Sir Francis Drake declared that it was “The Most Beautiful Cape of All Them” when he drove the Cape of Good Hope in 1577 in search of the desired spice route to India, and I agree, this is really an amazing city, tucked neatly in a natural harbor, guarded by a cult mountain .
With such an incredible city, of course, there is always an exciting story, and I thought that I would take part in a brief overview of the trials and tribulations of the “City-mom” of South Africa.
Although many sailed around the Cape of Good Hope, it was only in 1652, when a Dutch man, Jan Van Ribeek, a member of LOS (the Dutch East India Company), arrived at Cape and set off to create a service station to provide fresh fruits and vegetables for all ships. that really started European / colonial development in South Africa.
Jan Van Ribeek landed on a promontory with three ships - Reier, Dromedaris and Gode Hoop, accompanied by 82 men and 8 women (including Marie de la Keller, his wife). The naval ships Walvisch and Oliphant arrived later after experiencing a terrible voyage, where they had to bury 130 souls in the sea, a large number due to the terrible scurvy disease. Prior to their arrival on the land, the Hottentots and Khoi San dominated, a local hunter gathering tribes.
With the advent of new settlers, a completely new society was created in this new and exciting “De-Kaap”. A truly eclectic mix of cultures, races and religions.
Initially, LOS did not want to conquer or colonize the land (they didn’t want a government headache), they just wanted fresh fruit and vegetables, but with the outbreak of war between the Dutch Republic and England, there was an intensive one to get as much land as possible to help provide relief from war .
To ensure the safety of the new land, Ian started building a castle in Cape Town, right on the sea, he christened it after the first ship arrived at Cape “God Hope” and made it from clay, clay and wood, with 4 corners, named in honor of the first 4 ships arriving at Cape. (The Castle of Good Hope is still standing the other day on Adderley Street in Cape Town, with sea recession and land reclamation in Cape Town, now located more inland than when it was originally built. A preserved example of LOS architecture and the oldest building in Cape Town)
This building required an enormous amount of labor, and it was then that the slaves began to leave for De-Kaap, mainly from other Dutch territories, including Angola, Madagascar and Batavia (now known as Java). These slaves were grouped together and became known as Cape Malay; now they are the heart and soul of Cape Town with their culture, traditions and religious ceremonies.
When the war subsided (around 1657), LOS provided the first permits for the release of 9 employees of the company, who became known as free burghers, to farm the land along the Lisabek River. This was the beginning of a permanent settlement on the cape.
Jan Van Ribeek remained director of the cape until 1662, at this stage the settlement consisted of only 134 officials, 35 free burghers, 15 women, 22 children and 180 slaves.
Simon Van Der Stel, after which the city of Stellenbosch was named, arrived in 1697 to oust Van Riebeck as governor of Kaapstadt. Van der Stelu is usually ranked as the Cape's wine industry launch, taking with him the first vines on his ship. Since the terrain in the Stellenbosch region was ideal for harvesting grapes, this trade was solved well and quickly because of a serious part of their trade and economy. Wines from the cape were assessed and were soon returned to the Dutch Republic. Simon Van Der Stel also supported territorial expansion in the colony.
The first non-Dutch migrants to the cape (except for slaves who were brought to work on the ground) were the Huguenots who arrived in 1688 and fled from anti-Protestant persecution in Catholic France. First, they fled to the Netherlands, where they were given free access to the cape, as well as land for the cultivation of VOCs. It was an integral VOC movement to increase the production of wine at the cape. The Huguenots, who knew a great deal about wine, made their home in the area they called Franschhoek (French corner), and immediately set about returning home; including the celebration of all their french traditions. (Today they still celebrate Bastille Day in Franschhoke.)
The settlement on the cape grew rapidly over the next few years, and by 1754 the population of the cape settlement reached 5,510 Europeans and 6,729 slaves.
However, as usual, the war had a great influence on the fledgling Cape Colonia, and when in 1780 France and Great Britain went to war against each other, the Netherlands entered the war from the French side, and it was a small battle of the French troops. sent to the cape to protect it from the English. They did not linger on the cape and were soon returned to France in 1784. As is usually the case, the old allies soon became opponents, and when France invaded the Netherlands in 1795, the Prince of Orange was forced to flee to his old enemy of England for security.
