often appeared unsophisticated and crude. Dwellings
were often extremely simple, consisting of a single room serving many purposes:
sleeping, living and cooking arrangements would often be in a single space, which
could also serve as a livestock enclosure as well. Many trekboers, particularly the
eenlopendes, lived in their wagons or in reed shelters.
• Political life: Isolation and independence encouraged individualism, which was often
expressed in rebellion against authority. In particular, trekboers were intolerant
of all attempts to control their relations with free indigenous peoples and with
their labourers. As distances from Cape Town increased, direct control by the
administration became impossible.
Local agents of government, such as ‘landdrosts’ (magistrates) and ‘heemraden’
(representatives of rural farming communities), were introduced into the interior
only after the 1740s, and were so few and remote that their influence was limited.
Also, they lacked military power to assert their will or that of the VOC. By the
1780s and 1790s, VOC authority began to decline in the south-western Cape as
well, as the economic power of the Company began to weaken. This was the period
when conflict between trekboers and indigenous inhabitants began to increase,
as competition for land in the interior became more serious. The VOC’s lack of
military power in the interior meant that it was unable to control the settlement
patterns or the trading activities of the trekboers.
As a result, trekboers did not hesitate to take the law into their own hands, which
contributed to the turbulent relations between different groups in the interior.
Weak though the controls were, the trekboers could not entirely ignore the Cape
government. They remained dependent on the administration for supplies of
arms and gunpowder, which was a lever with which the VOC occasionally tried
to use to enforce its authority.
When the VOC did try to curb the independence of the trekboers, it was generally
met with trekboer resistance. The VOC was often uncomfortable at the way in
which trekboers appeared to alienate the Khoikhoi, especially through their plunder
of Khoikhoi livestock. There were occasional strong mutinies by trekboers against
VOC authority during the 18th century, such as the rebellion by Estienne Barbier
in 1738–1739 or that of Adriaen van Jaarsveld in 1793. In general, though, the
trekboers were able to live largely free of VOC authority during the 18th century.
ACTIVITY 3.6
3.6 CONCLUSION
By the end of the 18th century, the expansion of the trekboers was halted in the
north by harsh environmental conditions and competition for resources from various
people, while in the east they encountered the Xhosa who presented a formidable
barrier to their continued advance. Their fortunes and their interaction with the
people they encountered in these regions will be explored in Learning Units 6 and 7.
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4 LEARNING UNIT 4
4 Khoisan communities and the impact of
colonialism
LEARNING OBJECTIVES
questions:
• What was the situation of Khoisan communities in the south-western Cape before
contact with people from Europe?
• Discuss early encounters between the Khoisan and Europeans.
• Explore the impact of the establishment and expansion of the Dutch settlement
on the Khoisan before 1700.
• How do we account for the disintegration of Khoisan societies in the south-
western Cape by the early 18th century?
• Discuss the experiences of Khoisan people during the 18th century.
• What is the situation of Khoisan communities in contemporary South Africa?
The Khoikhoi and San people (the Khoisan) were independent herders, hunters
and gatherers who moved regularly from one place to another in search of greener
pastures to support themselves (see the discussion of their lifestyle in Learning Unit 1).
When they came into contact for the first time with people from Europe (initially the
Portuguese) in 1488, they had various reactions to them, which included avoidance,
peaceful trade and strong resistance and violence. Over a number of decades, they
were obliged to become used to the presence of Portuguese traders at the Cape, who
visited on a temporary basis.
After the permanent settlement of the Dutch from 1652, however, the Khoisan
became increasingly resistant to the presence of Europeans. The expansion of the
Dutch settlement into the south-western Cape and the Cape interior led to the
disintegration and impoverishment of the Khoisan.
This learning unit explores the socio-economic life of the Khoisan before their
encounter with Europeans, and then examines the impact of colonialism on their
societies. In many cases, independent herders, hunters and gatherers were reduced into
landless and dispossessed subjects of colonialism; but others adapted and continued
to survive in different ways.
4.1 THE KHOISAN BEFORE THE ADVENT OF EUROPEANS

The term ‘Khoisan’ – coined by an academic called Leonard Schultz in the 1920s –
refers to both the Khoikhoi (generally understood to be herding societies) and the
San (usually regarded as hunter-gatherers). The contemporary Khoisan revivalist
movement today also uses the term ‘Khoisan’ or ‘Khoisan’ to describe themselves.
They have sometimes been regarded as two distinct groups, but they had many
similarities – in their origins, languages, religion, and social structure. Historically,
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they comprise five main groupings – two of them, the San and the Cape Khoikhoi,
date from early times, whereas the other three, the Nama, Koranna and Griqua,
date from the colonial period.
We will sketch their economic and social life before the arrival of Europeans in
southern Africa, so that we can better understand the impact of colonialism on their
societies. Refer also to Learning Unit 1 for additional information.
Economic life
The Khoisan were hunter-gatherers and herders who secured a livelihood for
themselves by nomadic behaviour to exploit the natural resources of their areas of
settlement. They practised transhumant pastoralism, following the rains with their
livestock and setting their cattle kraals in different places as they sought to utilise
natural resources effectively.
Livestock, particularly cattle, were central in many Khoikhoi societies. Cattle were
the main source of wealth. They were not used primarily for meat (although this
did occur on special or ritual occasions) but for their milk, which was an important
part of their diet. Although cattle were herded by men, women milked both cattle
and sheep, and stored the milk in animal skin containers. Meat was obtained mainly
from the hunting of wild animals, which were hunted by men armed with bows and
poisoned arrowheads, as well as by traps made from various types of plants, branches
or skins. Cattle were also used as pack animals when the Khoisan were on the move,
and Portuguese sources also mention that Khoisan used their cattle in war, as they
were chased ahead of warriors to act as a buffer against enemies.
The Khoisan gathered wild fruits, berries, bulbs, roots and tubers as an important part
of their diet. This was done by women and young girls. Women had vast knowledge
of the veld, and gathering was an easy task for them. They had special implements
which they used to dig underground foods. These consisted of long sharp digging
sticks of various kinds. Vegetable foods that were gathered were often supplemented
with insects such as locusts.
Khoisan who lived along coastal areas used seafood as an important part of their
diet. They developed different ways of catching fish, the most common of which
were the use of hooks made from bones attached to a long string, spears to kill the
fish in shallow waters and the building of trap pools into which fish were washed
during high tides.
Trade was an important economic activity for many Khoisan communities. They
traded with each other, and in later times also with Bantu-speaking groups in the
southern African interior and with Europeans who visited the coasts near their
settlements. Items that were traded generally included products not easily available
to them, such as copper and iron. They did not mine or smelt iron and copper
themselves, and they depended on others for a supply of these two valued products.
Iron was used for making arrowheads, spearheads and ornaments. This made their
hunting activities more effective, and also enabled them to make better weapons.
Copper was used mainly for making ornaments and items such as earrings, bangles
and pendants.
48
LEARNING UNIT 4: Khoisan communities and the impact of colonialism
Social and cultural life

The Khoisan lived in groups that varied in size from as few as 20 people to groups
that were much larger. Those who survived by hunting and gathering tended to live
in much smaller groups (no more than a few family members or people connected
to them, who recognised that all could participate in decisions affecting the group)
than those who owned livestock, who settled in larger villages. Villages tended to
consist of a number of clans consisting of several families, each distinguished by its
male members, who mingled with friendly neighbouring villages to find wives and
establish new family units. A single village often consisted of ten to twelve huts, and
clusters of villages had influence over large areas of land. Groups of families that
made up a village were overseen by a headman, or leader. Group membership was
often fluid, and members often left groups for others, and allowed new people to join.
Livestock ownership was central in determining leadership of groups who owned

cattle and sheep. As the main source of wealth, livestock also conferred political
influence on the individuals who owned cattle in particular. The most powerful
leaders were generally those who owned the most livestock. Livestock gave them
influence over poorer people, through practices such as clientship; in return for their
loyalty to a livestock owner, poorer people were offered food security.
Khoisan groups often cooperated with one another in times of danger posed to a
particular area. However, conflict between them (which took the form of livestock
raiding and open warfare) was also common, and this is depicted dramatically in
some of their rock paintings. The conflicts were generally caused by one group
encroaching into another group’s hunting and grazing areas, access to which was
vital for their economic well-being.
Religious expression frequently reveals insight into the lives of different groups.
Khoisan rituals and myths point to a central concern for cattle, such as how cattle
were acquired by their ancestors. Hunting was also important within ritual expression.
Animals in Khoisan rock paintings stand at the symbolic and ritual centre of the
initiation ceremonies of numerous Khoisan groups, as well as their trance and curing
dances. They worshipped their creator god named Tsui-//Goab, who was associated
with the sky and the rain, and who was believed to reside in the ‘village in the sky’.
This was believed to be the destination of the souls of the dead Khoisan. They
prayed to their god to supply them with sufficient food and water. Some groups also
directed their prayers to the sun and the stars.
Many rituals marked the critical periods of change in a person’s life – birth, puberty,
adulthood, marriage and death. Transition rites were important within societies: the
emphasis on transition rituals to mark an individual’s change in status showed clearly
how important age was in defining status within Khoisan communities. The ritual
and festive activity which took place when a child was born often recurred in other
Khoisan rituals. Prior to delivery, the mother to be was taken to a hut where she
remained for at least seven days after delivery. After this period of seclusion, both
were ceremonially reintroduced into society. Their bodies were smeared with cow
dung, fat and buchu (a fragrant plant). The rituals of incorporation were accompanied
by a feast in which members of the kraal and blood relations from other kraals
participated.
All the Khoisan groups had medicine men (sometimes called shamans) who played
a pivotal role in their spiritual life. They were an important link between the people
and the supernatural world. Medicine men had power to heal diseases, and their
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cures took place at a dance ceremony around the fireplace, where they entered a
state of trance and used their power to heal the sick and drive away evil. They also
controlled the making of rain during their trances.
These traditions and practices built up over a number of centuries among Khoisan
people living in southern Africa, and particularly in the area known as the south-
western Cape. They were to be greatly tested as they came into contact with people
from Europe in the late 15th century and thereafter.
ACTIVITY 4.1
4.2 EARLY ENCOUNTERS BETWEEN KHOISAN AND

EUROPEANS, 1488–1652
The first recorded contact that we know of between the Khoisan and Europeans
occurred in 1488. The Cape was officially colonised by the Dutch East India Company
(the VOC) in 1652. Thus, a period of 164 years passed from the time of initial contact
between the two groups and permanent European settlement, and there were many
shifts in relationships during this period.
At first, interactions between the Khoisan and the Europeans were characterised
by curiosity, suspicion, avoidance and some peaceful trade, but violence was also a
feature. It was natural for the Khoisan to be suspicious of white people, whom they
had neither met nor seen before. They did not know what to expect from people who
looked, dressed and spoke differently from them. Certainly, however, the Khoisan
were extremely wary of the intentions of Europeans who visited the Cape.
When the Portuguese explorer Bartholomeu Dias and his crew set foot at the Cape
in 1488 (near present-day Mossel Bay), they were the first Europeans to encounter
the livestock-owning people in the region. There was little real interaction between
them, because both the Khoisan and the Europeans kept to themselves. Nine years
later, in 1497, the Khoisan encountered another Portuguese sailor, Vasco da Gama.
This meeting ended in some skirmishes, which wounded several sailors. Renowned
Portuguese sailors like Antonio da Saldanah and Francisco d’Almeida, who met the
Khoisan in 1503 and 1510 respectively, testified to similar violent encounters. These
unpleasant meetings created the impression among the Portuguese that the Khoisan
were a violent people. However, from a Khoisan perspective, they were merely
defending the land which historically belonged to them. Through these actions,
the Khoisan probably managed to delay possible settlement and colonisation by
Europeans. The Portuguese established other bases along the west and east African
coasts, and tended to avoid the Cape coast as much as possible.
This, however, did not deter other Europeans from visiting the Cape, and they could
leave neither the Khoikhoi nor their country alone. Avoiding the Cape coast on the
sea journey to the East was often not practical, especially because of its strategic
location. Sea journeys were long and difficult, often requiring many stopover points
to acquire fresh supplies from local communities. Southern Africa’s pivotal position
and the strategic location of Table Bay proved vital to seafarers. Europeans came to
feel that any voyage around the Cape without actually dropping anchor in Table Bay
50
was an error of judgement which could easily jeopardise their reaching their various
final destinations in the East.
There was occasional and infrequent contact between the white and Khoisan people
for most of the 16th century. By the 1590s, however, European exploration of new
trading routes to the East had intensified. This resulted in increased contact between
the two groups. In 1497, Da Gama and his men had bartered livestock, as had other
occasional sailors after him. However, a period of much more extensive trading in
livestock began between 1591 and 1610, when Khoisan contact with mainly English
and Dutch sailors increased because they were attracted by the livestock resources
of the Khoisan.
A new era of economic relations dominated by trade therefore began. The Khoisan
were willing to trade large numbers of cattle and sheep in return for goods such as
tobacco and iron. Iron in particular was greatly valued, because the Khoisan could
make iron weapons to improve their hunting activities and defend themselves more
effectively. The Khoikhoi also were more relaxed during this period about encounters
with white sailors, because they believed that they were only interested in trading
and not in settlement. The sailors needed fresh provisions most of all, particularly
meat, from local Khoikhoi communities. This they obtained, at prices which they
themselves found hard to believe: in the 1590s, in exchange for a few pieces of iron,
the Khoikhoi supplied the sailors with sufficient livestock to supply their ships for
long voyages.
The trading boom lasted almost two decades, but it suddenly ended in 1610, when
the iron market became flooded. The Khoisan were now sophisticated traders
who could control the terms of trade. The English responded by infiltrating the
Khoisan communities in a bid to bribe them. They even went further and captured
influential leaders, one example of whom was Coree, who was captured and taken to
England. The English hoped they could brainwash Coree to divulge information about
the Cape and its inhabitants, which could be used at a later stage, and to persuade his
people to resume the former levels of trade. Coree was not swayed in deceiving his
own people. In fact, his abduction did the English cause more harm than good. On
his return to the Cape in 1614, Coree first refused to barter any livestock at all, and
later took up arms against the English. In 1616, he drove a party of English sailors
to Robben Island, and in 1618 the Khoisan killed four English sailors in Table Bay.
As a result of this mistrust, livestock bartering came to a virtual halt until 1652.
Whereas Coree refused to become an agent and go-between to the English, Autshumato
– commonly known as Harry – was prepared to assist the Dutch. Autshumato was
the leader of a mixed group of cattleless Khoisan, called ‘Strandlopers’, who lived
along the beach in the Cape peninsula, and survived from their fishing and gathering
activities. Though cattleless, Autshumato established himself as double agent for the
Dutch and English. A versatile person who mastered both the English and Dutch
languages, he became the link and interpreter between cattle-owning Khoikhoi and
European traders. Through these activities, he showed a different response to that
of Coree to the presence of Europeans in the south-western Cape.
Of all the ships that visited the Cape coast from 1488, the one which ran aground
in 1647 most changed the course of South Africa’s history. In March 1647, a Dutch
vessel named Nieuwe Haerlem was shipwrecked in Table Bay. Although the majority
of its crew soon left on other vessels bound for Europe, about 60 men were left
stranded at the Cape for more than a year, and lived off what they could barter
from the Khoisan. Contact between the two groups was generally friendly, and
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the Khoisan probably tolerated their presence in the belief that they would shortly
depart – which indeed they did.
However, the main consequence of this episode lay in the fact that two of the
stranded sailors, Leendert Janszen and Matthijs Proot, compiled a report known as the
Remonstrantie, in July 1649. They recommended that the VOC establish a refreshment
station at the Cape. The report can be seen as a blueprint for colonisation and white
settlement. The authors argued that the Cape could play an important role in trade,
which would benefit the VOC.
The Khoisan had no knowledge of this report or its contents. No vessel called at
the Cape until April 1652, when three Dutch ships under the command of Jan van
Riebeeck docked in Table Bay with the aim of carrying out the recommendations
of the Remonstrantie and making a permanent settlement in the area.
This settlement brought an immediate end to the first phase of Khoikhoi-white

contact, which had been dominated by bartering, mutual mistrust and the creation of
negative perceptions. A new period began, during which the Dutch saw themselves
as undisputed rulers of the Cape. From a Khoikhoi perspective, of course, this
settlement represented an invasion of their land, and signalled a period of uncertainty
and increasing levels of conflict, which was to result in dispossession.
ACTIVITY 4.2
4.3 THE EXPANSION OF DUTCH SETTLEMENT IN THE SOUTH-

