Ancestry24

It is a difficult matter to realise what a voyage must have been two hundred years ago when we think of our large modern liners plying between Europe and South Africa.

Today the distance is covered within seventeen days, then it took anywhere from four to six months; today the food is kept in ice chambers, then the meat had to be salted and cured. The ships then were small, and living and sleeping space was limited; some of the vessels were no longer than one hundred and fifteen feet. Not only were the people faced by the danger of tempestuous seas, stranding or fire, but they also ran the risk of capture by pirates or a foreign enemy.

French Refugees

Death was of frequent occurrence during the voyage, and the means for combating it limited. The want of fresh food, vegetables and a limited allowance of water caused scurvy. This played havoc with a great number, and it often ended fatally. Water was a precious thing on board, and every precaution was taken to preserve it. To eke out the fresh water as long as possible, the meat and salt pork were cooked in the salt water and thus consumed by those on board. Water was given out on short allowance, but one or two glasses of wine were distributed to make up for it.

Poor people, what agonies they must have suffered sometimes, especially when passing through the tropics! Such, however, were the risks and discomforts which the French Refugees who ventured to leave their country had to run before they found an asylum in the southern hemisphere.

The ships of the Dutch East India Company that brought out the first batches of Refugees were the Voorschooten, Borssenburg, Oosterlandt, Berg China, Schelde, Zuid Beveland, and ‘t Wapen van Alkmaar. The Voorschooten was the first ship to leave Holland, and sailed on the 31st December, 1687. On the 13th April following she was obliged to drop her anchors in Saldanha Bay on account of a strong south-east wind, although her destination was Table Bay.’ Her officers considered it necessary to remain in the bay to effect some repairs. When the Commander at the Castle was informed of her arrival, he despatched the cutter Jupiter from Table Bay with fresh provisions. On her return she brought the Refugees safely to the Cape.

The Voorschooten was a flute of one hundred and thirty feet (Dutch) long. Twenty-two French emigrants were on board. Amongst them were Charles Marais of Plessis, his wife and four children, Philippe Fouché with wife and three children, also eight young bachelors, amongst whom were the brothers Jean and Gabriel le Roux of Blois, and Gideon Malherbe. Jacques Pinard and his wife Esther Fouché had been married previous to the sailing of the Voorschooten from Holland.

The Oosterlandt left Middelburg on the 29th January. 1688, and reached Table Bay on the 26th April, 1688, after a most successful voyage of two months and ten days. She was a much larger built ship than the Voorschooten, measuring one hundred and sixty feet. She brought out twenty-four Refugees. One of then was Jacques de Savoye of Aeth, a wealthy merchant. Jean Prier du Plessis of Poitiers, who had practised as a surgeon, and Isaac Taillefert of Chateau Thierry, a hat-maker, were also on board; they all brought out their wives and children.

Another of the boats to have a most successful voyage was the flute Borssenburg, which left Texel on the 6th January, 1688. She was the smallest of the ships, as she was only one hundred and fifteen feet in length. She cast anchor in the Bay on May 12th, having suffered no deaths amongst the passengers or crew during the voyage, and landed all those on board in a healthy condition at the Cape. Among her passengers was a party of “French Piedmontese fugitives.” The list of names is wanting. I have been unable to trace any particular individual who came out in her.

A most exciting voyage was experienced by the Schelde, a boat of one hundred and forty feet long. She brought out twenty-three French Refugees, men, women and children. Seven or eight days out at sea a terrible storm sprang up, and the skipper was compelled to put into St. Jago. On her arrival at Porto Pravo, he was told that on the previous day an English pirate ship had captured three ships belonging to the English, Portuguese and Dutch respectively. She sailed away almost immediately, and when five days from the Cape ran into another storm. On board were several members of the des Pres family.

On the 4th August, 1688, there arrived in Table Bay the Berg China, which had lett Rotterdam on the 20th March previously. The Berg China was of the same dimensions as the Oosterlandt. There were thirty-four French fugitives on board when she set sail, but the greater portion of the thirty who died on the voyage were Refugees.

When the Zuid Beveland, a vessel as big as the Voorschooten, sailed from Holland on the 22nd April, 1688, she had on board twenty-five Refugees, eleven men, four women and ten children. Amongst them was an important person whose arrival had been eagerly looked forward to by those who had come earlier to the Cape shores. This person was the Revd. Pierre Simond of Embrun in Dauphine, lately minister at Zirikzee. He was to play an active part in the early history of the French community at Drakenstein. Reverend Simond, whose name has been perpetuated today in the Drakenstein Valley by the place Simondium, was accompanied by his wife, Anne de Berault. Amongst the soldiers on board belonging to the Dutch East India Company was Sergeant Louis de Berault, brother of the minister’s wife. In October, 1688, Sergeant de Berault accompanied an expedition to Rio de la Goa to search for some wrecked seamen of the ship Stavinisse. He afterwards settled down as a burgher.

After a run of nearly four months the Zuid Beveland dropped anchor in Table Bay on the 19th August, but it was too late that day for anyone to come ashore. Between eight and nine o’clock next morning the first boat shoved off for land, but a squall of wind suddenly sprang up and upset the boat. Soon everyone was floundering in the sea. Several of the occupants were drowned, including Mr. Cornelis Moerkerke, who was on his way to Malacca to take up his appointment as Fiscal. Both the Schelde and Zuid Beveland lost a number of the French Refugees by death during the voyage. The lists of Refugees who came out in these two vessels are not to be found in the Archives at the Cape nor in Holland. From other documents, however, the names of some are found mentioned as having arrived with her. For instance, the Schelde brought out Charles Prévot, wife and three children, Hercules des Pres with wife and four children, and Abraham Bleuset, which makes a total of twelve out of the twenty-three who embarked.

In the Zuid Beveland came Rev. Simond and his wife, Jean le Long, wife and two children, Estienne Viret, Salomon de Gournay and David Senecal, eight souls out of the number of twenty-five known to have embarked. From the number of Refugees who had sailed by the 1st April, 1688, it is seen that more men than women came out. After the Zuid Beveland had left, sixty-seven men, thirty-three women and fifty-one children had embarked in the various boats, but, as we find upon comparing the lists of those we know set sail and those who landed here, several of them died on the voyage or shortly after their arrival.

About forty Refugees set sail from Texel on the 27th July, 1688, on board ‘t Wapen van Alkmaar, commanded by Captain Carel Goske, and arrived six months after, i.e., the 27th January, 1689. They lost thirty-seven persons by death and brought one hundred and four sick ones, the latter being placed immediately in the Company’s hospital at Cape Town. The French emigrants were sent into the country to their new homes on the 1st February, after they had been given all the necessaries to carry on their agricultural pursuits. The only name I have been able to trace of those who sailed in the Alkmaar is that of Antonie Martin.

About one thousand souls represented by two hundred families, Piedmontese and Vaudois refugees, had taken refuge in Nuremberg. Their number included agriculturists, experienced tradesmen, and four ministers; they all expressed a wish to go to any of the Colonies of the Dutch East or Dutch West India Companies, but on condition that they be allowed to settle close to each other and exercise their own religion. Commissioners, appointed by the Chamber of Seventeen, enquired into the matter, and meanwhile the French and Vaudois fugitives presented a petition asking that certain other conditions be allowed. The petitioners had deputed Jean Pastre Marchand as their spokesmen, who stated that he had been requested by the Refugees at Erlagh and the Vaudois near Nuremberg to plead their cause.

A kindly and compassionate view was taken of the matter by the Seventeen, who decided to settle these people at the Cape of Good Hope, and provide them with free passages and money, and to supply them with building materials on credit. They were to be given provisions and treated on the same footing as the Dutch emigrants. It was thought that after the aged, lame and sick persons had been deducted, there would be between six and seven hundred souls who would be prepared to emigrate.

Arrangements were made for sending out two or three hundred Waldenses or Vaudoisen in the Company’s ship the Schielandt, but afterwards in ‘t Wapen van Alkmaar. Everything was in readiness, but the emigrants declined to go, and the Seventeen wrote to the Cape that “these people, being averse to the sea and long voyage, had changed their minds and settled in Germany, and that forty French Refugees bred to agriculture were being sent out in ‘t Wapen van Alkmaar.”

The above ships brought out the greater portion of the French emigrés to the Cape between 1688 and 1700, and after the former date we find them arriving in small batches. The other ships which brought some of them out were the Zion, Vosmaar, Westhoven, Donkervliet and Driebergen. In the Zion, which left Holland on the 8th January, 1689, and arrived on the 6th May following, came three brothers, Pierre, Abraham and Jacob de Villiers. Writing to the Cape on the 16th December, 1688, the Chamber at Delft said of them: “With this ship (the Zion) we have again permitted the following French Refugees to sail to the Cape and earn their living as freemen, Pierre de Villiers, Abraham de Villiers and Jacob de Villiers, all three brothers born near la Rochelle. We are informed that these persons have a good knowledge of laying out vineyards and managing the same, and thus we hope that the Company will acquire their good service. You are recommended to give them a helping hand.”

Today the name of de Villiers is to be found throughout the sub-continent, and descendants of Pierre de Villiers have given us some of the cleverest men in the legal profession, one of whom was the late Baron de Villiers of Wynberg, Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of the Union of South Africa.

A sad fate overtook the ten men and women Refugees who sailed from Holland in April, 1616, in the Vosmaar. The voyage had been most disastrous. When she arrived in October she had lost ninety-three persons by death, five of whom were of the French emigrants. Of the remainder of two hundred and thirty-six persons who were mostly sick and in a weak condition, only four were left in a good state of health. The Middelburg Chamber wrote to van der Stel that at the request of these French Refugees they had been given permission to proceed to the Cape, and that the Company in granting this did so with the object of populating the Colony. The Directors expressed the hope that they would not be a trouble to the Colony, but that each one would be able to maintain himself honestly by his trade or handicraft. To enable them to do so they were to be given as much help as the orders of the Seventeen required.

Of the five survivors who arrived in the Vosmaar the only name to be found is that of Jacques Bisseux of Picardy, who became a baker.

The Donkervliet and Westhoven both came out in 1699 and arrived on the 20th July and 16th June respectively.4 On the 25th May 1698, the Driebergen, in command of Captain Martin de Jeugd, destined for Batavia, left Holland. On board were five French refugees who, upon their arrival at the Cape on the 3rd September, 1698, settled at Drakenstein as agriculturists. When north of the Canary Islands the Driebergen encountered a pirate vessel, which she took to be Turkish although the boat flew an English flag, and after Captain de Jeugd had warned her to keep off he fired a broadside and shattered her sails. She left the pirate without Damage. A despatch, dated 7th May, 1698, from the Chamber at Delft mentioned the names of the five fugitives sent out with the Driebergen:

Louwys de Ryck alais Louis le Riche, Pieter Cronier alias Pierre Crosnier, Stephen Cronier alias Estienne Cronier, Jean van het tichelje alias Jean du Tuillet, Philip van Renan alias Philippe Drouin.

When the newcomers landed everything had been arranged to receive and convey them to their new homes along the Berg River in the Drakenstein Valley. In 1687 this beautiful and fertile valley had been named by Commander Simon van der Stel after one of the family seats in Holland of the High Commissioner, Hendrik Adriaan van Reede, Lord of Mydrecht, who had come out to the Cape in 1685 to inspect the Company’s affairs. In the same year twenty-three farms along the Berg River were marked out, each measuring 60 morgen in extent, and given to a like number of agriculturists.’ Six wagons were supplied by the Burgher Councillors of the Cape and six by the Heemraden of Stellenbosch, to transfer the new arrivals and their baggage to Drakenstein. The Company supplied provisions which would last them for a few months, and planks to build temporary shelters.

When the farms were allotted care was taken to scatter the French among the Dutch farmers already settled there and those arriving at the same time. Some were given ground in the Stellenbosch district, but the greater number were at Drakenstein and French Hoek. This intermingling of the Dutch and French caused dissatisfaction among the latter. The Landdrost and Heemraden of Stellenbosch were requested to receive the Reverend Simond with the respect and reverence which his office and position demanded, and to assist him, as much as lay in their power, in erecting a house for himself. Upon his arrival he was conveyed to his destination in comfort and ease.

The majority of the Refugees to the Cape possessed little or nothing when they landed. Many had escaped with only their lives. They erected shelters which could be put up rapidly, and did not waste time upon buildings of an elaborate nature. It is reasonable to suppose that the first structures which they built were of a primitive nature, and none would have been of the class so general during the eighteenth century.

What pioneer in a strange land has ever built his first house with all the comforts and architectural beauty in which he indulges when he has made headway and reaped the good results of his work?

We must look back upon the time, two centuries ago, and imagine these Refugees arriving in a beautiful, extensive and wooded valley, where wild animals such as lions and tigers made their lair, where Hottentots in their wild state roamed about ready to plunder the homestead. Under such conditions and with little money or material, only simple and small dwellings would have been erected. Later on, however, when the Colony expanded and the emigrants saw the good fruits of their labours, they built themselves better houses with many lofty and spacious rooms.

Not long after their coming a subscription list was sent round on their behalf among the older settlers of the Colony and Company’s servants. This was readily responded to by contributions of money, cattle and grain. The fund was given to Reverend Simond and the deacons of the Stellenbosch church for distribution. The records in referring to this collection say that it did the older colonists credit and was most acceptable to the Refugees.

Two years later pecuniary assistance from quite a different source was given to the Huguenots. On the 22nd April, 1689, Commander van der Stel wrote to the Batavian Government and complained of the extreme poverty of the French Refugees, who, he said, would not be able to enjoy the fruits of their work for three or four years to come; they were being supported by the Company and from such means as were available from the poor fund. The settlers had no easy task in preparing their land for cultivation. The ground, which had never been tilled since the world began, was overgrown with bush and roots, and it would take several years to produce some return. Their life at first was full of trials; tools and implements had to be obtained from the Company, to whom they became debtors. He asked that a collection might be made for these poor people; this would relieve the Company of supporting them. The petition was not in vain. Although a collection was not made, a bill of exchange for 6,000 rixdollars, or £1,250, was immediately sent over. This bill was drawn on the Cape Government in favour of the Reverend Pierre Simond, the pastor of the French congregation at Drakenstein.

The money had been in the Batavian Treasury for many years, and represented the poor fund of a church at Formosa, one of the Dutch possessions which had been seized by the Chinese pirate Coxinga, who had compelled the Dutch to evacuate it. This money was taken away and placed in the treasury at Batavia. On the 18th and 19th April, 1690, the Cape Government distributed the amount amongst the French community, who were greatly pleased with a present so welcome in their dire distress.’ Another surprise was in store for them the next day; they received from the Commander, through the Landdrost of Stellenbosch, a present of oxen. They returned to their homes highly pleased, alter having thanked the Commander for his kindly feeling and thought for them.

Article: Extracted from: “The French Refugees at the Cape” – C Graham Botha

Kmdt. Henning Petrus Nicolaas Pretorius

(born 1844 in Natal, South Africa; died 1897, Farm Abrahamskloof, Albanie, Cape, South Africa) nicknamed “Skote Petoors”

When a young boy, he was nearly present when his paternal grandfather was murdered in 1865 in Moorddraai, but rode ahead to see his fiancee, and therefore was saved from being murdered too. In 1876 he became and Cornet in the Z.A.R. in the Sekukune wars. His heroic conduct during the First Boer War in Elandsfontein made him famous. He was wounded twice. In 1882 he was commissioned as a Kommandant. In 1890 he was made Acting Kommandant Generaal in place in P.J. Joubert. In 1896 he was promoted to Lt. Colonel of the reorganised Artillery Corps under the new name of Staatsartillerie. He made several improvements to the Artillery, rendering them equivalent to those of most nations at the time. He died while on a mission in the Eastern districts of the Cape, while looking for the beam on which the accused were hanged in 1816 for the Slagtersnek opstand. He was buried with full military honours at the Helde-akker in Pretoria. There is a statue of him in front of Military Headquarters in Potgieter Street in Pretoria.