As the news traveled so long to the cape, and the governor of the Cape knew about this new agreement when the British arrived in Cape Town with a letter from the Prince of Orange, stating that they were allowed to protect Cape Town from the French,
Unfortunately, the reaction of the commissioner was ambiguous, and the British had to break through to the cape at the Battle of Muizenberg. As a rule, the period back and forth began with the fact that the cape was surrendered to the Dutch in the treaty of 1803, and then returned to English in 1806.
However, since 1806, as soon as the British were in a decisive degree, they took control of the city and set about creating a more advanced city for living. They sent the colonists home, and soon in 1820 the English began to arrive in their masses. With a large number of people arriving every day, it initiated expansionism (mostly original Dutch, now known as Afrikaner or Boer (farmer) settlers) into the interior of the country, and soon colonies were created in Transvaal and the Orange Free State.
Soon, conflicts between the Boer republics in the interior and the British colonial government in Cape Town ended during the Second Drilling War of 1899-1901, which was being prepared. However, Britain with its strong military and manpower won the war, however, not without special efforts fighting against the tactics of guerrilla warfare Boer.
In 1910, Britain established the Union of South Africa, which united Cape Colony with two defeated Boer republics and the recently recognized British colony Port-Natal. Cape Town became the legislative capital of the Union, and then the Republic of South Africa.
Over the next few years, both the English and Afrikaan people were in comparative harmony in this new alliance, and many beliefs and values became common among people in the Union of South Africa.
In the 1948 national elections, the National Party will be a huge support based on their apartheid policies (racial segregation). They succeeded under this slogan “Swart Gevaar” (in English, this means “Black Menace”). They taught people to beware of black people and wanted them to see them as a danger to their lives and their jobs. This will soon lead to the creation of strategies such as the Group Areas Act, which means that all people living in South Africa have been classified according to their race and skin color. Many serious tests were put into action to establish that people were either black, or color, or white; One of the funniest is the pencil test, in which a pencil was inserted into the face of suspicious hair colors, and if the pencil was stuck in the hair for people, it meant that they were black because these people were more likely to have more wool hair. Of course, it is logical! And mean that the same families were divided between them, which were classified as black and white in the same family, which, of course, caused personal integrity and suffering for the whole family.
In accordance with the classification of races, live segregation soon occurred, where people with color and non-flower were not allowed to visit the same areas. Previously, several of Cape Town’s racial neighborhoods were cleared of people with color, and their homes were destroyed. One of the most notorious examples of this is the “District Six”, where in 1965 only a white space was declared, and more than 60,000 people were forcibly removed and their homes were destroyed. With this land nothing was done; it's just a segregation announcement! Many of these residents were relocated to areas such as Cape Navy and Lavander Hill.
In accordance with the apartheid rule, Cape Town was considered a “color preference area,” which meant you could give a job to a colored person, but you could not use a black person to a Bantu. White obviously had the first preference, but with serious need you could use a colored man.
As you can imagine, with the help of this set of rules, acts and forms of segregation, life for many people was truly tyrannical. However, not all white and colored people supported the territory of apartheid, and there were many of them, especially in the Cape Town area, who started and joined the fight against apartheid.
Unfortunately, it took a lot of time and a lot of suffering and misery before everything began to develop.
Robben Island, the former [penitentiary | prison] an island 10 km from the city was [famous | well known | renowned] for many political prisoners, some of whom were held over the years. Most famous [inmate | prisoner | convict] was Nelson Mandela, who was imprisoned for 27 years, but in all that time he never dared [hope | faith | belief] that "New" South Africa could be [achieved | created | established],
The end of the apartheid era was strongly symbolized when Nelson Mandela made his first public speech for decades on February 11, 1990 [balcony | gallery] Cape Town’s City Hall, just a few hours after being liberated from Robben Island. His dynamic speech, filled with passion and joy [heralded | announced | indicated] the beginning of a new era for the country.
The first democratic elections in South Africa took place four years later, on April 27, 1994.
This was the beginning of a new Nation of the Rainbow, a land for all.
For me, South Africa truly symbolizes the best human spirit, the triumph of good over evil and the power of people and perseverance. If you believe in something heavy enough and are working on it, it will be absolutely.
Since 1994, when the new South African Republic was firmly entrenched, people could focus on the show to show their amazing city for the rest of the world. And this is awesome.
There are so many things in Cape Town that you need at least 4 or 5 days to explore this fantastic region. From the city itself, to Cape Point, to swans, to village tours, whale watching, diving in the sky, deep-sea fishing, Harley-Davidson riding, mountain biking, horseback riding, balloon safari kitchens, museums, great shopping just to relax on the Victoria and Alfred waterfront and take it all.