WESTERN CAPE, 1652–1720
As the commander of the Cape colony for the first decade of settlement (1652–1662),
Jan van Riebeeck was only interested in fulfilling his mission: the establishment of
a successful refreshment station. In order to succeed, he was instructed by the VOC
to stay on a friendly footing with the Khoikhoi, in order to secure livestock. Dutch
interest in the Cape was mainly profit-driven, and from the outset relations between
Khoisan and Dutch centred on trade and securing land for cultivation.
It is difficult to say exactly when the Khoisan realised that the Dutch had settled
permanently, and were not intending to depart. The allocation of land on the banks
of the Liesbeeck River, behind Table Mountain, to freeburgher farmers in 1657
(see Learning Unit 2) came as a surprise to many Khoisan on the peninsula. This
was certainly an indication of Dutch permanent settlement to them. Access to land
thereafter dominated relationships. The farms of the freeburghers encroached on
Khoisan grazing land and placed restraints on their nomadic way of life.
The Khoisan demonstrated their opposition to these developments by withdrawing

from the cattle trade and by stealing from the Dutch. They then trebled the price of
livestock, which made it difficult for Van Riebeeck to supply passing ships with fresh
meat. Some of the Dutch thereafter forcibly confiscated Khoikhoi cattle. Escalating
tensions led to the outbreak of armed conflict, often called the first Khoe-Dutch
war, in 1659. All the various Khoisan groups in the peninsula became involved in the
52
war, and their guerilla tactics and theft of oxen brought the activities of the Dutch
settlement to a virtual standstill.
In April 1660, however, the Khoisan asked for peace. They protested against the
wrongful occupation of their land, which they argued had been theirs for as long as
they could remember, and they demanded free access to their land again. Van Riebeeck’s
response was that the land was now in Dutch hands and they were not willing to
relinquish it. Although the idea of private land ownership was foreign to their way of
thinking, the Khoisan were convinced that the Dutch had taken their land without
permission. It would seem clear that the Dutch claimed the Cape peninsula by right
of conquest.
Over the next two decades, the white settlement expanded rapidly and soon various
Khoisan groups found themselves within the VOC’s sphere of influence. In late 1670,
the Cochoqua Khoe, under the leadership of Gonnema, attacked Dutch settlers
who entered their territory. This led to heightened tension and a growing number
of attacks. However, in 1672, two treaties were concluded with the Khoisan, which
allocated to the whites the whole of the coastal plain, including Saldanha Bay and
False Bay. It is unlikely that the Khoisan understood the full implications of these
agreements. They perhaps agreed because of a provision that they could retain grazing
rights. Despite this, however, the more the Dutch settled in the area, the more they
intensified their resistance.
This led to the outbreak of the second Khoe-Dutch war, a struggle which lasted four
years between 1673 and 1677. During this intermittent war, the horses and firearms
which the Dutch possessed led to the eventual downfall of Gonnema and his followers.
Gonnema’s defeat meant that resistance by the Khoisan in the peninsula came to
an end. As a result, the Dutch could occupy increased amounts of land with little
resistance from the Khoisan.
Not all Khoisan were opposed to the presence of the Dutch. A number of groups
and individuals were prepared to cooperate with them. In both wars, the Dutch had
relied heavily on Khoisan who offered them loyalty, and some had actively helped in
the defence of the Dutch settlement. One of these was Dorha, or Klaas, who supplied
the Dutch with considerable information about his arch-enemy, Gonnema, and who
supplied 250 men to assist the Dutch in the second Khoe-Dutch war.
The two Khoe-Dutch wars had a disastrous effect on the political independence
of the Peninsula Khoisan. Powerful chiefs were disempowered and capitulated to
Dutch conquest. By the end of the 17th century, the Dutch were firmly in control
of the Cape peninsula, as they ensured that Khoisan resistance was crushed or,
alternatively, they secured the collaboration of Khoisan leaders.
The breakdown of the Khoisan communities in the south-western Cape does not
mean the complete extinction of these communities, but rather the breakdown of
their community structures and cultural practices (as outlined in Section 4.1 above).
Loss of livestock had cultural implications. It affected social and economic functions
within Khoe society, such as births, marriages, burials, inheritance, clientship, and,
above all, their social status.
Many Khoisan communities became economically dependent on the colony for their
livelihood and security. The VOC had been mainly responsible for this situation:
through trade, it consumed large numbers of Khoisan livestock; through war, it
fought and defeated the Khoisan, subordinated their chiefs, drew the Khoisan into
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their legal system, and sponsored the expansion of the colony into Khoisan pastures
and hunting grounds.
Some have argued that the VOC was not wholly responsible for the collapse of
independent Khoisan communities. They have noted that Khoisan were not completely
united in their opposition to the VOC and Dutch settlement, but some had cooperated
and collaborated with the Dutch to differing degrees. We have noted examples of
this above. In addition, the trade of livestock tended to weaken some communities,
as they traded away their most precious resource, and this weakened the ability of
chiefs to attract loyal followers.
The Khoisan economy rested on the two interdependent pillars of land and cattle.
Thus, for pastoralists, one without the other was useless. This explains why loss of
land by the Khoisan was so important. Without land, the Khoisan could not keep
the same numbers of cattle, whose retention was essential for the nourishment of
their communities and their continued independence and self-esteem.
From the 1660s, Khoisan herds and flocks began a steady decline. At times, the
Khoisan may have bartered too many livestock for valueless commodities. This
is a partial explanation for the decline, however. Most historians agree that the
freeburghers greatly contributed to this loss of livestock through robbery, illegal
trade and forced tribute. These increased demands compelled the Khoisan to respond
with defiance, sometimes slaughtering their cattle rather than paying tribute to the
Dutch. The failure of the VOC to control these illegal activities of the freeburghers
also contributed to the Khoisan’s loss of livestock.
Thus, the demand for the livestock of the Khoisan by both the VOC and freeburgher
farmers intensified the decline of their herds. The demand increased yet further after
1690, when the area of white settlement began to increase beyond the south-western
Cape. One heavy blow to the Khoisan occurred when the Dutch began to settle in
the Tulbagh area, where the fertile land and attractive climate provided excellent
opportunities for both pastoral and agricultural farming.
A second and perhaps even more significant blow to the Khoisan was the outbreak
of smallpox in 1713. Of all the western diseases brought to the Cape by sailors and
settlers, smallpox was undoubtedly the worst. During the course of the 18th century,
three major outbreaks of smallpox occurred – in 1713, 1755 and 1767 – and these killed
thousands of white, slave and Khoisan people. Smallpox played a crucial role in the
further breakdown of Khoisan society. For example, the disease spread to the furthest
districts of the colony, and people in the Swellendam region were particularly severely
affected. Khoisan people died in significant numbers, and as a result, livestock were
neglected, left unattended and scattered. Smallpox victims who fled from Swellendam
infected other communities with whom they came in contact. In the 1720s, groups
further into the interior were infected. Some estimates are that approximately one-
third of all Khoisan succumbed to the disease, which is a devastating number, and
in a few districts, led to the near disappearance of the Khoisan.
The Khoisan-Dutch wars, Dutch technological superiority, the loss of land and
cattle, and smallpox all combined to reduce the freedom and independence of the
Khoisan. They became increasingly incorporated into the colonial economy as
labourers. After losing their valued cattle and land, coupled with the loss of freedom
and independence, most Khoisan went to work as labourers on white farms, and
effectively became clients of the settlers’ economy.
54
A number of Khoisan groups did leave the Cape permanently. Some settled deep
in the interior, well beyond the borders of the white settlement. Those who settled
beyond the Gariep River became known as the Korana (or Kora) in the 18th century.
ACTIVITY 4.3
4.4 THE KHOISAN EXPERIENCE DURING THE 18TH CENTURY

As we have seen, independent Khoisan communities had broken down in almost all
parts of the Cape colony by 1720. Dispossessed and landless Khoisan societies had
to become labourers after losing their cattle, land and independence. This meant
permanent settlement on the farms in the south-western Cape or on farms of the
trekboers in the Cape interior, away from the colony. Their lives as subjugated farm
labourers were dominated by work, and they began to become alienated from their
traditional cultures and language. Some began to wear European-style clothing and
to adapt to European norms and values.
Experiences on farms
The master-servant relationship between Khoisan and white farmers reflected
economic and social inequalities. Khoisan herders often offered their cattle-keeping
expertise to trekboers in exchange for access to water and grazing. Those who had for
some reason lost all their livestock, would work for trekboers in exchange for food
(meat and dairy products) and a portion of the offspring, similar to what they had
been used to during the precolonial period. Such mutual dependence relationships
could potentially work well, but were often very difficult to maintain, especially
when trekboers defrauded Khoisan clients of their rightful portion of cattle, making
it impossible for them to regain their economic independence. In the agricultural
sector of the south-western Cape, Khoisan became farm labourers, doing agricultural
tasks such as ploughing, sowing and harvesting, which was a clear indication of the
loss of their independent hunter-gatherer and herder status. Women and children
were also incorporated into farm labour forces: women had domestic duties which
included tasks such as cooking, cleaning, and the hauling of firewood, while their
children tended small livestock.
The social position of Khoisan servants on farms was little different from that of
the slaves (to whom we pay attention in Learning Unit 5). Their inhuman treatment
often reflected their low status in the colonial society. Since Khoisan were neither
owned nor regarded as saleable property, as slaves were, masters seldom cared about
their wellbeing, and they could even be treated worse than the slaves. Violence was
a common experience of Khoisan labourers on farms.
On farms, Khoisan servants were frequently responsible for their own livelihood.
Their living conditions were appalling, usually because they were extremely poor.
They sometimes put their knowledge of constructing reed huts to good use on the
settlers’ farms. On some large farms, Khoisan servants of both sexes were allowed
to share lodging, meaning there was overcrowding and no privacy. Incest, rape and
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other forms of sexual abuse were common. Khoisan women were often rape victims
of masters, as well as slaves and Khoisan men.
Despite harsh laws against them, Khoisan servants in principle had access both to
local landdrosts (magistrates) and the Court of Justice, the highest legal authority in the
colony. They thus did have legal rights. Most of their complaints that reached courts
concerned maltreatment and non-payment for their labour services. Lack of written
contracts often complicated labour disputes in court, and as a result most cases were
settled in favour of the white farmers. Those farmers who were found guilty were
generally given minor punishments, such as fines or even a caution. In essence, it
seems that access of the Khoisan to law was deemed a privilege rather than a right.
Miscegenation (sexual relations across colour and cultural barriers) led to the
emergence of a new group from the slaves and Khoisan. They were known as Bastard-
Hottentotten and were initially deemed to have legal freedom (that is, they were not
slaves). In both 1721 and 1775, influential and wealthy settlers petitioned the Cape
government to introduce a law compelling the Khoisan-slave offspring to work for
them on farms until the age of 25. In 1775, the VOC agreed to this request, and
instituted a labour system known as the inboekstelsel (indentured labour system). The
farmers agreed to provide indentured labourers with clothes, food and shelter, while
children were forced to work for a specified period (either to 18 or 25). Indentured
labour can essentially be seen as another form of slavery, because children and young
adults were forced to work up to the age of 25, and were seldom offered freedom
between the age of 18 and 25.
Khoisan people who lost their livestock and freedom were frequently under severe
stress. This made them prone to alcoholism. During leisure time, many consumed a
great deal of alcohol in a bid to escape their situation for a short while. In addition,
throughout the 18th century, settler farmers often used alcohol in part payment for
labour, making it more easily accessible.
Resistance
Khoisan servants frequently resisted their conditions and their treatment, either as
individuals or in groups. Planned and spontaneous desertion was the most common
form of resistance because it deprived the trekboers of cheap labour. Khoisan servants
and slaves often aided each other when escaping. Other forms of resistance included
the poisoning of farmers’ food, arson, murder, go-slows and refusal to work, the
ignoring of instructions, swearing and mocking in the Khoisan language, and stock
theft. These expressions of resistance showed that Khoisan people did not passively
accept their position as menial labourers, and were willing to resist white colonialism
and expansion.
In parts of the interior, such as the Roggeveld and Bokkeveld areas, white trekboer
farmers came into contact with Khoisan communities who until then had successfully
existed by independent hunting and gathering. Some of these were massacred by
trekboer commandos on expeditions into the interior. Men were often killed or
enslaved, while women and children were taken as prisoners and incorporated
into the trekboer economy as a labour force. By the 1780s, many of these captured
Khoisan peoples were legally indentured.
56
Despite this, there were still some Khoisan communities in the Roggeveld that
managed to retain their independence. Many of them vigorously resisted white
settlement in the interior. Their attacks made life very difficult for the trekboers,
and they often succeeded in driving them from their farms. Towards the end of the
18th century, large numbers of uprooted Khoisan formed new groups, occasionally
numbering as many as 1 000 people, and provided considerable resistance to white
settlement; for example, in 1785, large parts of the Roggeveld were controlled by the
Khoisan, not white settlers. The fact that there were greater numbers of Khoisan in
the interior made the success of collective resistance more likely.
One particular example of resistance illustrates this, although it was ultimately

not successful. In 1788, a Khoikhoi rebel and prophet named Jan Paerl persuaded
about 300 Khoisan people to rebel against the Dutch. In the wake of serious land
dispossession, cultural decline and forced labour, the Khoikhoi of Swellendam staged
an uprising during which they hoped to drive Dutch settlers from the Cape colony
and to restore their own form of government. As rebel, prophet and ‘messiah’, known
as Onsen Liewen Heer, Paerl told his followers that the world would be destroyed on
25 October 1788. He urged his followers to slaughter the cattle of white people, build
new straw huts with two doors, and burn their western-style clothing.
The participation of Khoikhoi women strengthened this act of Khoisan resistance

considerably. Slaves, too, showed solidarity with those who hoped to reap the benefits
of a freed Cape colony. Colonists became alarmed at these events in Swellendam,
calling the movement an ‘unholy threat’ (gedreigt onheil ). The movement was aborted
in November 1788, when the landdrost reported that ‘everything was calm and quiet’.
Little came of this first recorded attempt at the Cape of millenarian resistance –
resistance through a belief that a new world of prosperity and abundance would come
about with the help of a higher being, bringing deliverance from social oppression.
Paerl was arrested and jailed for two years. Despite his failure to prevent white
people from living on ancestral land, Paerl’s act of defiance showed strong Khoikhoi
opposition to white dominance.
Soon after the failure of this rebellion in Swellendam, a group of Khoisan rebels
under the leadership of Captain Kees staged a revolt in 1793, protesting against
maltreatment and non-payment of wages. Another uprising flared up in 1799 in the
eastern Cape. Known as the ‘servants’ revolt’, several Khoisan rebels torched and
raided farms in the vicinity of Graaff-Reinet on the eastern Cape frontier, killing 29
white farmers. Although their grievances included non-payment and maltreatment,
the main cause of the uprising was summarised by a rebel when he said that they
wanted to restore the country of their forefathers.
By the early 1800s, the Khoisan were marginalised and subsumed into colonial
society. Although they obtained legal equality, with the so-called ‘Black Circuit’ of
1812, when circuit court judges investigated cases of maltreatment, and with the
promulgation of Ordinance 50 of 1828, which freed Khoisan servants from coerced
labour, the Khoisan were to remain landless individuals haunted by an oppressive
past and faced with an uncertain future.
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Christianity
The fact that many Khoisan were losing contact with traditional belief systems, combined
with the fact of their servitude and extremely difficult circumstances, did mean that
some were ready to turn to other forms of belief. Unsurprisingly, Khoisan people
experienced other religions differently. Some viewed Christianity as linked to honour,
status and respectability, while others associated it with the conditions of exploitation.
Missionary activity among the Swellendam Khoisan commenced in 1737 when the
Moravian missionary, Georg Schmidt, arrived at the Cape with a specific mission
to convert the Overberg Khoisan people to Christianity. After spending several
years in the district at Baviaans’ Kloof (now known as Genadendal), preaching
and baptising Khoisan converts, his stay came to an abrupt end in 1743. One of his
well-known converts whom he baptised was a Khoisan woman, Vehettge Tikkuie,
called ‘Magdalena’. After Schmidt’s departure, she kept his teachings alive among
the Khoisan, and so became the first woman evangelist at the Cape.
The preaching of Christianity and the baptism of Khoisan people became a contentious
issue among white settlers. Baptism implied equality and full ‘burgher’ (citizen)
status. White people were threatened by the possibility of the Khoisan becoming
their equals, and opposition by white people to mission activity led to Schmidt’s
departure from the Cape in 1743.
Some Khoisan people embraced Christianity, for various reasons. Early Khoisan
interaction with mission Christianity was shaped by existing Khoikhoi religious
beliefs. Khoisan converts during the early phase of religious contact did not receive
the gospel the way missionaries intended, but heard and accepted the message in
accordance with their own needs, desires and social circumstances. Some converts,
therefore, were genuinely inspired by religious reasons, while others saw Christianity
and the mission station as a means to escape the harsh realities of farm life.
The return of the Moravians to Genadendal in November 1792 brought some relief
to the Overberg Khoisan, as many lost their original way of life. The mission station
became a haven to hundreds of Khoisan peoples from all over the Cape colony, and
led to the emergence of a new community. Their presence also paved the way for
other missionary societies to begin work at the Cape.
The rise of missionary enthusiasm in Europe in the late 18th century explains why
the Christian gospel of salvation was exported to the Cape at the time, but many
Khoisan were also ready for conversion by some missionary teachings. For example,
the violent actions of farmers could be explained by the view that they were trapped
by original sin, and Christianity offered Khoisan the hope for a better tomorrow as
a reward for their present suffering.
In the late 18th century, as one example, a new mission station at Bethelsdorp
(near present-day Port Elizabeth) became a place for Khoisan who were seeking
spiritual and economic asylum from their conditions in the area. They migrated there
looking for shelter against violence, and in the hope of establishing greater economic
dependence, as well as acquiring literacy and salvation. Bethelsdorp became a threat
to white farmers, because it seemed to jeopardise a supply of indentured labour to
their farms. The farmers did not want their labour supply undermined, and hence
they tried to oppose the conversion of their Khoisan labourers to Christianity. This
demonstrates that the missionaries and the farmers were in direct competition for
58
the Khoisan, and many farmers tried to curtail opportunities for their servants to
access Christianity.
In addition to being used as short-term shelters, mission stations also were a means to
improve the economic and social status of the Khoisan converts. Khoisan labourers
could, if financially stressed, hire themselves out and escape conditions of bondage.
Mission stations could also become legal bases for Khoisan people. This meant that
they could leave their families and cattle at a mission station while being away on
long-term contract work on a farm. Many also were able to learn how to write and
speak English or Dutch at mission stations, and so advance their education as well.
Some Khoisan women were also converted to Christianity during this colonial period.
Women were attracted by the promise of status, success and freedom. Some female
Khoisan servants were baptised because male settlers wished to marry them. They
were often baptised not so much because of the efforts of missionaries, but because
of the shortage of women for the European settlers.
ACTIVITY 4.4
4.5 THE KHOISAN IN CONTEMPORARY SOUTH AFRICA

Perhaps one of the questions that we as students of history studying the hunter-
gatherers and hunter-herders in southern African history can ask ourselves is: where
are the Khoisan people in modern South Africa? The answer, though arguably not
obvious, is: they could be in all of us. Because of a long history of intermarriage in
the country, it is difficult to identify ‘pure’ Khoisan people, or any other ‘pure’ ethnic
or social groups in our modern world.
Despite this, there are descendants of Khoisan people in contemporary South

Africa who are advocating for their recognition as a people. Khoisan culture and
heritage is therefore very much part of the new South Africa. At present, museums,
cultural organisations, universities, government departments and the Khoisan people
themselves are trying to keep Khoisan cultural identity alive. Conferences have
recently been convened with the aim of making the broader public more aware of
marginalised Khoisan communities.
South Africa continues to deal with the legacy of colonialism, and apartheid more
recently, during which periods indigenous peoples were dispossessed of their land,
and their communities and cultures were destroyed. Although indigenous peoples
are not specifically recognised as such in modern South Africa, and official statistics
are silent about their presence, the Constitution of 1996 does refer to ‘Khoe’ and
‘San’ people. No clear official information indicates the number of Khoisan people
in modern South Africa, and they are not specifically recognised as indigenous
people in the Constitution.
Khoisan culture is still visible in contemporary South Africa, in the legacy left by
numerous rock paintings. Many reflect a lifestyle that was destroyed by colonialism.
Most Khoisan rock art sites are protected by law to preserve them for posterity.
Another cultural legacy is that among the Nama Khoisan, the building of matjieshuise
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(mat houses) has become a powerful tool of identity. The recognition of Khoisan
culture and identity is an ongoing struggle. Languages face the risk of extinction,
and none has official-language status. It should not be forgotten, however, that
Khoisan languages have had great influence in shaping the Xhosa language. Many
of the sharp clicks in the Xhosa language were acquired from Khoisan languages.
In modern South Africa, several Khoisan groups, such as the Nama of the Richtersveld
and the Griqua under Adam Kok V, have recently emerged to lay claim to their
Khoisan heritage. The search for minority rights and the struggle for land, as well
as cultural recognition, can also be seen in Namibia and Botswana, where Oorlam
Afrikaners, Basters and Basarwa San are engaged in attempts to attain land rights
and cultural recognition.
For many others in South Africa, Khoisan-ness is a matter of self-identification.

