South Africa, A Dutch Colony?

I have come to the idea, to write a little bit more about my home country, The Netherlands. I often have to explain here what my home country is like. And I have to confess, now and then I do not know all the answers. Like the other day, a colleague asked me about South Africa. He thought it has been a colony of the Netherlands. I was not sure, but I said, I do not think it was a colony, the Netherlands “occupied” it. After our shift was done, it kept bugging me that I wasn’t sure. The state ” The Netherlands”  wasn’t even a country. It was a part of France during the time the Dutch people were South Africa. They spoke about the Netherlands as “An other country”. The Dutch State, as we know it is only since 1815 a State.  Anyway, the question became much harder to answer than I thought it would be.  This is what I found by searching the Internet. And it is funny, we learned this at school, but after a while you somewhat forget it. But now, reading all the facts again, it all comes back! :-)
The history of South Africa began on April 6, 1652, when the Dutch man Jan van Riebeeck on behalf of the United East India Company (VOC: Verenigde Oos-Indische Company), founded a supply station at the Cape of Good Hope. These VOC Office was administered by the VOC and not the Dutch state. During the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries was the slowly expanding settlements in the hands of the Dutch VOC. The Cape Colony was settled by European Calvinists, mainly from the Netherlands, but also from Germany, France (hugonotes) Scotland and other countries. The Afrikaner language is not only from the Dutch language, but is a mix of more European languages. Because the Dutch state was not involved in the settlement of the Dutch farmers, South Africa was not a colony of the Dutch State.
The setters from Europe actually took over the country and destroyed the culture of the local aboriginals, the Koikhoi and the San people. Later in 1795 the British Empire came to the Cape of Good Hope,to prevent that South Africa became a French colony.It took the power in this area. They withdrew but returned in 1803. In 1806 The Brits came back and annexed the area again and made it a British colony. They tried to get rid of the Dutch / Afrikaaner language, but they never succeeded it.
This is a short summary of the answer to the question: Was South Africa a colony of the Netherlands. As I have understand it, it was not. Of course there is a lot more written about this subject, and to my surprise it is pretty interested to read about it. Of course it is another black page of the Dutch history, whether other European countries were part of that history also.

I have come to the idea of writing a little bit more about my home country, The Netherlands. Here in the U.S., I often have to explain what my home country is like. And I have to confess, now and then I do not know all the answers. Like the other day, a colleague asked me about South Africa. He thought it has been a colony of the Netherlands. I was not sure, but I said, I do not think it was a colony, the Netherlands “occupied” it. After our shift was done, it kept bugging me that I wasn’t sure. The state “The Netherlands”  wasn’t even a country. It was a  subordinate  of France during the time the Dutch people were going to South Africa. They spoke about the Netherlands as “An other country”. The Dutch State, as we know it, is only since 1815 a State. Before, the power was in the part that was called The Province Of Holland, The Western Part of the country.

Anyway, the question became much harder to answer than I thought it would be.  This is what I found by searching the Internet. And it is funny, we learned this at school, but after a while you somewhat forget it. But now, reading all the facts again, it all comes back! :-)

Arrival of Jan van Riebeeck Cape of Good HopeThe history of occupied South Africa began on April 6, 1652, when the Dutch man Jan van Riebeeck on behalf of the United East India Company (VOC: Verenigde Oos-Indische Company), founded a supply station at the Cape of Good Hope. The VOC Office was administered by the VOC and not the Dutch state. During the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries there were slowly expanding settlements in the hands of the Dutch VOC. The Cape Colony was settled by European Calvinists, mainly from the Netherlands, but also from Germany, France (hugonotes) Scotland and other countries. The Afrikaner language is not only from the Dutch language, but is a mix of more European languages. Because the Dutch state was not involved in the settlement of the Dutch farmers, South Africa was not a colony of the Dutch State.

trek-boer-familyThe settlers (Boers) from Europe actually took over the country and destroyed the culture of the local aboriginals, the Koikhoi and the San people. Later in 1795, the British Empire came to the Cape of Good Hope to prevent South Africa from becoming a French colony. It took the power in this area. They withdrew but returned in 1803. In 1806 The Brits came back and annexed the area again and made it a British colony. They tried to get rid of the Dutch / Afrikaaner language, but they never succeeded.

This is a short summary of the answer to the question: “Was South Africa a colony of the Netherlands?” As I understand it, it was not. The VOC occupied South Africa and “The Dutch Government” was not involved, so South Africa was not officially colonized by a Dutch Government. There is a lot more written about this subject, and to my surprise it is pretty interesting to read about it. Of course this is another black page of the Dutch history, whether other European countries were part of that history also, the Dutch feel deeply sorry about their part in it.

Source: Wikipedia.

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