Cape History at a Glance

Cape History at a Glance

It is said that Cape Town owes its very existence to Table Mountain. The freshwater streams running off its slopes were what first prompted early explorers to anchor here. In 1652 Jan van Riebeeck and 90 Dutch settlers established a refreshment station for ships of the Dutch East India Company (VOC) on the long voyage east. The settlement represented the first European toehold in South Africa, and Cape Town is still sometimes called the Mother City.

Those first Dutch settlers soon ventured into the interior to establish their own farms, and 140 years later the settlement supported a population of 20,000 whites and 25,000 slaves brought from distant lands like Java, Madagascar, and Guinea. Its position on the strategic cusp of Africa, however, meant that the colony never enjoyed any real stability. The British occupied the Cape twice, first in 1795 and then more permanently in 1806, bringing with them additional slaves from Ceylon, India, and the Philippines. Destroyed or assimilated in this colonial expansion were the indigenous Khoekhoen (previously called Khoikhoi and Hottentots), who once herded their cattle here and foraged along the coast.

Though South Africa's more recent history is better known, it's worth remembering that between 1889 and 1902 the British and the Boers (Afrikaans for "farmers") also fought bitterly and that the conflicts that have shaped and scarred the country haven't always been between black and white. The wounds of the 20th century are largely attributable to apartheid, however. In 1948 the National Party (the Nats) was voted into power and apartheid machinery set in motion. Black education was accepted as inferior, whole communities were moved, and the majority of South Africans were unable to vote. Fortunately, however, exceptional men and women -- Nelson Mandela being the most famous and best-loved -- were determined to change the status quo. In fact, the antiapartheid struggle began as soon as the Nats came to power. While F. W. de Klerk was president, in late 1989, negotiations began, Mandela was released from prison, and the first democratic election was held in 1994. For their efforts, de Klerk and Mandela received the Nobel peace prize for an achievement others thought impossible.

More than a decade since apartheid's demise, South Africa is a different country, but poverty and unemployment are still huge problems. Some changes are beginning in such areas as free basic health care, education, and services such as potable water and sanitation, though 2006 and 2007 saw a lot of protest action about the lack of delivery. The new struggle being fought in South Africa, and the rest of the continent, is the battle against HIV/AIDS. At the beginning of 2007 it was estimated that there were 1,500 new HIV/AIDS infections every day.

Legacies of apartheid still fester, and although the city is made up of many nationalities that mingle happily, it is still divided along racial and economic lines. As you drive into town along the N2 from the airport, you can't miss the shacks built on shifting dunes as far as the eye can see -- a sobering contrast to the luxury of the city center. A tour of these areas offers a glimpse of the old South Africa.