Many Khoisan people in modern South Africa reject terms such as ‘Coloured’, and
prefer to be called Griqua, Nama, or the collective names Khoikhoi, San, Khoisan
or Bushman. The struggle for recognition and access to basic services and land by
Khoisan communities continues.
It is of historical significance that descendants of those who were victims of early

colonialism in the country are today joining together with one another to assert their
identity within a larger South African nation. It is further evidence of their resilience
and ability to adapt to new situations, something that their forefathers demonstrated
during the 17th and 18th centuries.
ACTIVITY 4.5
4.6 CONCLUSION
The once-thriving herding and hunter-gathering communities of southern Africa
lost their valued livestock and hunting grounds in the wake of European colonial
expansion. The loss of livestock and land stripped the Khoisan of their wealth
and influence, and led to the loss of their independence, traditional lifestyles
and community structures.
The Khoisan communities did not disappear, but people were assimilated into
colonial society as labourers on farms in the south-western Cape and the northern
and eastern Cape frontier regions. Many endured very difficult living and working
conditions, but they responded to subjugation and dispossession as individuals or
by grouping under influential leaders to fight Dutch and later British rule. Though
in most cases they were defeated, their attempts to drive white farmers from their
land does demonstrate significant political will, which later became a strand of future
African nationalism in South Africa.
60
5 LEARNING UNIT 5
5 Slavery at the Cape
LEARNING OBJECTIVES
questions:
• What is slavery, and why do we study it?
• What were the origins of the slave system at the Cape and the slaves themselves?
• What role did slaves play in the economy of the Cape?
• Discuss the experience of slaves at the Cape and the ways in which they were
treated.
• In what ways did slaves react to their situation at the Cape, and how effectively?
• Examine the impact of slavery on the social order at the Cape.
This learning unit will explore the system of slavery that was used at the Cape from
the early Dutch settlement until the early 19th century. Slavery had an important
impact on the Cape economy, and although the slave system was formally abolished in
1838, it helped to shape the nature of future South African labour and race relations
to a significant extent.
Many South Africans are also descended from slaves, and unsurprisingly desire to
learn more about the experiences of their ancestors. A study of Cape slavery and
its legacy helps us to understand subsequent historical developments and appreciate
the complexities of the society we live in. The influence of slavery is still relevant
today, and can be seen in everyday South African actions and expressions, such as in
Islam, in language, in ‘coloured’ identity, in food, and in many South African names.
5.1 SLAVERY AND BONDED LABOUR

Slavery is a major feature of human history. Most societies and regions of the world
have utilised and experienced slavery or other forms of bonded labour. In many of
these societies, slaves were only a minor part of the labour force, and fulfilled chiefly
domestic functions. In other parts of the world, such as Brazil, the Caribbean and
North America, slavery was a major component of the economy. In such cases, slave
labour was of fundamental importance, and was governed by a complex set of codes
and laws to ensure its maximum efficiency.
Slavery existed in many forms throughout the world. For example, forms of bonded
labour had existed all over the African continent for several centuries before the
arrival of the Europeans in the 15th century. This has sometimes been described
as ‘slavery’, but the African forms of bonded labour were usually different from the
slavery imposed by Europeans. In almost all African communities, including some
in southern Africa, bonded labour took the form of clientship and serfdom. Clients
enjoyed all the rights of freemen, although serfs often had fewer rights. This was
different from slavery imposed by Europeans, who denied any rights to slaves and
defined them as property. Slaves in Africa generally did not lose all their personal
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freedom. They had several rights and privileges, and they often had access to family
and kin groups.
Although there was significant trading of Africans as slaves, mainly by Islamic

merchants in northern Africa and in the Indian Ocean world, for many centuries,
slavery was arguably never as important for economic production in Africa as it was
to be for European-dominated colonial settlements in Africa, Asia and the Americas
after the 15th century. There is considerable debate among historians and others
about differences between slave conditions and experience in various settings where
slavery was used.
ACTIVITY 5.1
One of the most important results of the expansion of Europeans into Asia, Africa
and the Americas after the 15th century was the introduction of modern slavery.
This saw the most extensive transfer of people yet seen in world history. The Spanish,
Portuguese, English and Dutch had a huge demand for labour in their newly acquired
colonies in the Americas in particular, but also elsewhere in the world. Indigenous
people in North and South America, expelled from their land and decimated by
diseases of European origin, were unable to fulfil the labour requirements of the
new plantations and mines of the Europeans. Europeans solved this difficulty by
importing slaves from Africa.
The introduction of slavery at the Cape has to be seen against the background of
this great expansion of slavery in the world that occurred mainly during the 16th,
17th and 18th centuries.
For the purposes of our discussion, there are perhaps three main features of slavery
that need to be highlighted, and that distinguish slavery from other forms of bonded
labour:
• Slaves were fundamental in economic production, and often made up the majority
of the labour force, as well as of the population of the slave-holding society overall
in which they worked. Their role as a labour force was, above all, to boost the
economic profits of their owners and the society in which they were forced to work.
• Slaves were defined in law as items of property, and were subject to a set of laws
that denied them personal freedom and legal rights.
• Slaves were almost always imported into the society where they were forced
to work. They were strangers or outsiders to that society (although those who
lived for a long time, and their descendants, began to establish more permanent
bonds within it), and were cut off from traditional family and community
bonds, worsening the psychological effects of their conditions immensely. This
distinguished slaves from other workers, who often performed similar jobs and
also had limited personal freedom, but who did at least have access to family
and community life.
All three of these aspects of slavery were prominent at the Cape. Nonetheless, the
Cape slave system also had some unique features, which distinguished it from those
in other places.
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LEARNING UNIT 5: Slavery at the Cape
5.2 THE ORIGINS AND IMPORTATION OF CAPE SLAVES

The importation of slaves to the Cape was the result of the deliberate policy of the
Dutch East India Company (the VOC). The VOC faced a shortage of labour after the
establishment of their base at Table Bay at the Cape. There were several reasons why
the VOC quickly turned to the importation of slaves to solve their labour problems:
• The use of indigenous Khoisan labour was not initially an option for the Dutch,
as they were required to be on friendly terms with them so that they could trade
more effectively, and acquire livestock in particular.
• Further, the Khoisan were unwilling to abandon their transhumant pastoral
activities in order to work for the Dutch, on farms or on other projects; such a
way of life was very alien to them.
• In view of its policy of minimum expenditure, the VOC rejected the idea of using
wage labour which would have been too expensive.
• The VOC also realised that it would be difficult to attract white wage labourers
from Europe to an outpost as remote as the Cape.
The introduction of slavery made sense to the VOC, for several reasons:
• Slavery had been an integral part of the Dutch colonial experience elsewhere,
and was an accepted and developed labour system. A legal framework, which
regulated the system, was in existence in Batavia, and could easily be transferred
to the Cape, which fell under the authority of Batavia.
• Moreover, slavery was the cheapest form of labour; slaves were believed to be
easy to control and, by keeping a tight control of the slave supply, the VOC would
also prevent the freeburghers from becoming too independent.
• Finally, slavery had the advantage of offering all whites the opportunity to become
slave owners, which served to diminish potential class divisions and tension
between white landowners and white labourers.
Clearly, then, the introduction of slavery was a logical and practical step which suited
the VOC’s economic and political goals at Cape.
For almost the whole of the VOC period, the demand for slaves at the Cape exceeded
the supply. Despite this, imports of slaves were frequently erratic and poorly
organised. The VOC also faced much competition from other European powers
and trading companies, while large numbers of slaves died during the lengthy and
hazardous voyages to the Cape.
The VOC had to rely on regular slave importations to maintain the labour force,
because the slave population at the Cape was unable to reproduce itself fast enough.
Too few slaves were born to meet the labour demands of the expanding population
of slave owners. There were usually far fewer slave women than men at the Cape;
a more balanced sex ratio only developed after 1808 when the external slave trade
was abolished. In addition, the death rate (especially among children) constantly
exceeded the birth rate.
There were four main ways in which slaves were brought to the Cape:
• Many slaves who were brought to the Cape were imported by the VOC itself and
brought on VOC ships. They were retained by the VOC for use on their own
projects.
• The freeburghers generally had to depend on foreign slave traders to acquire
slaves. These traders frequently called at the Cape for supplies of fresh produce,
and they were sometimes willing to sell some of their slave cargo to farmers.
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• Another method of obtaining slaves, though very unreliable and uncertain, was
from individual travellers who were sometimes willing to sell their personal
slaves. Many of these slaves possessed various skills.
• A further method of obtaining slaves was through internal sales at the Cape itself.
The estates of deceased farmers, or of farmers who were bankrupt, disposed of
slaves through auction. Again, this source of supply was erratic, and certainly
could not meet the entire labour needs of the settlement.
Slaves were imported from a variety of places. Some of the earliest slaves to be
imported came from the west coast of Africa, from Angola and Guinea, but other
European trading companies had a monopoly of slave trading in this area, and did
not allow the VOC to encroach on this. Thus, the VOC turned to its main source
of supply, which was the Indian Ocean region, where competition from other slave
traders was not so intense. Madagascar and Mozambique were the two most common
places of origin of the African slaves at the Cape, while Zanzibar became more
popular towards the end of the 18th century. A very significant proportion of slaves
came from further afield, outside Africa. India and the Indonesian islands, such as
Batavia, were the major sources of slaves from the East, but there were even a few
slaves from as far as China and Japan.
ACTIVITY 5.2
5.3 THE ROLE OF SLAVES IN THE CAPE ECONOMY
Slave demography
It is important to understand slave demography, or the distribution of slaves, at the
Cape. Slaves were settled in different regions of the colony and in different sectors
of the economy.
Slaves were to be found in all areas of the Cape: in the urban settlement of Cape Town,
in the agricultural rural districts of the south-western Cape, and on the frontiers.
However, they were not evenly distributed in these three main areas:
• The densest concentration of slaves was to be found in and around Cape Town.
About one-third of Cape Town’s slaves were owned by the VOC, while the
remainder of urban slaves were privately owned.
• The great majority of slaves at the Cape worked on the wine and wheat farms in
the south-western districts where agricultural activities required a lot of manual
labour. These slaves were privately owned.
• A small number of slaves were also employed on pastoral farms in the interior.
The majority of Cape slaves were owned by agricultural farmers, and were thus
scattered on the farms of the south-western Cape. Some wealthy citizens closer to
Cape Town had as many as 12 domestic slaves, while certain officials had much
larger slave holdings than they were prepared to report, knowing that this was not
permitted by the VOC. These slaves were not necessarily concentrated on a single
property. The owner of the largest number of slaves at the Cape, Martin Melck,
owned 204 slaves, but these were distributed over 11 properties which were scattered
throughout the colony.
64
An important shift in slave demography occurred in the early 19th century. The
second British occupation in 1806 stimulated the Cape economy and gave rise to an
expansion of slavery, especially in the agricultural sector. This led to a greater demand
for slaves, which was intensified by the abolition of the external slave trade in 1808
and by greater European immigration after 1816. Consequently, an increasing number
of urban slaves were sold to farmers in the inland districts. This led to a decline in
slave density in the Cape Town area, while slaves became more widely distributed
throughout the high rainfall area along the coast. The Eastern Cape, where several
thousand British settlers established themselves after 1820, saw the fastest growth
of slave numbers at this period.
During the VOC period, slave women were always in the minority. The greatest
concentration of women was in Cape Town, and they were found in decreasing
numbers in the more remote districts. After the abolition of the external slave trade
in 1808, when it became more difficult to obtain slaves, slave women became more
evenly distributed throughout the colony. Slave gender roles also changed after the
end of the 18th century. Whereas many female slaves performed domestic service in
the urban areas during the VOC period, an increasing number of male slaves were
employed in this sector of the urban economy in the 19th century.
Similarly, in the earlier period, younger slaves were concentrated in and around Cape
Town, while newly established slave owners in the interior had to rely on older, more
dependent slaves. After 1808, older slaves were still found in the frontier region, but
increasing numbers of younger slaves were sold to owners in this area.
Economic function of slaves

Slaves had varied functions connected with the economic life of the Cape settlement.
Company slaves worked in the VOC’s administrative departments, warehouses,
hospital, workshops and stores. Building, dock-work and wood-cutting were also
occupations which required a fair number of Company slaves. Some slaves also
worked as overseers and auxiliary police, while others possessed skills and worked
as craftsmen for the VOC.
Slaves who were privately owned in Cape Town worked mainly as domestic servants,
artisans, craftsmen, hawkers, pedlars and fishermen. Many of these slaves were
of Eastern origin and brought their skills with them to the Cape where they were
hired out by their masters to work for their owners’ profit. Although the wages they
earned had to be given to their masters, some were able to earn additional money
for themselves through these trading activities.
In the agricultural districts of the south-western Cape, slaves performed a wide

variety of seasonal tasks, such as planting, harvesting and threshing of crops. They
were also responsible for maintenance work, and in addition undertook a variety of
more regular labour: tending livestock, collecting fuel and wood, driving wagons,
growing vegetables and domestic work in the farmhouses. Because of the varied
tasks that slaves had to perform on the farms, there was little specialisation of labour.
In the interior of the Cape, on the farms of trekboers, slaves played a less important
role, in that the trekboer pastoralists required fewer labourers. Many trekboer farmers
could not afford slaves, and, in addition, Khoisan workers were both more available
and more suited to work for trekboers because of their familiarity with livestock.
Nonetheless, some trekboers did own one or two slaves, who were employed mainly
as domestic workers or as shepherds.
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The economic impact of slavery

Some economists have questioned the productivity and profitability of slave labour
as opposed to wage labour. There is no doubt, however, that slaves and slave labour
made the refreshment station of the VOC viable and the expansion of agriculture
into the south-western Cape region possible.
The Cape economy was heavily dependent on slaves for its functioning, productivity
and profitability. At times when there was a labour shortage, because of an insufficient
number of slaves, such as during the 1740s, economic depression in the farming
area occurred. It can therefore be argued that, in the short term, slavery benefited
the Cape economy.
In some ways, however, slave labour did retard rather than advance economic
development. The fact that the Cape was so dependent on slave labour meant that
more efficient, labour-saving methods of production were never explored, and new
agricultural techniques such as crop rotation were never introduced. The Cape
thus remained technologically backward. In addition, much capital was tied up in
slaves, which could otherwise have been invested in the development of farming,
industries, towns and roads. The fact that much of this capital was paid to slave
traders, who never invested any of it at the Cape, exacerbated this problem. Slave
labour was indeed one of the main reasons why the Cape economy remained fairly
stagnant and undiversified.
The economic value of slaves was not linked only to their labour function, important
though this was. Slaves were a considerable investment for a slave owner. Slaves were
often the most expensive commodity, or items of ‘equipment’ on a farm, and many
farmers invested a great amount of money in their slaves. There were no banks or
financial institutions at the Cape, and slaves therefore represented a potential source
of accumulating capital. Slaves could bring much profit and income to owners. They
were also used as security for the raising of loans, and were regarded as a good
protection against inflation, for their prices never lagged behind inflation rates.
Slavery also enabled many whites to live a life of relative leisure. Many became
overseers, fulfilling supervisory roles in the economy. This led, however, to the
impoverishment of some whites, because there were not enough such jobs at the
Cape. Unemployment problems for whites became more acute as the population
grew during the 18th century. Most of these people moved into the interior to
become subsistence trekboer farmers. Ironically, slaves could sometimes compete
better for jobs in the south-western Cape or in Cape Town because they had skills
that whites lacked. Whites also spurned many jobs because they regarded them as
fit only for slaves.
The VOC was aware of many of these problems, and even considered reversing
its policy on slavery in 1717, by replacing it with European labour. By this stage,
however, slavery was well established, and many officials and freeburghers had a
direct interest in the continuation of the system. The Cape economy thus remained
dependent on slave labour, which was only abolished in 1834.
ACTIVITY 5.3
66
5.4 SLAVE LIFE AT THE CAPE

Cape slaves were not treated in a uniform fashion. Their treatment varied between the
regions and the different sectors of the economy. For example, the domestic slaves
of Cape Town, who were often not subject to heavy manual labour, and those of the
rural areas had diverse experiences. Even within each of these areas, the treatment
of slaves varied, depending on the attitudes of the master and the functions of the
slave. There are certainly examples of masters who treated their slaves in a humane
fashion, but there are many more instances of slaves who received extraordinarily
brutal treatment.
Legal status
Cape slavery, like all other slave systems, was coercive and inhumane. Slaves were
regarded primarily as the property of their owners, and their humanity was only
accepted in that context. They were economic commodities or objects for sale and
valuation, and they were usually listed under ‘stock’ on census rolls. Some slaves
were bought ‘on trial’ for a period of a year, and were returned to their sellers if
found to be unsatisfactory. Their prices were determined by factors such as their
potential as labourers, their age, gender and state of health, and their geographical
origins and skill levels.
Although some slave owners probably looked after their slaves because slaves were
expensive, many owners worked their slaves harder if they had paid a great amount of
money for them, in order to extract the maximum profit from the slave and thereby
recover their investment.
Slaves did have some legal rights. A master who beat a slave to death could be
charged for murder. In the VOC period, however, he was seldom convicted especially
if he could claim that the behaviour of the slave had led to the necessity of heavy
punishment, which was then accepted by the court as an extenuating circumstance.
The law also permitted slaves to give evidence in court against their owners. In
practice, however, it was extremely difficult for a slave to make use of the courts,
especially during the VOC period. Unlike in the early 19th century, when slaves
took their masters to court more frequently in response to measures passed by the
British government aimed at improving the lives of slaves, slaves in the earlier period
were unwilling to testify against owners for whom they would have to work in the
future. They were also unfamiliar with the workings of the courts, and the cases they
brought before the court were often dismissed because of technicalities. Evidence
had to be overwhelming, backed up by witnesses, before a slave might win his case.
Moreover, sentences given to owners were often extremely light, and differed greatly
from those administered to slaves for similar offences. There were often great delays
before cases were heard because of distances of farms from Cape Town, and in remoter
areas, farmers often refused to recognise the authority of the VOC if it suited them.
The operation of law in civil cases heavily favoured the slave owners. However, as
slaves gained greater access to the courts of law and became more self-assertive in
the early 19th century, their complaints often produced positive results, resulting in
fines or letters in which the owner was reprimanded.
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Lack of human rights

