Sunday, December 18, 2016
Friday, December 16, 2016
Saturday, September 10, 2016
Friday, September 9, 2016
Saturday, September 3, 2016
Time top 100 in history
1 Jesus
2 Napoleon
3 Muhammad
4 William Shakespeare
5 Abraham Lincoln
6 George Washington
7 Adolf Hitler
8 Aristotle
9 Alexander the Great
10 Thomas Jefferson
11 Henry VIII of England
12 Charles Darwin
13 Elizabeth I of England
14 Karl Marx
15 Julius Caesar
16 Queen Victoria
17 Martin Luther
18 Joseph Stalin
19 Albert Einstein
20 Christopher Columbus
21 Isaac Newton
22 Charlemagne
23 Theodore Roosevelt
24 Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
25 Plato
26 Louis XIV of France
27 Ludwig van Beethoven
28 Ulysses S. Grant
29 Leonardo da Vinci
30 Augustus
31 Carl Linnaeus
32 Ronald Reagan
33 Charles Dickens
34 Paul the Apostle
35 Benjamin Franklin
36 George W. Bush
37 Winston Churchill
38 Genghis Khan
39 Charles I of England
40 Thomas Edison
41 James I of England
42 Friedrich Nietzsche
43 Franklin D. Roosevelt
44 Sigmund Freud
45 Alexander Hamilton
46 Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi
47 Woodrow Wilson
48 Johann Sebastian Bach
49 Galileo Galilei
50 Oliver Cromwell
51 James Madison
52 Gautama Buddha
53 Mark Twain
54 Edgar Allan Poe
55 Joseph Smith, Jr.
56 Adam Smith
57 David, King of Israel
58 George III of the United Kingdom
59 Immanuel Kant
60 James Cook
61 John Adams
62 Richard Wagner
63 Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky
64 Voltaire
65 Saint Peter
66 Andrew Jackson
67 Constantine the Great
68 Socrates
69 Elvis Presley
70 William the Conqueror
71 John F. Kennedy
72 Augustine of Hippo
73 Vincent van Gogh
74 Nicolaus Copernicus
75 Vladimir Lenin
76 Robert E. Lee
77 Oscar Wilde
78 Charles II of England
79 Cicero
80 Jean-Jacques Rousseau
81 Francis Bacon
82 Richard Nixon
83 Louis XVI of France
84 Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor
85 King Arthur
86 Michelangelo
87 Philip II of Spain
88 Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
89 Ali, founder of Sufism
90 Thomas Aquinas
91 Pope John Paul II
92 René Descartes
93 Nikola Tesla
94 Harry S. Truman
95 Joan of Arc
96 Dante Alighieri
97 Otto von Bismarck
98 Grover Cleveland
99 John Calvin
100 John Locke
Wednesday, August 10, 2016
Tuesday, August 9, 2016
Angela van Bengale
Thousands of South Africans and others, colored, white and Indo, have Angela van Bengale and her daughter Anna as ancestors.
http://www.jessehaye.com/angela_van_bengale.htm
Also
https://howardthomas.wordpress.com/2013/05/12/diana-the-slave/
Sunday, July 24, 2016
Tuesday, July 19, 2016
Monday, July 11, 2016
Sunday, July 10, 2016
Sunday, July 3, 2016
Joey Haarof
Joey Haarof
Cornelius Gerhardus van Rooyen was a South African paedophile and serial killer who, together with his female partner Joey Haarhoff, abducted and apparently murdered at least six young girls between 1988 and 1989.
B. F. Skinner
B. F. Skinner describes his own experience of self-plagiarism:
"One of the most disheartening experiences of old age is discovering that a point you just made—so significant, so beautifully expressed—was made by you in something you published long ago."[12]
Saturday, July 2, 2016
Hezbollah
Hezbollah (pronounced /ˌhɛzbəˈlɑː/;[14][15] Arabic: حزب الله Ḥizbu 'llāh, literally "Party of Allah" or "Party of God")—also transliterated Hizbullah, Hizballah, etc.[16]—is a Shi'a Islamist militant group and political party based in Lebanon.[17][18] Hezbollah's paramilitary wing is the Jihad Council,[19][20] and its political wing is Loyalty to the Resistance Bloc party in the Lebanese parliament. After the death of Abbas al-Musawi in 1992, the group has been headed by Hassan Nasrallah, its Secretary-General.
