South Africa Information - History of South Africa
Accommodation in South Africa
Van Riebeeck's landing at the Cape
In April 1652 Jan Van Riebeeck anchored at the foot of Table Mountain
after receiving a commission from the Dutch-East Indian Trading
Company to establish a refreshment station. The station was to supply
the ships going east with fresh fruit, vegetables and meat. They
grew the vegetables and fruit themselves and meat was obtained through
trade with the natives. As the port developed the need for labour
increased and slaves had to be imported. Soon afterwards Dutch settlers
arrived followed by settlers from all over Europe.
The Trek Boers
By the beginning of the 18th century the Cape Settlers were expanding
their territory towards the North East. This expansion was primarily
lead by the Trek Boers looking for fresh grazing land for their
cattle. As their expansion increased they came more and more in
conflict with first the Khoikhoi and later the Xhosas. In the towns
tension was also increasing between the citizens and the colonial
administration with the towns people wanting their independence.
Swellendam and Graaff-Reinette were the first to pronounce themselves
as independent Republics. This was short lived and in 1795 the Cape
Colony was annexed to the United Kingdom.
The Great Trek
In 1835 10 000 boers, the Voortrekkers, left the Cape Colony and
went North and North-East. 5 000 Voortrekkers settled in the area
that would later be known as the Orange Free State. The rest headed
for Natal where they had to negotiate with the Zulu king Dingaan
for land. Dingaan agreed that they could have a large area of land
in central and south Natal but as the delegates left they were killed
by the Zulus in an ambush. The newly elected leader of the Voortrekkers
prepared the group for a retaliatory attack. The Zulus were finally
defeated in the famous "Battle of Blood River" which lead
to the founding of the first Boer Republic in Natal.
The Anglo-Boer War
The Voortrekkers in Natal moved north-east after they were defeated
by the British in 1842. They settled north and south of the Vaal
river and formed the independent Transvaal. In 1854 the contract
of Bloemfontein was signed and the Republic of Orange Free State
was founded. British sentiment was strongly in favour of uniting
their own colonies with the boer republics into one union and thereby
gaining control of the gold mines of Transvaal. On the 11th of February
1899 war broke out between the two boer republics and the two British
colonies. On March 13, 1900 Bloemfontein was occupied by the British,
followed by Johannesburg and Pretoria on the 1st of September. The
Boers started a guerilla war which was countered by the British
through the devastation of their farms and the placing of their
women and children in concentration camps. On 31 May a peace contract
was signed by the Boers and the British
Apartheid Era
As early as 1910 laws were passed that curtailed the rights
of the black majority in South Africa. With black people having
no political rights in South Africa, resistance groups such as the
ANC was soon formed. After the 2nd world war conflicts between blacks
and whites intensified and black workers went on numerous strikes.
After the 1948 elections the National Party became the ruling party
in South Africa. The party was led by D.F.Malan who was the first
president to introduce the concept of "apartheid". H.F.Verwoerd
took over in 1958 and he instituted several semi-autonomous homelands.
Now the government could theoretically call their elections free
and fair as the majority of blacks were not officially South African
citizens anymore. Black resistance under the leadership of the ANC
consolidated and mass protests were organized. The government banned
all opposition groups forcing them to go underground. In 1979 several
protesting pupils were killed by the police which led to the spread
of unrest through out the country. In 1989, the then president of
South Africa, F.W.de Klerk admitted the failure of Apartheid and
negotiations for the first general elections was started.
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