Civil law allowed the slaves none of the rights enjoyed by free citizens. Because they
were items of property, slaves were legally obliged to obey any order of their masters
and were not allowed to own property. A few slaves in Cape Town did manage to
control property, but this was a privilege in special circumstances, not a right. Slaves
were unable to make wills or any legal contracts. They were unable to marry, and
they had no rights over their children.
Some slaves did form stable family relationships, but these were the exception rather
than the rule in the VOC period. In the early 19th century, however, more stable
slave families seem to have developed. The greater stability was the result of the
abolition of the external slave trade in 1808, which led to a balancing of sex ratios, an
increase in the number of Cape-born slaves, improvements in the living and working
conditions of slaves and the emergence of an ‘underclass culture’ in Cape Town.
The control of slaves

Both slave owners and the VOC believed that effective control of slaves was essential
for the Cape to be productive and self-sufficient, as well as for their own security.
The slave system in fact operated on two levels of discipline and control:
• First, there was the individual relationship of the master and slave, in which the
slaves were subordinate to the particular owner and subjected to a high level of
coercion.
• Second, there was also the wider framework of the administrative and legal system
which strongly supported the authority of slave owners.
There were areas of tension between the VOC and slave owners, but the firm control
of slaves was one issue in which they were in strong agreement. When slave discipline
broke down on farms, masters could request VOC assistance.
There were different ways in which slaves were kept under control. The master-
slave relationship varied considerably, but the fundamental method by which an
owner exercised his rights of property was the use or the threat of force. Corporal
punishment was common, and many owners, especially on the farms, were able to
whip and flog their slaves without fear of intervention by the authorities. Only in
the case of death of a slave from beating was there the possibility of legal action
against an owner.
Masters sometimes delegated their responsibilities to knechts, who were VOC employees
hired out to farmers on contract to act as overseers. These knechts had no vested
interest in the development of the farms; their primary function was to control the
slaves and to ensure that they were productive. As a result, they were often more
brutal than owners in the administration of their powers. The extremely violent
punishments were related to the need of slaveholders to extract the maximum profit
from slaves, and thereby redeem their purchase price. They also reflect the widespread
fear of slave revolt and insubordination. The fact that male slaves outnumbered male
whites for most of the 18th century increased the sense of insecurity of the owners.
68
The VOC’s courts also meted out severe punishment to slaves who had committed
crimes, and the use of gruesome torture formed an important part of the punishment
of slaves. The various kinds of torture equipment including spikes, wheels, racks,
hot irons and pincers, were used by the auxiliary police of the VOC. This tough
punishment was designed to deter future offenders from insubordination of any kind.
Slave owners also tried to maintain control of their slaves by making use of the many
laws and regulations that governed the lives of slaves. Slaves were often locked up at
night, both in Cape Town and on the farms. Slaves in the rural areas had to have a
pass signed by their owner if they left the farm. Curfews, the forbidding of gathering
of slave groups larger than three people, and the prevention of slaves from carrying
firearms, are other examples of such laws.
A powerful mechanism of psychological control of slaves was threat of sale. Many

slaves did not want to leave their fellow slaves, or feared the brutality of slave masters
in the rural areas and therefore behaved well out of fear of being sold.
Another psychological form of slave control was paternalism (a father-child

relationship). The historian Robert Shell argues that slaves were legally and socially
regarded as permanent children in the owner’s household. He believes that this
paternalistic relationship, rather than physical coercion, was the most effective means
of slave control. However, he admits that, although slaves often shared the living
quarters of the owners or were housed very close to the owner’s house, they did
not enjoy the same rights and privileges as the owners’ children and were punished
more severely. This was especially the case on isolated farms, where there was little
or no VOC supervision of how owners treated their slaves.
It can be argued, therefore, that more intimate contact between the slaves and their
masters on small slave holdings in the absence of large-scale plantations at the Cape,
often meant that slaves were more closely supervised and punished more severely
than might otherwise have been the case. A paternalistic relationship clearly did not
rule out violence towards slaves within the household.
It should also be borne in mind that paternalism as a form of slave control was also
less effective in Cape Town than in the rural areas. The practices of hiring out slaves,
the occupational mobility enjoyed by the urban slaves as well as their integration
into an urban ‘underclass’ (for more information see the section on the absence of
organised slave revolt) weakened the social control of the urban slave owners.
Yet another way to keep slaves under control was to keep them divided. Most of the
VOC slaves were housed in the Company slave lodge, although a few lived at their
places of employment if these were some distance from town. Slaves in the lodge
were not all of the same rank or status, and there was a definite hierarchy.
The most privileged of the slaves in the lodge were the interpreters, who were of
great value to the Dutch because of their skills. Below them were the mandoors, or the
slave overseers, who were usually people of mixed origin born at the Cape. Many had
even been born in the lodge. Their privileges were not as extensive as those of the
interpreters, but they did have separate living quarters within the lodge, and better
clothing rations. Each mandoor had a number of slaves under his control. According
to the 1714 census, each commanded 66 slaves. The mandoors were responsible for
the discipline within and the smooth running of the lodge. They were known to
report regularly to VOC officials on the activities of the slaves. Beneath the mandoors
in the hierarchy were ‘officers’, responsible for between five and eight slaves, and
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who distributed food, clothing and other essential items. It seems that the mandoors
appointed the ‘officers’ themselves, and this ensured that their authority was effective.
The ethnicity and the skills of slaves determined their position in the hierarchy. All
senior positions were filled by people of mixed origin born at the Cape, but newly
imported slaves could never hope to rise to the top. They could, however, fill some
of the middle ranks, even ahead of people of clerical or artisan categories. At the
bottom of the hierarchy were the manual labourers, usually newly imported African
slaves, who lived in overcrowded and unhygienic conditions in the basement of the
lodge. The auxiliary police and the executioner’s assistants, who were responsible for
the administration of VOC justice and torture, even for white offenders, also enjoyed
minimal status in the lodge. They were, however, accorded some separate privileges.
They were, for example, allowed to ignore the curfew and were permitted to carry
clubs and knives. Ironically, it was slaves who predominated in law-enforcement jobs
in Cape Town. This is further evidence of divisions between slaves which prevented
the emergence of a common slave identity.
There were also considerable distinctions between women in the lodge. Slave women
fell under the overall supervision of a matres, or matron who was also a Cape-born
slave of mixed origin. Under her was an ‘undermistress’ and two female slave officers.
Apart from child-bearing, there was little distinction between the types of labour
which men and women in the lodge were expected to perform. Women were used
for the heaviest work. The presence of women in the lodge, however, was a source of
considerable attraction to single VOC employees, sailors from passing ships and slaves
from outside the lodge. The lodge was the most renowned brothel in the settlement,
although there were a few places in Cape Town where prostitution occurred.
The organisation of the slave labour force on farms in the south-western Cape was
also hierarchical in nature. Distinctions were drawn between domestic slaves, who
developed closer bonds with their masters, and field workers. On larger farms knechts,
and in a few cases slave mandoors, supervised and disciplined other slaves. Similar to
the urban areas, this practice kept rural slaves divided.
Living and working conditions

Slave experiences at the Cape varied considerably, depending on where slaves were
employed, their jobs, masters and even origins.
Privately owned slaves in Cape Town probably had the best living conditions of all
slaves at the Cape. There is no evidence that they were supervised by mandoors, and
controls on them were far less rigid. These slaves normally lived in the homes of
their owners, in attics, kitchens or outbuildings.
The living conditions of the rural slaves were considerably worse than those of their
counterparts in Cape Town. Work dominated their lives. It is possible that they
worked up to 15 hours a day during peak periods in the summer months. The intricate
controls of the slave lodge were obviously absent on the farms, but the structures
of authority on the farms impinged heavily on their lives. Slaves were often under
the direct supervision of owners, their sons or their knechts. There were also a few
mandoor overseers on the very large farms, who made sure that slaves worked hard.
Moreover, although sexual encounters between slaves and owners were forbidden by
law and were severely punished if the perpetrator was black or Asian, slave owners
were able to exploit their female slaves on a regular basis.
70
The provision of food, clothing and shelter varied from farm to farm. Although rural
slaves sometimes complained of hunger, their rations could often be supplemented
from the produce of the farm, and even occasionally from the countryside.
Education and religion

Slaves had limited access to education. There was a school for slave children in
the VOC lodge, which was established in 1685, and which replaced the few small
schools that had failed to survive. The school was intended to create loyalty to the
VOC in slave children, and to teach them fluency in Dutch as well as the basic
principles of Christianity. Only a very small minority of slave children, however, was
able to attend this school. In the rural areas, the availability of education to slaves
was even more restricted. A few knechts were expected to give slave children some
rudimentary education, but this was erratically and rarely done. The large majority
of slaves probably remained illiterate, and were unable to acquire an education even
if they wished to.
Apart from being a tool to promote order and discipline among the slaves, religion
could also form a possible basis of a new sense of cultural identity. There was,
however, little attempt to spread Christianity among slaves until the very end of the
18th century. An average of about 20 slaves only were baptised each year, the majority
of whom were VOC slaves. Some of these were attracted to notions of honour and
status that Christianisation brought, but Christianity only started to win converts
once active mission work began in the 19th century, after the VOC period.
Islam, on the other hand, began to gain converts in Cape Town during the 18th
century, and it started to play a role in uniting slaves after 1800. Many slaves at
the Cape were from south-east Asia and east Africa, where Islam was strong, and
they brought this with them. Islam did offer some independence from Christian
slave owners. It also drew slaves and free black adherents together and offered its
followers much more than just a religious haven. Cape Muslims began to create
their own collective identity and developed support networks such as educational
facilities, medical aid and financial support to buy the freedom of slave converts.
Much of this had to happen ‘underground’, as slave owners and authorities were
highly suspicious of Islam.
Family life
During the VOC period slaves at the Cape were generally unable to develop any
kind of stable family life. The legal provision forbidding marriage was the least of
the slaves’ problems in this regard. The sexual imbalance of the slave population,
with the great predominance of males over females, meant that only a minority of
males were able to find partners. The problem was especially acute in the rural areas.
Because of living conditions, few slaves were able to find privacy to maintain a family
unit. Moreover, fertility rates among slave women were low and the death rate among
slave children high. There was also the possibility of partners being forcibly split up
because they were sold separately. Children born of a slave mother were born into
slavery, and, although children were usually sold with the mother at an auction, this
was not guaranteed. Only after 1782 it was made illegal to sell children separately
from their mothers.
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Another consequence of the lack of family life and shortage of women was the tension
and violence that resulted from the unavailability of sexual outlet for the majority of
the male work force. Women were often the cause of disputes, and rape, homosexuality
and bestiality were other consequences of this situation in the rural areas.
Manumission, miscegenation and free blacks

Manumission (the freeing of individual slaves by their owners) was certainly a
feature of Cape society, but most historians now agree that its significance has
been exaggerated. The level of manumission at the Cape was extremely low during
the VOC period. Although 1 075 slaves were manumitted between 1715 and 1791,
which was an average of 14 a year, this figure is almost negligible when seen in the
context of the overall population. Only a fraction of one percent of the slave force
was manumitted, with the result that the free black population was extremely small.
Slaveholders were obviously unwilling and unlikely to free slaves voluntarily, when
they had been costly originally and while they could still yield an income through
their labour. This economic fact helped to keep the rate of manumission low, but, in
addition, the VOC imposed a number of restrictions on the freeing of slaves. These
became more numerous as the 18th century progressed.
Before 1722, owners could manumit slaves at their discretion. Thereafter, the approval
of the VOC was required. Owners also had to take responsibility for the welfare of
their manumitted slaves. Any slaves who were unable to support themselves were
legally entitled to claim money from their former masters. This regulation prevented
masters from freeing elderly or ill slaves who were no longer economically productive.
By the end of the 18th century, slaves needed a good command of Dutch, they had
to be baptised Christians, and they needed to produce proof of long service and
good character, before they had a chance of manumission.
Few slaves could meet all these criteria. They would have had to acquire some education
to meet the language requirement. Few were given the chance of conversion to
Christianity, for owners were reluctant to expose slaves to the Christian religion in the
knowledge that this might cause them to lose the services of their slaves. Few slaves
too, had private funds available to support themselves as free citizens. In addition, the
great majority of slaves freed were Cape-born or of Asian origin, which shows that
slaves of African origin had almost no chance at all of being manumitted. For these
reasons, manumissions occurred mainly in Cape Town and its immediate vicinity.
The rate of manumission increased substantially in the 19th century to an average of

86 per year in the decades between abolition and emancipation. The main reasons
for this increase were the easing of government restrictions on slave manumission
after 1826 and the increased slave assertiveness which persuaded some owners to
manumit their slaves.
Some free blacks were able to acquire land and even slaves but most were occupied
as artisans or traders. The free black community, though significant, never became
numerically and economically strong. Very few free blacks acquired great wealth or
status. Moreover, they were subjected to several important restrictions: they were
excluded from certain jobs; they did not have access to loans and therefore found
it difficult to buy land; they could be enslaved again if they broke the law, and they
faced many petty discriminatory laws, such as prescriptions on the dress of women.
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Miscegenation (sexual relationships between members of different ethnic backgrounds)

also failed to lead to the development of a large free black class. The precise amount
of sexual contact between racial groups at the Cape is impossible to determine, but
it was not uncommon. Marriages across racial divisions were not encouraged by
the VOC, and were rare. The greatest amount of such contact took place outside
of marriage, through prostitution or concubinage. The offspring of such liaisons
followed the status of the mother, and so they were absorbed into the slave class.
Occasionally, owners chose to free their concubines or children born from them,
but this was unusual. The important point about such contact between owners and
slaves is that it neither led to a significant growth in the number of free blacks, nor
did it break the basic divide between white owners and black labourers.
In addition to the policies of the VOC and the attitudes of the slave owners, there
were structural factors which prevented the growth of a large free black community
at the Cape. There were few positions that free blacks could fill in the Cape economy,
for the dependence on slave labour had kept the economy undiversified. The majority
of jobs in the settlement were on the farms, and these were filled by slaves. Free
blacks existed almost exclusively in Cape Town, where they never became sufficiently
powerful even to begin to challenge the slave-holding society at the Cape.
Afrikaans
Recent research has shown that slaves played a significant role in the emergence of
the Afrikaans language. Others have even advanced the argument that Afrikaans was
originally a creole language developed in the south-western Cape and used mainly by
slaves to communicate with one another. Some have dismissed it as a ‘kombuistaal’
(kitchen language), but was later (in the late 19th century onwards) appropriated,
advanced and codified by white Afrikaner nationalists.
Contested though various arguments are, there is certainly strong evidence to suggest
that Afrikaans emerged as a combination of Malay, Arabic, and Khoisan languages
with the European languages (mainly Dutch, German and French) of the colonists.
ACTIVITY 5.4
5.5 THE REACTION OF SLAVES TO THEIR CONDITIONS

As we have seen, slaves were greatly disadvantaged by their position in Cape society
and in the economy. Their loss of personal freedom, harsh treatment, lack of legal
options and general conditions of their enslavement were designed to keep slaves
subservient and powerless. It would be a mistake, however, to see slaves as weak,
docile and passive victims of all powerful masters. Slaves exploited every possible
means to express deep opposition to their position and their treatment in society, and
slave resistance was at all times a constant and an obvious feature of Cape society.
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Resistance
Slave resistance was clearly localised and uncoordinated because of the cultural
diversity which undermined slave solidarity, but it was nonetheless widespread and
frequent. These responses were often a violent reaction to the harshness of the slave
system. Many acts were deliberate, but many, too, were spontaneous, emerging out
of frustration and extreme pressure.
Slave resistance expressed itself mainly in individual ways such as escape and desertion,
inefficient or slow work, refusal to carry out orders as well as disobedience and
inefficiency. Some slaves also attacked their masters and their families and property
or committed arson and theft. On a few occasions, slaves even killed fellow slaves,
knowing that this was often a considerable financial loss for an owner to bear. A few
slaves sought revenge by poisoning the food of their masters, while others committed
suicide. Suicide was either an expression of their defiance, despair and refusal to
operate within the system imposed on them, or of their fear of punishment and torture.
As we have seen earlier in this unit, slaves would also resist oppression in the 19th
century by taking their masters to court more frequently than in the VOC period.
Slave resistance clearly displayed a regional dimension. Court records have shown
that urban slaves rarely assaulted or murdered their masters, while rural slaves often
resorted to such forms of resistance as a result of the greater brutality towards slaves in
the agricultural districts further away from Cape Town. Urban slaves enjoyed greater
economic and social mobility, which made them less likely to commit desperate acts
of violence against their owners. Moreover, the strong military presence of a large
British garrison in Cape Town in the early 19th century made urban slaves less likely to
revolt openly. Non-violent forms of slave protest nevertheless increased substantially
in the final decade of slavery as slaves became aware of the possibility of freedom.
Accommodation and collaboration

Of course, not all slaves were able to or willing to participate in acts of resistance.
These slaves resigned themselves to their situation, and served their masters loyally
if resentfully in the hope of gaining manumission. Some slaves also collaborated
actively with their masters, and were known to inform on and betray the activities
of fellow slaves. Apart from active collaboration, the passive acceptance by many
slaves of their captivity also played a role in the lack of organised protest.
Absence of organised slave revolt