Hamas
Hamas (Arabic: حماس Ḥamās, an acronym of حركة المقاومة الاسلامية Ḥarakat al-Muqāwamah al-ʾIslāmiyyah Islamic Resistance Movement) is a Palestinian Sunni-Islamic fundamentalist organization It has a social service wing, Dawah, and a military wing, the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades, and, since 2007, has been the .
Wishbone Ash
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rH244IPXySE
Wishbone-Ash)Argus(1972)Full Album)))Wishbone Ash are a British rock band who achieved success in the early and mid-1970s. Their popular records included Wishbone Ash (1970), Pilgrimage (1971), Argus (1972), There's the Rub (1974), and New England (1976). They were one of the first bands to use twin lead guitars.
Wishbone Ash are considered to be one of the major innovators of the harmony twin lead guitar format. Their contributions helped Andy Powell and Ted Turner to be voted "Two of the Ten Most Important Guitarists in Rock History" (Traffic magazine 1989), and to appear in the "Top 20 Guitarists of All Time" (Rolling Stone). Melody Maker (1972) described Powell and Turner as "the most interesting two guitar team since the days when Beck and Page graced The Yardbirds".
John Dewey
Visit to Southern Africa[edit]
Dewey and his daughter Jane went to South Africa in July, 1934, at the invitation of the World Conference of New Education Fellowship in Cape Town and Johannesburg, where he delivered several talks. The conference was opened by the South African Minister of Education Jan Hofmeyr, and Deputy Prime Minister Jan Smuts. Other speakers at the conference included Max Eiselen and Hendrik Verwoerd, who would later become Prime Minister of the Nationalist government that introduced Apartheid.[19] John and Jane's expenses were paid by the Carnegie Foundation[disambiguation needed]. He also traveled to Durban, Pretoria and Victoria Falls in what was then Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe) and looked at schools, talked to pupils, and gave lectures to the administrators and teachers. In August 1934, Dewey accepted an honorary degree from the University of the Witwatersrand.[20]
Wednesday, June 29, 2016
Saturday, June 25, 2016
Wednesday, June 22, 2016
Anna Elizabeth Botha
Anna Elizabeth Botha, born on May 6, 1922 as Anna Elizabeth Rossouw, was the First Lady of South Africa, as the wife of State President Pieter Willem Botha, from 1984 to 1989. From 1978 to 1984 Mr Botha served as Prime Minister of South Africa.
Sunday, June 19, 2016
Natalie Wood
Natalie Wood (born Natalia Zakharenko;[1][3][4] July 20, 1938 – missing November 28, 1981) was an American film and television actress. She is known for her screen roles in Miracle on 34th Street, Splendor in the Grass, Rebel Without a Cause, The Searchers, and West Side Story. She first worked in films as a child, then became a successful Hollywood star as a young adult, receiving three Academy Award nominations before she was 25 years old.
Saturday, June 18, 2016
Tuesday, June 14, 2016
Karl Landsteiner
Karl Landsteiner, ForMemRS[1] (June 14, 1868 – June 26, 1943), was an Austrian and American biologist and physician.[2] He is noted for having distinguished the main blood groups in 1900, having developed the modern system of classification of blood groups from his identification of the presence of agglutinins in the blood, and having identified, with Alexander S. Wiener, the Rhesus factor, in 1937, thus enabling physicians to transfuse blood without endangering the patient′s life. With Constantin Levaditi and Erwin Popper, he discovered the polio virus in 1909. He received the Aronson Prize in 1926. In 1930, he received the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine. He was awarded the Lasker Award in 1946 posthumously, and is recognized as the father of transfusion medicine.[3]
Sunday, June 5, 2016
Bering
Bering 1725 -1727
The 1991 Russian-Danish expedition that exhumed Bering's remains also analyzed teeth and bones and concluded that he did not die from scurvy. Based on analyses made in Moscow and on Steller's original report, heart failure was the likely cause of death (Frost 2003).
Eric the Red
Discovered Greenland approx 981
Erik Thorvaldsson known as Erik the Red was a Norwegian Viking, remembered in medieval and Icelandic saga sources as having founded the first Norse settlement in Greenland. The Icelandic tradition indicates that he was born in the Jæren district of Rogaland, Norway, as the son of Þorvald Ásvaldsson, he therefore also appears, patronymically, as Erik Thorvaldsson (Eiríkr Þorvaldsson). The appellation "the Red" most likely refers to his hair color[2] and the color of his beard.[3] Leif Erikson, the famous Icelandic explorer, was Erik's son.