Kmdt. Henning Petrus Nicolaas Pretorius

His father was Marthinus Wessel “Swart Martiens” Pretorius (1822-1864) born in Graaf Reinet and who died at the Battle of Silkaatsnek, during the First Boer War. Farmer in Welgegund, near Pretoria. His mother was Debora Jacoba Retief (1815-1900), born at Mooimeisjesfontein, in the Cape. She famously painted her father’s name on the cliff face of Kerkenberg in the Drakensberg. A sculpture of this deed is on display in the Voortrekker Monument in Pretoria. Her father was Gen. Pieter Retief (1780-1838), known as Piet Retief, Voortrekker leader. Retief was born in the Cape Colony, South Africa. His family were Boers of French Huguenot ancestry, and Retief grew up on one of the vineyards established by French wine-making immigrants near Stellenbosch. After moving to the vicinity of Grahamstown Retief, like other Boers, acquired wealth through livestock, but suffered repeated losses from Xhosa raids in the period leading up to the 6th Cape Frontier War. (However, apart from such losses, Retief was also a man in constant financial trouble. On more than one occasion, he lost money and other possessions mainly through gambling and land speculation.

He is reported to have gone bankrupt at least twice, while at the colony and on the frontier. Such losses impelled many frontier farmers to become Voortrekkers (literally those who move forward) and to migrate to new lands in the north. Retief authored their ‘manifesto’, dated 22 January 1837, setting out their long-held grievances against the British government, which they felt had offered them no protection, no redress, and which had freed their slaves with recompense to the owners hardly amounting to a quarter of their value. This was published in the Grahamstown Journal on 2 February and De Zuid-Afrikaan on 17 February just as the emigrant Boers started to leave their homesteads. Retief’s household departed in two wagons from his farm in the Winterberg District in early February 1837 and joined a party of 30 other wagons. The pioneers crossed the Orange River into independent territory.

When several parties on the Great Trek converged at the Vet River, Retief was elected “Governor of the United Laagers” and head of “The Free Province of New Holland in South East Africa.” This coalition was very short-lived and Retief became the lone leader of the group moving east. On 5 October 1837 Retief established a camp at Kerkenberg near the Drakensberg ridge. He proceeded on horseback the next day to explore the region between the Drakensberg and Port Natal, now known as Kwa-Zulu Natal. Upon receiving a positive impression of the region he started negotiations with the Zulu chief, Dingane, in November 1837. Retief led his own band over the Drakensberg Mountains and convinced Voortrekker leaders Maritz and Potgieter to join him in January 1838.

On a second visit to Dingane, the Zulu agreed to Boer settlement in Natal, provided that the Boer delegation recovered cattle stolen from him by the rival Tlokwa tribe. This the Boers did, their reputation and rifles cowing the tribe into peacefully handing over the cattle. Despite warnings, Retief left the Tugela region on 28 January 1838, in the belief that he could negotiate permanent boundaries for the Natal settlement with Dingane. The deed of cession of the Tugela-Umzimvubu region, although dated 4 February, 1838, was signed by Dingane on 6 February 1838. This Dingane did by imitating writing and with the two sides recording three witnesses each. Dingane then invited Retief’s party to witness a special performance by his soldiers. However, upon a signal given by Dingane, the Zulus overwhelmed Retief’s party of 70 and their Coloured servants, taking all captive. Retief, his son, men, and servants, about a hundred people in total, were taken to Kwa Matiwane Hill in what is now Kwa-Zulu Natal, and murdered. Their bodies were left on the hillside to be devoured by wild animals, as was Dingane’s custom with his enemies.

Dingane then gave orders for the Voortrekker laagers to be attacked, which plunged the migrant movement into serious disarray. Eventually, the Retief party’s remains were recovered and buried on 21 December 1838, by members of the “victory commando” led by Andries Pretorius, following the decisive Voortrekker victory at Blood River. Also recovered was the undamaged deed of cession from Retief’s leather purse, as later verified by a member of the “victory commando”, E.F. Potgieter. An exact copy survives, but the original deed disappeared in transit to the Netherlands during the Anglo-Boer War. The site of the Retief grave was more or less forgotten until pointed out in 1896 by J.H. Hattingh, a surviving member of Pretorius’s commando. A monument recording the names of the members of Retief’s delegation was erected near the grave in 1922. The town of Piet Retief was named after him as was (partially) the city of Pietermaritzburg.

(The “Maritz” part being named after Gerrit Maritz, another Voortrekker leader.) Piet Retief married Magdalena Johanna De Wet [1782-1855; daughter of Pieter De Wet (1765-?) and Maria P Opperman (1757-?)]. Her father Pieter de Wet was in turn the son of Petrus Pieter De Wet (1726-1782) and Magdalena Fenesie Maree (1726-1770). Retief’s own parents were Jacobus Retief [1754-1821; son of Francois Retief (1708/9-1743) and Anna Marais (1722-1777)] and Debora Joubert [1749-?; daughter of Pieter Joubert (1726-1746) and Martha Du Toit (1729-1771)].

Jacobus Retief was a farmer near Wellington, his original farm was called “Soetendal”. He also bought the farm “Welvanpas”, formerly known as “De Krakeelhoek” which belonged to his grandmother Maria Mouij, of whom presently. He had eleven children. His father, Francois Retief, was the eldest son of the founding father of the Retief clan in South Africa, Hugenot emigrant Francois Retif Snr. (1663-1721). This Francois Retief fled Mer in Blois, France during the recriminations of King Louis XIV with his young sister to Holland. Since the Dutch were looking for settlers for the Cape, they joined and arrived in Cape Town in 1688. He bought a farm and called it “Le Paris” on the northern banks of the Berg River near Wemmershoek. He married Maria Mouij, (1685-?, daughter of Pierre Mouij, also of France.), 23 years his junior.

To return to Marthinus Wessel Pretorius (Swart Martiens): His father was: Councillor Henning Petrus Nicolaas Pretorius [1800-1865; son of Marthinus Wessel Pretorius (1747-?) and Susanna Elisabeth Viljoen, (1760-?), widow of J.D. Hattingh] who was a Deacon in the church and long-serving elder, as well as member of the first Voortrekker Council in Natal. He was murdered by the Sotho at Moorddraai near Harrismith with his wife, Johanna Christina Vorster [1804-1865; daughter of Barend Johannes Vorster (1771-1840) and Johanna Christina Vorster (1776-?)], two of his sons and a companion. His brother, Andries Pretorius later became the Voortrekker arch-leader and founded the capital city of Pretoria, South Africa. Barend Vorster was the son of Barend Johannes Vorster (1748-1799) and Cecilia van Heerden (1752-1789). Marthinus Wessel Pretorius was the son of Johannes Pretorius [1711-1778; son of Johannes Pretorius (1642-1694) and Johanna Victor (1640-1719)] and Johanna Bezuidenhout [1717-?; illegitimate daughter of Wynand Bezuidenhout (1674-1724) and Gerbrecht Boshouwer (1684-1772)]. Johannes Pretorius (1711-1778) farmed near Roodesandskloof with about 40 cattle and 70 sheep. His father, the elder Johannes Pretorius was born in Oudorp, Alkmaar, Noord-Holland, Netherlands and was the first to move to South Africa. His parents were: Wessel Schout Praetorius [1614-1664; son of Barend Wesselius Pretorius (1596-1668) and Aaltje Jansdochter (1596-1643)] and Josyntgen Claesdochter (1618-?). Barend’s father was Wessel Schulte (1566-?).

On the 25th of September 1804 Mr. De Mist formally laid down his authority as commissioner-general so that the governor might be more free to act with vigour. The great question of the time was how to place the Colony in a condition for defence, as no one doubted that sooner or later it would be attacked by the English. Mr. De Mist did not profess to know anything of military matters, and thought that the governor, upon whom the responsibility would fall, should have sole authority, though they had worked together in perfect concord. There are many indications that they were both too far advanced in modern opinions to remain popular in this country much longer, unless they made large concessions to the sentiments of the colonists. General Janssens was the more flexible of the two. He was already beginning to see plainly that a body of people secluded from intercourse with Europe for more than a century could not be dealt with in the same manner as men who had lived in the whirl of the French revolution.Mr. De Mist resided at Stellenburg, close to Wynberg, from August to November 1804, when he removed to Maastricht, at the Tigerberg. On the 24th of February 1805 he embarked in the American ship Silenus, and on the following day sailed for the United States. So entirely was Dutch commerce driven from the seas that there was no other way by which he could return to Europe.

In January 1805 a post for the conveyance of letters and the Government Gazette was established between Cape Town and the various drostdies. A mail bag was conveyed weekly by post-riders to Stellenbosch and Tulbagh, and to the other drostdies whenever the government wished to send despatches. In this case farmers along the lines of road contracted to forward the bag from one station to another, and the landdrosts sent the letters and papers to the fieldcomets with the first convenience.

As the northern boundary proclaimed by Lord Macartney it not include all the occupied farms, and as in one place it was somewhat obscure, on the 20th of February 1805 the council rectified it by resolving that it should thenceforth be the Koussie or Buffalo river from its mouth to its source in the Koperberg, thence south-eastward in as nearly as possible a straight line-but following the mountains-to the junction of the Zak and Riet rivers, thence the Zak river to its source in the Nieuwveld mountains, thence the Nieuwveld mountains to the Sneeuwberg, and thence northeastward a line enclosing the Great Table mountain to the Zeekoe river at Plettenberg’s beacon. The eastern boundary as defined by Lord Macartney was not changed, though it was worded differently, namely, as the Zuurberg, thence a line along the western side of the Bamboesberg enclosing the Tarka and Kwadehoek and passing along the foot of the Tarka mountain through Kagaberg to the junction of th Baviaans’ and Fish rivers, and thence the Fish river to the sea.

It has already been stated that the high court of justice was independent of the executive and legislative branches of the government. It was intended that all the judges should be appointed in Holland, and should be removable only by the supreme authorities there. The full court was to consist of a president and six members. As one of the judges had not arrived, and as there was good reason to suppose that he would never reach South Africa, on the 6th of October 1803 the commissioner-general, with the concurrence of the governor and the council, appointed Mr. Jan Henoch Neethling, a doctor of laws, to the vacant place. The office of secretary to the, council, which he had previously held, was given to Mr. Jan Andries Truter. Mr. Gerrit Buyskes, the secretary’ to the high court, who was appointed in Holland, did not arrive until two years later.

The inferior courts were remodelled by an ordinance enacted by the governor and council in October 1805.

The landdrosts were to remain, as before, the chief representative of the supreme authority in their respective districts. They were to guard the rights of the inhabitants to personal freedom and possession of their property; to encourage industry, education, the extension of agriculture, and the improvement of cattle; to maintain peace and friendship with the aborigines beyond the border; to protect the Hottentots in their rights as a free people; to preserve forests, and encourage tree-planting; ‘to keep a record of land-grants of every kind, and to prevent the alienation of vacant ground to the prejudice of the public; to receive revenue; to take preparatory examinations in charges of crime; to cause deserters and vagrants to be arrested, and to send them, together with prisoners charged with the commission of serious offences, to Cape Town for trial; and to protect slaves from ill-treatment. Their power of inflicting punishment upon slaves was limited to imprisonment for six months, the infliction of a moderate number of lashes, or placing the culprit in chains. In cases of petty crime, for which the law provided penalties not exceeding fifty rix dollars the landdrosts were left at liberty to compound with the offenders without public trial. The office of auctioneer was separated from that of landdrost, and was attached to that of district secretary. Each landdrost was to be provided with a house, a garden, and a cattle run. He was to have a salary of two thousand five hundred rix-dollars a year, and was to be entitled to specified fees for certain duties. The landdrost of Stellenbosch was to have five hundred rix-dollars a year extra salary.

In each district there were to be six heemraden, selected from the most respectable and trustworthy burghers. The qualifications of these officers were the attainment of thirty years of age, residence in the district for three years, and the possession of freehold property or the occupation of a leasehold farm. They were to receive no salaries or emoluments, as their office was to be regarded as one of honour. On the formation of a new district the heemraden were to be appointed by the governor; but at the end of each succeeding year the two who had served longest were to retire, when the governor was to select their successors from a list of four names supplied by the board. A session of the court of landdrost and heemraden was to be held monthly in the districts of Stellenbosch and Tulbagh, quarterly in the other districts. The landdrost was to preside, except in case of unavoidable absence, when the senior heemraad was to take the chair. The landdrost and four heemraden were to form a quorum.

This court had jurisdiction in all disputes concerning the boundaries of farms and the impounding of cattle, all suits connected with auction sales, and all civil cases in which the amount contested was less than three hundred rix-dollars. There was a right of appeal from its decisions to that of the high court of justice in eases over the value of twenty-five rix-dollars. The landdrost and heemraden were to perform the duties of coroners. They had charge also of the highways, and generally of such matters as were carried out at the expense of the district. In their judicial capacity they were responsible only to the high court of justice, and criminal cases -were reported by them to the attorney-general. In all other matters they were responsible to the governor.

There was a very useful class of officers, termed field – comets, whose sphere of duty other than military had only been recognised of recent years, as they had gradually and almost imperceptibly taken the place of the corporals of militia and the veldwachters of earlier times. The ordinance of October 1805 gave them a better position than they had previously occupied. Every district was now divided into wards, none of which were to be of greater extent than could be ridden across by a man on horseback in six hours; in each of these wards there was to be a fieldcornet, nominated by the landdrost and appointed by the governor. He was to be a man of unblemished character over twenty five years of age, a resident for more than two years in the ward, and in possession of freehold property or in occupation of a leasehold farm. He was to be the representative of the landdrost, to maintain order and tranquillity to settle petty disputes, to keep a register of the people, to make new laws known, and generally to promote industry and whatever might tend to prosperity. He was to be free of district taxation, and was to have a farm without rent or twenty five rix-dollars a year.

For military purposes the fieldcornets were to call out and lead the burghers of their wards whenever required by the landdrost. The burghers were divided into three classes. The first to be called upon for personal service were those between sixteen and thirty years of age, next those between thirty and forty-five and lastly those between forty-five and sixty years of age. If all the men of a class were not needed, the unmarried and those without employment were to be called out before the others. Such as were not called upon for personal service were to be assessed to supply food, horses, and means of transport. When in the field, the several divisions of the burgher militia of each district were under the general orders either of the landdrost or of a commandant appointed by the governor, and the fieldcornets often had the title of captain conferred upon them. In this manner the whole European population of the colony was organised for military purposes

During recent years reports of various kinds had reached Cape Town concerning the settlements formed by agents of the London missionary society north of the Orange river, and as some of these reports were to the effect that a community hostile to the colony was growing up there, the government resolved to send a commission to inspect the settlements and obtain accurate information. The officers chosen for this purpose were Landdrost Van de Graaff, of Tulbagh, and Dr. Henry Lichtenstein, surgeon of the Hottentot corps. In May 1805 these gentlemen left Tulbagh, and travelling by way of Karoo Poort, reached the colonial boundary without difficulty. Along the route they heard numerous complaints of depredations by Bushmen, and ascertained that the arrangements made with these people in former years had completely failed in their object.

At the mission station on the Zak river they found the colonist Christiaan Botma in charge during the reverend Mr. Kicherer’s absence in Europe. The Bushmen gathered together here had dispersed as soon as the missionaries’ means of providing them with food failed, and only about forty individuals remained, most of whom were half-breeds that had from youth professed Christianity. Botma, the teacher, was a man of great zeal, and had expended a large portion of his private property in maintaining the station; but it seemed to the commission that the principles on winch the work was being conducted were decidedly wrong. Religious services were .frequently held, and were attended by everyone on the place. But industry was not enforced, and the habits of the people formed a striking contrast to those of the residents at the Moravian institution in the district of Stellenbosch. The mission was doing no harm politically or in any other way, though it appeared to be of very little service to the few people under its influence.