There was no large-scale co-ordinated slave rebellion at the Cape. Two attempts
by slaves to organise a revolt on a larger scale, in 1808 and 1825, were both quickly
suppressed by the slave owners. There were several reasons that prevented the slaves
from planning and achieving a major rebellion.
Firstly, no distinctive, unified slave cultural tradition emerged at the Cape before the
end of the 18th century. Because slaves came from widely different places, it would
have taken a few generations for a sense of unity to develop. This never occurred,
because new slaves were constantly imported which created divisions between locally
born slaves and more recent imports thereby preventing any unity or common
identity from emerging.
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There were certainly subcultures that played a role in giving slaves a sense of identity,
for example the slaves in the Company lodge who came from Madagascar shared
a Malagasy culture. Moreover, slaves in Cape Town had a sense of community in
the sense that they formed part of an ‘underclass culture’ in which slaves and non-
slave labourers interacted with one another. This underclass culture became more
vibrant especially after the abolition of the external slave trade, the emergence of a
more balanced gender ratio, higher fertility rates and the growth of a more stable,
homogeneous, Cape-born slave population. Cape Town’s ‘underclass’ developed some
sense of community through participating in recreational activities such as drinking,
gambling, card-playing, music-making and dancing; developing a creole language
which assisted slaves from different linguistic backgrounds to communicate with
one another; and finding a religious home in Islam.
There were, however, deep divisions within the slave community as a whole. The
diverse origins of slaves created immediate barriers within the slave community.
Language differences between slaves caused further divisions. Many Indonesian
slaves spoke Malay, and Portuguese was often heard. Other African and Oriental
languages were soon forgotten as new slaves struggled to make themselves understood.
As noted above, many learnt a simplified form of Dutch to communicate with their
owners, which had considerable influence on the emergence of Afrikaans.
Slaves were also widely dispersed on the farms of the Cape, which prevented
easy communication between them. The Cape slave community was tightly controlled,
and laws curtailing rights of movement and association hindered contact between
slaves. Moreover, the complex hierarchy of the lodge kept slaves divided and under
control. On the farms there were often intense divisions between categories of
workers, such as domestic workers and farm labourers. Slave experience also differed
markedly, and those who received better treatment may have had less reason to
participate in planning a large-scale rebellion.
Because of these factors, it was very difficult to organise a united resistance movement,
and no popular slave leader emerged who could unite the slave community as a
whole. Slave resistance was therefore forced to express itself in more individualistic
ways. As we have seen, these were frequent, and provided strong evidence that most
slaves rejected their situation.
ACTIVITY 5.5
5.6 THE IMPACT OF SLAVERY ON THE SOCIAL ORDER

At the Cape, as in other slave-holding societies, slavery had a profound impact on
the social order.
Slavery gave rise to a racially divided society in which whites became accustomed
to the view that people who were workers were black. Slavery created a slave-
owner mentality among white people at the Cape, and sharpened their sense of
superiority over black people. White people also developed a distaste for manual
labour, dismissing it as the occupation of slaves, and beneath them.
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As white trekboers moved into the interior, they also applied this slave-owner
mentality to the indigenous communities of the interior. The Khoisan, Xhosa and
the Sotho-Tswana, who were legally free, were seen as potential labourers rather
than as equals. The authorities often turned a blind eye to, and even participated
in, commando raids for livestock and captives, especially of women and children.
These raids, which some historians interpret as slave raids, became an important
part of frontier relations from about the 1730s. Captives were employed under the
‘inboek’ system (indentureship), which enabled farmers to engage a child’s services
until the age of 18 years (and sometimes 25), and was therefore very similar to slavery.
Slavery also caused a blurring of class distinctions within white society. Even the
poorest white people enjoyed preference over slaves and other people of colour. Slavery
provided poorer white people with the opportunity to own slaves themselves and
thereby to improve their social position. White people therefore regarded themselves
automatically as the ruling class.
As slavery caused white people to become ever more race or colour conscious, free
blacks and people of mixed descent were increasingly burdened by discrimination and
eventually fell to the lowest level of society. Slavery also gave rise to racial stereotyping.
Depending on their origin, slaves were often categorised as ‘industrious’, ‘reliable’,
‘lazy’, ‘uncooperative’, and so on.
A further important psychological effect of slavery was that it created deep feelings of
fear and insecurity among both white people and slaves. Fear of slaves was most acute
in the rural farming regions, where white owners were often greatly outnumbered
by their slaves. Consequently, the levels of control and force required to maintain
the system were often extreme, and the extent of violence at the Cape was thus high.
ACTIVITY 5.6
5.7 CONCLUSION
Shortly after the British took control of the Cape for the second time (1806), the
oceanic slave trade was abolished in 1808. This decision had important implications
which could be felt throughout the Cape colony. This learning unit has mentioned
some of these: the abolition of the external slave trade increased the demand for
slaves at the Cape; this in turn led to a change in slave demography, and also led to a
growth in the size of the free black community. Further, a more balanced gender ratio
emerged, as did the development of a Cape-born slave community through natural
increase, the emergence of a stronger underclass culture, and different patterns of
slave resistance in the 19th century.
Unlike in the VOC period, the control of the ruling class over their slaves became
weaker in the early 19th century. From the 1820s, slavery came under further pressure
as a result of measures taken by the British government to improve the lives of the
slaves. The Act of Emancipation was eventually implemented at the Cape on 1
December 1834, but slaves remained tied to their owners as ‘apprentices’ for another
four years (to give masters the opportunity to adjust to the new dispensation), leading
a life very similar to that of slavery.
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After the final emancipation of slaves in 1838, legal and statutory divisions between
master and slave disappeared, but the racial distinctions between employer and
employee, as well as the attitudes which developed during the slave period, remained.
This underlines the strength and significance of the slave system at the Cape. The
legacy of slavery was thus very deep-seated and enduring. The significance of slavery
reached well beyond the period when the Cape was a formal slave society, and was to
have an influence on wider labour relations in southern Africa well into the future.
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6 LEARNING UNIT 6
6 The Cape northern frontier
LEARNING OBJECTIVES
questions:
• What do we mean by the concept of a ‘frontier’?
• Explain the differences between an ‘open frontier’ and a ‘closing frontier’.
• Discuss the geographical features of the Cape northern frontier.
• Identify the various inhabitants of the Cape northern frontier.
• Explore conflict and cooperation between the different inhabitants of the Cape
northern frontier.
In Learning Units 2, 3, 4 and 5, one of the main themes we explored was the history
and relationships between white people, Khoisan and slaves mainly in the south-
western Cape (the urban settlement of Cape Town and the area surrounding it,
dominated by the wheat and wine farms established by the white settlers).
In this unit and the next one, we turn our attention to the interaction of people on
the margins of the main white-dominated settlement of the south-western Cape, in
the so-called frontier zones of the Cape colony.
Two distinctive frontier zones developed to the north and to the east of the VOC-
dominated white settlement during the 18th century. Both were to play a prominent
role in southern African history. We will study the northern frontier zone in this
learning unit, and the eastern frontier zone in Learning Unit 7.
The northern frontier zone was an area where many different communities came into
contact with one another, and through this contact – both peaceful and violent –
they merged, disintegrated, and regrouped. The relationships forged in the northern
frontier region also foreshadowed the large-scale opening up of the interior for white
settlement in the 19th century (these were later developments that are outside the
scope of this learning unit and this module).
In this unit we will focus on the following themes:

• The concept of a frontier
• Environmental features of the northern frontier
• The inhabitants of the northern frontier
• Interaction between the inhabitants of the northern frontier
6.1 THE CONCEPT OF A FRONTIER

A ‘frontier’ or ‘frontier zone’ can be defined as an area of contact between peoples
who differ widely in origins and background. In a historical context, a frontier is not
merely a boundary line or border line between different countries. Rather, it is best
to understand frontier as an area of contact and interaction between two or more
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LEARNING UNIT 6: The Cape northern frontier
previously separate communities. Frequently, this area can be very large indeed,
covering many hundreds or even thousands of square kilometres.
Interaction between people is frequently determined by the limits of the environment,

which includes vegetation, climate, the terrain, and the fauna and flora of a particular
area. As you work through Learning Units 6 and 7, be consistently aware of how
the natural environment influenced the lifestyles of people and the relationships
between them.
The different societies which interact in a frontier zone are initially distinct communities
with their own cultural traditions and political, social, economic and belief systems.
These societies are not necessarily rigidly structured or homogeneous, and there
may be a considerable degree of diversity within the respective communities and
groups that make up the larger societies. Alliances between the different groups
may be entered as quickly as they are dissolved. Interaction, therefore, is a process
characterised by fluidity, as well as changing social and environmental conditions
on the frontier.
We speak of two phases of a ‘frontier’ zone, an open phase and a closing phase.
A frontier ‘opens’ when the first contact and early interaction between members of
different societies occurs. After this initial contact, a period of unregulated interchange
of activities and movement follows, as there is usually no group in complete control
of the region. Therefore, one can say that, during this initial phase of contact, a
power vacuum exists. Different relationships occur, often at the same time, such as
in the following examples:
• In some cases, various groups might cooperate with one another through trade
and military alliances, often resulting in one group becoming clients of another,
stronger group.
• Sometimes one group is absorbed into another by a process of acculturation, by
adopting customs, beliefs or other practices of another, more powerful group.
• In other cases, a period of open conflict might occur, with power tending to shift
from one society to another as they compete for the use of the natural resources
and eventually for physical control over an area.
As soon as a particular group manages to establish control over an area, the frontier
zone ‘closes’. Thus, a closing frontier situation occurs when a single, undisputed
authority or power establishes political and economic control over the zone. The
openness or fluidity of the zone disappears, and the frontier becomes controlled
or more rigidly defined. However, when we speak of a closing frontier, we do not
mean that the relations or interaction between the various societies that inhabit the
frontier zone have become completely static or have disappeared. Rather, a new
situation has come into being in which relations are regulated, and movement and
activity are limited and controlled by the dominant group.
It is important to note that we can speak of frontier zones, or disputed areas of

interaction, in many different contexts and periods of history. For instance, in Learning
Unit 1, although we did not use the term ‘frontier zone’ when we spoke of relationships
between hunter-gatherers, hunter-herders and mixed farming communities in the
period before colonisation, we could have conceived of these relationships in terms
of ‘open’ and ‘closing’ frontiers of interaction. We introduce the concept only here
because, traditionally in South African historical writing, ‘frontier’ has been commonly
applied to the areas on the outskirts of the established VOC-dominated colony of
the south-western Cape.
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We can consider another example that is now familiar to us, but in terms of ‘frontier’:
the south-western Cape itself:
• If we look at this region as a frontier zone, we can say that a frontier opened in
this area when there was initial contact between various European sailors and
the Khoisan people living in the region from the 1480s onwards. Relationships
were fluid and dynamic, and kept changing – at times, European traders seemed
to be in control of events, at other times the Khoisan were more powerful.
• A significant shift began to occur when the Dutch established the refreshment
station that became Cape Town in 1652. All the same, neither the Dutch nor
the Khoisan were dominant during the 1650s and 1660s, and so the frontier
between them could be said to have remained open, until the Dutch began to
control events after their military successes during the second Khoikhoi-Dutch
War in the 1670s.
• The frontier therefore began to ‘close’ at this stage, and was finally consolidated
after the devastating smallpox epidemic of 1713, which left the Dutch as the
undisputed power in the south-western Cape.
Thus, this particular ‘frontier’ in the south-western Cape between the Dutch and
the Khoisan was ‘open’ for many decades (indeed, almost two centuries), before
‘closing’ between the 1670s and the 1710s.
As can be seen from the example above, the increasing supremacy of one group over
other results in the disappearance of the ‘openness’ or fluidity of the frontier. The
activities of communities were increasingly limited and dominated by the centralising
force of a single political authority. This process ended with the subjugation of the
early inhabitants of the south-western Cape frontier zone by a stronger group, that
of the VOC government and the predominantly Dutch settlers.
We will now turn to consider the northern frontier situation. Be alert to significant
differences between developments in this frontier zone and those that occurred in the
south-western Cape. The situation was considerably more complex and fluid in the
northern frontier, and as a result, this frontier mainly retained ‘open’ characteristics
throughout the period we are considering.
ACTIVITY 6.1
6.2 ENVIRONMENTAL FEATURES OF THE NORTHERN

FRONTIER
The Cape northern frontier region was a vast area which lay north of the white
settlement in the south-western Cape. It extended from the Stellenbosch district
in the south – from the Cedarberg mountains and the Koue Bokkeveld area – to
the region that lay north of the Gariep (Orange) River – which came to be referred
to as Gordonia. It included areas such as the Hantam, the Roggeveld and Little
Namaqualand in the western part of the region, to areas in the east that came to be
known as Bushmanland and Transorangia.
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The area was vaguely defined throughout the period we will consider (roughly the
early 1700s to the early 1800s, or the early 18th to the early 19th centuries). Neither
the colonial powers nor any of the indigenous inhabitants were able to impose their
authority over this large area or declare certain districts or territories as permanently
under their control, and hence definitive boundaries were never established or agreed.
Part of the reason for this situation was the relative strengths of different groups, none
of whom was able to exert power over others for a lengthy period, as we shall see.
But even more importantly in explaining this situation was the natural environment
of the area. The northern frontier zone was characterised by harsh environmental
conditions. It was an arid region with low rainfall and a high evaporation rate.
Because of the absence of abundant natural resources, the inhabitants were forced
to spread widely over the area. The only perennial river, the Gariep (also known as
the Orange River), became the lifeline of many indigenous groups, who cooperated
and fought over access to its water, and to the grazing and game resources along its
banks. There were no other permanent rivers in the area. The little underground
water that existed was only available in scattered and widely separated places, which
also influenced the settlement patterns of the inhabitants.
The region was primarily a rugged, semi-desert area with scanty vegetation, which
forced the different groups to subsist by keeping small herds of domestic stock and
hunting wild animals. Initially, wild animals roamed the area in abundance, but as the
population increased and firearms were introduced, these numbers were drastically
depleted. The rather harsh geographic circumstances of the northern frontier were
to play a determining role in the relationships between the indigenous and intruding
societies as they struggled to survive.
The official boundary of the Cape Colony was to shift northwards under the various
colonial authorities. During the period when the Cape was governed by the VOC,
however, the inhabitants of the northern frontier region had very limited contact
with the colonial authorities, and boundary declarations by the VOC essentially had
very little real meaning.
If you were to look at a map of modern South Africa’s provincial boundaries, the
northern frontier zone or region of the 18th century would have been located mainly
within the modern Northern Cape province.
ACTIVITY 6.2
6.3 THE INHABITANTS OF THE NORTHERN FRONTIER

Throughout the late 18th and early 19th centuries (the 1750s to the 1820s), the
influence of the colonial government based in Cape Town over the northern frontier
zone was weak, and even when the authorities tried to exert control, they struggled
to establish power over the region. They essentially lacked the ability as well as the
desire to control directly the affairs of such a vast region from the distance of Cape
Town. Significant resources and manpower would have been required to do so, and
these were not available to the colonial government.
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It is also important to bear in mind that the colonial government changed hands
four times between the 1790s and the 1810s – the VOC, the British, the Batavians
and then the British again. This discontinuity meant that policy towards the
frontier was frequently in flux. Thus, for a long time, relationships between the
various communities in the northern frontier region depended on their own skills,
the availability of natural resources and their ability to control trade goods, especially
guns, rather than on any laws and regulations that were proclaimed by the colonial
authorities. It was only during the 1820s and later that the colonial government began
to manage to exert some degree of control over the northern frontier, but even so,
its power was never very secure.
Despite the distances between most parts of the northern frontier zone and the
south-western Cape, economic influences extending from the south-western Cape did
affect the lifestyle of communities on the northern frontier. European commodities,
such as firearms, gunpowder and clothing, began to penetrate the northern frontier
region in the period before the consolidation of colonial rule.
The northern frontier zone was inhabited by a variety of different people and groups
who cooperated and conflicted with one another in this area of limited resources.
Khoisan peoples
The Khoisan peoples, comprising the San, the Nama, the Korana (or Kora), and the
Einiqua, were the earliest indigenous groups to inhabit the northern frontier region.
• The San were predominantly hunter-gatherers, although at least in a few areas,
some of them also possessed livestock. They were to become renowned for the
fierce manner in which they resisted new settlers who entered their land.
• The Nama, who lived on each side of the lower Gariep River, were mainly
pastoralists, who supplemented their diet by hunting and gathering. The mobile
lifestyle of these communities did mean that they moved at times between
various parts of the region, in order to exploit the differences between some of
the environmental zones within the northern frontier zone, which ranged from
the desert coastal belt along the Atlantic Ocean to the comparatively well-watered
mountain range of the Kamiesberg.
• An important Khoikhoi group were the Korana, who were settled in the middle
Gariep River region, on both the northern and southern sides of the river. Like
the Nama, they were mainly herders, and also hunted and collected food. They
developed strong ties with the south-western Cape during the 18th century, and
the knowledge they had of the white settlement would influence their dealings
with other groups.
• Another Khoikhoi group, the Einiqua, populated the region of the middle Gariep
River between the Nama in the west and Korana in the east.
In all these cases, although we have noted particular groups, it is difficult to draw
very clear ethnic boundaries between these different communities. There was regular
contact between them, through trade, client agreements and intermarriage, and
thus rigid distinctions become blurred. Both contemporary visitors of European
background and later scholars have often disagreed with one another when they
tried to differentiate between the Nama, Einiqua and Korana groups.
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Bantu-speaking groups
The more northerly parts of the middle Gariep River region were occupied by the
Bantu-speaking Sotho-Tswana people. The area offered sufficient water and grazing
for pastoralism and also for some agricultural activities. They therefore enjoyed a
more sedentary and less nomadic way of life than the Khoisan people.
The most southerly Sotho-Tswana chiefdom was the BaTlhaping – sometimes called
‘Briqua’ by the Khoikhoi, which meant ‘people of the goat’. At the beginning of the
19th century, the main settlement of the BaTlhaping, Dithakong, had a population
of about 16 000 people, which made it equal in size to Cape Town.
The BaTlhaping and the Korana had close social and economic links with one
another – which was further evidence of fluidity between groups of people.
New communities
An important feature of the northern frontier region was the emergence of new
mixed communities. Predominant among these were the Oorlams and the Griqua.
The word ‘oorlam’ probably comes from the Malay language spoken among some
of the slaves, and it was used to denote acculturated people or people of mixed
Khoikhoi-European origin, who had acquired special skills and embraced certain
aspects of the European way of life. They knew how to handle guns, horses and
ox-wagons, and they spoke Dutch.
These people had been dispersed from their grazing and hunting grounds at the
Cape through the advance of the European settlement. After they had lost their land
and livestock, they often worked for European farmers before they moved further
north to regain a measure of independence. There were several Oorlam bands in the
northern Cape which were to play important roles in the territory that was later to be
called Namibia, such as the Afrikaner Oorlams (not to be confused with Afrikaans
or Dutch-speaking trekboers) and the Witboois.
The Griquas (who were known sometimes as ‘Basters’, particularly before the early
19th century), were people of mixed Khoikhoi, European and slave origin. Owing
to their status as ‘coloureds’, they were sometimes employed in more specialised or
skilled occupations. Like the Oorlams, some of them had adopted elements of Western
culture, such as reading and writing skills and Christianity. These aspects of cultural
change played an important role in the shaping of a new identity of the Griqua.
The Kok and the Barends families assumed important leadership roles when these
heterogeneous groups – in other words, groups comprising people from different
backgrounds – emerged in the 18th century.
Trekboers
In the Cape northern frontier zone, the harsh environment prevented any large-
scale penetration of trekboers, especially in comparison with the southern Cape and
eastern Cape frontier. There were, however, some white adventurers who travelled
into the interior mainly to hunt, to trade and to establish cattle posts. Most were
typical frontier pioneers, who relied solely on their own resources for everything
they needed. Their dwellings were crude, as was their clothing. One symbol of their
self-sufficiency was the commando, a small military band which was their own
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system of protection, but which was often used for raiding and counter-raiding
other communities, as livestock theft in the region was common.
Individual refugees from the Cape