Erik Thorvaldsson (Old Norse: Eiríkr Þorvaldsson; 950 – c. 1003), known as Erik the Red (Old Norse: Eiríkr hinn rauði)[1] was a Norwegian Viking, remembered in medieval and Icelandic saga sources as having founded the first
Saturday, June 4, 2016
Wednesday, May 18, 2016
Sunday, April 24, 2016
Tuesday, April 12, 2016
Francois Pienaar
Francois Pienaar
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The 1994 World Cup rugby victory helped unify the different people of South Africa at a critical Juncture
100 People (99)
Pixley Seme
Pixley Seme (1881 - 1951)
100 People (100)
The founder of the ANC. 100 on the STAR "people who made SA" list
100 People (100)
The founder of the ANC. 100 on the STAR "people who made SA" list
Saturday, April 9, 2016
Robert NOZICK
Robert NOZICK It’s Not Fair if the Rules Aren’t Fair This idea translates into “equality of opportunity.” Harvard philosopher, Robert Nozick, in Anarchy, State, and Utopia, (1974) argues that the rules must be fair and must respect two principles: • The state must enforce laws that establish and protect private property. • Private property may be transferred from one person to another only by voluntary exchange.
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Robert Nozick November 16, 1938 – January 23, 2002) was an American philosopher.[2] He held the Joseph Pellegrino University Professorship at Harvard University, and was president of the American Philosophical Association. He is best known for his book Anarchy, State, and Utopia (1974), a libertarian answer to John Rawls' A Theory of Justice(1971). His other work involved decision theory and epistemology.
Robert Nozick November 16, 1938 – January 23, 2002) was an American philosopher.[2] He held the Joseph Pellegrino University Professorship at Harvard University, and was president of the American Philosophical Association. He is best known for his book Anarchy, State, and Utopia (1974), a libertarian answer to John Rawls' A Theory of Justice(1971). His other work involved decision theory and epistemology.
Friday, April 8, 2016
maria de la quellerie
maria de la quellerie
Maria van Riebeeck (née de la Queillerie; 28 October 1629 – 2 November 1664) was the first wife of Jan van Riebeeck, the Dutch colonial administrator and first commander of the settlement at the Cape.
She was the daughter of Abraham de la Queillerie (1589–1630) from Tournaiand Maria du Bois (born 1593) from France. She married Van Riebeeck on 28 March 1649 in Schiedam, Netherlands. The couple had eight children, of whom most died young. The couple arrived to the later Cape Town in South Africa in 1652.[citation needed]
The first period, they lived in a tent. Maria acted as the hostess to guests, is said to have entertained with a clavicord, and was described as diplomatically gifted in the company of foreigners. She was from 1658 active as a money lender to the colonists, and used a slave girl as an interpreter to communicate with the native population.[citation needed]-->
Sunday, April 3, 2016
Saturday, April 2, 2016
Joshua Oupa Gqozo
?
Joshua Oupa Gqozo (1952 - ) was the military ruler of the former homeland of Ciskei in South Africa. He was born in Kroonstad on March 10th 1952, and is the son of a Christian minister. Early in his life, Gqozo joined the South African Defence Force (SADF) and worked as a soldier.
In 1972, Ciskei was declared self-governing under the rule of Lennox Sebe. But in 1990, Gqozo replaced Sebe and ruled as a dictator of Ciskei. On September 7th 1992, the Ciskei Defence Force demanded the removal of Gqozo. Twenty-eight people were killed and hundreds injured when they fired into a crowd of African National Congress members in what is known as the Bisho massacre.
On March 22 1994, Gqozo resigned as leader of CiskeiOther stories: http://www.dispatchlive.co.za/news/a-day-when-a-familys-dream-was-shot-dead/
Sir JB Robinson
Sir JB Robinson: Pioneer gold seeker and industrialist.https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sir_Joseph_Robinson,_1st_BaronetOther info: http://archiver.rootsweb.ancestry.com/th/read/SOUTH-AFRICA-IMMIGRANTS-BRITISH/2008-03/1204442132ESTATE:http://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/58367673
B Nicholas
...the Censors might place a note against the name of any man (or woman) of whose conduct, in public or in private life, they disapproved, and this had the effect, virtually disenfranchising him...(Intr to Roman Dutch Law - B Nicholas)
Monday, March 28, 2016
Adolf Hitler
1. Waldviertel (the wooded quarter)
2. The peasants there have slav features
3. 1435 Hansen Hydler - deed
4. Jans Hytler
5. Derivative Heidler (Heath or heathen)
Louis Botha
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Louis Botha (27 September 1862 – 27 August 1919) was a South Africanpolitician who was the first Prime Minister of the Union of South Africa—the forerunner of the modern South African state. A Boer war hero during the Second Boer War, he would eventually fight to have South Africa become a British Dominion.