Here a party of farmers joined the travellers as an escort, making the whole number up to eight Europeans, twelve Hottentots, and five slaves. On the southern bank of the Orange a horde of Kosas was met, under two near relatives of the chief Ndlambe who had wandered away from their own country.

The Orange was crossed at Prieska Drift. On its northern bank the missionaries Vanderlingen and Jan Kock were met, journeying from the Batlapin country towards the Cape. Kock, who understood the Setshuana language was easily persuaded to send his family on to the station at the Zak river, and return with the commission.

At Lauw-waters-kloof which was reached on the same day, a number of half-breeds and Koranas were found. Here two more missionaries Koster and Janssen by name were met returning from the Batlapin country, having abandoned the work there. Lauw-waters-kloof was ascertained to be one of six mission villages inhabited by half- breeds and Koranas, with several Namaquas and a few blacks and Hottentots from the Cape Colony. The other five were Rietfontein, Witwater, Taaiboschfontein Leeuwen kuil, and Ongeuksfontein. In these villages nearly a thousand people were living, many of whom were half-breeds that had been wandering along the southern bank of the Orange for fifteen or twenty years, before the missionaries induced them to settle down to receive instruction. Among them were also several individuals who had grown up in the families of colonists These had always worn European clothing, and were baptized professors of Christianity before the arrival of the missionaries.

The district in which the villages were situated – [since 1880 the colonial division of Hay] had from time immemorial been occupied by Koranas and Bushmen, who were at bitter feud with each other. The half-breeds, Namaquas and colonial Hottentots were recent immigrants who had come in with the missionaries. Smallpox in a mild form was prevalent among the people, and was said to have been brought from the north, but how or when was not ascertained. It had been unknown in the Cape Colony since 1769, and most likely had spread overland from Delagoa Bay.

At Leeuwenkuil the missionary Anderson was then residing. The travellers were greatly impressed with his devotion to his work, and with the exemplary life he was leading. He and Mr. Kramer were the only white men living in the district, the others who had formerly assisted them having retired from that field.

The commission found that nothing was to be feared from this settlement. Mr. Anderson regarded himself as subject to the colonial government, and the half-breeds, who gained their subsistence chiefly by hunting, were so dependent upon Europeans for ammunition and other necessaries that their engaging in hostilities was out of the question.
From Ongeluksfontein, the farthest of the six villages to the north, the travellers set out for the Batlapin country. Since the journey of Messrs. Truter and Somerville to Lithako in 1801, a good deal had been heard of the Betshuana, but the different accounts by no means agreed. Among those who supplied information was the reverend Mr. Edwards. This missionary, who might be supposed to know more than any other European about the Batlapin, left the Kuruman river towards the close of 1803, and visited Cape Town, where he gave the government a description in writing of the people he had been living with, some portions of which could only be regarded as fabulous. For instance, he stated that they regarded his wife as a goddess, and offered him a great number of cattle for a daughter born at Molehabangwe’s kraal. In March 1805 he wished to return, but the council declined to give him permission and shortly afterwards Messrs. Van de Graaff and Lichtenstein were instructed to include the Batlapin country in their tour.

A little beyond Ongeluksfontein the travellers met a waggon containing the families of two half-breed brothers named Jantje and David Bergover, who had been in Jan Kock’s service on the Kururman river. They had left the Kururman with a view of following Kock to the mission station on the Zak river, but had been attacked on the way by Bushmen, and the two men and one little girl had been murdered. The party from the south arrived just in time’ to rescue the other children and the women.

In the valley of the Kuruman the first Batlapin were found. The principal kraal of Molehabangwe was then only a short distance from the spot where that stream issues with great force from a cavern. The kraal was found to consist of five or six hundred huts, and to contain about five thousand people. The year after Messrs. Truter and Somerville’s visit, the Barolong under Makraki had separated from the Batlapin, and had moved away to the neighbourhood of their kinsmen in the north. This migration reduced the kraal to one-third of its former size. The commission was received in a friendly manner by the old chief Mlolehabangwe, and by his sons Mothibi, Telekela, Molimo, and Molala. There were no missionaries remaining on the Kuruman, all who had been there having left for the Colony; but it was Jan Kock’s intention to return. The commission could not ascertain that any of them except Kook had made the slightest impression upon the people, and what benefit had been derived from his teaching was in an improved method of tilling the ground, not in the adoption of Christianity.

Of the Betshuana tribes to the north – the Barolong, Bahurutsi, Bangwaketsi, Bakwena and others which have since disappeared – some information was gathered, but it was not very reliable. The existence of slavery among these tribes, which was not suspected by Messrs. Truter and Somerville, was proved beyond all doubt. In fact two boys were offered for sale to the commission at the price of a sheep each. But the abject state in which the slaves were living at a distance from the principal kraal was not made known until some years later.

The Kuruman was the farthest point reached by the expedition. During the return journey nothing occurred that was of more than passing interest, and the travellers arrived safely at Tulbagh again after an absence of three months.

In April 1803 Major Von Buchenroeder arrived with a. party of immigrants, consisting of twenty two men, four women, and five children, when all that was possible was done to aid him. It was believed in Holland that the whole country in the neighbourhood of Plettenberg’s Bay was capable of supporting a dense agricultural population, and as General Janssens had already formed a different opinion, he did not assign a tract of land to Mr. Van Hogendorp but advised that the most suitable vacant ground should first be selected by a competent person.Major Von Buchenroeder regarded himself as the best judge of a proper locality, and he made a tour along the coast, concerning which he afterwards published a small volume that proves how just was the governor’s estimate of his character. Before his return to Cape Town intelligence of the outbreak of war in Europe was received, which practically put an end to the colonisation scheme, though another party, consisting of fifteen men, six women, and sixteen children was sent from Holland by Mr. Van Hogendorp. These people, however never reached South Africa, as they were forwarded by way of the United States, and preferred to stay there instead of proceeding farther.
Meantime the men brought out by Major Von Buchenroeder ascertained that employment co
uld readily be had in Cape Town on terms much more lucrative to them than the wages for which they had contracted before leaving Holland. Mr. Van Hogendorp had advanced them money for outfits, and his agents tried to keep them to their engagements; but most of them gave ceaseless trouble. Von Buehenroeder, too, worried the government with long memorials and endless complaints, until the commissioner found it necessary to deal very abruptly with him. A tract of land in the valley above Hout Bay was offered to Mr. Van Hogendorp’s agents to make a trial with, and the major was sent back to Holland.

The end of the matter was that in 1806 one man only of the people brought out was living on the ground, and he was getting a living as a woodcutter. There was not a square yard of the soil under cultivation. Mr. Van Hogendorp had forwarded a quantity of stores and implements from Holland, but most had been lost in two shipwrecks. The failure of the design was complete, and the promoter was some thousands of pounds out of pocket by it, without any return whatever.
Among the measures devised by Mr. De Mist for the advancement of the colony was the appointment of a commission to carry out improvements in agriculture and stockbreeding, and particularly for the conversion of Cape sheep into merinos. The commission consisted of a president, a vice-president, and twelve members experienced in farming operations, who were appointed in May 1804. No salaries were attached to their duties. The tract of land called Groote Post, at Groenekloof, was allotted to them, and paper money to the amount of 4,167 L was stamped and assigned as a fund to work with. Hopes were entertained in Holland of the colony becoming a great wool-producing country, and some Cape wool was woven into cloth at Amsterdam and sent back to show the farmers what could be done. The commission imported some Spanish rams, and within two years the number of wool-bearing sheep in the colony was increased to eleven thousand; but slaughter stock was still so scarce and dear that very few breeders could be induced to exchange weight of carcase for quality of fleece. To try to improve the quality of Cape wine, a man of experience in Rhenish vineyards was engaged and brought out. Experiments were again commenced with that Willo’-the-wisp of the early government in South Africa, the olive. On this occasion the plants were brought from Portugal.

On the 25th of July 1804 an important ordinance was published by the commissioner-general. It declared that all religious societies which for the furtherance of virtue and good morals worshipped an Almighty Being were to enjoy in this colony equal protection from the laws, that no civil privileges were to be attached to any creed, but that no religious association might hold public worship or meet in public assembly without the knowledge and consent of the governor. The time was ripe for freedom of public worship in Cape Town, but in the country people were not yet prepared for such liberal measures, and they did not regard with favour an enactment that gave to Jews, Roman Catholics, and Mohamedans the same civil rights as themselves. As yet the whole rural population of European blood adhered to the Dutch reformed church. In Cape Town there were residents professing almost every shade of religious belief, and in the castle itself in October 1805 a room was fitted up as a chapel, in which a Roman Catholic clergyman conducted service for the soldiers of his creed.

The Dutch reformed remained the established church of the country, however, to the extent that its clergymen were appointed by the government and drew their salaries from the public treasury. Their number in Cape Town was reduced to two, of whom the senior received a salary of 333 L. 6s. 8d., and the junior 300 L a year, with no other emoluments whatever. In June 1804 the reverend Mr. Serrurier, after forty-four years’ service, retired on a pension, leaving Messrs. Fleck and Von Manger to perform the duties. It was intended that a clergyman should be stationed at each of the drostdies and at Drakenstein and Zwartland, but it was not possible to obtain a sufficient number. During the time that the colony remained a dependency of the Batavian Republic only one new name was added to the list: that of the reverend Jan Augustus Schutz, who called in a ship in September 1803, and accepted the appointment to the church of Swellendam, from which the reverend Mr. Ballot had been removed to Roodezand in May of the same year. The churches of Drakenstein and Graaff-Reinet remained without clergymen, and no church could be formed at Uitenhage. All the ministers in the country districts received the same salary: 166 L. 13s. 4d a year, with a house and a garden.

The ordinance which granted equal civil rights to persons of every creed also provided for the establishment of schools under control of the government and not belonging to any religious body. This was a measure altogether in advance of the times, and met with such decided opposition from the farmers that nowhere except in Cape Town could such schools be founded. Better no education at all from books than instruction not based on religion was the cry from one end of the colony to the other. Before the country again changed its owners there was not time to settle this question; but had there been, without doubt the government must have given way, or have forfeited the confidence of the burghers.

Another ordinance of the commissioner-general-though it was not published until the 31st of October 1804, after he had laid down his authority-facilitated the celebration of marriages. Prior to this date all persons desiring to be married were required to appear before the matrimonial court in Cape Town, to show that there were no legal impediments. Prom this court a license was obtained, and they could then either be married by a clergyman in Cape Town, or return to their own district and be married by the clergyman of the congregation of which they were members, The ordinance of Mr. De Mist provided that after the 1st of January 1805 marriages were to take place before the landdrost and two heemraaden of the district in which the bride had lived for the previous three months. The necessity for a journey to Cape Town was thus done away with, and quite as good security was provided against improper Unions.

It was the commissioner-general De Mist who gave to Cape Town the coat-of-arms now used by the authorities of the city. He adapted the devices from the escutcheon of Abraham van Riebeek, who was born here, and who was governor-general of Netherlands India from 1709 to 1713. Possibly that gentleman’s father, Jan van Riebeek may have used a coat-of-arms with three annulets in it. Mr. De Mist thought it likely that he had, but there is no certainty about it, though the probabilities are very much greater than that the portrait in the town-house, which is commonly said to be Jan van Riebeek’s, really is a likeness of the founder of the colony. The commissioner-general made the adoption of the coat-of-arms by the city of Cape Town an occasion for festivity. It was the 3rd of July 1804. There was an entertainment in the town-house, and in the evening the buildings along the principal streets were illuminated.

The paper currency of the colony was increased in quantity by the commissioner-general, though the government now admitted that it had depreciated in value. When the colony was transferred to the Batavian Republic, there were in circulation one million seven hundred and eighty-six thousand two hundred and seventy-five rixdollars, which at four English shillings to the rixdollar-its nominal value- represented 357,2551. On the 30th of March 1804 the commissioner-general issued fresh notes to the amount of seventy-five thousand rixdollars, for the purpose of relieving the sufferers by a fire in the village of Stellenbosch on the 28th of December 1803, when the mill, the parsonage. twenty-four private dwelling-houses, and fourteen warehouses and stores were totally destroyed (*Some time afterwards it was discovered that this calamity was caused by an incendiary, a Bengalese slave named Patientie. He was punished with death for the crime.)

A few months later notes to the amount of twenty-five thousand rixdollars were issued to provide a fund for the commission for the improvement of agriculture and stockbreeding to work with, fifty thousand rixdollars to erect the necessary buildings at the new drostdies of Uitenhage and Tulbagh, and one hundred and fifty thousand rixdollars to erect granaries, a hail of justice, and a prison in Cape Town. The last sum was not, however, used for the purpose originally intended, but as a measure of necessity was placed in the military chest. The whole quantity of notes in circulation was thus raised to two millions eighty-six thousand two hundred and seventy-five rixdollars, of which eight hundred and forty-five thousand rixdollars formed the capital of the loan bank. Most of this paper was worn and nearly defaced, and some of it differed in style from other; so it was all called in, and new notes uniform in appearance, though varying in colour according to the amount represented, were issued in exchange. On this occasion a trifling sum was ascertained to have been lost, so that notes representing only two millions and eighty- six thousand rixdollars were stamped. The paper rixdollar was now computed in the government accounts as well as in private transactions at two gulden of Holland, or three shillings and four pence English money, so that the whole amount in circulation was equal to 347,666 L. 13s. 4d.

There are strong indications in the official documents that both Mr. De Mist and General Janssens were not unfavourably disposed towards the Orange party, though they served the Batavian Republic faithfully. They were very jealous of French influence. In December 1803 an agent arrived from Mauritius, and wished to be termed French Resident; but they would not accord him that title, though they were careful not to offend him. When a French fleet put in and the admiral applied for provisions in a time of scarcity, the commissioner-general instructed the governor to give him what he needed, as it would not do to refuse, though payment might be doubtful.

Another instance of jealousy of French influence occurred in the treatment of a man named George Francis Grand, who arrived in South Africa in April 1803, and claimed the position of privy councillor and the second place in the government The commissioner-.general De Mist knew nothing whatever of the man or the office, and he was not as much as named in any despatches received from Holland. His pretensions were therefore disregarded, though he was treated with courtesy. He was by birth a Swiss, but had been for many years in the service of the English East India Company, and had held important situations in Hindostan until for some unexplained cause he was dismissed. He could not speak a word of Dutch. At length, particulars concerning him were received from Holland, when it appeared that he had been appointed consulting councillor, with a salary of 166L. 18s. 4d. a year. He had been for some time separated, but not legally divorced, from his wife, owing to her seduction by the celebrated Philip Francis; and she was then married to a French minister of state of the highest rank. This being the secret of Grand’s appointment, Mr. De Mist did not pay much regard to his importunate requests for a seat in the Council, if not the second place in the government. He was informed that he would be consulted in matters relating to the Indian trade, of which he was supposed to have special knowledge; and to this vague position he was at length obliged to submit.

On the 7th of February the commissioner-general issued a proclamation from the village of Graaff Reinet, cutting off from the district of that name the field cornetcies of Zwarte Ruggens, Bruintjes Hoogte, Zuurveld, Bushmans River, and Zwartkops River. These were the field cornetcies in which the most turbulent burghers resided and which had been the principal field of depredations by the Kosas. They were now formed into a new district which was to have as landdrost a military officer in command of a body of troops. Mr. Bresler had been recalled some time before, and in his stead Mr. Andries Stockenstrom secretary of Swellendam was appointed Landdrost of Graaff Reinet On the l4th of February he assumed the duty. On the 22nd of April Captain Alberti, who was in command of the garrison of Fort Frederick, was instructed to act as landdrost of the new district to which three days later General Janssens gave the name Uitenhage, an old family name of the commissioner-general.Captain Alberti was instructed to consult the leading burghers in the selection of a Site for the drostdy, and the three landdrosts of Swellendam, Graaf Reinet and Uitenhage were directed to confer together and send in a report upon the advisability or otherwise of increasing the size of the new district. On the 4th of October they recommended that the fieldcornetcy of Winterhoek should be taken from Graaff Reinet and the fieldcorentcies of Zitzikami, Kromme River and Baviaans Kloof from Swellendam, and added to Uitenhage. Each district should then have a landdrost and six heemraden. The commissioner-general approved of this, and the necessary orders were given.