Since the region was difficult to reach for colonial authorities based in Cape Town,
it offered a useful place of refuge for fugitives from the law. Most of these people
were either convicted criminals or had contravened various laws of the south-western
Cape and fled before they could be brought to trial.
One good example of such an individual who played an important role on the
northern frontier was Jan Bloem. He was a German sailor who was accompanied on
a journey by his wife; but when the ship reached Cape Town, he escaped from the
ship, murdered his wife, and fled north from Cape Town to the northern frontier.
He settled on a farm belonging to an influential trekboer farmer, Petrus Pienaar,
who was one of the few trekboers to have established a permanent presence in the
area. Pienaar supplied Bloem with firearms and gunpowder, and Bloem began to
raid cattle from Korana groups in the area. He also began to attract the support of
individuals and communities who had become impoverished in the area. Under his
leadership, these people merged into a new group, the Springbok Kora, who were
much feared because of their aggressive raiding of other frontier communities.
Bloem was one example of a fugitive from justice who played a role on the northern
frontier. Another was Stephanas, who is the subject of Activity 6.3.
ACTIVITY 6.3
Missionaries
European agents of social change, who were more directly involved in the northern
frontier zone than the colonial government, were the missionaries. The first members
of the London Missionary Society (LMS) to enter the area established mission
stations among the San at the Zak River in 1799, and in 1801 they extended their
work to the Basters and the BaTlhaping. William Anderson of the LMS was the first
permanent missionary in the middle Gariep River area from 1801. In 1806, other
missionaries crossed the Gariep River and founded mission stations among some
of the Khoisan groups.
The missionaries were often welcomed by people in the area, because they imported
trade goods and provided new skills, apart from their Christian teachings. Indeed,
it is important to note that most of the early missionaries in the area did not impose
themselves, but were invited by different groups – notably the Basters and various
Khoisan communities – to establish a presence among them.
The presence of missionaries began to affect the lifestyles of people in significant

ways. Let us take the example of the Nama, who hoped to benefit from the economic
benefits and the social services that they believed the missionaries might bring them.
The missionaries strongly believed that the Nama needed to settle permanently around
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the mission stations so that they could become an established Christian community,
but the Nama’s lifestyle depended on the transhumant patterns of finding sufficient
grazing and water for their livestock. The missionaries hoped that the importation
of European commodities such as clothing, tools and firearms, combined with
their serious attempts to establish viable agriculture around mission stations, would
encourage the Nama to settle. This often did not occur, although mission work did
begin to affect the internal power structures in local communities, as some were
more open to missionaries than others. Conflict ensued as a result – both between
the missionaries and the communities with whom they were trying to work, as well
as within the communities themselves.
Further, since some missionaries did not hesitate to defend the rights of local people,
they often quarrelled with the trekboer farmers in the area as well as the colonial
government. In general, neither the trekboer farmers nor the colonial authorities
appreciated the work of missionaries, and they tended to regard them as a cause
of conflict and instability that undermined any attempts by government or white
trekboer farmers to regulate relationships.
6.4 INTERACTION BETWEEN THE INHABITANTS OF THE

NORTHERN FRONTIER
Interaction between the various groups on the Cape northern frontier can sometimes
seem complex and confusing. However, if one bears in mind that the struggle for
survival in a harsh environment dominated relationships, it might become easier
to understand.
The battle to survive or even prosper certainly resulted in conflict between

different communities. However, individuals and communities were also often
forced to cooperate with each other in order to survive. Thus, the relations between
people were fluid and constantly shifting. This was because all people competed for
access to the scarce natural resources of the region, while many also fought for the
control of trade links with the Cape. Sometimes groups formed alliances in order
to attack other groups or to defend themselves against intruders.
The possession of firearms played a major role in the northern frontier region, not
only for hunting but also for raiding. As groups were forced to survive, mainly
as highly mobile hunter-pastoralists in an arid environment, raiding became a
prominent feature in the economic and political relationships between the various
frontier communities. In times of drought, impoverished pastoralists took to raiding
other herding communities. Weaker groups sought protection from attacks by joining
more powerful leaders who had access to guns. Sometimes groups attacked each
other to obtain firearms and ammunition. A vicious circle was set in motion which
increasingly depleted the natural resources of water, grazing and game, and made life
in the northern frontier zone much more hazardous for poorer people who lacked
the protection of stronger communities.
Essentially, any individual or group that possessed firearms were able to acquire
resources such as livestock, and also win followers. Both of these conferred power on
people, giving them a decisive advantage over those who were unable to command
such resources.
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Conflict and cooperation were both features of a process which led, on the one
hand, to the impoverishment and displacement of groups, and, on the other, to a
regrouping of people which facilitated the rise of new societies.
Let us look at some different examples of this process of conflict and cooperation.
The examples illustrate the struggles of communities who had had a distinct identity
for many generations and attempts to maintain this; but they also illustrate how a
successful strategy to cope was to form new bonds and new communities to protect
their interests and independence.
Older communities: contestation and consolidation

The original inhabitants in the Cape northern frontier region, the San, became
famous for their fierce resistance to any intruders. Pastoral people who arrived in
the area, such as the Nama, threatened the living space of the San hunter-gatherers.
Sometimes these pastoralists were forced to leave the area as a result of violent
clashes between the two groups. At other times, however, there was considerable
cooperation and goodwill between hunters and herders, which was based on the
sharing of the natural resources of the area.
From about 1700 onwards, the San also tried to prevent the expansion and settlement
of white hunters and trekboer farmers. The intrusion of these settlers not only meant
the potential loss of large tracts of land for use by the San, but also led to a significant
decline in the numbers of wild animals, because of the access to firearms that the
white frontiersmen had.
San resistance provoked fierce reprisals against them from white frontiersmen. The
trekboer farmers formed commandos, or bands of men who had access to horses
and to firearms, in order to attack enemies, such as the San. These commandos
often comprised both the trekboer farmers as well as their Khoikhoi servants, who
grouped together in order to annihilate the San. The so-called ‘Bushman hunts’ of
the later 18th century saw the brutal killing of large numbers of San people, men in
particular. Surviving women and children were forced to work on trekboer farms
under appalling conditions.
A few San groups, many of whom had become destitute after the pattern of continual
raids and counter-raids that they experienced, joined the Baster groups led by
Adam Kok and Barend Barends, or attached themselves to Oorlam leaders, such as
Jager Afrikaner. Some San also cooperated with the BaTlhaping, with whom they
established trade ties.
The Nama were also affected by the violence which accompanied the advancing
colonial frontier into the northern Cape frontier zone. Threatened by both San
hunter-gatherers and trekboer frontiersmen, many of these impoverished Nama
retreated further north where they joined Baster and Oorlam groups. A great number
of Nama people also settled on the farms of white frontiersmen, where they became
subservient as cattle herders and labourers.
Korana groups were also pushed northwards by the settlement of trekboer frontiersmen,
which intensified their contact with the BaTlhaping. After an initial phase of conflict,
they cooperated with each other in order to resist attacks from other hostile groups.
Collaboration between the two groups was based on the considerable wealth of the
BaTlhaping chiefdom and the military expertise of the Korana, who were skilled in
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the use of guns. Many Korana groups were absorbed into the BaTlhaping chiefdom
through intermarriage.
The BaTlhaping’s initial wealth was also to attract the attention of other groups and
individuals, including the fugitive criminal, Jan Bloem. After he had escaped into the
frontier region and established some power and wealth, Bloem carried out a series
of devastating raids on the inhabitants surrounding his base. As a result of these,
an increasing number of uprooted people joined him. Eventually a new group, the
Springbok Kora, emerged under his leadership. Between 1794 and 1796, Bloem led
his followers against the southern Tswana chiefdoms, particularly the BaTlhaping.
These raids had a debilitating effect on them, and they found it difficult to recover
from the destruction caused by the Springbok Kora. In the aftermath of these raids,
the BaTlhaping realised that they had to enter alliances with other groups, such as
the Basters and some Korana, who owned guns and could protect them. In 1801 and
1804, government expeditions tried to establish trade contacts with the BaTlhaping,
but they were disappointed because the BaTlhaping had already been robbed of most
of their livestock by Bloem and the Springbok Kora.
New communities: Afrikaner Oorlam groups

The Afrikaner Oorlams were to gain a reputation for raiding and plundering, as well
as for attracting many new members from impoverished frontier communities. For
many years, they had cooperated with the influential trekboer farmer, Petrus Pienaar,
who had several loan farms on the northern frontier. The Afrikaner Oorlams were
equipped with guns and undertook many commando raids on the northern frontier.
In this capacity, the leaders of the Afrikaner Oorlams, Klaas and Jager Afrikaner,
became experienced frontier pioneers, who became well known for attacking other
inhabitants in the region. In 1796, they killed Pienaar and several members of his
family after a dispute. This murder resulted in the flight of the Afrikaner Oorlams
to the Gariep River, where they became the terror of the Cape northern frontier,
attacking other groups and stealing their cattle, while at the same time integrating
destitute Khoisan and fugitives from the law among them.
The Afrikaner Oorlams, however, soon realised that legal trade links with the Cape
Colony, which had been disrupted when they killed Pienaar, were important in order
to replenish their supplies. When the first missionaries arrived on the northern frontier
between 1801 and 1806, the Afrikaner Oorlams began to make use of the educational
and diplomatic skills that the missionaries offered to consolidate their own influence.
Initially, relations between missionaries and the Afrikaner Oorlams were very tense
and they mistrusted each other, but Jager Afrikaner was eventually baptized into
the Christian faith in 1815.
The famous missionary of the LMS, Robert Moffat, who worked among the Afrikaner
Oorlams in south-eastern Namibia for about a year, used his influence to re-establish
more peaceful ties between the Afrikaner Oorlams and the Cape government.
He was certainly well aware that the acquisition of guns was an important motive
for the Afrikaner Oorlams to attach themselves to mission stations. Moffat then
accompanied Jager Afrikaner and his son, Jonker, to Cape Town in 1819. The Cape
governor pardoned the outlaw for his crimes, gave him a passport and an ox-wagon,
and thus gave him legal access to the Cape colony.
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This event was an impressive success for the missionaries, who gained a reputation as
important intermediaries between the colonial authorities and people on the frontier.
It also shows how closely economic, political and religious aspects were intertwined
in the interaction between the missionaries and their converts.
From the 1820s, the Afrikaner Oorlams shifted their sphere of influence to central
Namibia, where they gained an unprecedented position of power by establishing
a raiding and trading network among the Bantu-speaking Herero pastoralists and
other Khoisan groups. They founded the present-day capital of Namibia, Windhoek,
as their main settlement and centre of operations.
Another Oorlam group in the northern Cape were the Witboois, who lived under
their leader Kido Witbooi in the region of Pella, south of the lower Gariep River.
They also established close links with the LMS missionaries, who helped them to
safeguard their trade links with the Cape. Like the Afrikaner Oorlams, the Witboois
later played a crucial role in Namibia where they became one of the most powerful
groups of the 19th century.
New communities: The Griqua

Another group which illustrates similar processes is the Basters, once known as
the ‘Bastaards’, which term originally denoted people deemed of illegitimate birth.
Like the Afrikaner clan, they emerged from a background of close ties between
local groups and the emerging trekboer frontier society. As the offspring between
Khoikhoi and trekboers, and in some cases slaves, they were often discriminated
against by people from the south-western Cape. Those who did not want to accept
inferior social status as transport riders or farmhands moved away into the northern
frontier region, to pursue an independent lifestyle as hunters, herders and traders.
One of the most important Baster families was the Kok family. Adam Kok, who is
generally understood to have been a former slave who had bought his freedom, and
his son, Cornelius, acquired influential positions by attracting followers from other
groups on the northern frontier. In the 1770s, the Kok clan settled along the Gariep
River. Within about 30 years, they had established significant wealth through elephant
hunting far into the interior north of the Gariep. They formalised their trade links
with the BaTlhaping, and they dominated the ivory trade with Cape Town. In this
way, they began to develop significant influence in the frontier zone.
In 1801, the Koks (and another influential family, the Barends) settled with two
missionaries of the LMS, William Anderson and Christian Kramer, at Klaarwater
on the middle Gariep. Cornelius Kok became an important supporter of the various
missionaries on the northern frontier by assisting them with advice and provisions.
The missionaries were therefore able to draw on the knowledge and experience that
the Baster frontier pioneers had gathered in exploring the northern Cape region.
The close links between the Basters and the missionaries proved to be very important
for the consolidation of the social and economic structures of the community. The
Basters built stone houses, planted crops and assumed a leading role in ‘Transorangia’
on the middle Gariep.
Apart from the economic and political support which the Basters obtained from the
missionaries, Christianity became a fundamental aspect of their group identity. As
acculturated and ‘modernised’ Africans, the Basters hoped to secure a special role
for themselves by retaining their economic and political links with the Cape. The
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Basters used the missionaries as intermediaries with the colony in order to control
their own integration into colonial society, or at least to secure and maintain their
independence on the northern frontier.
The visiting inspector of the LMS, John Campbell, persuaded the Basters to change
their name in 1813 because of its derogatory connotations. The new name adopted
by the community was ‘Griqua’, which derives from the Grigriqua (or Gurigriqua)
Khoikhoi, whom most of the Basters claimed as their ancestors. Klaarwater was
renamed Griquatown.
The historian Martin Legassick has pointed out that Griqua ‘state building’ involved
the domination of other local communities on the northern frontier. He has suggested
that the Griqua aimed to establish their supremacy over the Khoisan, the Kora and
the Sotho-Tswana through the force of the commando and the power of the church
– in much the same way that white settlers had done in other parts of the Cape.
The interests of the Griqua and the missionaries, however, soon clashed. Political
tensions developed because the Griqua insisted on their independence against the
attempts by missionaries to dominate the affairs of the community. On the one hand,
the missionaries wanted to build up an orderly and permanent settlement according
to their own notions of how Africans should adapt to European domination. On the
other hand, they were under pressure from the government to act as representatives
of colonial rule. These conflicts increased, because the various factions within the
Griqua community fought with each other for influence.
In 1814, the British colonial government attempted to use missionaries to recruit

Griqua people for military duties. This resulted in the ‘Hartenaars rebellion’, and the
Griqua community split into different factions. However, the colonial authorities
were also divided in their dealings with the Griqua. Some wanted to use them as
allies who could protect the frontier, but others were hostile to any idea of treating
the Griqua as independent allies, preferring to subjugate them.
A number of treaties were adopted that intended to bind the Griqua closer to the
colonial state, but the Griqua continued to attempt to keep their own power as far
as possible. By the 1840s, these attempts had largely failed. This was the result not
only of the increasing economic and political actions by the colonial authorities in
the frontier region, but also of the resistance of other Africans, such as the Sotho-
Tswana, against Griqua supremacy. Thereafter, the Griqua lost their independence
and became dispersed. The descendants of the Griqua, however, have kept up the
struggle for their own identity and historical heritage until today.
ACTIVITY 6.4
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6.5 CONCLUSION
This learning unit has outlined how, from the middle of the 18th century,
trekboer farmers gradually moved into the northern frontier area. This expansion
was accompanied by a variety of responses from different people in the region:
resistance, accommodation, and withdrawal. Those who stayed, particularly south
of the Gariep River, eventually succumbed to the superior military efficiency of
trekboer commandos, and lost their independence.
Thus, as a result of the increased penetration of trekboer frontier farmers into the
interior, and of growing numbers of government officials and expanding missionary
activities, particularly from the early 19th century, the inhabitants of the Cape
northern frontier were gradually brought into the sphere of colonial control. By the
1820s, many who did not withdraw to the more inhospitable regions to the north
of the Gariep River were often forced to accept inferior social positions as farm
labourers on trekboer farms.
It does need to be stressed, however, that processes of domination were very different
from those that had occurred in the south-western Cape. The northern frontier zone
has sometimes been described as a racially ‘grey’ area, because status and power did
not depend on skin colour. In the south-western Cape, particularly during the whole
of the 18th century, white colonists and the VOC government dominated society.
However, in the northern frontier zone, this did not occur. Much more important
than race or ethnicity was the ability of leaders to defend their communities against
stronger groups by providing them with guns and protection; to control access to
scarce natural resources; and to control trade with the Cape Colony. Most of the
groups who succeeded in doing this were of mixed or of direct African descent.
Relations between the various groups were volatile and frequently violent, as different
leaders and their followers struggled for domination over weaker communities,
although there was also considerable cooperation between people at different times.
It was only in the 1840s that the political influence of the Cape government became
increasingly effective in this isolated region.
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7 LEARNING UNIT 7
7 The Cape eastern frontier
LEARNING OBJECTIVES
questions:
• Describe the environment of the eastern frontier region of the Cape.
• What was the impact of the environment on people living in the eastern frontier
region?
• What was common about the lifestyles of the Xhosa, Khoisan and white settlers
in the eastern frontier region, and what divided them?
• Explore interaction between Xhosa, Khoisan and white people in the eastern
frontier region during four different phases of colonial settlement
• What was the impact of colonial settlement and expansion in the eastern frontier
region before 1820?
The Cape eastern frontier was in many ways the most famous of all southern African
frontiers. It was here that some of the first major wars between the indigenous
African people and settlers of European background took place. The process of
interaction was complex, as we shall see: on the one hand, it was characterised by
cooperation, as new economic and social bonds between people were established,
and on the other hand, there was serious conflict, as different groups of people
struggled with one another to obtain control of the region during the period with
which we are concerned.
After about five decades (approximately the 1770s to the 1820s) of interaction between
the Khoisan, Xhosa and white people, the colonial power eventually succeeded in
temporarily ‘closing’ the frontier on its own terms. Consequently the fluid political,
social and economic relationships which had existed between the members of these
three communities became more rigid and structured. In 1812, the British colonial
authorities succeeded in ending the power vacuum that had existed on the frontier
up to that time, and were able to control and regulate interaction more effectively
than before. However, it does need to be understood that this situation was to be
regularly challenged during the following decades, up to as late as the 1870s and
1880s (well outside the period of this module).
All the same, the power established by the colonial authorities was never all that
secure during the period with which we are concerned. Their power was regularly
challenged, not only by the Xhosa and the Khoisan, but also by white frontiersmen
who were frequently unhappy with the intervention of colonial power in the region.
Further, the intervention and role of missionaries, who established some of the first
mission stations among the indigenous people at the very end of the 18th century,
began to affect relationships between people, although the full impact of missionaries
was to occur after the period with which we are concerned in this learning unit.
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In this unit, we will focus on the following main themes:

• The eastern frontier environment
• Interaction between people up to the 1770s
• Developments during the late VOC period (1770s to 1795)
• Developments during the period of the first British occupation (1795 to 1803)
• Developments during the Batavian period (1803 to 1806)
• Developments during the second British occupation (1806 onwards)
7.1 THE EASTERN FRONTIER ENVIRONMENT

The Cape eastern frontier zone was a wide coastal area which stretched from the
Gouritz River in the west to land as far as the Kei River in the east. It included the
Great Fish River, and was bounded in the north by mountain ranges and by the
Indian Ocean in the south.
The Cape eastern frontier was situated in the south-eastern section of the most fertile
parts of southern Africa, although parts of the frontier zone – the areas well inland
from the coast – were relatively arid and even mountainous, and did not support
agriculture. Most of the region received enough summer rainfall to enable dense
natural vegetation as well as crops to grow – particularly those areas that were close
to the Indian Ocean coast.
The region did experience some climatic problems, as there were inconsistent and
unpredictable patterns of rainfall and climate. Rainfall was often erratic, severe
droughts were fairly common, and there were also extremes in temperature, which
could range from severe heat to intense cold.
The numerous wild animals in the eastern frontier region offered good hunting
opportunities for all of the inhabitants who occupied the region. However the
Khoikhoi, Xhosa and white settlers, who were all mainly involved in some form
of stock farming, were dependent on large areas of natural pasturage, as they made
little serious effort to increase the carrying capacity of the land. Once an area
became overgrazed or exhausted, the tendency among all groups was to move to
other pastures. The problem was that the various groups of stock farmers could
only continue in this manner as long as there was sufficient available land. As soon
as land became exhausted or stressed, a conflict situation arose.
The most sought-after part of the eastern frontier region, the area where most of
the interaction between groups took place, was a portion known as the Zuurveld.
This was an area of some 120 kilometres long and 80 kilometres wide between the
Sundays River and the Great Fish River. The vegetation in this area was suitable
for stock farming, but was not available for grazing throughout the year. The sour
grass in certain parts provided excellent pasturage for livestock during the spring
and early summer months, but was not edible in autumn and winter. Sweetveld,
which was found in the valleys, provided good grazing for most of the year, except
in the spring, when it grew slowly.
These types of grass and their distribution in the Zuurveld meant that stock farmers
had to practise transhumance, that is migrate from one area to another in order to
have grazing throughout the year. This pattern of migration meant that tension and
friction were bound to arise among the various communities of stock farmers, as
they competed to gain control over the limited pasturage (grazing grass).
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LEARNING UNIT 7: The Cape eastern frontier
ACTIVITY 7.1
7.2 INTERACTION BETWEEN PEOPLE UP TO THE 1770S
Khoisan societies
As in other parts of southern Africa, the original inhabitants of the eastern frontier
region were the hunter-gatherers. For many centuries, different groups moved freely
in this area, living off the wild animals they hunted and plants they gathered.
Although the archaeological record is not entirely clear or consistent, we do know

that some of these hunter-gatherers acquired livestock, probably between 10 and
12 centuries ago. Livestock owners, often called pastoralists, lived in larger and
more complex societies than hunter-gatherers, and tended to push hunter-gatherers
away from the most fertile regions. At times, hunter-gatherers made fierce attempts
to exclude livestock owners from their territory, but others tended to withdraw and
they dispersed into the more arid areas or inaccessible mountain ranges in the interior
away from the coastal belt, from where some of them would continue their attacks
and raiding activities. Others were merely absorbed by the livestock-owning groups
and adapted their lifestyle. We do know, as in the south-western Cape, that there
was sometimes fluidity between the hunter-gatherer and hunter-pastoralist lifestyles.
In the first half of the 18th century, increasing numbers of pastoralist Khoisan entered
the region, as they moved east in order to escape the growing colonial settlement
in the south-western Cape. Many were impoverished groups who had been forced
away from the south-western Cape because of growing VOC power and increasing
numbers of colonial settlers. They had been weakened by inequities in trade and
barter, particularly of cattle, and had also been deprived of access to pasture and
water, and were struggling to survive.
Bitter conflicts arose during this period between these newer groups and those who
had been established in the region for much longer. There was considerable conflict
and turmoil as a result, and distinctions between hunter-gatherers and hunter-
pastoralists became even more blurred.
Xhosa societies
The main indigenous group whom the Khoisan encountered in this region were the
south-westward-moving Xhosa people. The Xhosa formed part of a larger group of
Bantu-speaking mixed farmers, called the southern Nguni – who had, from about
the 10th century, been moving slowly south from the area where northern Nguni
were established along what is now the Kwazulu-Natal coastal region. By the late
16th century, they had reached the coastal region around the Kei River, where they
herded their livestock, hunted wild animals and cultivated their crops.
The Xhosa economy resulted in a dispersed pattern of settlement, which

was compounded by their territorial expansion that occurred continuously as the
population slowly increased and as sons left to establish their own households. Xhosa
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groups were often embroiled in disputes over land, cattle or authority, and this also
led to splintering off and the formation of new chiefdoms. Politically, Xhosa society
was often characterised by fierce power struggles between competing chieftains. This
rivalry led to divisions and the absence of effective political unity. This arguably
was to play a significant role in undermining the Xhosa people’s attempts to resist
encroachment by other communities in the 18th and 19th centuries.
Despite the rivalries and tensions which we have just mentioned, the Xhosa were
also recognised for being tolerant in their relationships with their neighbours, as
well as being hospitable to people who were in need. They were regularly involved
in alliances with communities they encountered, for beneficial trading relationships,
and for intermarriage. As a result, they have often been described as largely an ‘open’
society, because of this tradition of including or absorbing other groups.
In Xhosa society, land was regarded as belonging to the community and ‘every man
had the right to the use of land just as he had the right to breathe the air’.11 There
were no fixed boundaries between different clans, and the chief regulated this right
to share the use of the soil among all clans and adults within society.
Another characteristic of Xhosa society which influenced their relations with

other communities was the important role that cattle played in their lives. Besides
being a source of food, cattle were also important as a store of wealth, as a medium
of exchange or trade, as bridewealth, as being used as draught animals, and as having
an important role in ritual occasions within Xhosa society.
We do know of significant conflict between Xhosa and San hunter-gatherers at

times. The harsh manner in which many of the Xhosa treated the San was largely
as a reaction to the San’s hostile attacks and relentless raiding of Xhosa cattle. The
San also resisted Xhosa advancement into their traditional hunting and gathering
areas. Despite this intense conflict between the two societies at times, we also know
of cooperation that developed between the two groups. The San traded feathers,
ivory and eggshell beads with the Xhosa in exchange for grain and iron. Certain
Xhosa groups depended on the San as rainmakers, paying them in cattle and with
part of their crops. Occasionally, San groups joined Xhosa chiefdoms and there were
several cases of intermarriage.
Khoisan pastoralists and Xhosa also came into conflict with one another. They
clashed over access to water and grazing areas, as well as raided one another’s cattle.
There were also incidences of both groups being absorbed by the other: in the 18th
century, some Khoikhoi incorporated groups of destitute Xhosa, like the Gona,
while the Xhosa also incorporated other Khoikhoi clans, giving rise to the mixed
Xhosa-Khoikhoi chiefdom, the Gqunukhwebe.
The contact and interaction between the Xhosa and the Khoisan was facilitated by
the similarities in their social organisation along clan-lineage lines, their ability to
absorb strangers into their communities, their practice of pastoralism and, to a lesser
degree, hunting. A network of reciprocal relations developed between different groups
as they traded, intermarried and formed political alliances against other local rivals.
That Xhosa-Khoisan interaction had been intimate and of long duration is evident
in the marked influence Khoisan languages had on Xhosa dialects.
11 M Wilson and L Thompson (eds), A history of South Africa to 1870 (Cape Town, 1982), p 268.
94
This interaction between peoples in the centuries before 1750 was very characteristic
of an ‘open’ frontier. Relations were fluid and neither group ever appears to have
been in complete control over the other.
This situation was to change once white trekboer farmers moved into the eastern
frontier region from the south-western Cape, followed by government officials and
others.
7.3 INTERACTION ON THE FRONTIER: THE LATE VOC PERIOD

(1770S TO 1795)
Before the 1770s, when the first white frontiersmen began to move in significant
numbers into the territories as far east as the Fish River, a number of individuals
of European background had already entered the region. They were explorers,
traders and big game hunters who travelled, both officially and unofficially, to the
geographically more attractive eastern frontier. By the middle of the 18th century
(around 1750), the route into what became known as the eastern frontier, or the
eastern Cape, was well-known and well-used.
Early interaction between these white people and the various indigenous Khoisan
and Xhosa peoples was characterised by both cooperation and conflict. However,
as the trading activities between them began to change when whites appeared to
settle on a more permanent basis, conflict began to increase.
After 1700, when the VOC opened the cattle trade to freemen and granted settlement
rights beyond the limits of the Cape colony (the south-western Cape), migration into
the interior increased rapidly. Within seven decades, the area occupied by people of
European descent had increased tenfold. This was the result of the land allocation
systems of the VOC, as well as population growth and the social pressure on white
males to establish their own farms. White frontiersmen were granted individual
rights of ownership and usage and lived in small-scale, closely-knit units, making
the white population densities in the frontier region extremely low.
This relative isolation of the white frontiersmen, which was further enhanced by their
nominal alliance with the colonial authorities, led them to become virtually entirely
self-sufficient and individualistic. It also led to a feeling of fear and insecurity when
they confronted other large groups, such as the Xhosa, who outnumbered them.
This element of fear resulted in aggressiveness which was often intensified by racial
prejudices and religion. Some of them felt they had to uphold their Christian norms
against the non-Christian Xhosa and Khoisan, and were therefore often seen to be
a ‘closed’ group not amenable to closer cooperation or incorporation.
These white farmers were mainly cattle farmers, but they also hunted game. Some
of them planted crops on a small scale. Their cattle were important as a source of
food, as a form of capital, and as a means of exchange. Their wealth and status were
measured by the quality of their cattle. It was therefore imperative that they had
an adequate supply of grazing land, as they did not attempt to improve the grazing
capacity of the land, but simply moved on to new pastures when an area became
overgrazed or overpopulated.
The arrival of the white settlers had a serious effect on Khoisan hunter-gatherers
in the region. The introduction of firearms that the white frontiersmen possessed
led to an immediate decline in the number of wild animals. The San also raided the
HSY1512/195

cattle of the white frontiersmen, leading to aggressive attacks on them in turn. Many
survivors of these conflicts were forced to move well away from the main fertile
districts of the frontier zone.
The encounters of white frontiersmen with Khoikhoi herders also resulted to

some extent in the dispossession of land and the destruction of Khoikhoi social
structures. For many of the Khoikhoi, contact with the white frontiersmen caused
impoverishment. This compelled many of them to take employment with the white
frontiersmen. Although the majority of these relationships were exploitative, there
were some cases of mutually beneficial arrangements. In return for labour services,
some Khoikhoi were allowed to retain their livestock and grazing rights, as well
as being afforded protection by frontiersmen’s firearms. However, as the frontier
began to ‘close’, this type of relationship largely ceased to exist as labour relations
became more repressive.
Some Khoikhoi, because they were opposed to Xhosa association or domination,

opted voluntarily for attachment to white frontiersmen. This practice of amalgamation
had its precedents in the clientship custom of Khoikhoi society and the fact that they
had no tradition of strong or centralised chieftainship (see Learning Units 1 and 4).
Once the white frontiersmen encountered and faced the Xhosa in the same frontier
region, the chances of conflict were heightened. The identical character of the two
groups’ economic needs – the need for land, grazing and water – lay at the root of
their interaction with one another. This was further complicated by the inability
of either group – who were relatively evenly matched in the initial decades of their
contact with one another – to establish complete and undisputed control in the area.
Various forms of cooperation existed between the white frontiersmen and the Xhosa.
At times trade was a vehicle of cooperation. The Xhosa traded cattle and ivory for
metal, glass beads, tobacco, and blankets, as well as firearms and horses. Employment
was also sometimes mutually beneficial: the white frontiersmen obtained herdsmen,
while the Xhosa were able to buy European commodities. Even during the periods
of mounting conflict, there were instances of cooperation. White frontiersmen
became temporary allies of various rival Xhosa chieftains, in their various internal
political power struggles.
However, the competition for the extremely limited grazing resources, particularly in
the Zuurveld, and the increasingly restricted living-space lessened the opportunities
for cooperation. In other words, as the frontier began to ‘close’, a conflict situation
seemed inevitable.
During the 1770s, the white frontier farmers began to complain to the VOC authorities
that the Xhosa had occupied and exhausted virtually all the available grazing land.
Since the Xhosa were numerically superior, they had no fear of white domination
and they were more concerned with their own political disputes than with the
situation of white frontiersmen. It does appear that animosity arose mainly among
the colonists, who resented the fact that the Xhosa occupied most of the Zuurveld,
which was coupled with their fear that the much larger size of the Xhosa population
posed a threat to white survival.
96
The VOC, whose authority over frontier districts was seldom more than nominal,
could do little or nothing to control the situation on the frontier. They regarded the
Cape in purely commercial terms, and therefore did not regard the particular group
interests of the white fontiersmen as a priority. They did, however, repeatedly move
the official boundary of the colony in order to prevent the white pioneering columns
and black settlements from meeting, but this failed to prevent further expansion. The
VOC had also declared it illegal and punishable by death to trade with the Xhosa,
but the trading exchanges continued regardless.
In 1778, the governor of the Cape, Joachim van Plettenberg, travelled to the eastern
frontier in an attempt to establish the Fish River as the boundary between the Xhosa
and the white frontiersmen. However, the minor Xhosa chieftains with whom he
negotiated had no authority to speak on behalf of the Xhosa as a whole. Furthermore,
owing to the Xhosa’s concept of land ownership, they paid little regard to these
border provisions. The continued presence of the frontiersmen gave rise to the first
of a series of violent clashes between the two groups.
According to contemporaries, including prominent frontier farmers, the First Frontier

War (1779–1781) resulted from the theft of Xhosa cattle by white frontiersmen. There
is no doubt that the white frontier farmers must have felt rather overwhelmed and
threatened by the Xhosa. As was the case in many of the subsequent frontier wars,
lives were lost, cattle were stolen, very little land was won, if any at all, and neither
group emerged victorious.
In an attempt to assert greater control over the area, and in response to the pleas of
frontier farmers, the VOC established the district of Graaff-Reinet in 1786, while at
the same time tried to maintain the Fish River as a boundary. However, because of the
VOC’s virtual bankruptcy by this stage, there was no military support to enforce the
VOC’s policy of separation. A policy of conciliation towards the Xhosa was instead
adopted. They were urged to return across the border and restore the cattle they had
stolen. At the same time, commando attacks were prohibited. The VOC’s efforts were
further hampered by two developments. First, severe drought conditions prevailed in
1792 and 1793, which depleted the already limited pasturage of the Zuurveld just as
some Xhosa, who were fleeing from the chief Ndlambe, settled in the area. Second,
there was increasing hostility to the VOC among frontiersmen, who resented the
VOC’s attempts to interfere in their relationships with their Khoikhoi servants.
The frontier again became extremely tense, particularly because no authority was
able to fill the ‘power vacuum’ there, and the frontiersmen increasingly began to
take the law into their own hands. This caused the outbreak of the Second Frontier
War in 1793.
The immediate spark occurred when Ndlambe persuaded a group of white

frontiersmen, led by Barend Lindeque, to join him in an attack on the Gqunukhwebe
Xhosa in the Zuurveld. The Gqunukhwebe and other minor chieftains were forced
out of the Zuurveld, and Ndlambe succeeded in making the Rharhabe clan supreme
in the western areas. Meanwhile, chaos broke out among the white frontiersmen,
and raids were followed by counter-raids. A commando from the Swellendam and
Graaff-Reinet districts tried in vain to force all the Xhosa across the Fish River, after
which an ineffective peace settlement was concluded with the Xhosa.
Thus, in the last quarter of the 18th century the circumstances on the frontier had
deteriorated even further. The VOC had become notorious for its vacillating and
inefficient policy, as well as the corruption of many of its officials. The frontiersmen’s
HSY1512/197

anti-government feelings were to come to a head in the various burgher rebellions

of 1795, 1799 and 1801.
ACTIVITY 7.2
7.4 INTERACTION ON THE FRONTIER: THE PERIOD OF THE

FIRST BRITISH OCCUPATION (1795 TO 1803)
As a result of wars in Europe, Britain occupied the Cape from 1795 until 1803. This
change in administration by no means implied a change in policy. Britain undertook
to return the Cape to the Dutch at the end of the conflict in Europe, and therefore
the British government regarded the Cape as a fortress defending its external interests,
and not as a colony to be developed. The British also had a shortage of funds, which
resulted in continuity of policy from the VOC period, rather than change. The British
armed forces initially did no more than try to contain the situation on the eastern
frontier, and the unsettled conditions there persisted.
By 1797, various Xhosa chiefdoms had again established themselves in the Zuurveld,
and tension with the white frontier farmers began to mount. In 1799, a force of British
and Khoikhoi troops was sent to drive the Xhosa back across the Fish River. In the
ensuing conflict, which was to become the Third Frontier War of 1799–1802, many of
the Khoikhoi employed by white frontier farmers deserted, and under the leadership
of Klaas Stuurman they allied themselves with the Xhosa. This came to be known as
the Khoikhoi rebellion. The Xhosa-Khoikhoi alliance was so effective in its strategy
and tactics that most frontier farmers fled, leaving the Zuurveld almost entirely in
the hands of the Xhosa. This effective alliance between the Xhosa chieftains and the
Khoikhoi rebels became an important factor in the balance of power on the frontier.
It also paralysed the economic activities of the frontier farmers, and rumours began
to circulate that the whites would abandon the Zuurveld region entirely.
ACTIVITY 7.3
7.5 INTERACTION ON THE FRONTIER: THE BATAVIAN PERIOD

