De Zuid-Afrikaan

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De Zuid-Afrikaan
TypeChanged over time
Founder(s)Christoffel Brand
FoundedApril 9, 1830 (1830-04-09)
Political alignmentAfrikaner Bond
LanguageDutch
Ceased publication1930
HeadquartersCape Town

De Zuid-Afrikaan was a nineteenth-century Dutch language newspaper based in Cape Town that circulated throughout the Cape Colony, published between 1830 and 1930.

The paper was founded by the advocate

Afrikaans language paper, Die Burger
.

Context

The Dutch established a settlement in the

Xhosa wars, a series of nine wars from 1779 to 1879.[2]

During the Napoleonic Wars the colony was captured by Britain, and British control was confirmed in 1815 by the

Boer republics (as they were called) escalated into the First Boer War of 1880-1881 and the Second Boer War of 1899-1902.[2][3]

Establishment

Christoffel Johan Brand, first owner and second editor of De Zuid-Afrikaan

With the arrival of the 1820 settlers, Thomas Pringle and Abraham Faure were granted permission to produce a monthly newspaper, alternately in English and in Dutch. Pringle was outspoken about the harsh conditions of the 1820 settlers and the governor, Lord Charles Somerset effectively expelled the printer Grieg from the colony. The case was taken to the British Government and in 1828 the Colonial Secretary, Sir George Murray granted the Cape Colony the same freedom of the press as existed in England.

The newly won freedom of the press resulted in a number of newssheets being published. On 9 April 1830, an advocate Christoffel Johan Brand together with DG Reitz and JH Neethling established De Zuid-Afrikaan to promote the interests of the Cape Dutch community.[4] The first editor was Charles Etienne Boniface, whose family had fled France during the French Revolution and who, as a sea cadet, had arrived in the Cape Colony on board a British warship.[5]

Brand himself became editor of De Zuid-Afrikaan in 1839.[6] Through his columns, he first opposed the emancipation of slavery on account of the large numbers of loans, estimated at £400,000 that has been taken out by white farmers who used slaves as collateral. Once the abolition laws had been passed, the paper campaigned for appropriate compensation to enable former slave-owners to pay their debts.[7][8]

Although the paper lobbied against policies of British rule the editors noted had little support, including for example warning the British government not to impose unpopular taxes.

English Law. The newspaper lobbied for parliamentary representation within the colony and in 1853 Brand later became the first speaker in the Cape Parliament.[10]

Mid-century

During the middle of the nineteenth century De Zuid-Afrikaan continued to play a central role in the affairs of the Cape-Dutch. The differences between De Zuid-Afrikaan and its English-language rival, The South African Commercial Advertiser were highlighted during the 200th anniversary of the landing of van Riebeeck at the Cape (6 April 1852). While an editorial in the Advertiser extolled the variety of races and creeds in the Cape, all of whom acknowledged the authority of a common [British] Sovereign, De Zuid-Afrikaan merely commended Faure's sermon in which he gave thanksgiving for the sanctioning of a Christian [Reformed] Church in South Africa.[11]

Hofmeyr

In 1871 Jan Hendrik Hofmeyr, who had been editor of De Volksvriend became editor of De Zuid-Afrikaan, a post that he held until 1904. One of Hofmeyr's first acts was to merge the two publications into one.[12]

During the early 1870s, Arnoldus Pannevis and CP Hoogenhout, via letters to De Zuid-Afrikaan argued the need to translate the

Die Patriot. Hofmeyr allowed the presses of De Zuid-Afrikaan to be used for the early editions of Die Patriot even though De Zuid-Afrikaaner, being the voice of the better-educated, dismissed Die Patriot as a "common enemy of civilization".[9]

The final years

In common with other Dutch and Afrikaans newspapers, Ons Land supported the former Boer general

DF Malan in Cape Town, Die Volksbald in Bloemfontein and Die Vaderland in Pretoria
. The Tweede Taalbeweging (second language movement) had started almost as soon as Hofmeyr stepped down as editor and in 1922 De Burger adopted the Afrikaans name Die Burger.[12]

By 1930 Ons Land, which faced strong competition for Die Burger was no longer financially viable—its last issue appeared on 9 April of that year. Die Burger, in an editorial, declared that the demise of One Land was due to the paper slavishly following the line of its party leaders and neglecting the culture and language of the Afrikaner people.[4][12]

Editors

1834 –1834 Charles Etienne Boniface[4]
1834 –1834 JR Stapleton[4]
? –1839 PA Brand[6]
1839 – ? Christoffel Johan Brand[6]
1870 –1904 Jan Hendrik Hofmeyr
? –1930 JPL Volsteedt

References

  1. ^ Walker, Eric A (1968). A History of Southern Africa. London: Longmans. p. 106.
  2. ^ a b "South African history: colonial expansion". South Africa Government Online. Retrieved 30 May 2013.
  3. ^ "South African history: gold and war". South Africa Government Online. Retrieved 30 May 2013.
  4. ^
    ISBN 978-0-702-17692-0
    . Retrieved 30 May 2013.
  5. ^ "Boniface, Charles Etienne". Literatur im Kontext (in Afrikaans). Vienna: Universität Wien. Archived from the original on 30 November 2012. Retrieved 30 May 2013.
  6. ^ a b c "Sir Christoffel Joseph Brand succeeds his brother, P.A. Brand, as editor of De Zuid-Afrikaan". South African History Online. Retrieved 31 May 2013.
  7. ISBN 978-0-89680-263-6
    . Retrieved 1 June 2013.
  8. ISSN 2200-4777
    . Retrieved 7 June 2013.
  9. ^
    ISBN 1-85065-714-9
    .
  10. ISBN 90-6550-161-4
    . Retrieved 30 May 2013.
  11. ISBN 0-521-62122-4
    . Retrieved 31 May 2013.
  12. ^ a b c Scholtz, G D. "Die afrikaner en sy pers*" [The Afrikaner and his press]. Koers - Bulletin for Christian Scholarship (in Afrikaans). 31 (5&6 (1963)): 345–367. Archived from the original on 3 March 2016. Retrieved 31 May 2013.
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