The boundary of the new district of Uitenhage was declared to be ‘from Grenadiers’s Cape through the upper end of Kromme River in a straight line through Kougaberg throught to the lower point of Anthoniesberg, thence along the waggon road through Dasjes Poort, Groote River Poort, Groote River, Swanepoel’s Poort, Hop River, Bul River, Sunday River, Vogel River, and Blyde River to Bruintjes Hoogte, thence along the top of Bruintjes Hoogte to the Boshberg, along the Boschberg to the end of Kagaberg, and thence Fish River to the sea.’

Captain Alberti, with Commandant Hendrik van Rensburg and Field-cornet Ignatius Mulder, selected as a suitable site for the drostdy a farm belonging to the widow Elizabeth Scheepers, which had been laid waste by the Kaffirs, and had not since been occupied. The widow offered to sell the farm for 400 L, provided the right of free residence during her life was left to her. On the 22nd of September the council agreed to purchase it on these terms. The drostdy buildings were commenced shortly afterwards, when the site took the same name as the district. The first session of the landdrost and heemraden was held on the 15th of November.

In the same year another district was created. On the 11th of July 1804 the commissioner-general issued a proclamation cutting off from Stellenbosch a tract of country north of a provisional line, which was laid down as extending from Verloren Vlei north of St. Helena Bay along Kruis River, thence east through Pikenier’s Kloof and Eland’s Kloof, along the northern base of the mountains of Cold Bokkeveld, and thence south-east by the Draai at Verkeerde Vlei to the border of Swellendam. On the 15th of July General Janssens gave to the district between this provisional line, the northern boundary of the colony, and the Gamka River or western boundary of Graaff-Reinet, the name Tulbagh, in honour of the highly esteemed governor of former days. It was proposed that the drostdy should be at Jan Dissel’s-Vlei, where the village of Clanwilliam was built a few years afterwards; but as it was doubtful whether a better site could not be found, Mr. Hendrik Lodewyk Bletterman, formerly landdrost of Stellenbosch, was appointed a commissioner to inspect the new district, report upon this matter and the provisional boundary, and make arrangements for opening a court.

On the 1st of August Mr. Hendrik van de Graaff was appointed landdrost of Tulbagh. This gentleman was a nephew of the former governor Van de Graaff and was an officer of the artillery corps when the colony was surrendered to the British forces in 1795. In April 1797 he was appointed a director of the loan bank, in which position he had acquitted himself so well that he was now considered the best man who could be found as landdrost.

Mr. Bletterman sent in a report, in which strong objections were urged against Jan Dissel’s-Veli being made the seat of magistracy on account of its being cut off from the eastern part of the district by a very rugged tract of land. He recommended instead the farm Rietvlei close to Roodezand’s church. This farm belonged to a man named Hercules du Pre , who was Willing to sell it for 1,111 L. The council adopted the report on the 18th of September and extended the district of Tulbagh southward to the Breede river from its junction with the Rex upwards to the western point of the socalled island, thence the Western chain of mountains to Roodezand’s Kloof thence the Little Berg river through the kloof, and thence the mountains of Twenty Four Rivers and Elephant River to the firs-named provisional boundary.

One of the most enterprising and patriotic men in the Netherlands at this time Was Mr. Gysbert Karel van Hogendorp whose name at a later date was intimately connected with the history of his country This gentleman formed a plan of colonising a tract of land in the neighbourhood of Plettenberg’s Bay, by which means he hoped to benefit both the mother country and the dependency.

The design was a large one. Mr. Van Hogendorp was to receive from the government a grant in freehold of an extensive district, comprising forests as well as ground adapted for tillage and pasturage The government was to provide free passages from the Netherlands for such persons as he should send out. These persons were to be farm labourers and artisans, who were to enter into a contract to serve him after their arrival in South Africa for a stated time at fixed wages, after which they were to have plots of ground from thirty to one hundred acres in extent assigned to them. He was then to provide them with stock to farm with, for which he was to receive interest in produce for twenty-five years, at the expiration of which period they could either repay the capital or continue as before.

He intended to have a portion of the land cultivated on his own account, and it was for this purpose that he required the services of the people. A magazine was to be -erected for the storage of produce until it could be exported, and for the sale of clothing and other goods. There were to be no slaves in the new settlement.

A saw-mill, with the best appliances then known, was constructed and made ready to be forwarded to South Africa, for he intended to prepare timber for exportation. The production of wool was another of his objects, and with this view he purchased a flock of choice Spanish sheep, which he kept under his own eye in Holland, that he might be able to send out rams yearly.

Mr. Van Hogendorp took as an associate a retired military officer named Von Buchenroeder, who had a very high opinion of his own abilities, but who – as General Janssens said -succeeded in nothing, because he was a mere theorist. In Holland there had been living for some time a colonist named Hermanus Vermaak who was one of those banished for political opinions during the British occupation and who did not fail to speak of the land of his birth in the highest terms. He returned in 1803 as one of Mr. Van Hogendorp’s agents in South Africa, the attorney-general Beelaerts van Blokland being the other.

Both Mr. D Mist and General Janssens were very willing to assist in the settlement of industrious European immigrants. They could not sufficiently express their regret that the mistake had been made of introducing negro slaves into the country; but they were of opinion that it was not too late partly to repair that error. If Europeans in considerable numbers could be obtained as immigrants and further importations of blacks be prevented, in course of time the negroes already in the country might have a tract of land assigned to them where they could live by themselves, and the remainder of the colony thus be made a pure European settlement. A stringent regulation was put in force that not a negro should be landed without the special permission of the government being first obtained. Holding these views, the authorities were averse even to the sale of a few slaves from ships that called, and though in several instances under pressing circumstances such sales were authorised, the number of negroes added to the population while Mr. De Mist and General Janssens were at the head of affairs was very small.

On the 24th of June the governor had a conference with Gaika, at which a formal agreement of friendship was entered into. The Fish River was declared to be the boundary between the two races, and the chief promised that none of his followers except official messengers should cross it. He gave an assurance that if the Kaffirs in the Zuurveld would return to their own country he would not molest them, but he declined positively to make overtures of peace to Ndlambe. He consented to expel the European renegades who were living with his people, but desired to make an exception in favour of Coenraad du Buis. That individual, however promised the governor that he would return to the colony, and a few months later he kept his word. As for the others, several were delivered to the Colonial authorities and were placed where they could be watched eight or ten fled to distant tribes, and one – Jan Botha – was murdered by Ndlambe’s people.From the Kat river, General Janssens proceeded to the northern border of the colony, to ascertain the condition of the white people and the Bushmen. At Plettenberg’s beacon on the Zeekoe River a messenger met him with a despatch announcing that on the 12th of May, less than three months after the restoration of the colony, war had broken out again between Great Britain and France. The Batavian Republic was so closely allied with the latter power a necessarily to share its fortunes. The governor therefore hastened back to Cape Town, without being able to do more than gather what information could be obtained in a very rapid journey.

It was now resolved to reduce the garrison of Fort Frederick to half the strength at first intended. Captain Lodewyk Alberti, who was about to take over the command from Major Von Gilten, was instructed to continue urging the Kosas in the Zuurveld to cross the Fish river without delay. In August that officer made a tour among them for this purpose, but was unsuccessful. In the following month Cungwa came to terms with Gaika, and promised Alberti to leave the colony as soon as his crops were gathered. Ndlambe’s people at this time were making gardens on the western side of the Bushman’s river, though the chief had undertaken not to do so. Parties of them were roaming about lifting cattle wherever they could find an unprotected herd. The war between them and Gaika’s clan was being carried on actively, and Kawuta had been applied to again for assistance, but declined to give it.

Soon after this another combination was formed. Cungwa and Jalusa joined Gaika, and together they attacked Ndlambe in the Zuurveld, but did not succeed in dislodging him. The belt of land along the coast east of the Bushman’s river was thus kept from being reoccupied by the farmers, but the remaining portion of the district of Graaff-Reinet was in a fair condition of tranquillity.

Upon learning of the renewal of hostilities in Europe General Janssens devoted all his attention to putting the Cape peninsula in a condition for defence, and to the increase of his military strength. But soon instructions were received from Holland that he must send his best regime the 23rd battalion of infantry, to Batavia, as the mother Country was unable to furnish more men, and troops were urgently needed in Java. In February 1804 this regiment left South Africa. The governor did what he could to make up for its loss, by increasing the Hottentot corps first to five hundred, and soon afterwards to six hundred men. But to the burghers he looked chiefly for the defence of the colony, if it should be attacked.

The English East India Company had a large amount of property in Capetown under charge of its agent, Mr. John Pringle. On the 29th of September 1803 this was declared confiscated, on account of war, and was seized for the government. There was a great quantity of salt provisions and 11,351 L. in money, which proved very serviceable, as the funds in the treasury were low. Mr. De Mist brought with him from Holland 8,333 L in money and 33,333 L in bills of Exchange, but that was nearly all expended, and, except for the maintenance of the troops, nothing could be expected from Europe after the renewal of the war. The yearly average of the colonial revenue from January 1803 to January 1806 was only three hundred and sixty-nine thousand six hundred and thirty eight rix-dollars equal at the estimated rate of exchange to 61,606 L.

On the 9th of October the commissioner-general left Cape Town for the purpose of making a tour through the Colony and becoming acquainted with the condition and wants of the people. He took with him a number of attendants and a military escort, so that the train had quite imposing appearance. Proceeding first in a northerly direction, he visited Saldanha and St. Helena bays; then turning inland, he passed through Pikenier’s Kloof, and kept onward to the Hantam, From the Hantam he made his way over the Roggeveld and the Bokkeveld to the land of Waveren – now the Tulbagh basin, where he remained some days to refresh his cattle. He then kept down the valley of the Breede River, and after passing the site of the present village of Worcester he turned to the south to visit the Moravian mission station in Baviaans’ Kloof.

More people were residing at that station than at any other place in the colony except Cape Town, but it had still no distinctive name, for there were several Baviaans’ Kloofs in the country. It was only on the 1st of January 1806 that General Janssens confirmed the name Genadendal – Vale of Grace – which the missionaries at his request had just previously given to it. At the time of Mr. De Mist’s visit, there were nearly eleven hundred people attached to the mission. They occupied about two hundred wattle-and-daub cottages, small and scantily furnished, but a great advance upon Hottentot huts. Each little cottage stood in a garden, in which vegetables and fruit trees of various kinds were growing. There was an air of order and neatness over the whole place, and marks of industry were apparent on all sides. The most thriving of the residents were naturally the halfbreeds, many of whom had really comfortable homes; but even the pure Hottentots had made advances towards civilisation. Some of the men belonging to the station were away in service with farmers, but at stated intervals they returned to their families with their earnings. There were five missionaries, two – Rose and Korhammer by name – having come from Europe in 1799 to assist the three who founded the station. They were living in plain, but comfortable houses. They and their wives were all engaged during stated hours of the day in teaching industrial occupations, and in the evening the whole community assembled in a large and neat building to join in the worship of God. The missionaries, having power to expel unruly persons from the place, maintained strict discipline among the Hottentots; but it was the kind of discipline that parents enforce upon children, tempered by love and interest in their welfare. Nothing more admirable than this excellent institution could be imagined, and Mr. De Mist and the officers of his train had a difficulty in finding words to express their pleasure and satisfaction with what they saw.

From the Moravian village the commissioner-general went eastward through Swellendam to Fort Frederick at Algoa Bay. Here he was visited by the reverend Dr. Van der kemp, with whom he had been acquainted in Holland thirty five years before. Dr. Van der kemp was dressed in coat, trousers, and sandals; but was without shirt, neck-cloth, socks, or hat. In a burning sun he travelled about bareheaded and thus strangely attired. Yet his conversation was rational, and his memory was perfectly sound.. He had formed an opinion that to convert the Hottentots to Christianity it was necessary to descend in style of living nearly to their level, to be their companion as well as their teacher and being thoroughly in earnest he was putting his views into practice Mr. De Mist and his party visited the London society’s station of Bethelsdorp, where Dr. Van der kemp and the Reverend Mr. Read were residing. They found no indication of industry of any kind, no garden – though it was then the planting season, – nothing but a number of wretched huts on a bare plain, with people lying about in filth and indolence. The Hottentots having settled there so recently, it was not to be expected that the place would present the- appearance of Genadendal, and Mr. De Mist was well aware that the London missionaries were not in as favourable a position as the Moravian brethren. They had to deal with a wild people, who had been less than a quarter of a century in contact with Europeans, and to whom expulsion from the station would be no punishment The Moravians, on the other hand, were working with people who had own up among farmers who could appreciate the advantage of a fixed residence, and who were accustomed to the use of such food as could be derived from gardens and orchards. It was not therefore the absence of improvement that gave Mr De Mist and those who were with him an unfavourable impression of Bethelsdorp but the absence of any effort to induce the Hottentots to adopt industrious habits, and the profession of principles that tended to degrade one race without raising the other. The missionaries themselves were living in the same manner as the Hottentots, and were so much occupied with teaching religious truths that they entirely neglected temporal matters. Dr. Vanderkemp was loud in complaints against the colonists in the neighbourhood, because they gave nothing towards the maintenance of the station, as he held it was their duty to do, and because they often tried to induce some of the people to leave the school and enter into service. More with a view of keeping the Hottentots out of mischief than with any expectation of this institution becoming useful, the commissioner-general made a small grant of money from the colonial treasury towards the funds of the place, and added to the gift some sensible advice.

From Bethelsdorp Mr. Be Mist and his train travelled north-eastward through the Zuurveld. They found parties of Kosas wandering about the country begging and making themselves a nuisance to such colonists as had returned to the devastated farms, but not committing any open hostilities. Messengers were sent to Ndlambe, Cungwa, and Jalusa, to invite them to a conference on the Bushman’s river; but they did not appear, and it was not found possible to meet them. A messenger was also sent to Gaika, who appointed a place for an interview, but on Mr. De Mist’s arrival he was not there. One of his councillors appeared instead, and requested the commissioner-general to proceed still farther, as the chief was anxious to see the great captain of the white people. He stated that Gaika was then preparing to attack Ndlambe, and therefore could not leave his kraal. Mr. De Mist, however, did not choose to put himself to any more trouble, so from the Fish river the party turned homeward.

The route now followed was by the way of Bruintjes Hoogte to the village of Graaff-Reinet. Here a detention of several days was made, for the purpose of arranging the affairs of the eastern part of the colony. When this was completed the party moved on, and after suffering greatly from heat on the Karoo passed again through the land of Wayeren and arrived at the castle on the 23rd of March 1804.

The story of Saul Solomon

Born on the Island of St Helena, 25 May 1817 and died in Kilcreggan, Scotland, 16 October 1892, printer, newspaper proprietor and Cape parliamentary leader, Saul was the second son of Joseph Solomon, a member of a Jewish family living in Kent, England. Joseph’s elder brother had established himself on the flourishing island of St Helena, where he became the leading merchant, high sheriff, and consul for France and Holland. There his brothers, Joseph and Benjamin, and subsequently his sister’s son, Nathaniel Isaacs, joined him. Joseph was married on the island to Hannah Moss, to whom he had been engaged in England. His two elder sons, Henry and Saul, were sent, at the ages of five and four respectively, to their grandmother in England, where they were initiated into the covenant of Abraham by the chief rabbi, Dr Solomon Herschell, and taught by an orthodox schoolmaster in Ramsgate.