Andrew Geddes Bain (5)
Andrew Geddes Bain (baptised 11 June 1797 – 20 October 1864), was a South African geologist, road engineer, palaeontologist and explorer.http://esat.sun.ac.za/index.php/Kaatje_Kekkelbek_or_Life_Among_the_Hottentots
Wrote:
My name is Kaatje Kekkelbek,
I come from Kat Rivier,
Daar’s van water geen gebrek,
But scarce of wine and beer.
Myn A B C at Philip's school
I learnt a kleine beetje,
But left it just as great a fool
As gekke Tante Meitje.
http://esat.sun.ac.za/index.php/Kaatje_Kekkelbek_or_Life_Among_the_Hottentots
REV. DR. PHILIP.
[KAATJE KEKKELBEK enters, playing a Jews Harp.]
My name is Kaatje Kekkelbek,
I come from Katrivier,
Daar is van water geen gebrek,
But scarce of wine and beer.
Myn A B C at Philips school
I learnt a kleine beetje,
But left it just as great a fool
As gekke Tante Mietje.
(Spoken.) Regt dat's amper waar wat ouw' Moses in the Kaap zegt van Dr. Philips zyn school. Hy zegt das ist alles louter flausen en homboggery Met myn Tol de rol, enz.
But a, b, ab, and i, n, in
I dagt met uncle Platje,
Ai'nt half so good as brandewyn
And vette karbonaadje;
So off we set, een hele boel,
Stole a fat cow, and sack's it,
Then to an Engels Setlaars fool
We had ourselves contracted.
(Spoken.) De Engels is een goede soort mens, maar hulle laat hulle te danig vern.... van de Hottentots. Met myn Tol de rol, enz.
His va'rlands scheep was plenty fat,
His brandewyn was sterk ook,
Maar ons hombogged him out of both
For very little werk ook;
And what he would not geef ons took
For Hottentot is vry man -
We stole his fattest ox, en ook
We drunk his vaatjes dry, man
(Spoken.)Ja, jong! jy kan myn g'lo dat ons het die setlaar gehad, en hy denk altoos dat het ander volk is wat zyn goed steel; so een Jan Bull is een domme moer-hond een kleine kind kan hom vern...k! Met myn Tol de rol, enz.
Drie months we daar got bayaan kos
For stealing os en hammel,
For which when I again got los,
I Thank'd for Capt. Campbell.
The Judge come round - his sentence such
As we thought just en even;
"Six month hard work," which means in Dutch
"Zes maanden lekker leven!"
(Spoken.) Regt! se een Boer is een moer slimme ding! Hy was eens net so stom als de Setlaars en Christenmens, maar Hot'nots en Kaffers het hom slim gemaakt! Ja! rasnawel, ons het die dag so lekker sit en karnaatjes eet, dat de vet solangs de bek afloop - maar hier kom de Boer by ons uit met zyn overgehaalde haan en sleep ons heele spul na de tronk. Maar nou trek hy weg, over Grootrivier, die moervreter zeg dat hy niet meer kan klaar kom met de Engelse Gorment! Met myn Tol de rol, enz.
We next took to the Cowie Bush
Found sheep dat was not lost, aye!
But a schelm boer het ons gevang,
And brought us before McCrosty;
Daar was Saartje Zeekoegat en ik,
En ouw Dirk Donderwetter,
Klaas Klauterberg en Diederik Dick,
All sent to the tronk together.
(Spoken.) So een Jud, hy verbeel hom dat hy slim en geleert is, als hy daar zit met zyn witte kop, wat net so lyken als die ding waar de Engelse die vloer mee schoon maak, enzyn mantel en bef net als een predikant; - maar ons Hotnots, will jy g'lo, is bayaan slimmer, ons weet wel wanneer ouw Kekwis rond kom - dan steel ons de meeste, want zyn straf is altoos "Six months hard labour!" maar de kwaai ouw met die rooi bakkies, wat hulle zeg Menzie, die is beetje straf - hy geef ons twee jaren in de bandiet, en laat ons klop so als in ouw Breslaar zyn tyd. Maar de lange speetses van Seur Jan Wyl, daar geef ons niks om! Met myn Tol de rol, enz.
De Tronk, it is een lekker plek
Of t'was not juist so dry,
But soon as I got out again
At Todd's I wet mine eye;
At Vice's house, en Market-square,
I drow'd my melancholies,
And at Barrack Hill found soldiers there
To treat me well at Jollies.
