History of Cape Town

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History of South Africa
Pre-colonial Middle Stone Age Late Stone Age Bantu expansion Kingdom of Mapungubwe Kingdom of Mutapa Kaditshwene
Dutch colonisation Dutch Cape Colony
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Historical population

Year	Pop.	±% p.a.
1658	360	—
1731	3,157	+3.02%
1836	20,000	+1.77%
1875	45,000	+2.10%
1891	67,000	+2.52%
1901	171,000	+9.82%
1950	618,000	+2.66%
1955	705,000	+2.67%
1960	803,000	+2.64%
1965	945,000	+3.31%
1970	1,114,000	+3.35%
1975	1,339,000	+3.75%
1980	1,609,000	+3.74%
1985	1,933,000	+3.74%
1990	2,296,000	+3.50%
1996	2,565,018	+1.86%
2001	2,892,243	+2.43%
2007	3,497,097	+3.22%
2011	3,740,025	+1.69%
2016	4,005,016	+1.38%
Note: Census figures (1996–2011) cover figures after 1994 reflect the greater Cape Town metropolitan municipality reflecting post-1994 reforms. Sources: 1658–1904,[1] 1950–1990,[2] 1996,[3] 2001, and 2011 Census;[4] 2007,[5] 2016 Census estimates.[6]

The area known today as

The arrival of Europeans

The first Europeans to reach the Cape were the

in 1497 while he was searching for a route that would lead directly from Europe to Asia.

Khoikhoi

clan.

1652: Arrival of the Dutch

The area fell out of regular contact with Europeans until 1652, when

".

The first wave of Asian immigration to South Africa started in 1654. These first immigrants were banished to the Cape by the

The first of a long series of border conflicts between the inhabitants in the European-controlled area and native inhabitants began in 1658 when settlers clashed with the Khoi, who realised that they were losing territory.

Work on the Castle of Good Hope, the first permanent European fortification in the area, began in 1666. The new castle replaced the previous wooden fort that Van Riebeeck and his men built. Finally completed in 1679, the castle is the oldest building in South Africa.

Simon van der Stel, after whom the town of Stellenbosch is named, arrived in 1679 to replace Van Riebeeck as governor. Van der Stel founded the Cape wine industry by bringing grape vines with him on his ship, an industry which would quickly grow to be important for the region. He also promoted territorial expansion in the Colony.

The first non-Dutch immigrants to the Cape, the Huguenots, arrived in 1688. The Huguenots had fled from anti-Protestant persecution in Catholic France to the Netherlands, where the VOC offered them free passage to the Cape as well as farmland. The Huguenots brought important experience in wine production to the Cape, greatly bolstering the industry, as well as providing strong cultural roots.

The 1700s

By 1754, the population of the settlement on the Cape had reached 5,510 Europeans and 6,729 slaves. But by 1780, France and Great Britain went to war against each other. The Netherlands entered the war on the French side, and thus a small garrison of French troops were sent to the Cape to protect it against the

. The British immediately announced the beginning of free trade.

As elsewhere in Africa and other parts of the world, trading in slaves was a significant activity. A notable event was the mutiny, in 1766, of the slaves on the slaver ship Meermin.^[12][13]

The 1800 and 1900s

Under the terms of a peace agreement between Britain and France, the Cape was returned to the Dutch in 1802. Three years later, however, the war resumed and the British returned their garrison to the Cape after defeating Dutch forces at the Battle of Blaauwberg (1806).^[14] This period saw major developments for the city, and can be said to be the start of Cape Town as a city in its own right. Taps and iron pipes were installed along major streets in the city. The native inhabitants were forced to declare a fixed residence and were not permitted to move between regions without written permission. The war between France and England ended in 1814 with a British victory. The British drew up a complex treaty whereby pieces of real estate were exchanged for money by various countries. The Cape was permanently taken from the Dutch by the British in return for a large sum of money. In this period, the British saw the control of the Cape as key to their ability to maintain their command in India. The Dutch government was too impoverished and depleted to argue, and agreed with the condition that they be allowed to continue to use the Cape for repairs and refreshment.

East Indiamen

, off Table Bay, Cape Town, c. 1819

The vagrancy and pass laws of 1809 were repealed in 1829. Thus, the Khoikhoi, in theory, were equal with the Europeans. As in the rest of the

: die Groot Trek), began in 1836. About 10,000 Dutch families, for various reasons, left for the north in search of new land, thereby opening up the interior of the country. Further political development occurred in 1840 when the Cape Town Municipality was formed. At its inception, the population stood at 20,016, of which 10,560 were white.

Ensuing political developments now saw gradual moves towards greater independence from Britain and towards a degree of political inclusiveness. In 1854, the Cape Colony elected its first parliament, on the basis of the multiracial Cape Qualified Franchise, whereby suffrage qualifications applied universally, regardless of race. After a long political struggle, this was followed by responsible government in 1872, when the Cape won the right to elect its own locally-accountable executive and Prime Minister. A period of strong economic growth and social development ensued, with a rapid expansion of the Cape Government Railways and other infrastructure, connecting Cape Town to the Cape's vast interior.^[15]

The discovery and subsequent exploitation of

As the city of Johannesburg grew from the gold fields, Cape Town lost its position as the single dominant city in the region, but, as the primary port, it nonetheless benefitted from the increased trade to the region. The mineral wealth generated in this period laid the foundation for an industrialised society. This period marked the first incident of segregation in the city. Following an outbreak of bubonic plague which was blamed on the native Africans, the natives were moved to two locations outside of the city, one of which was near the docks and the other at Ndabeni, about six km east of the city.

The apartheid years

The latter settlement was the start of what would later develop into the townships of the Cape Flats. In 1948, the

.

Under apartheid, the Cape was considered a "Coloured labour preference area", to the exclusion of Black Africans. The government tried for decades to remove largely Xhosa

squatter camps

, such as Crossroads, which were the focal point for black resistance in the Cape area to the policies of apartheid. In the last forced removal, between May and June 1986, an estimated 70,000 people were expelled from their homes.

Recent times

Hours after being released from prison on 11 February 1990, Nelson Mandela made his first public speech in decades from the balcony of the Cape Town City Hall, heralding the beginning of a new era for South Africa.

In late August 1998, a terrorist explosion rocked the city's packed Planet Hollywood restaurant, killing one and injuring dozens.^[18]

Water Crisis

Beginning in 2015, Cape Town entered a drought that lasted into 2018. The city was projected to run out of water, but a combination of rainfall and savings by residents averted this scenario.^[19] The crisis officially ended in early 2020.^[20]

See also

• Timeline of Cape Town history
• Greenmarket Square
• Autshumato
• Krotoa
• Trams in Cape Town
• Trolleybuses in Cape Town

References

Bibliography

See also: Timeline of Cape Town § Bibliography

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to History of Cape Town.

• Cape Town History in Photos
• Cape Town History in Art
• Largest online collection of photos/Videos of the past by HiltonT on Flickr
• Largest online collection of photos/Videos of the past by Etienne du Plessis on Flickr
• Cape Town Historic Society (many photos into the past of what things used to look like)
• Cape To Durban, how British (1820 Settlers) explored) (many photos into the past of what things used to look like)
• Cape Town (Cape of Good Hope) – (Unofficial Index to all resource on the net) The history occurring on its land Relevant Reading Material
• Building of all South African Railways into the interior of the Country – Video
• British Rolay Rolay Tour of South Africa Uncut – Video