South Africa Introduction

Grotere kaart weergeven

Our first destination is South Africa Cape Town. A country with a very rich history that we cannot wait to explore in-depth. In 1487, a Portuguese explorer Bartolomeu Dias became the first European to set foot on South-African land. Naming it Cabo da Boa Esperança or Cape of good hope, in 1652 it became a refreshment station on behalf of the Dutch East India Company. Slaves were brought from Indonesia, Madagascar, and India as a labour source for the Dutch immigrants in Cape Town. As they expanded east, the Dutch settlers eventually met the south-westerly expanding Xhosa people. A series of wars, called the Cape frontiers wars, ensued, mainly caused by conflicting land and livestock interests. What is striking here are the amazing differences in power: the Boers litterally wiped out all their adversaries due to their fire-power.

The discovery of diamonds and gold in 1884 in the interior encouraged economic growth and immigration, intensifying the subjugation of the indigenous peoples. The Boer Republics successfully resisted British encroachments during the first Boer War (1880–1881).However, the British returned in greater numbers in the Second Boer War (1899–1902).

The Union of South Africa was created in 1910. The Natives’ land act of 1913 that ensued severely restricted the ownership of land by 'blacks', at that stage to a mere 7% of the country, although this amount was eventually increased marginally. In 1948, the National Party was elected to power, and began implementing a series of harsh segregationist laws that would become known collectively as apartheid. Not surprisingly, this segregation also applied to the wealth acquired during rapid industrialisation of the 1950s, '60s, and '70s. While the White minority enjoyed the highest standard of living in all of Africa, the Black majority remained disadvantaged by almost every standard, including income, education, housing, and life expectancy. The aftermath is still to be felt and seen everywhere and I’m very anxious to see what is left of it. We certainly intend to read the autobiography of Nelson Mandela: the long walk to freedom.

Apartheid became increasingly controversial, leading to widespread sactions and divestment abroad and growing unrest and oppression within South Africa. A long period of harsh suppression by the government, and at times violent resistance, strikes, marches, protests, and sabotage by bombing and other means, by various anti-apartheid movements, most notably the African National Congress (ANC), followed. The first multi-racial elections were held in 1994, which the ANC won by an overwhelming majority. It has been in power ever since.