(Spoken.) Rasnavel, jong! jy kan myn g'loo dat die ouw dikke kerel zyn brandewyn lekker is! maskie ouw Pratt zyn ook. Maar ons neem altoos sluk by ouw Todd, als ons uit de tronk kom, dan smaak hy reg lekker! Met myn Tol de rol, enz.
Next morn dy put me in blackhole
For one rix-dollar stealing,
And knocking down a vrouw dat had
Met myn sweat heart some dealing;
But I'll go to the Gov'nor self,
And tell him in plain lingo,
I've as much right to steal and fight
As Kaffir has or Fingo.
(Spoken.) Dats onregt, het is de grootste onregt in de wereld! de teef het myn man afgeronseld, en hulle het my in de blackhole ingesteek! Ik moet gelyk krygen; de Engelse Gorment moet my gelyk geef, anders zal ik toon van daag wat Kaatje Kekkelbek kan doen! Met myn Tol de rol, enz.
Oom Andries Stoffels in England told
(Fine compliments he paid us)
Dat Engels dame was just de same
As ons sweet Hot'not ladies.
When drest up in my voersits pak,
What hearts will then be undone,
Should I but show my face or back (Kaatje here turns round)
Among the beaux of London.
(Spoken.)Regt, jong! I wish toch dat de Mist-in-wary Syety would send me to England to speak de trut net so as Oom Andries en Jan Zatzoe done in Extra Hole, waar al de Engelse come met ope bek om alles in te sluk wat ons Honots vertel. I not want Dr. Flipsy to praat soetjes in myn oor wat I moet say, so hy done met Jan Zatzoe, en ouw Riet do met oom Andries. Kaatje Kekkelbek het zelfs een tong in haar smoel, en is op haar bek niet gevalle. Ik zal vertel hoe dat de Boere en de Setlaars ons hier vern... en verdruk, en dat hulle een Temper Syety hier wil oprigt om ons niet meer btandewyn te laat drink, dan zal ik plenty va'rlands t'wak en dacha kryge om te stop, en brandewyn en halfkroons, want als een mens wil ryk word in England, jy moet maar bayaan kwaad sprek van de Duits volk; - maar hulle zal my niet laat gaan, hulle is bang voor Kaatje Kekkelbek! Maar myn right wil ik hebbe! Ik gaat verd..... na de Gov'neur - Exit Kaatje.
umir.umac.mo/jspui/bitstream/123456789/.../3577_0_Kaatjiepublish.pdf
Jesus Christ (4)
His teachings inspired missionaries who brought education and the written word to South Africahttp://jesuschrist.lds.org/SonOfGod?lang=eng
Jan Christiaan Smuts (3)
Jan Christiaan Smuts He was the only man to sign both of the peace treaties ending the First and Second World Wars.n 2004 Smuts was named by voters in a poll held by the South African Broadcasting Corporation (S.A.B.C.) as one of the top ten Greatest South Africans of all time. The final positions of the top ten were to be decided by a second round of voting but the program was taken off the air owing to political controversy and Nelson Mandela was given the number one spot based on the first round of voting. In the first round, Field Marshal Smuts came ninth.
Jan van Riebeeck (1)
Riebeeck, Jan van, and Robert Kirby. The secret letters of Jan van Riebeeck. London, England, UK: Penguin Books 1992; ISBN 978-0-14-017765-7
Collins, Robert O. Central and South African history. Topics in world history. New York, NY, USA: M. Wiener Pub. 1990; ISBN 978-1-55876-017-2.
Hunt, John, and Heather-Ann Campbell. Dutch South Africa: early settlers at the Cape, 1652–1708. Leicester, UK: Matador 2005; ISBN 978-1-904744-95-5.
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Johan Anthoniszoon "Jan" van Riebeeck (21 April 1619 – 18 January 1677) was a Dutch colonial administrator and founder of Cape Town.
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Johan Anthoniszoon "Jan" van Riebeeck (21 April 1619 – 18 January 1677) was a Dutch colonial administrator and founder of Cape Town.
Van Riebeeck was born in Culemborg, a culturally Dutch free state then officially part of the Holy Roman Empire, as the son of a surgeon. He grew up in Schiedam, where he married 19-year-old Maria de la Quellerie on 28 March 1649. She died in Malacca, now part of Malaysia, on 2 November 1664, at the age of 35. The couple had eight or nine children, most of whom did not survive infancy. Their son Abraham van Riebeeck, born at the Cape, later became Governor-General of the Dutch East Indies.