When they returned to their parents on St Helena it was found that both boys had been suffering from ill-health and, as a consequence, it is supposed, of defective treatment, their lower limbs had ceased to grow. Both were dwarfed, and Saul remained so short that throughout his parliamentary career he was obliged to stand on a stool when he addressed the house. His torso was normal, however, and his head massive and high-domed.

On St Helena the two boys attended the English East India company’s school, but family tradition has it that in 1829 Saul was sent to Cape Town and enrolled in the newly established South African college. His name does not appear, however, in the official examination lists until 1831. In that year the family settled in Cape Town, and circumstances obliged Saul’s parents to end his formal education.

He was apprenticed to George Greig, printer and bookseller, his brother Henry becoming Greig’s bookkeeper. On 7 September 1834 Greig sponsored Henry’s baptism at St George’s (Anglican) church, but there is no record of Saul’s ever having been baptized. Saul and Henry, as well as their brothers and sisters, were influenced by the Rev. Dr John Philip and afterwards became members of the Congregational Church. There is evidence that Saul’s sympathy with the religion of his fathers was not altogether alienated; for in 1849 he subscribed to the fund for establishing the first synagogue at the Cape and in 1856 he helped to bring from England the Rev. Joel Rabinowitz, a Jewish minister with whom he maintained an intimate friendship for over thirty years. These facts are not without significance in view of his persistent efforts, over a period of twenty years, to have the Cape parliament pass the so-called Voluntary bill.

Saul rose rapidly in Greig’s printing business, in time becoming manager and subsequently acquiring a partnership in the firm. In 1847 he and Henry took over the business, which became Saul Solomon & Co. They printed the Cape of Good Hope Government Gazette, and from its foundation in 1857 by Darnell and Murray, the Cape Argus, as well as their own commercial paper, the Cape Mercantile Advertiser. In 1863 Saul became the proprietor of the Cape Argus and directed its policy forthwith. By that time he had become a public figure and a power in the Cape parliament.

When, in 1854, the Cape Colony was granted representative government, Saul was elected a member of the first legislative assembly, being one of the members for Cape Town. This he continued to be for the next twenty-eight years, consistently adhering to those principles which he had laid down as his political creed in his reply to the original requisition inviting him to stand in the first election. He announced himself ‘a liberal in politics and a Voluntary in religion’, and wrote: ‘I shall consider it a sacred duty to give my decided opposition to all legislation tending to introduce distinctions either of class, colour or creed’.

From the first he became a prominent figure in the assembly. He was the leader of the ‘Westerners’, successfully resisting a demand for the ’separation’ of the eastern from the western Cape. When, in 1864, parliament met (for the only time) at Grahamstown, he defended the representative constitution, moving a series of resolutions (which were unanimously carried), protesting against the arbitrary action of the imperial government and censuring the governor, Sir Philip Wodehouse. Saul. played a prominent part, equally with William Porter and John Charles Molteno, in securing responsible government for the colony, and when, in 1872, it was achieved, these three were in turn invited to form the first ministry. Porter’s ill-health precluded him from taking office and Saul declined to form a ministry in the absence of Porter.

According to his son and biographer, his motive for refusal was his difficulty, physically handicapped as he was, in freely travelling about the country in the primitive conditions of those days. He held that a prime minister, in particular, should be known to the people and acquainted with every part of the country. But he declined also the office of speaker. In fact, he preferred the freedom of an independent member, able to advance or attack any policy according to his principles. His influence in parliament was none the less for his refusal to take office.

Throughout the years of Molteno’s ministry Saul lent his powerful support to the government on many occasions. ‘I believe’, wrote the visiting English novelist Anthony Trollope in 1878, ‘that it would have been nearly impossible to pass any measure of importance through the Cape Legislature to which he offered a strenuous opposition’. His Voluntary bill, to abolish state aid to churches and thus extend equality of treatment to all religious denominations, was introduced in the first parliament in 1854. It was rejected, and came up year after year, until it was eventually passed in 1875.

From his youth Saul had been stigmatized by his opponents as a ‘negrophile’, but he bore the pejorative description like a badge of honour and determinedly opposed any legislation that might result in what he held to be unjust treatment of the natives of the country. A measure carried through in the face of strong opposition was his bill for the repeal of the Contagious Diseases act in 1872, a valuable social reform. He was also an early and ardent advocate of a South African federation, seeing in the future a United States of South Africa. Ever an assiduous reader of blue-books and ready with precise information, with facts and figures and relevant evidence to back up his arguments, Saul was a clear, fluent and persuasive speaker.

Outside parliament he was active in the initiation and support of numerous enterprises for the economic welfare of the rapidly developing colony and the mother city that he represented. As an original member of the Table Bay harbour board, and through the powerful advocacy of his newspaper, the Cape Argus, he accelerated the early construction of the docks and the breakwater in Table bay. He was a founder and the chairman of the Mutual Life Assurance company, of the Inland Transport company (originated by himself about 1870 for conveying goods and passengers to the diamond-fields), a director of the Cape of Good Hope Gas company and of the Cape of Good Hope Savings Bank society. In addition to his commercial undertakings he was a member of the committee of the S.A.P.L.; a distinguished alumnus of the South African college, he donated prizes to it annually, and for nine years served on the college council.

In 1874 he married Georgina Margaret Thomson, the first principal of the Good Hope seminary, who survived him until 1933. Of the children, notable are Saul Solomon (1875-1960), judge of the supreme court, Daisy Dorothea Solomon, a leader in women’s social and political organizations in England, and W. E. Gladstone Solomon (1880-1965), painter, writer on Indian art and principal of the Sir J.J. School of Art, Bombay.

In 1883 failing health obliged Saul to retire from public life and go to England; he returned to the Cape in 1885 ‘greatly improved in health and spirits’, only to find that his business, which had been left in the hands of two relatives, had been ill-managed and was on the verge of bankruptcy. His intensive attempts to rehabilitate his firm led to a further breakdown in health. Suffering from stone in the bladder, a painful malady from which he never recovered, he embarked for England with his family in 1888. Four years later he died in the Clydeside village of Kilcreggan, where his family had taken a villa.

In the houses of parliament, Cape Town, there is a portrait in oils by W. H. Schröder and also a sculptured bust presented by his widow and unveiled in 1894. The Africana museum, Johannesburg, has a pencil sketch by W. A. Watton (1877) and there is a portrait in the album collection of the S.A.P.L.

Source: Dictionary of South African Biography

Images: National Archives of South Africa

Born in 1948 in Pinelands, Cape Town. Concert pianist.At the age of three Tessa Uys had her first piano lessons from her mother, Helga Bassel, and when she was thirteen she made her debut with the Cape Town Municipal Orchestra in the City Hall. Until 1967, when she matriculated and left for London on a bursary awarded in 1965 by the Associated Board, her training was continued by Sona Whiteman and Lamar Crowson. In London she trained to become a concert pianist and she remained there until 1980. After her arrival she was taught by Gordon Green and obtained a few licentiates; she also won a number of awards. As her study advanced she entered for master classes in England and on the continent, where she was a pupil of Maria Curcio from 1972. Her concert career commenced in 1970. Since then she has often played in Great Britain, but also in Germany, Holland, Italy and Belgium and has been engaged by the BBC and Radio Netherlands in Hilversum for broadcasts. Her concert appearances in Great Britain include performances of concertos with London orchestras. Through the years she has not neglected her professional connections with South Africa and is at present resident here and a professionally active factor in the country’s music.

Cetshwayo, son of Mpande - Source: Cape Archives, E3248

What were our ancestors doing in 1882?

Who was making the headlines and What did they talk about around the supper table?

Here is a look at some of the people, places and events that made the news in 1882.

Huguenot Memorial School

The Huguenot Memorial School (Gedenkschool der Hugenoten) was opened on the 1st February 1882 on the farm Kleinbosch in Daljosafat, near Paarl. It was a private Christian school and the first school with Afrikaans as teaching medium.

The school was under the auspices of the Genootskap van Regte Afrikaners. Past pupils included the writers Andries Gerhardus VISSER, Daniël François MALHERBE and Jakob Daniël DU TOIT (Totius). The first classes were given in a small room but soon an old wine cellar was converted into a two-storey building which housed two classrooms downstairs and the boarding school upstairs. The first Afrikaans newspaper, Die Patriot, as well as the first Afrikaans magazine, Ons Klyntji, came from this school.

The Coat of Arms of "Die Genootskap van Regte Afrikaners"

The school was closed down in 1910 as by then Afrikaans was taught in government schools. In 2001 renovation work was started after a fundraising campaign brought in more than R1-million. Most of the money came from readers of the Afrikaans newspapers, Die Burger and the Volksblad. Naspers, the Stigting vir Afrikaans and KWV also made important contributions. The renovated building was opened in March 2002. It has an Afrikaans training centre upstairs and guest rooms downstairs.

The main people behind the renovation project were writer Dr. Willem Abraham DE KLERK (1917 – 1996) and Fanie THERON (chairman of the Simon van der Stel Foundation and the Huguenot Society, deceased 1989). Others who were also very involved included Sr. C.F. ALBERTYN (Naspers director), Van der Spuy UYS and Dr. Eduard BEUKKMAN. In 1985 they launched the Hugenote Gedenkskool Board of Trustees and with a R10 000 donation from the Helpmekaarfonds, a servitude on the building and land was bought. De Klerk’s wife, Finnie, and Theron’s wife, Anna, were at the official opening as their husbands did not live to see their dream come to fruition.

Dutch as official language

After the second British occupation of the Cape in 1806, English became the only official language. In 1856 J.A. KRUGER, the M.L.A. for Albert, asked for permission to address Parliament in Dutch. His requested was denied, and this started a campaign to get Dutch recognised as an official language in Parliament. On the 30th March 1882, Jan Hendrik HOFMEYR (1845 – 1909), also known as Onze Jan, appealed for the use of Dutch as an official language in Parliament alongside English. He was supported by Saul SOLOMON, a Jewish newspaper publisher and printer in Cape Town. On the 9th June the campaign finally got a positive result when an amendement was made to the Constitution allowing the use of Dutch in Parliament.

Official status was granted on the 1st May and the Act was later passed. On the 13th June, Jan Roeland Georg LUTTIG, the Beaufort-West M.L.A., was the first to officially deliver a speech in Dutch. There is no official record of the speech in Dutch, but the English version was published in the 14th June 1882 Cape Argus newspaper. The other version is in the Cape Parliament Hansard.

It was a short speech – “Meneer die Speaker, ons is baie dankbaar dat die opsionele gebruik van die Hollandse taal in albei huise van die parlement toegelaat is. Wanneer ek sê dankbaar, dink ek praat ek namens diegene wat die twee huise met hul petisies vir dié doel genader het. Ek put vreugde daaruit dat my Engelssprekende vriende die voorstel nie teengestaan het nie, my komplimente gaan aan hulle.

Ek hoop om die raad in die toekoms ook in Engels, in my ou Boere styl, toe te spreek. Sodoende kan dié Engelse vriende wat nie Hollands verstaan nie, die geleentheid hê om te verstaan wat ek probeer oordra. Ek vertrou ook dat alle nasionale verskille in die toekoms sal verdwyn en dat mense van alle nasionaliteite en standpunte hand aan hand sal beweeg om die welvaart en vooruitgang van die kolonie te bevorder”. According to the Hansard, the Speaker pointed out that the Act had not yet been proclaimed, so members could not yet make speeches in Dutch, but that the House would accommodate him this time.

On the 15th June, Cape school regulations were amended to allow the use of Dutch alongside English.

On the 26th and 27th June, the town of Burgersdorp celebrated the use of Dutch. The celebrations were organised by Jotham JOUBERT (M.L.A. and later a Cape Rebel ) who also proposed a monument to mark the occassion. A country-wide fundraising campaign was launched. The monument was built by S.R. OGDEN of Aliwal-North for £430. It consisted of a sandstone pedestal on which stood a life-size marble statue of a woman. She points her finger at a tablet held in her other hand on which the main inscription reads “De Overwinning de Hollandsche Taal “. The monument was unveiled on the 18th January 1893 by D.P. VAN DEN HEEVER, with Stephanus Jacobus DU TOIT (1847 – 1911) delivering the main speech.

During the Anglo-Boer war, the monument was vandalised by British soldiers who took parts of it to King William’s Town where they buried it. After the war, Lord Alfred MILNER had the rest of the statue removed from Burgersdorp. After much protesting, the British eventually provided Burgersdorp with a replica in 1907. This one was unveiled at ceremonies on the 24th and 25th May 1907 when former President M.T. STYEN and the author D.F. MALHERBE addressed the crowd. The original monument was found in 1939 and returned to Burgersdorp. In 1957 the damaged original monument was placed next to the replica.

In 1883 knowledge of Dutch was compulsory for some government positions. In 1884, it was permitted in the High Courts and in 1887 it became a compulsory subject for civil service candidates. Afrikaans only gained equal status with Dutch and English as an official language in South Africa via Act 8 of 1925. Dutch remained an official language until the 1961 Constitution stipulated the two official languages in South Africa to be Afrikaans and English.

Goosen and Stellaland republics

In 1882 a group of Boers established the short-lived republics of Stellaland and Het Land Goosen (aka Goshen ) to the north of Griqualand West, in contravention of the Pretoria and London conventions by which the Zuid Afrikaansche Republiek had regained its independence.

On the 1st April the republic of Het Land Goosen was declared. The terms of the Pretoria Convention of August 1881 had cut away part of the Transvaal. This led to problems as local Chiefs disputed the boundaries. Britain did not help matters by acknowledging Mankoroane as Chief of the Batlapin and Montsioa as Chief of the Barolong, both beyond their traditional territories. Supporters of Moshete, under the leadership of Nicolaas Claudius GEY VAN PITTIUS (1837 – 1893), established Het Land Goosen. One of the co-founders was Hermanus Richard (Manie) LEMMER, who later became a General in the Anglo-Boer War. Het Land Goosen later merged with the Stellaland republic to form the United States of Stellaland.

Stellaland was also a short-lived republic established in 1882 by David MASSOUW and about 400 followers, who invaded a Bechuana area west of the Transvaal. They founded the town of Vryburg, making it their capital. The republic was formally created on the 26th July 1882, under the leadership of Gerrit Jacobus VAN NIEKERK (1849 – 1896). In 1885 the British sent in troops under Sir Charles WARREN, abolished the republic, and incorporated it in British Bechuanaland.

Shipping accidents

Shipping accidents (wrecks, groundings, etc…) were common along the South African coast. In 1882 there were quite a few:

January – James Gaddarn, a barque, off Durban

February – Johanna, a barque, off East London

March – Poonah, off Blaauwberg

March – Queen of Ceylon, a barque, off Durban

April – Gleam, a barque, off Port Nolloth

April – Roxburg, off East London

April – Seafield, a barque, off East London

May – Francesca, a barque, off East London

May – Louisa Dorothea, a schooner, ran aground at Mossel Bay

May – Clansman, a schooner, off East London

May 28 – two ships, the Agnes (Capt. NEEDHAM) and the Christin a (Capt. G. LOVE), run ashore at Plettenberg Bay

June – Bridgetown, a barque, off Durban

June – Louisa Schiller, a barque, off Cape Hangklip

June – Ludwig, a schooner, off Algoa Bay

June – Gloria Deo, a barque, off Quoin Point

July – Elvira, a barque, off Durban

July – Erwood, off Durban

December – Adonis, a steamer, off Portst Johns

December – Zambezi, a schooner, off Durban

Smallpox

A smallpox epidemic broke out in District Six in 1882. This led to the closure of inner city cemeteries, and the construction of drains and wash-houses in the city. These improvements didn’t go as planned. The cemetery closures led to riots in 1886. The cemeteries along Somerset Road were not in a good condition, so Maitland cemetery was built. As the Muslim community carried their dead for burial, Maitland was too far for them, and along with the Dutch, they protested against Maitland for two years. Once the inner city cemeteries closed, the Dutch compromised but the Muslim community did not. They buried a child in the Tanu Baru (first Muslim cemetery) in protest. About 3 000 Muslims followed the funeral procession, as police watched. After someone threw stones at the police, a riot started and volunteer regiments were called out. One of the Muslim leaders, Abdol BURNS, a cab driver, was arrested. In the end, neither the Dutch nor the Muslims used Maitland. They found a piece of ground next tost Peter’s cemetery in Mowbray and used it as their cemetery.