(1803 TO 1806)
In 1803, the British returned the Cape to Dutch rule. The three-year period between
1803 and 1806 is known as the Batavian period at the Cape, named after the ruling
Batavian regime then in power in the Netherlands. During this period, relationships
were more settled on the eastern frontier after the end of the Third Frontier War,
there was a general absence of major disturbances on the frontier. The Batavian
administration blamed the frontier crises of the past on the weakness of central
authority in the region and the mistreatment of the Xhosa and Khoikhoi by white
frontiersmen.
98
Their policy was to create a permanent and satisfactory boundary line between the
Xhosa and colonists at the Fish River. Therefore, like their predecessors, the Batavians
did not recognise the rights of the Xhosa west of the Fish River. They also hoped
to persuade the Xhosa in the Zuurveld to leave and to cease dealing with the white
frontiersmen, except under Batavian supervision.
Although some historians have argued that the Batavian government had more
tolerant attitudes towards the Xhosa and the Khoikhoi than their VOC and British
predecessors, they were committed to maintaining a social order whose political
and economic arrangements were dominated by a minority of white colonists. They
differed from their predecessors in that they envisaged a permanent settlement of
frontier relationships, and they introduced constructive administration along civil,
and not military, lines.
The Batavians therefore advanced a policy of conciliation, and tried to implement

it consistently. The governor, Jacob de Mist, and the commissioner, Jan Janssens,
attempted to defuse the situation by dealing first with the Xhosa-Khoikhoi alliance.
The major grievance of the Khoikhoi was their shortage of land. De Mist and Janssens
persuaded the Khoikhoi captain, Klaas Stuurman, to move further away from the
Xhosa and settle near the Gamtoos River. They also allocated some 6 000 hectares
at Bethelsdorp to the London Missionary Society where the Khoikhoi could live
under the supervision of the missionaries Johannes van der Kemp and James Read.
Numerous displaced Khoikhoi settled there. Some of the Xhosa chieftains were
also open to the presence of the missionaries for reasons of political prestige and
possible contact with the colonial authorities, rather than for religious reasons. The
Batavian government hoped that the missionaries would have a stabilising effect
on the Khoikhoi.
Controlling Xhosa movements was more difficult, because the Batavians had limited
military force available to patrol the borders that they tried to establish, and it was
still possible for Xhosa to cross into the territory to which both they and the Batavian
authorities laid claim.
Batavian policy was restricted by a scarcity of funds. The garrison was small and the
Batavians were less equipped to deal with confrontation on the frontier than the British
had been. Nevertheless, they were fortunate enough to have a skilful official called
Lodewyk Alberti, who succeeded in upholding the Fish River boundary at least as far
as the colonists were concerned. He also had some success with the Xhosa chiefdoms
and managed to prevent full-scale war between them. His diplomacy enabled him
to establish good relations with Ngqika, Ndlambe and some other chieftains. For
example, when Ngqika actually crossed the Fish River in 1805, Alberti rode out to
meet him and persuaded him to return.
Although the policy of ‘divide and pacify’ worked relatively well during the short
Batavian period, a situation of relative peace may not have lasted. There was
considerable rivalry between different Xhosa chieftains at the time, which meant that
the Xhosa were more concerned with this than challenging the Batavian authorities
or the white frontiersmen. Also, whatever successes the Batavians may have had in
ensuring peace on the frontier, they were unable to arrange a permanent boundary
with the Xhosa.
HSY1512/199

7.6 INTERACTION ON THE FRONTIER: THE SECOND BRITISH

OCCUPATION (1806 ONWARDS)
As we explained in Learning Unit 6, the ‘closing’ of the frontier depended on whether
or not one group could establish its hegemony, or its dominance, over others in its
immediate vicinity, or, alternatively, whether or not some external power was able to
take control and end the relative anarchy of the open frontier situation. As we have
seen, no single group had managed to establish such hegemony on the eastern frontier
before 1806. However, when the British took over from the Batavian government in
that year, new policies were adopted which would lead to the closing of the frontier
on British terms.
After 1806, British colonial policy was primarily concerned with establishing an
efficient centralised administration, which could ensure law and order among the
various groups in the Cape colony. The British now wanted to secure the Cape to act
as a safeguard of Britain’s lucrative trade route to India. The policy of conciliation
that the Batavian authorities had attempted began to be applied less sympathetically,
and government actions were often harsh and autocratic.
British colonial policy was also dictated by the need to economise as far as possible.
Because Britain had incurred great debt in the European wars it had fought over the
previous decade, it was initially unable to provide the frontier with the military forces
it ideally required. Therefore, colonial officials on the frontier had to maintain peace
by trying to persuade the Xhosa to stay on the east side of the Fish River and avoid
confrontations. With the increase in Ndlambe’s power and the overgrazing of the
Zuurveld in the first decade of the 19th century, however, some Xhosa chiefdoms
began to move further west.
In 1811, the new governor at the Cape, Sir John Cradock, decided to resolve the
increasingly conflictual situation on the frontier by ordering Lieutenant-Colonel John
Graham to expel all Xhosa living west of the Fish River, and also by applying a new
determined military strategy. The battles which followed, constituting the Fourth
Frontier War (1811–1812), were of unprecedented violence. British officers headed a
military force of some 2 000 troops, including 700 men from the ‘Cape Hottentot
[Khoikhoi] Regiment’, drove more than 8 000 Xhosa over the Fish River and then
proceeded to establish 27 military posts along the border to prevent the Xhosa from
returning. The war was marked by many atrocities, and there was very significant
devastation of land, crops and livestock.
Thus, after almost forty years of interaction and struggle between Xhosa and white
frontiersmen when neither managed to subjugate the other, the British army finally
succeeded in putting an end to the long-standing ‘power vacuum’ on the Cape
eastern frontier. The British colonial government therefore stabilised relationships by
throwing its weight behind the white frontiersmen, and thus it temporarily ‘closed’
the frontier.
ACTIVITY 7.4
100
7.7 CONCLUSION
The interaction between Xhosa, Khoisan, white frontiersmen and various colonial
authorities on the eastern frontier during the late 18th and early 19th centuries played
a significant role in the broader history of southern Africa. The eastern frontier was
the region where the south-westward-moving Xhosa and the eastward-moving white
frontiersmen encountered one another for the first time. As was the case with the
northern frontier, groups had to adjust to the presence of one another, and both
violent and more peaceful forms of interaction occurred.
The contact that occurred between the Xhosa and the white frontiersmen in particular
was to have far-reaching consequences. For much of the remainder of the 19th century,
the competing interests of the British and the Xhosa would result in significant
conflict. These would place a heavy financial and administrative burden on the
Cape colonial government, which regularly needed to commit military and other
resources to impose its control over the region. The desire of the Xhosa to maintain
their independence and way of life would see determined resistance to white settler
interests. Conflict on the frontier also contributed to the departure of many of the
frontier farmers of Dutch background into the interior of southern Africa in the
1830s, a movement which was known as the Great Trek, which would open a new
chapter in the history of southern Africa.
ACTIVITY 7.5
SUGGESTIONS FOR ADDITIONAL SOURCES AND FURTHER

READING
There are many different sources that may be consulted for additional reading for
this module. This list is certainly not comprehensive, and is highly selective. If you
wish to read more widely (which we encourage), you should consult the bibliographies
in these books, and you are also welcome to contact your lecturers for additional
guidance.
The books listed under the heading of ‘General works’ contain standard and relatively
recent surveys of South African history. Some of these books do not deal with all
sections of this module.
We have not listed specialised academic articles, which you may find difficult to
locate, although some of these have been consulted in the compilation of the study
material, and a few of which are cited in some of the activities on MyUnisa.
HSY1512/1101

GENERAL WORKS
Cameron, T and Spies, SB (eds), An Illustrated History of South Africa, 2nd ed.
(Johannesburg and Cape Town: Human and Rousseau, 1991).
Davenport, TRH and Saunders, C, South Africa: A Modern History, 5th ed. (London:
Macmillan, 2000).
Giliomee, H and Mbenga, B, New History of South Africa (Cape Town: Tafelberg, 2007).
Hamilton, C, Mbenga, BK and Ross, R (eds), The Cambridge History of South Africa:
Volume 1. From Early Times to 1885 (New York: Cambridge University Press,
2010).
Hammond-Tooke, WD, The Roots of Black South Africa (Johannesburg: Jonathan Ball,
1993).
Maylam, P, A History of the African People of South Africa: From the Early Iron Age to the
1970s (Cape Town: David Philip, 1986).
Omer-Cooper, JD, History of Southern Africa (Cape Town: David Philip, 1987).
Parsons, N, A New History of Southern Africa (London: Macmillan, 1993).
Pretorius, FJ, A History of South Africa: From the Distant Past to the Present Day (Pretoria:
Protea Book House, 2014).
Reader’s Digest, Illustrated History of South Africa: The Real Story, 3rd ed. (Cape Town:
Reader’s Digest, 1994).
Ross, R, A Concise History of South Africa, 2nd ed. (Cambridge and New York: Cambridge
University Press, 2008).
Saunders, C (ed.), An Illustrated Dictionary of South African History (Johannesburg: Ibis
Books, 1994).
Van Aswegen, HJ, History of South Africa to 1854 (Pretoria and Cape Town: Academica,
1990). This book is also available in Afrikaans: Geskiedenis van Suid-Afrika tot
1854 (Pretoria en Kaapstad: Academica, 1990).
Thompson, LM, A History of South Africa (New Haven: Yale University Press, 2001).
Wilson, M and Thompson, LM (eds), The Oxford History of South Africa, vol 1: South
Africa to 1870 (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1969).
The website of South African History Online (SAHO) has useful information, and
it is regularly updated: www.sahistory.org.za
Learning Unit 1
Boonzaier, E et al, Cape Herders: A History of the Khoikhoi of Southern Africa (Cape Town
and Athens: David Philip and Ohio University Press, 1996).
Deacon, HJ and Deacon, J, Human Beginnings in South Africa: Uncovering the Secrets of the
Stone Age (Cape Town and Johannesburg: David Philip, 1999).
Huffman, T, Handbook to the Iron Age: The Archaeolog y of Pre-Colonial Farming Societies in
Southern Africa (Scottsville: University of KwaZulu-Natal Press, 2007).
Huffman, T, Mapungubwe: Ancient African Civilization on the Limpopo (Johannesburg:
Wits University Press, 2005).
Huffman, T.N., Snakes and Crocodiles: Power and Symbolism in Great Zimbabwe (Johannesburg:
Witwatersrand University Press, 1996).
102
LEARNING UNIT 7: The cape eastern frontier
Learning Unit 2
Boxer, CR, The Dutch Seaborne Empire, 1600–1800 (London: Penguin, 1973).
Elphick, R and Giliomee, H (eds), The Shaping of South African Society, 1652–1840
(Cape Town: Maskew Miller Longman, 1989). This book is also available
in Afrikaans: ’n Samelewing in Wording, 1652–1840 (Kaapstad: Maskew Miller
Longman, 1982, of later uitgawes).
Scammel, GV, The First Imperial Age: European Overseas Expansion, c 1400–1715 (London
and New York: Unwin Hyman, 1992).
Wolf, ER, Europe and the People without History (Berkeley: University of California
Press, 1982).
Learning Unit 3
Learning Unit 4
Adhikari, M, Not White Enough, Not Black Enough: Racial Identity in the South African
Coloured Community (Cape Town: Double Storey Books, 2005).
Boonzaier, E et al, Cape Herders: A History of the Khoikhoi of Southern Africa (Cape Town
and Athens: David Philip and Ohio University Press, 1996).
Elbourne, E, Blood Ground: Colonialism, Missions, and the Contest for Christianity in the Cape
Colony and Britain, 1799–1853 (Montreal: McGill-Queen’s University Press, 2002).
Elphick, R, Kraal and Castle: Khoikhoi and the Founding of White South Africa (Johannesburg:
Witwatersrand University Press, 1985).
Learning Unit 5
Ross, R, Cape of Torments: Slavery and Resistance in South Africa (London: Routledge and
Kegan Paul, 1983).
Shell, R, Children of Bondage: A Social History of the Slave Society at the Cape of Good Hope,
1652–1838 (Hanover: Wesleyan University Press, 1994).
Worden, N, Slavery in Dutch South Africa (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1985).
HSY1512/1103

Learning Unit 6
Legassick, M, The Politics of a South African Frontier: The Griqua, the Sotho-Tswana and the
Missionaries, 1780–1840 (Basel: Basler Afrika Bibliographien, 2010).
Legassick, M, Hidden Histories of Gordonia: Land Dispossession and Resistance in the Northern
Cape, 1800–1990 (Johannesburg: Wits University Press, 2016).
Penn, N, The Forgotten Frontier: Colonist and Khoisan on the Cape’s Northern Frontier in the
18th Century (Athens, Ohio and Cape Town: Ohio University Press and Double
Storey Books, 2005).
Ross, R, Adam Kok’s Griquas: A Study of the Development of Stratification in South Africa
(London: Cambridge University Press, 1976).
Learning Unit 7
Legassick, M, The Struggle for the Eastern Cape 1800–1854: Subjugation and the Roots of
South African Democracy (Sandton: KMM Review Publishing, 2010).
Mostert, N, Frontiers: The Epic of South Africa’s Creation and the Tragedy of the Xhosa People
(London: Jonathan Cape, 1992).
Peires, J, The House of Phalo: A History of the Xhosa People in the Days of their Independence,
2nd ed (Johannesburg: Jonathan Ball, 2003).
104

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Study unit 1: Precolonial societies: hunter-gatherers, hunter-

Study unit 2: The establishment of a dutch settlement

Study unit 3: The Dutch settlement at the Cape31

Study unit 4: Khoisan communities and the impact of colonialism47

Study unit 5: Slavery at the Cape61

Study unit 6: The Cape northern frontier78

Study unit 7: The Cape eastern frontier91

In the past 20 or 30 years, a considerable number of historians (and other scholars)

Purpose and outcomes of this module

The formal purpose statement of this module is as follows: ‘Qualifying students

• identify similarities and differences between the northern and eastern

Overview of the contents of this module

The seven learning units are as follows:

1.1 WHY DO WE NEED AN UNDERSTANDING OF THE HISTORY

• Knowledge of our precolonial past also helps us to be critical of the view of

1.2 HOW DID THE NATURAL ENVIRONMENT OF SOUTHERN

1.3 WHAT WAS THE NATURE OF THE ECONOMY, SOCIAL

Who were the San hunter-gatherers?

2 J. Wright, ‘Sonqua, Bosjesmans, Bushmen, abaTwa: Comments and Queries on Pre-modern

The economy and technology of the San

The social organisation of the San

Flexible social structures

Ritual participation among the San

Political organisation and system of justice

1.4 IN WHAT WAYS WAS THE LIFESTYLE OF THE PRECOLONIAL

Who were the Khoikhoi?

As descendants of the hunter-gatherers, it is to be expected that the Khoikhoi’s lifestyle

The Khoikhoi economy

Livestock was regarded as a symbol of material wealth in Khoikhoi society and

Gender in Khoikhoi society

Unlike San women who participated fully in communal decision-making, Khoikhoi

Interaction between the hunter-gatherers and hunter-herders

The shift from crop cultivation to herding

Status of women and men

Architecture and art

1.6 HOW DID THE MIXED FARMING COMMUNITIES INTERACT

We focus on the following:

2.2 EUROPE AND THE NON-EUROPEAN WORLD

2.3 THE EMERGENCE OF PORTUGAL AS A WORLD POWER

2.4 THE RISE OF THE NETHERLANDS

2.5 THE FOUNDATION AND OBJECTIVES OF THE DUTCH EAST

The monopolistic nature of the VOC operated at three levels:

2.6 THE FOUNDATION OF A REFRESHMENT STATION AT THE

We will look at the following issues in this unit:

3.2 THE CAPE AS A REFRESHMENT STATION

Emergence of freeburgher farmers

3.3 INTENSIVE AGRICULTURE AT THE SOUTH-WESTERN CAPE

It proved to be impossible for the freeburghers to cultivate their farms according

Some freeburghers had to abandon farming completely, because of bankruptcy and

The arrival of Governor Simon van der Stel

In time, overproduction became a problem, especially after increasing numbers of

Thus, livestock farming was initially a supplementary economic activity to wheat

3.4 THE SOUTH-WESTERN CAPE DURING THE VOC PERIOD

Agricultural districts of the south-western Cape

3.5 PASTORAL FARMING IN THE CAPE INTERIOR

We will consider the following:

The origins of the trekboer economy

Let us examine these in a little detail:

White expansion into the Cape interior

Characteristics of the trekboer lifestyle

Study unit 3: The Dutch settlement at the Cape31

Study unit 4: Khoisan communities and the impact of colonialism47

Study unit 5: Slavery at the Cape61

Study unit 6: The Cape northern frontier78

Study unit 7: The Cape eastern frontier91