Joining the Vereenigde Oost-Indische Compagnie (VOC) (Dutch East India Company) in 1639, he served in a number of posts, including that of an assistant surgeon in the Batavia in the East Indies.
He was head of the VOC trading post in Tonkin, Indochina.
In 1643, Riebeeck travelled with Jan van Elseracq to the VOC outpost atDejima in Japan. Seven years later in 1650, he proposed selling hides of South African wild animals to Japan.[4]
In 1651 he volunteered to undertake the command of the initial Dutch settlement in the future South Africa. He landed three ships (Dromedaris;Reijger and Goede Hoop) at the future Cape Town on 6 April 1652 and fortified the site as a way-station for the VOC trade route between the Netherlands and the East Indies. The primary purpose of this way-station was to provide fresh provisions for the VOC fleets sailing between the Dutch Republic and Batavia, as deaths en route were very high. The Walvisch and the Oliphant arrived later in 1652, having had 130 burials at sea.
Van Riebeeck was Commander of the Cape from 1652 to 1662; he was charged with building a fort, with improving the natural anchorage at Table Bay, planting cereals, fruit and vegetables and obtaining livestock from the indigenous Khoi people. In the Kirstenbosch National Botanical Garden in Cape Town there are a few Wild Almond trees still surviving. The initial fort, named Fort de Goede Hoop ('Fort of Good Hope') was made of mud, clay and timber, and had four corners or bastions. This fort was replaced by the Castle of Good Hope, built between 1666 and 1679 after van Riebeeck had left the Cape.
Van Riebeeck was joined at the Cape by a fellow Culemborger Roelof de Man(1634-1663) who arrived in January 1654 on board the ship Naerden. Roelof came as the colony bookkeeper and was later promoted to second-in-charge.[5]
Van Riebeeck reported the first comet discovered from South Africa, C/1652 Y1, which was spotted on 17 December 1652.
In his time at the Cape, Van Riebeeck oversaw a sustained, systematic effort to establish an impressive range of useful plants in the novel conditions on the Cape Peninsula – in the process changing the natural environment forever. Some of these, including grapes, cereals, ground nuts, potatoes, apples and citrus, had an important and lasting influence on the societies and economies of the region. The daily diary entries kept throughout his time at the Cape (VOC policy) provided the basis for future exploration of the natural environment and its natural resources. Careful reading of his diaries indicate that some of his knowledge was learned from the indigenous peoples inhabiting the region.
References:
- See more at: http://www.sahistory.org.za/topic/arrival-jan-van-riebeeck-cape-6-april-1652#sthash.tTwW5nvU.dpuf
THE STAR - 100 people who made SA (No.1) Dec6 1999
Portrait of Jan van Riebeeck (after original by Dirk Craeij in the Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam), 1972 Source: africamediaonline.com
On 24 December 1651, accompanied by his wife and son, Jan van Riebeeck set off from Texel in The Netherlands for the Cape of Good Hope. Van Riebeeck had signed a contract with the Dutch East India Company (VOC) to oversee the setting up of a refreshment station to supply Dutch ships on their way to the East. Sailing on the Dromedaris with two other ships, the Rejiger and De Goede Hoop, Van Riebeeck was accompanied by 82 men and 8 women.
When Van Riebeeck left The Netherlands in 1651, the Council of Policy, a bureaucratic governing structure for the refreshment station, had already been established. On board the Dromedaris Van Riebeeck conducted meetings with his officials – minutes of the meetings of the Council of Policy, dated from December 1651, have been carefully archived.
Land was sighted on 5 April 1652 and the ships docked the next day. Within a week of the arrival of the three ships, work had begun on the Fort of Good Hope. The aim was to establish a refreshment station to supply the crew of the Company's passing trading ships with fresh water, vegetables and fruit, meat and medical assistance. However, the first winter experienced by Van Riebeeck and his crew was extremely harsh, as they lived in wooden huts and their gardens were washed away by the heavy rains. As a result their food dwindled and at the end of the winter approximately 19 men had died.
The arrival of Van Riebeeck marked the beginning of permanent European settlement in the region. Along with the Council of Policy, Van Riebeeck came equipped with a document called the ‘Remonstrantie’, drawn up in the Netherlands in 1649, which was a recommendation on the suitability of the Cape for this VOC project.
