Cape Town Holiday Makers, History, Cape Town Holiday Questions

Cape Town Slaves Shaping Politics

March 26, 2021
By Johan Horak

Cape Town Slaves Shaping Politics: Johan’s Cape Town Travel News

I was intrigued by a news story about a slave shipwreck, off Camps Bay. The historians exploring the wreck said,

‘We have history that hasn’t been uncovered’….

I went exploring and thought that history buffs visiting Cape Town may be interested in the Cape’s slave history. But to add some spice to the debate of slavery I want to share a current perspective…….

A few months ago bantering with my daily-newspaper shop owner, he suggested I read Architects Of Poverty by Moeletsi Mbeki.

This SA gentleman, brother of ex-President Thabo Mbeki, is a critical thinker. And he says things many dare not say; obviously, not well received by populists.

In this book, he starts off in Dakar to understand slavery better and how we ended up here today, as we are.

I suggest you read the book as it shares a perspective on how greed by the locals and foreigners set the slavery scene.

I then share an article by Businesslive on Moetletsi’s views of our current state – today in South Africa. It’s amazing to read his rational perspective and how he draws the line between money and slavery.

I follow this up with various articles on slavery in Africa; who were the sellers of slaves? In Cape Town, and for example how slave Anna De Koning became the richest “slave” in Cape Town.

Let me not keep you waiting any longer:

Architects Of Poverty by Moeletsi Mbeki

Mbeki wrote, “The curator pointed to a large musket hanging on the wall – one of the items sold to Africans as part of the infamous Triangular Trade whereby manufactured goods were shipped from Europe to West Africa and exchanged for slaves, who were shipped to the Americas to grow sugar, cotton and tobacco that were then shipped back to Europe.

This was mercantile capitalism in action. With my South African mindset I queried the wisdom of European slavers selling guns to Africans: surely the guns would be turned on the Europeans, I ventured, betraying my ignorance about the workings of the African slave trade.

The curator, a patient professor from the University of Dakar, explained that it was the Africans who caught the people in the interior and sold them to the owners of the ships that transported them to the Americas to be sold into slavery. So it was the Africans who needed the guns to protect themselves against the communities they raided for people to sell”. I suggest you get the book. It’s also on Kindle.

amzn.to • Share

MOELETSI MBEKI: How a history of conflict made SA the most unequal country in the world

Among native peoples, I include descendants of slaves and indentured Indian labourers, as well as Dutch settlers who later described themselves as Afrikaners since they also eventually resisted Dutch and British domination.
Most Dutch settlers had arrived as company servants, but many became marginalised with the spread of slave labour and were therefore forced to the frontiers of the Dutch settlement and later of the British colonies.

www.businesslive.co.za • Share

‘My Nigerian great-grandfather sold slaves’ – BBC News

My great-grandfather, Nwaubani Ogogo Oriaku, was what I prefer to call a businessman, from the Igbo ethnic group of south-eastern Nigeria.
He dealt in a number of goods, including tobacco and palm produce. He also sold human beings. “He had agents who captured slaves from different places and brought them to him,” my father told me.

www.bbc.com • Share

No doubt 17th century slavery shaped apartheid South Africa

Many of the apartheid laws introduced in 1948 such as the pass laws and Group Areas Act reflected the restrictions used to control the movement of the enslaved.

www.iol.co.za • Share

It’s Not All Bad News: “Slave” Anna De Koningh

Anne De Koning
Anna de Koning was to make quite a name for herself at the Cape, moving from being a slave to becoming the mistress of that great Cape property, Groot Constantia. Anna was considered a true beauty in Cape society. On 10 September 1678, Anna married Oloff Bergh, a very well-to-do gentleman who was one of Governor Simon van der Stel’s favourites at the Cape.

www.sahistory.org.za • Share

History of slavery and early colonisation in South Africa

Initially, a colonial contact was a two-way process. However, Africans were far from helpless victims in the initial encounter. Colonial contact was not simply a matter of Europeans imposing themselves upon African societies. For their part, African rulers saw many benefits to be had from maintaining relations with Europeans, and for a considerable period of time they engaged with Europeans voluntarily and on their own terms.

www.sahistory.org.za • Share

The work of slaves | Heritage of Slavery

Almost all skilled work in the city was done by slaves. In addition, slaves sold and bartered goods on their masters’ behalf in the town. Many were fishermen. The wages were paid to the owner, but occasionally owners allowed their slaves to keep some of the money earned. In 1772 Peter Thunberg gave a good description of the kind of work slaves did in Cape Town.

slavery.iziko.org.za • Share

BBC – Travel – Cape Town’s slave ship secret

For more than 200 years, a shipwreck has lain offshore of Cape Town’s world-renowned Clifton Beaches. Now this harrowing chapter of the transatlantic slave trade is being revealed.www.bbc.com • Share

'We have history that hasn’t been uncovered' | Slave Wrecks Project shows global industry of slavery

Slave Wrecks Project; global industry of slavery

The Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History and Culture created an international network of researchers and institutions to search for slave ships www.wusa9.com • Share

SubscribeBi Monthly Cape Town Tourist News