The smallpox threat was felt further afield. It was believed that smallpox could be beaten by whitewashing the walls of homes, and for this reason lime and carbolic acid was distributed free to residents in Beaufort West. At Modder River, about 35 km from Kimberley, the settlement was used as a quarantine station to keep smallpox away from Kimberley. Travellers enroute to Kimberley had to produce a valid vaccination certificate or be vaccinated at the station.

Zulu King in London

Cetshwayo reigned as King of the Zulus from 1873 to 1884. He made an alliance with the British in order to keep his long standing enemies, the Boers, away. The alliance collapsed when the British annexed the Transvaal and supported Boer land claims in the border dispute with Zululand. This led to the 1879 Anglo-Zulu War where the British suffered defeat at the Battle of Isandlwana and Zulus at the Battle of Ulundi. Cetshwayo was captured and taken to the Cape. In 1882 he travelled to London where he met Queen Victoria on the 14th August. On his return he was reinstated as King in a much reduced territory and with less autonomy. He died on the 8th February 1884.

Sporting moments

Ottomans Cricket Club was founded in the Bo-Kaap in 1882. The Rovers Rugby Club was founded in Cradock on the 6th September 1882. The first rugby match in Mossel Bay was played on Saturday, 2nd September 1882. Mossel Bay Athletic Club played against George Athletic Club. The first bowling green was laid out in 1882 when a club was established atst George’s Park in Port Elizabeth. In 1882 the Jockey Club was founded by 10 horse-racing members at a meeting held in the Phoenix Hotel in Port Elizabeth. The first South African soccer club was Pietermaritzburg County. On the 17th June 1882, its delegates met at the London Restaurant in Durban ’s West Street and the Natal Football Association was founded.

Transit of Venus

The transit of Venus was observed from stations in Durban, Touws River, Wellington, Aberdeen Road (a railway stop) and at Cape Town ’s Royal Observatory.

Banking

District Bank was established in Stellenbosch in 1882. It paid between 5 to 6% on fixed deposits and 2% on current accounts, compared to the Standard Bank which paid an average of 3.5% on fixed deposits and no interest on current accounts. The District Bank did not charge cheque fees or ledger fees. It was later taken over by Boland Bank. The Natal Building Society (NBS) was also established in 1882, in Durban.

New brewery

The Old Cannon Brewery in Newlands was established in 1852. In 1882 it merged with Ohlsson’s Cape Breweries.

Steel industry

South Africa ’s industrial development has heavy roots in its mining industry. With virtually no steel industry of its own, the country relied on imported steel. The first efforts to introduce steel production dates back to the creation of the South African Coal and Iron Company in 1882. The first successful production of pig iron occurred only in 1901, in Pietermaritzburg.

Mariannhill Monastery

The monastery near Pinetown was founded as a Trappist monastery by Father Francis PFANNER in 1882. It became a renowned missionary institute with schools, a hospital, an art centre and a retreat.

Boswell’s Circus

The BOSWELL family has been involved in the circus business since the 1800s in England. James BOSWELL was born in 1826 and went on to perform in various English circuses as a clown, horseman and equilibrist. He died in the circus ring of Cirque Napoleon in Paris in 1859 while performing a balancing ladder act. He had three 3 children, all of whom performed in circuses. His eldest son, James Clements, opened his own circus, Boswell’s Circus, in 1882 in Yorkshire.

Boswell’s Circus toured England and was very popular until it closed in 1898. James Clements and his five sons – Jim, Alfred, Walter, Sydney and Claude – continued performing in theatres and music halls, and eventually put their own show together called Boswell’s Stage Circus. Madame FILLIS, who owned Fillis’ Circus in South Africa, saw one of their performances and signed them up for a six-month contract. In 1911 James Clements, his sons, Walter and Jim’s wives, six ponies, a donkey and some dogs set sail for South Africa. The family and their animals were stranded when Fillis’ Circus closed down some months later. Fortunately for generations of South African children, this did not stop them and they went on to build a successful business that is still in existence.

Pretoria

A public sale on Church Square, Pretoria, in the 1890's

Church Square was created in 1855, on the orders of M.W. PRETORIUS. The DEVEREAUX brothers, town planners, designed a square for market and church purposes. Pretoria expanded around Church Square. During its early days the square was also used as a sports field and in 1883 the long-jumper Izak PRINSLOO set the first world record by a South African. The first church on the square was completed in 1857, but burnt down in 1882. Burgers Park was established as Pretoria ’s first park in 1882. On the 14th June 1882, the Transvaalsche Artillerie Corps was formed under the command of Cmdt. H.J.P. PRETORIUS.

Stephanus Johannes Paulus KRUGER, later President of the Zuid-Afrikaanse Republiek, was born on the 10th October 1825. He was so respected by his people that the first Kruger Day was celebrated on the 10th October 1882. The following year it was declared a public holiday. After the Anglo-Boer war it lost official status, until it was again declared a public holiday in 1952. In 1994 the day again lost its official status.

Kimberley

On the 2nd September Kimberley became the first town in the southern hemisphere to install electric street lighting. It was an initiative of the Cape Electric Light Company. Electric lighting was also installed in Parliament in 1882, and an arc-lighting installation was commissioned in the harbour. Meanwhile, across the Atlantic, Christmas 1882 saw the world’s first electrically-lit Christmas tree installed in the New York house of Thomas EDISON’s associate Edward H. JOHNSON.

The Kimberley Club was founded in August 1881 and opened its doors on the 14th August 1882. Cecil John RHODES was one of the men behind the club’s establishment. Amongst the first members were Charles D. RUDD, Dr. Leander Starr JAMESON, Lionel PHILLIPS and J.B. ROBINSON.

Knysna

The farm Melkhoutkraal was laid out in 1770. In 1808 George REX, who arrived at the Cape in 1797, bought the farm. In 1825 Lord Charles SOMERSET decided to establish a town on the lagoon, to make use of the surrounding forests for ship building. George REX donated 16 ha of land for the new village, named Melville for Viscount MELVILLE, First Sea Lord from 1812 – 1827. Knysna was formally founded in 1882 when the two villages, Melville and Newhaven (founded in 1846) amalgamated.

Muizenberg

In 1882 the railway line reached Muizenberg. The area was originally a cattle outpost for the VOC before it became a military post in 1743. It was named Muijs se Berg after the commander Sergeant Willem MUIJS. Muizenberg was a staging post between Cape Town and Simon’s Town. After the railway line was extended, the area developed fast and became a popular holiday destination.

One of Muizenberg’s prominent residents was Professor James GILL. He was born in Cornwall in 1831 and came to the Cape in 1860, where he took the post of professor of Classics at Graaff-Reinet College. In 1871 he moved to Cape Town as Classics professor at the Diocesan College. He was an opininated man who did good things throughout his career but was also involved in many controversies. He was dismissed from the College in 1882. He opened a private school in Muizenberg and became the editor of the Cape Illustrated Magazine. He died in Muizenberg on the 1st February 1904.

Villiers

The town of Villiers, on the Vaal River, was established in 1882 on the farms Pearson Valley and Grootdraai. It was named after the owner, L.B. DE VILLIERS. In 1882 the Volksraad was requested to open a post office there, and this led to Villiers being proclaimed in 1891. In 1917 it acquired municipal status.

Newcastle

The first government school in Newcastle was established in 1882 as a junior primary school with 47 boys and 30 girls.

Okiep

The Cornish Pump House was built in 1882. It was used to pump water from the mine and this pump house is the only remaining one of its kind in the Southern Hemisphere.

East London

A view of East London in the 1880's

The prison in Lock Street was built in 1880, replacing the old one on the West Bank. It was built by James TYRRELL and comprised an officers’ quarters, administration block, hospital, kitchen and two single-storey cell blocks to hold 100 prisoners. The first execution happened in 1882, for which a drop gallows was placed in the hospital yard. St.Andrew’s Lutheran Church was established by German settlers in 1872. It is the second oldest church in East London and was dedicated on the 30th November 1882.

Grahamstown

City Hall was officially opened on the 24th May 1882 by the acting Mayor Samuel CAWOOD. The foundation stone was laid on the 28th August 1877 by Sir Henry Bartle FRERE, Governor of the Cape.

Durban

Durban Girls’ High School was established in 1882. The old theatre Royale was built in 1882 and had seating for 1 000. It was closed in 1937. The Natal Herbarium was started in 1882 by John Medley WOOD, then Curator of the Durban Botanical Gardens. It was initially known as the Colonial Herbarium but changed its name in 1910 when it was donated by the Durban Botanical Society to the Union of South Africa.

Port Elizabeth

South End Cemetery in Port Elizabeth was started. The country’s oldest art school, Port Elizabeth Art School, was founded in 1882. It later became the College for Advanced Technical Education, originally situated in Russell Road, Central. In 1974 it moved to Summerstrand and became the PE Technikon in 1979.

Kaapsehoop

In 1882 gold was discovered in the Kaapsehoop valley. When a larger deposit of gold was found near the present day Barberton, most of the prospectors moved there. The first payable gold was mined at Pioneer Reef by Auguste ROBERTE (aka French Bob) in June 1883. Barber’s Reef was the next big find in 1884. Sheba ’s Reef, the richest of all, was discovered by Edwin BRAY in May 1885.

Port Shepstone

Port Shepstone came into being when marble was discovered near the Umzimkulu River mouth in 1867. It flourished from 1879 when William BAZLEY, one of the world’s first underwater demolition experts, blasted away rock at the mouth to form the Umzimkulu breakwater. The town was named after a Mr SHEPSTONE, one of the area’s prominent residents. Before 1901 the area depended solely on a port that was developed inside the river’s mouth. Boats were often wrecked and blocked the harbour entrance, but it provided a vital transport link for the tea, coffee and sugar cane grown by farmers along the river’s banks.

Supplies were brought in on the return voyages from Durban. With the arrval in 1882 of 246 Norwegian, 175 Briton and 112 German settlers, this shipping service became more important. The Norwegians arrived on the 29th August aboard the CHMS Lapland. The new settlers were offered 100 acre lots around the town at 7 shillings and 6 pence an acre. Port Shepstone was declared a full fiscal port in 1893 and, after Durban, became the region’s second harbour. Eventually, with the ongoing ship wreckages and the arrival of the railway, the harbour was closed down.

Harding

In 1882 the first hotel was opened in Harding. The village then consisted of three trading stores and four private homes.

Dundee

Dundee was established on the farm Fort Jones belonging to Peter SMITH, who had bought it from a Voortrekker settler, Mr DEKKER. He named the town Dundee, in memory of his original home in Scotland. By 1879, as a result of the Anglo-Zulu War, a tent town had sprung up on a portion of the farm. British soldiers attracted traders, missionaries, craftsmen and hunters but after their departure the tent town ceased to exist. With his son, William Craighead; son-in-law Dugald MACPHAIL; and Charles WILSON, Peter proclaimed the town in 1882.

Dewetsdorp

The Anglican Church was inaugurated on the 17th December 1882 by the Anglican Bishop of Bloemfontein. It was named St. Bartholomew’s. Before this, Anglicans held services in the town hall. The church’s foundation stone was laid on the 18th August. It cost £395 to build and seated 60. Rev. L.A. KIRBY was the first minister. The first baptism was on the 7th January 1883, that of Arthur SKEA. The church was declared a national monument in 1996.

Fort Hare

Fort Hare was built in 1847. It was named after Lt.-Col. John HARE and remained a military post until 1882, when part was given to Lovedale and part to the town of Alice.

Kuruman

The London Missionary Society (LMS) established the Moffat Institute in Kuruman in 1882, as a memorial to Robert and Mary MOFFATT and in the hope that it would revive the mission station.

Upington

Upington’s history starts with Klaas Lukas., a Koranna chief, who asked for missionaries to teach his people to read and write. In 1871 Rev. Christiaan SCHRODER left Namaqualand for Olyvenhoudtsdrift as the Upington area was then known. He built the first church, which today houses the Kalahari-Oranje Museum. In 1879 Sir Thomas UPINGTON visited the area to establish a police post, which was later named after him.

In 1881 SCHRODER, Abraham SEPTEMBER and Japie LUTZ helped build an irrigation canal. Abraham (Holbors) SEPTEMBER, said to be a Baster and the son of a slave from West Africa, was farming in the area in 1860. He was married to Elizabeth GOOIMAN. He devised a way to draw water from the river for irrigation purposes. In 1882 he was granted land facing the river. In 1896 Abraham and Elizabeth drew up a will, bequeathing the land to the survivor and thereafter to their three sons. Abraham died in 1898. In 1909 Elizabeth appeared before the Court in Upington on a charge that squatters where living on the land. It was here that she heard that Willem DORINGS, a smous, was claiming the land as his. This claim was to have repercussions, even in 2000 when the great-great-grandchildren of Abraham were still fighting for the land in the Land Claims Court.

Elizabeth and her sons owed Willem £326, but Willem produced documents that they sold him the land for that sum. The family were under the impression that they had a debt agreement with Willem. They refused to leave the farm and Elizabeth died there in 1918. In 1920 the family were removed from the farm by the new owners who had bought it from Willem. According to Henk WILLEMSE, Abraham’s great-great-grandson, the family started action in 1921 to get their land back. He has documents dating back all these years, which also show that Willem DORINGS was William THORN. Part of their land claim was for the land on which the Prisons Department building stands in Upington’s main road. This belonged to Abraham’s eldest daughter, Elizabeth, who lost it when service fees were not paid. In 1997 Nelson MANDELA unveiled a memorial plaque to Abraham.

The Waterfront

A view of East London in the 1880's

The Victorian Gothic-style Clock Tower, situated near the site of the original Bertie’s Landing restaurant in Cape Town, has always been a feature of the old harbour. It was the original Port Captain’s office and was completed in 1882. On the second floor is a decorative mirror room, which enabled the Port Captain to have a view of all activities in the harbour. On the ground floor is a tide-gauge mechanism used to check the level of the tide. Restoration of the Clock Tower was completed in 1997. The Robinson Graving Dock was also constructed in 1882, as was the Pump House. The Breakwater Convict Station was declared a military prison in 1882. This allowed military offenders from ships and shore stations to be committed for hard labour.

Sources:

Drakenstein Heemkring

Afrikanerbakens; Federasie van Afrikaanse Kultuurvereniginge publication

Burgersdorp: http://www.burgersdorp.za.net/burgersdorp_photos.html

Maritime Casualties: http://www.geocities.com/Heartland/Ridge/2216/text/MARITIME.TXT

The Will of Abraham and Elizabeth September: The Struggle for Land in Gordonia, 1898-1995; by Martin Legassick; Journal of African History, Vol. 37, No. 3 (1996)

Land Claim Case: http://www.law.wits.ac.za/lcc/files/jacobs2/jacobs2.pdf

Rapport newspaper, 23 Jan 2000

Boswell’s Circus: http://www.boswell.co.za/

Article researched and written by Anne Lehmkuhl, June 2007

Avelyn Macaskill 1948

A large number of beauty contests have been held in South Africa since 1910. The most important being those in which the winners are entered in overseas contests.

The first beauty contests

In 1910, a beauty pageant was held in Cape Town to celebrate the newly formed Union of South Africa. Each province sent a representative that was picked by a prominent man in her region.
The first national beauty contest was organised by the magazine Stage Cinema in 1918. Three women were chosen to star in films based on Rider Haggard’s books.

Edna JOYCE was chosen to play the Queen of Sheba in King Solomon’s Mines. Mabel MAY and Elise HAMILTON were chosen to play twin sisters in Allan Quatermain.