Van Riebeeck was under strict instructions not to colonise the region but to build a fort and to erect a flagpole for signaling to ships and boats to escort them into the bay. However, a few months after their arrival in the Cape, the Dutch Republic and England became engaged in a naval war (10 July 1652 to 5 April 1654). This meant that the completion of the fort became urgent. Fort de Goede Hoop – a fort with four corners made of mud, clay and timber – was built in the middle of what is today Adderley Street. Around this a garden was planted and meat was bartered for with the Khoikhoi (who were initially called Goringhaikwa, and later Kaapmans). The construction for Castle of Good Hope which stands today only began in 1666, after Van Riebeeck had left the Cape, and was completed 13 years later.
Although the VOC did not originally intend to establish a colony at the Cape, permits were issued in February 1657 to free nine company servants (who became the Free Burghers) to farm along the Liesbeeck River in order to deal with a wheat shortage. They were given as much land as they could cultivate in three years but were forbidden to trade with anyone other than the VOC. With the number of private farms increasing, by 1659 the station was producing enough to supply any passing ship. The station also began to experience a chronic labour shortage and because the Khoisan were seen as ‘uncooperative’, slaves were imported from Batavia (now northern Jakarta) and Madagascar in 1657.
The land on which the Dutch farmed was used by the Khoikhoi and the San, who lived a semi-nomadic culture which included hunting and gathering. Since they did not have a written culture, they had neither written title deeds for their land, nor did they have the bureaucratic framework within which to negotiate the sale or renting of land with strangers from a culture using written records supported by a bureaucratic system of governance. Hence Van Riebeeck, coming as he did from a bureaucratic culture with a unilateral, albeit written, mandate to establish a refreshment station, refused to acknowledge that land ownership could be organised in ways different from the Dutch/European way. He denied the Khoisan rights and title to the land, claiming that there was no written evidence of the true ownership of the land. Consequently in 1659 the Khoikhoi embarked on the first of a series of unsuccessful armed uprisings against the Dutch invasion and appropriation of their land – their resistance would continue for at least 150 years.
In response to the growing skirmishes with the local population, in 1660 Van Riebeeck planted a wild almond hedge to protect his settlement. By the end of the same year, under pressure from the Free Burghers, Van Riebeeck sent the first of many search parties to explore the hinterland. Van Riebeeck remained leader of the Cape until 1662. By the time he left the settlement in May 1662 it had grown to 134 officials, 35 Free Burghers, 15 women, 22 children and 180 slaves.
The day of Jan Van Riebeeck’s arrival became a public holiday with the 300th anniversary in 1952 and was celebrated as Van Riebeeck’s Day until 1974. During the tercentenary celebration on 6 April 1952, the Joint Planning Council (made up of members from the ANC, SAIC, SACP and COD) held mass meetings and demonstrations throughout the country as part of the lead up to the Defiance Campaign. The ANC and TIC issued a flyer entitled ‘April 6: People Protest Day’.
In 1980 the public holiday was changed to Founder’s Day. The holiday was abolished in 1994 by the democratically elected ANC government. However, statues of Jan van Riebeeck and his wife remain in Adderley Street, Cape Town. The coat of arms of the city of Cape Town is also based on that of the Van Riebeeck family, and Hoërskool Jan van Riebeeck is a popular Afrikaans high school in the centre of Cape Town. Read more on the history of Cape Town.
When Van Riebeeck left The Netherlands in 1651, the Council of Policy, a bureaucratic governing structure for the refreshment station, had already been established. On board the Dromedaris Van Riebeeck conducted meetings with his officials – minutes of the meetings of the Council of Policy, dated from December 1651, have been carefully archived.
Land was sighted on 5 April 1652 and the ships docked the next day. Within a week of the arrival of the three ships, work had begun on the Fort of Good Hope. The aim was to establish a refreshment station to supply the crew of the Company's passing trading ships with fresh water, vegetables and fruit, meat and medical assistance. However, the first winter experienced by Van Riebeeck and his crew was extremely harsh, as they lived in wooden huts and their gardens were washed away by the heavy rains. As a result their food dwindled and at the end of the winter approximately 19 men had died.
Charles Bell (1813-1882) painting of Jan van Riebeeck arrives in Table Bay in April 1652The arrival of Van Riebeeck marked the beginning of permanent European settlement in the region. Along with the Council of Policy, Van Riebeeck came equipped with a document called the ‘Remonstrantie’, drawn up in the Netherlands in 1649, which was a recommendation on the suitability of the Cape for this VOC project.