Many contests held after World War I were mainly fund-raising efforts, often for the Governor-General’s fund. In 1925 Mavis ALEXANDER won the Cape Argus Queen of the Gala competition.

The first woman to carry the Miss South Africa title, unofficially, was Winnie COMYNS of Cape Town, who won a national contest organised by the South African Lady’s Pictorial in 1926. Blanca Borckenhagen was Queen of the Orange Free State; Ethel Jagger, Queen of the Cape, Gyn Hathorn, Queen of Natal, and Blanca van der Hoven, Queen of the Transvaal.
In 1927, the Cape Town city council banned beauty contest as they felt that they are undignified and not for the good of the city.

Molly Lamont 1930

In 1930 Molly LAMONT, a dancing teacher from Scottburgh, won the Outspan Film Candidate competition. Her prize was a holiday in England and a film test at Elstree Studios. She went on to act in more than 50 films in England and the USA.

In 1938, the Sunday Express held a Marlene Dietrich look-alike national contest, which was won by Thelma Fairlie of Kensington, Johannesburg. In 1963, Thelma met Marlene Dietrich during her visit to South Africa.
During the late 1930s and early 1940s, there were many Wool Queen contests across the country. Local winners went on to regional and provincial contests, from which one girl would become the overall winner. However, the final stage was never reached. Doreen O’Neill was Midlands Wool Queen in 1939, but only four more regional queens were chosen and when World War II broke out, the contest was abandoned.

After the war, the Wool Board partnered with Photo News magazine and Metro Goldwyn Meyer Films to create a national Meet the Stars contest. The winner was to be known as Miss South Africa 1948. Forty-nine finalists spent a week in Johannesburg. General SMUTS, then Prime Minister, crowned Avelyn MACASKILL of Bloemfontein as winner at the Johannesburg City Hall. Her prize included a trip to Hollywood as the guest of MGM, visits to New York, Holland, London, Paris and Canada, and a diamond ring.

June Fulton

A few days before Avelyn’s crowning, Stage & Cinema ran a readers’ contest which gave the winner an entry in Universal International’s Hollywood Beauty Contest. June FULTON of Durban won. Her prize included a six-month film contract and being photographed with film stars.

In 1944 Avelyn MaCASKILL won a beauty pageant. In 1949, Wynona CHEYNEY won a beauty pageant and reigned from 1949 to 1951.
Before the 1950s, most of the larger contests were organised by magazines such as Stage & Cinema, South Africa Pictorial and Outspan, or by newspapers, often in partnership with African Consolidated Theatres. Women submitted a photo and from these photos finalists would be chosen and published. The readers would vote for their favourite.

Beauty contests were racially segretated until the late 1970s. In the 1950s, Drum magazine, aimed at black readers, started running model and beauty contests. Later on a Miss Black South Africa pageant was held. Other popular contests were organised by the Ellerines furniture chain, and football associations.

In 1952, Outspan magazine and African Consolidated Theatres started a contest to find an entrant for the first Miss Universe pageant that year. Catherine HIGGINS, a short-hand typist from Johannesburg, wanted to become an actress. She entered the contest and won, taking her to Long Beach, California, where she was placed 7th and voted by the other contestants as Miss Friendly Spirit.

In 1956, Piet BEUKES, editor of Die Landstem, obtained the right to send a South African representative to the Miss World pageant in London. In 1960, the Miss Universe pageant in Miami Beach, Florida, and the Miss International Beauty pageant in Long Beach, California, also gave Die Landstem the right to enter a South African representative. Die Landstem, in partnership with the Sunday Times, arranged the contests for the Miss World entrant. The Sunday Express was in the partnership to choose the entrant for Miss Universe.

Beauty competitions were held in Margate where Miss Hibiscus was chosen and entered in the Miss Universe pageant. The Miss Hibiscus organisers re-named their title to Miss Protea in 1968.

The history of the Miss South Africa contest

The first official Miss South Africa contest was held in 1956. This was after the Afrikaans newspaper, Die Landstem, acquired the rights to enter someone in the Miss World pageant in London. Together with the Sunday Times, a South African English newspaper, they organised the first official Miss South Africa contest. It wasn’t a pageant yet as entrants only sent in their photos and the newspaper readers voted for their favourites. The finalists’ photos were again published and readers selected Miss South Africa. There was no crowning ceremony.

In 1964 and 1965, the selection system changed. The finalists and the winner were selected by the newspapers’ editorial staff. In 1966 and 1967 the finalists were still selected by the newspapers, but the winners were selected by the readers.

In 1968, Die Landstem closed down and the Sunday Times took over the contest, bringing in another Afrikaans newspaper, Dagbreek. The selection process in 1968 still saw the finalists selected from photos but the winner was selected by a panel of celebrity judges meeting in Johannesburg.
The selection process changed again in 1970. Regional pageants were held and the regional winners appeared before celebrity judges in Johannesburg. The winner and runner-up were announced at a cocktail party in Johannesburg, after being announced in the newspapers. In 1972, the Miss South Africa contest became a pageant and Stephanie REINECKE was crowned in front of a live audience in the Johannesburg City Hall.
Regional pageants were not held in 1975. The finalists were selected after nationwide auditions. This system remained in place until 1994.

In 1978, the Miss South Africa pageant was opened to all races.
In 1994, Doreen MORRIS, a former M-Net presenter, went into partnership with Sun International to run the Miss South Africa pageant, after Rapport and the Sunday Times withdrew due to political interference from the ANC’s Youth League. Sun International took full ownership of the pageant in 2000.

In the spotlight

Beauty pageants, especially Miss South Africa, crown came with many opportunities and most of the winners made good use of them. After their reigns, many beauty queens launched busy careers, while others found domestic life pleasing. Here we take a look at what happened to some of them.

Mavis Alexander

In October 1925, a Cape Town newspaper, the Argus, sponsored a beauty contest. Close to 800 contestants entered by sending in their photos which went on public display. On the 14 November the winner was crowned in the Tivoli Theatre in Cape Town.
Mavis ALEXANDER, a school teacher from Montagu won. Her prizes included a cheque for 25 guineas, theatre seats, a camera, a hat, a dress, silk stockings, shoes, an umbrella, lunch for six people for a week, a perm, a one-seater sofa, a watch, dance lessons, and a photo frame for her winning photo. She was also driven around Cape Town in the car which the Prince of Wales had used in Cape Town shortly before the contest.
Mavis later moved to the Strand, where her mother lived. She went back to teaching and spent 26 years teaching at Somerset West Primary. After her mother’s death in 1950, she married a life-long friend, Bertie MITTEN. A few years later Bertie passed away. Mavis became involved in charity work and the Methodist church in Strand. In her will she left money to the Rotarary Club. In 1994, the Rotary Anns of the Strand, erected a clock in Beach Road in her memory. A bronze plate has the following inscription: "Tyd vir vrede, time for peace, Ixesha Ngo Xola. A gift to the community from Strand Rotary Anns. In memory of Mavis Mitton. 1994

Avelyn Macaskill

After her reign, Avelyn went to London where she attended the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art for two years. When she returned to Bloemfontein, she married businessman Jannie WESSELS and they had three children. After Jannie’s death, she married Ronnie VAN REENEN. They moved to Cape Town in 1983, where they were involved with the Capab Opera Chorus and the Philharmonic Choir. In 1994, they bought an apartment in Spain ’s Costa del Sol, and divide their time between Cape Town and Spain. Avelyn enjoys working in her gardens and painting in oils.
Winnie Comyns

Winifred (Winnie) Nora Mary Florence COMYNS married Egmar WESEMANN, but was divorced in 1951.

June Fulton

After returning from her prize trip to California, June met Antony BURTON from London. They got married and had two daughters. The family lived in Portugal for 11 years, where June ran a modelling school. They moved to England, where June died of cancer in 1990. June had acting roles in The Gal Who Took the West (1949) as a dance hall girl, and in Yes Sir That’s My Baby (1949) as Mrs. Koslowski.

Catherine Edwina Higgins

Catherine became a successful model in South Africa. She was known for her diamond smile, as she had a diamond embedded in one of her front teeth. She was the daughter of James Arthur HIGGINS and Christopholina Edina VAN RENSBURG (MHG reference 10845/71, her father’s death notice). She had an aunt and uncle, Mr and Mrs F.C. TOWNSEND who lived at 86 Moore Street, East London, in 1952. This was her mother’s sister. Catherine’s uncle on her mother’s side, Freddie VAN RENSBURG, was a national professional snooker and billiards champion. He passed away in 1997 at the age of 88.

Ingrid Mills

Now Ingrid DE HAAST, she is a successful glass artist in Somerset West, after starting out as a potter more than 20 years ago. She attended classes in Corning, USA, as well as in Oregon. The former Miss South Africa 1953 also had a role in a Hollywood film. Ingrid was crowned in Johannesburg in May 1953. Her runner-up was Una DE BEER (Miss East London). Ingrid was Miss Salisbury, and was born in East London.

Penny Anne Coelen

Penelope Anne was born in 1939, in Durban. When she won Miss World in 1958, it was the eight Miss World pageant and had 22 contestants. Penny was an 18-year-old secretary. After her reign, she tried acting in Hollywood with James GARNER’s help, but failed her screen test. After returning to South Africa, she married her first love, Michael REY, whom she met when she was 16. Michael was a suger-cane farmer at Umhlali, outside Durban.
They had five sons – Michael, Jean-Paul, Dominic, Nicholas and Christopher. Penny ran a beauty salon and gave lectures. She used to do promotional work, marketing and sales for American Airlines. In 1991, the ATKV awarded her a Vrou vir Vroue award for her involvement in charity and environmental work. Penny has her own clothing range, and endorsed beauty products. Her hobbies include gardening, painting, and learning languages.

Anneline Kriel

In November 1974, Helen Morgan, Miss UK, was crowned Miss World. Four days later, it was discovered that she was an unmarried mother and the title was passed on to the runner-up, Anneline KRIEL (19). She was born in Witbank on 28 July 1955 to Johannes (Hannes) and Marie. Her father passed away in Pretoria in November 1997. Anneline’s siblings are Renette and Ernst. Renette was married to Graham McKENZIE, an Australian cricketer.

Anneline was Joolkoningin at Tukkies. She was Miss Northern Transvaal when she won Miss South Africa. After her Miss World reign she appeared in films (she studied drama at the University of Pretoria), including Someone Like You (1978), alongside Hans STRYDOM; Kill and Kill Again (1981), alongside James RYAN, Bill FLYNN and Ken GAMPU; and Reason to Die, alongside Arnold VOSLOO. She also had a role in the TV series, Ballade van ‘n Enkeling. In 1986 she acted in the play, The Marriage Go Round.

In 1976, a scandal erupted when her naked pictures appeared in the Sunday Times. Ray HILLIGEN, a bodybuilder, had taken them while Anneline was sunbathing next to his pool.

Anneline also tried her hand at singing, releasing a record, He took off my romeos, in 1981. At the age of 39, she posed for Playboy magazine, draped in the new South African flag.
When she won Miss World she was dating fellow student Jacques MALAN but the relationship did not stand the strain. A relationship with Richard LORING, the singer, followed. He recorded a song for her, called Sweet Anneline. Another short relationship followed with the wealthy Italian baron and industrialist, Rudolf PARISI. In 1979 she dated Henk PISTORIUS of Johannesburg for awhile. Anneline married three times – first to Sol KERZNER, hotel magnate, in 1980 in the Randburg magistrate’s office (they divorced in 1985). On 10 October 1989 she married Philip TUCKER, a show jumper, but they divorced in 1993. They had two children, Tayla and Whitney. On 29 March 1996, she married current husband, Peter BACON (Sun International executive). They live in Cape Town where she is involved with charities such as Child Welfare and the Cancer and Heart Foundations. Her business interests include marketing her clothing range her beauty products and perfumes.

Margaret Gardiner

Margaret, born in Woodstock, was 15 when she was discoverd as a model by the then Rapport photographer Bernard JORDAAN. In 1978 she was crowned as Miss RSA. Later that year she won the Miss Universe pageant in Acapulco, Mexico, becoming the first African winner, and the only South African winner to date. Her mother, Dawn, lives in Table View. Her father passed away in 2000. Her sister, Sandy BRONKHORST, lives in Klerksdorp. Sandy was a finalist in the 1976 Miss South Africa pageant.
Margaret married André NEL, son of Kay, in Cape Town on 14 February 1987 at St. George’s Cathedral. He is a medical researcher at the University of California in Los Angeles, where the couple have lived since 1989.
Margaret has faced some serious health issues. She had TB as a child. In 1993 she was close to death after suffering an ectopic pregnancy. In January 1995 she gave birth to Brandon. He was christened at St. George’s Cathedral in 1996. Margaret had breast cancer in 1998.
She has a degree in psychology from Charleston College in South Carolina. In the early 1990s she took small roles in a TV series, a film and in theatre plays. In 1994 she published a book for aspiring beauty queens, Die wenpad vir modelle en skoonheidskoninginne, published by Human & Rousseau.
She is now a freelance journalist and TV reporter, and a member of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association. Margaret often reports for the SABC show, Top Billing. Her articles regularly appear in the You, Huisgenoot and TVPlus magazines.

Norma Vorster

Later changed her surname to FOSTER and went on to make TV documentaries.

Mitzi Stander
Mitsianna (Mitzi) died in a car accident while driving her sports car in Victory Park, Johannesburg, on 18 June 1973. She was married to David Johannes FOURIE at the time (her death notice: MHG 6664/73).

Denise Muir
She died at her home in Sandton in 1992.

Monica Fairall
Monica became a radio presenter in Durban.

Yvonne Hulley
Her father served in the South African Air Force. Her parents retired to Hermanus where they had a restaurant.

Nickey Carras
She married Bobby VERWEY, the pro golfer.

Ellen Peters

Ellen Peters

She was Miss Africa South 1973 and placed in the final 15. In 1976, she entered Miss RSA and came second. Afterwards she went to live in Greece and met Israeli-born Naaman SKOLNIK, a businessman. She converted to Judaism and was married in Israel. They live in Hertzelia Pituach, where Ellen is an Orthodox Jew. (see picture)

Kazeka Ntantala
It’s not everyone that hits the headlines thirty years after their moment of glory, but in the case of former Miss South Africa, Kazeka Somhlahlo (nee Ntantala) this is exactly what happened. BARBARA HOLLANDS recently caught up with her. Kazeka, of Idutywa then but now living in Amalinda, won the Miss South Africa 1970 pageant in Umtata, which was under the auspices of the South African Non-White Cultural Syndicate. Tandiswa BAM of Umtata was second. Kazeka’s prize included cosmetics from Elida Gibbs, a bedroom suite, a radio display cabinet and clothing vouchers. The main prize of a trip to the USA was cancelled because the organisers ran out of money. She was a teacher in Idutywa. She endorsed Karoo Cream in magazines. In 1972 she was in a car crash near Willowvale, which left her with facial scars. Kazeka ended up marrying the social worker who was driving that night and they had two children. After marriage she taught in Alice and later worked for an insurance company before joining Zingisa Educational Project where she is still a regional co-ordinator.

Liz Bunting
In 1977, Liz was the first non-white contestant to place in the Miss South Africa pageant.

Ellen Liebenberg
Ellen was until recently the wife of Jannie Engelbrecht , former Springbok rugby player and owner of Rust en Vrede. She was Miss Matieland 1962. In 1963 she got engaged to Jannie in Sea Point and they went on to have three children – Jean, Angeline and Judy (married to GRAAFF). They met during her student days at the University of Stellenbosch. Ellen left her studies in 1963 shortly before her wedding, to represent South Africa at the Miss Universe pageant in Miami. Ellen was Miss South West Africa, which made her an automatic finalist in the Miss South Africa contest. The Engelbrecht family was broken up recently when Jannie divorced Ellen, and a court case followed whch involved the farm Rust en Vrede.