Van Riebeeck was under strict instructions not to colonise the region but to build a fort and to erect a flagpole for signaling to ships and boats to escort them into the bay. However, a few months after their arrival in the Cape, the Dutch Republic and England became engaged in a naval war (10 July 1652 to 5 April 1654). This meant that the completion of the fort became urgent. Fort de Goede Hoop – a fort with four corners made of mud, clay and timber – was built in the middle of what is today Adderley Street. Around this a garden was planted and meat was bartered for with the Khoikhoi (who were initially called Goringhaikwa, and later Kaapmans). The construction for Castle of Good Hope which stands today only began in 1666, after Van Riebeeck had left the Cape, and was completed 13 years later.
Although the VOC did not originally intend to establish a colony at the Cape, permits were issued in February 1657 to free nine company servants (who became the Free Burghers) to farm along the Liesbeeck River in order to deal with a wheat shortage. They were given as much land as they could cultivate in three years but were forbidden to trade with anyone other than the VOC. With the number of private farms increasing, by 1659 the station was producing enough to supply any passing ship. The station also began to experience a chronic labour shortage and because the Khoisan were seen as ‘uncooperative’, slaves were imported from Batavia (now northern Jakarta) and Madagascar in 1657.
Van Riebeeck’s Original Fort on the Shores of Table Bay, 1658 by Wouter Schouten (1638-1704) . Source: William Fehr Collection. Permission:The land on which the Dutch farmed was used by the Khoikhoi and the San, who lived a semi-nomadic culture which included hunting and gathering. Since they did not have a written culture, they had neither written title deeds for their land, nor did they have the bureaucratic framework within which to negotiate the sale or renting of land with strangers from a culture using written records supported by a bureaucratic system of governance. Hence Van Riebeeck, coming as he did from a bureaucratic culture with a unilateral, albeit written, mandate to establish a refreshment station, refused to acknowledge that land ownership could be organised in ways different from the Dutch/European way. He denied the Khoisan rights and title to the land, claiming that there was no written evidence of the true ownership of the land. Consequently in 1659 the Khoikhoi embarked on the first of a series of unsuccessful armed uprisings against the Dutch invasion and appropriation of their land – their resistance would continue for at least 150 years.
In response to the growing skirmishes with the local population, in 1660 Van Riebeeck planted a wild almond hedge to protect his settlement. By the end of the same year, under pressure from the Free Burghers, Van Riebeeck sent the first of many search parties to explore the hinterland. Van Riebeeck remained leader of the Cape until 1662. By the time he left the settlement in May 1662 it had grown to 134 officials, 35 Free Burghers, 15 women, 22 children and 180 slaves.
The day of Jan Van Riebeeck’s arrival became a public holiday with the 300th anniversary in 1952 and was celebrated as Van Riebeeck’s Day until 1974. During the tercentenary celebration on 6 April 1952, the Joint Planning Council (made up of members from the ANC, SAIC, SACP and COD) held mass meetings and demonstrations throughout the country as part of the lead up to the Defiance Campaign. The ANC and TIC issued a flyer entitled ‘April 6: People Protest Day’.
Statue of Jan van Riebeeck, Adderly Street, Cape Town
In 1980 the public holiday was changed to Founder’s Day. The holiday was abolished in 1994 by the democratically elected ANC government. However, statues of Jan van Riebeeck and his wife remain in Adderley Street, Cape Town. The coat of arms of the city of Cape Town is also based on that of the Van Riebeeck family, and Hoërskool Jan van Riebeeck is a popular Afrikaans high school in the centre of Cape Town. Read more on the history of Cape Town.
References:
• Aartsma, H (2008). ‘Early history of the Cape Colony, South Africa’ from South Africa Tours and Travel [online]. Available from www.south-africa-tours-and-travel.com [Accessed 6 March 2012]
• SouthAfrica.to (date). ‘Jan van Riebeeck (21 April 1619 - 18 January 1677)’ from SouthAfrica.to [online]. Available from www.southafrica.to
• Turton, A. R. (2009). “A South African Diary: Contested Identity, My Family ”“ Our Story, Part A: Pre-1700” from How many bones must you bury before you can call yourself an Africa? [online]. Available from www.anthonyturton.com [Accessed 7 March 2012]
• SouthAfrica.to (date). ‘Jan van Riebeeck (21 April 1619 - 18 January 1677)’ from SouthAfrica.to [online]. Available from www.southafrica.to
• Turton, A. R. (2009). “A South African Diary: Contested Identity, My Family ”“ Our Story, Part A: Pre-1700” from How many bones must you bury before you can call yourself an Africa? [online]. Available from www.anthonyturton.com [Accessed 7 March 2012]
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