Vera Johns
Vera married the All Black rugby player, Alan SUTHERLAND. They have a horse stud farm, Somerset, near Mooi River. She has a rose named after her.

Wilma van der Bijl
She was a qualified pharmacist when she won the crown. She married the Greek businessman, Ari TAPANLIS, owner of a toy company. In 1995 Wilma’s first child passed away two days after being born.

Yolanda Klopperss
She married Walter WARD, a doctor, and had a stormy marriage.

Karin Sickel
Karin married show jumper Errol WUCHERPFENNIG.

Odette Scrooby
She married Willie JOUBERT and they owned a nature reserve near Warmbaths for a while. Her sister, Olivia, was runner-up in Miss South Africa 1990.

Leanne Hosking
Leanne married an Australian cricketer, Mike HAYSMAN.

Letitia Snyman
She converted to Judaism in 1991 before marrying businessman Geoffrey RUBENSTEIN.

Andrea Steltzer
She owns a modelling agency in Edenvale. She is the only Miss South Africa to represent another country in the Miss World contest. In 1989, she won the Miss Germany contest as she was of German origin and still had a German passport. In 2002 she was engaged to the Springbok rugby player, James DALTON. Tat same year, a rose was named after her at the Bloemfontein Rose Show.

Sandy McCormack
She married businessman Richard BARKHUIZEN and lived in Knysna.

Janine Botbyl
She has a son and lives in Johannesburg.

Diana Tilden-Davis
Her grandmother was Thelma Fairlie, who was also a beauty queen. Older sister Janine BOTBYL won Miss South Africa 1988, and her sister Leanne was a finalist in 1982. Diana had a role in the horror film Howling IV and the action adventure Captive Rage. While doing a documentary in the Okavango, Diana met Chris Kruger. They were married at the Momba camp. They live in Maun in their safari business.

Michelle Bruce
She has a son and lives in Cape Town. Some of her business ventures included edible underwear and marketing condoms.

Suzette Van der Merwe
She was married to Greg VOGT, but later divorced.

Amy Kleyhans
Amy was the first Coloured woman to wear the Miss South Africa crown. Amy married a New Zealander, businessman Leighton CURD. The couple have a son, Thomas. She is involved in educational ventures.

Jacqui Mofokeng
Jacqui was the first black woman to win Miss South Africa. She was nominated by the ANC in the elections but she declined. In 1994 Jacqui appeared in the film, A White Man in Africa, in the role of Hazel, an illiterate rural woman who has a relationship with an Australian diplomat. Today she is involved with human resources and production companies, and serves on the boards of several companies.

Basetsane Makgalemele
Basetsane was a popular beauty queen. She was born and bred in Soweto. After her reign she became a TV presenter. She went on to become a shareholder in Tswelopele, the company that produces Top Billing. She has two older sisters, Lerato and Johanna, and a younger brother, Abbey. Her parents are Philip and Beatrice. She is married to Radio Metro station manager Romeo Khumalo and has a son, Nkosinathi.

Peggy Sue Khumalo
Peggy Sue (21) was Miss South Africa 1996. Five days afer her crowning, it was discovered that she was Peggy Priscilla Erasmus (24) and had changed her name first to Peggy Priscilla Khumalo and subsequently to Nonhlanhla Peggy-Sue Khumalo, as was publised in the Government Gazette on 04 April 1996. She was born in Newcastle on 07 December 1972 to Jumaima Khumalo and James Erasmus, a coloured or white farmworker. She was raised by her white grandmother, Afrikaans-speaking Cornelia Susanna Dunn. She attended Chelmsford, a coloured school in Newcastle, and matriculated from Haythorne High School in Pietermaritzburg. Peggy caused a public outcry when she said that she would slaughter a goat and several cows if she won Miss Universe or Miss World. After establishing her own PR company she went to study further in the UK, where she is a fund manager for Investec.

Kerishnie Naicker
Kerishnie had an honours degree and planned to open her own pharmacy. She was the first Indian woman to wear the crown. She grew up in Reservoir Hills, Durban, with her parents Amra and Joey, and two siblings. After obtaining a first class Matric, Kerishnie enrolled for a Bachelors Degree in Pharmacy, and later a Masters in Pharmacy. During her final year, her father passed away from a heart attack. He was a self-employed businessman and Kerishnie got involved in the family’s business interests. In 1997, whilst practicing as a pharmacist, Kerishnie entered the Miss South Africa pageant and won. She participated in both Miss Universe and Miss World. Kerishnie is involved in many business ventures, health research, is a television presenter, producer, master of ceremonies and public speaker. She helped secure funding for the building of 12 community health clinics, and played a key role in getting the Chatsworth Youth Centre up. She is also director of her own company, KJN and Associates, a consultancy facilitating corporate social investment projects.
Jo-Ann Strauss
Now a TV presenter, businesswoman and speaker, Jo-Ann was 19 when she won Miss South Africa in 2000. She started presenting the magazine programme Pasella in the same year, and joined Top Billing in June 2005. She speaks English, Afrikaans and Xhosa. Jo-Ann was head-girl at Hottentots Holland High School in 1998. She graduated from Stellenbosch University with a B.Comm (Law) degree. In July 2002, Jo-Ann participated in the Celebrity Big Brother reality TV show to raise R2 000 000 for five children’s charities. She finished in second place. She has her own communications company.

Heather Hamilton
Heather has a Bachelors in Commerce from the University of Kwazulu-Natal. She became a fund manager and joined a prominent asset management firm working as an investment consultant. In 1994 she won the South Africa Junior Equitation championships. Her brother was instrumental in exposing canned lion hunting.

Sonia Raciti
One of Sonia Raciti’s dreams is to release her own CD. She was a member of the National Youth Choir for three years, having started singing at 13. Sonia, from Estcourt, studied for a higher diploma in education at Edgewood College of Education.

Joan Ramagoshi
Miss South Africa 2003 was rcently marred to Jeff. Khanyisile Mbau. She was a part-time model from Pretoria. Joan speaks five languages: English, Afrikaans, Northern Sotho, Tswana, and Zulu. After completing a PR diploma, she started her own PR agency.

Claudia Henkel
Claudia was a second-year top law student at the University of Pretoria when she entered the Miss South Africa pageant. She has two sisters, Anica and Nicola. Her father Irmin is an ear, nose and throat surgeon, and mom Linda looked after the family home in Pretoria East. Claudia attended Pretoria Girls High and was a finalist in a model search competition in Matric. She spent two months in Italy and finished Matric through correspondence while modelling. Claudia could not represent the country at Miss World in Sanya, China, as it was held on the same night as the Miss South Africa finals in Sun City. Her runner-up, Dhiveja Sundrun, was sent in her place.

Dhiveja Sundrum
She represented South Africa at the Miss World pageant in 2005. Dhiveja was a fifth-year University of Cape Town medical student. She lives in Gardens, Cape Town. The Miss World competition was the third pageant she’d entered. Her first one was Rapport’s Miss Cape Peninsula in 2004, which gave her automatic entry into the Miss South Africa pageant. She’s appeared in TV ads and fashion catalogues, and was a TV presenter. Her father Dayalan is an orthodontist and mom Veena is a former teacher.
South Africans in the Miss World pageant
Miss South Africa has done well in the Miss World pageant, with Penny (1958) and Anneline (1974) taking the top prize.

Politics got involved and from 1978 to 1991, Miss South Africa was barred from Miss World. In 1970 a non-white South African was chosen to compete in Miss World and was given the title of Miss Africa South. This continued until South Africa was expelled from Miss World after the 1977 pageant.

In 1975, Vera JOHNS was not allowed to take part in the Miss World as she did not meet the pageant’s residency requirements. She had been Miss Rhodesia in 1972 and had not lived in South Africa for 5 years. Her first runner-up, Crystal Cooper, refused to enter Miss World unless she was awarded the Miss South Africa title and prizes.

The second runner-up, Rhoda Rademeyer, competed at Miss World 1975 and was finished in the top 15. In 1976, the presence of a black Miss Africa South and a white Miss South Africa, caused 9 countries to withdraw their contestants in protest against South Africa’s apartheid system. In 1977 ten countries withdrew in protest against the presence of a white Miss South Africa. After 1977, Miss World organizers did not accept South African contestants until 1991, with the end of apartheid. Diana TILDEN-DAVIES represented South Africa at the 1991 Miss World contest, ending the ban.
From 1992 to 1995, and 2001, the pageant was held at Sun City, South Africa. In 2002, Vanessa CARREIRA boycotted the pageant which was held in Nigeria, in protest against the Amina Lawal affair. Claire Sabbagha, runner-up, was sent as a replacement when the pageant moved to London. This led to confusion as the Miss World organisers said that at 25, Claire was too old. Karen Lourens (19), Miss Junior Africa, of Roodepoort, was also sent in as a replacement but after two days she was sent home without being allowed to participate.

Contestants at the Miss World Pageant

1957: Adele KRUGER, third
1958: Penelope Anne COELEN won the title
1959: Moya MEAKER, semi-finalist
1960: Denise MUIR, third
1961: Yvonne Brenda HULLEY, semi-finalist
1962: Yvonne Maryann FICKER, fourth
1963: Louise CROUS
1964: Vedra Karamitas
1965: Carrol Adele Davis
1966: Joan (Johanna) CARTER, semi-finalist
1967: Disa DUIVESTEIN, semi-finalist
1968: Mitsianna (Mitzi) Stander
1969: Linda Meryl COLLET, sixth
1970: Pearl Gladys JANSEN (Miss Africa South), second, and Jillian Elizabeth JESSUP (Miss South Africa) fifth
1971: Monica FAIRALL, semi-finalist, and Gaily Ryan (Miss Africa South)
1972: Stephanie Elizabeth REINECKE, semi-finalist, and Cynthia Shange (Miss Africa South)
1973: Shelley LATHAM (Miss South Africa), fifth, and Ellen PETERS (Miss Africa South), semi-finalist
1974: Anneline KRIEL won the tile, and Evelyn Peggy WILLIAMS (Miss Africa South), semi-finalist
1975: Rhoda RADEMEYER, semi-finalist, and Lydia Gloria Johnstone (Miss Africa South)
1976: Veronica Rozette Kuki Matsepe (Miss Africa South) and Lynn Massyn
1977: Vanessa Wannenburg (Miss South Africa)
1991: Diana TILDEN-DAVIS, third
1992: Amy KLEINHANS, fifth
1993: Palesa Jacqueline (Jacqui) MOFOKENG, second
1994: Basetsane Julia MAKGALEMELE, second
1995: Bernalee DANIEL, semi-finalist
1996: Peggy-Sue KHUMALO, semi-finalist
1997: Jessica MOTAUNG, third
1998: Kerishnie NAICKER, fifth
1999: Sonia RACITI, third
2000: Heather Joy HAMILTON
2001: Jo-Ann Cindy STRAUSS, semi-finalist
2002: Boycotted the pageant in Nigeria, but then joined in London
2003: Cindy Nell
2004: Joan Kwena Ramagoshi
2005: Dhiveja Sundrum, semi-finalist

South Africans in the Miss Universe pageant

The Miss Universe pageant has been held annually since 1952. It was started by the Californian clothing company Pacific Mills to showcase its Catalina swimwear brand. In 1996 Donald Trump acquired ownership of the pageant. Various beauty contests had the right to send a South African representative to Miss Universe.

In 1952 the winner of the Miss South Africa (Universe) contest represented South Africa. In May 1952, Catherine HIGGINS, Miss Johannesburg, represented South Africa. Her runners-up were Jean BROWNLEE (Miss Cape Town), Stella COUTTS (Miss Durban) and Helena VAN DER LINDE (Miss East London). In 1953 the winner of Miss Golden Jubilee competed in Miss Universe.

From 1960 until 1967, the South African representative for Miss Universe was elected at the Hibiscus Queen contest in Margate. The contest existed prior to 1960 and still continues today. From 1969 to 1974 South Africa did not take part in the Miss Universe pageant. In 1975, Rapport, an Afrikaans newspaper, acquired the rights to send a representative to the Miss Universe pageant. They sponsored the Miss RSA regional pageant and the winner went to Miss Universe. Gail Anthony was selected to represent South Africa in 1975. In 1978 the Miss RSA pageant became a national pageant. Jenny KAY, Miss RSA 1980, did not compete at Miss Universe 1980 in Seoul as the Korean government did not recognise the government of South Africa and refused to grant her a visa.

In 1982 the newspaper changed the name Miss RSA to Miss South Africa. This followed after a dispute about the national title and international participation. In 1982 and 1984, the dispute led to two beauty pageants – each sponsored by a Sunday paper – Rapport, and the Sunday Times, an English paper. Rapport argued that as the only pageant to have entry to an international pageant, their winner should be known as Miss South Africa. This is why there are two Miss South Africas in 1982 and 1984. In 1985, the newspapers agreed to join forces and one Miss South Africa pageant was held.

Miss South Africa did not compete in Miss Universe from 1985 to 1994. In 1985, Andrea Steltzer was not allowed to compete in the pageant. Andrea went on to become Miss Germany 1988 and was a semi-finalist in the 1989 Miss Universe pageant. As Miss Germany 1988 she was not allowed to enter Miss World because of her South African background.

In 1995, South Africa was again allowed to participate in the Miss Universe pageant. A new title, Miss Universe South Africa, was created but was discontinued after the 1997 pageant, as the Miss South Africa organisation acquired the right to send their winner to the Miss Universe pageant. Miss South Africa now represents South Africa in both international pageants.

Contestants at the Miss Universe Pageant

1952: Catherine Edwina Higgins, semi-finalist
1953: Ingrid Rita Mills, semi-finalist
1954-1959: no entry
1960: Nicolette Joan Caras
1961: Marina Christelis
1962: Lynette Gamble
1963: Ellen Leibenberg, semi-finalist
1964: Gail Robinson
1965: Veronika Edelgarda Hilda Prigge, semi-finalist
1966: Lynn Carol De Jager
1967: Windley Ballenden
1968: Monica Fairall
1969-1974: no entry
1975: Gail Anthony
1976: Cynthia Classen
1977: Glynis Dorothea Fester
1978: Margaret Gardiner, winner
1979: Veronika Wilson, semi-finalist and 2nd runner-up for Best National Costume
1980: no entry
1981: Daniela Di Paolo
1982: Odette Octavia Scrooby
1983: Leanne Beverly Hosking
1984: Leticia Snyman, runner-up
1985: Andrea Steltzer did not compete
1986-1994: no entry
1995: Augustine Masilela, semi-finalist
1996: Carol Anne Becker
1997: Mbali Gasa
1998: Kerishnie Naicker, semi-finalist
1999: Sonia Raciti, third
2000: Heather Joy Hamilton, semi-finalist
2001: Jo-Ann Cindy Strauss
2002: Vanessa Do Ceu Carreira
2003: Cindy Nell, third
2004: Joan Ramagoshi
Miss Africa South
The Miss Africa South competition, for non-white women, was first organised in 1970, with the winner taking part in the Miss World pageant.
Winners:
1970: Pearl Jansen
1971: Gaily Ryan
1972: Cynthia Shange
1973: Ellen Peters
1974: Evelyn Williams
1975: Lydia Johnstone
Miss International Beauty Winners:
1960 Nona Sheriff
1961 Dina Robbertse
1962 Aletta Strydom
1963 Madie Claassen
1964 Lorraine Mason
1965 Dianne Webster
1966 Dawn Duff-Gray
1967 Mary Macdonald

Sources:

Naspers newspapers
Generations – A South African genealogy newsletter, Vol. 3, Iss. 19
http://www.pageantopolis.com/international/world.htm
http://www.pageantopolis.com/international/universe.htm
http://www.geocities.com/southafricanbeauties/
http://www.jimmyspageantpage.com/sa.html
http://www.golive.co.za/52/

Written by Anne Lehmkuhl