Boers are the descendants of the proto Afrikaans-speaking Free Burghers of the eastern Cape frontier in Southern Africa during the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries. From 1652 to 1795, the Dutch East India Company controlled Dutch Cape Colony, but the United Kingdom incorporated it into the British Empire in 1806. The name of the group is derived from Trekboer then later "boer", which means "farmer" in Dutch and Afrikaans.
The Second Boer War, also known as the Boer War, Transvaal War, Anglo–Boer War, or South African War, was a conflict fought between the British Empire and the two Boer republics over the Empire's influence in Southern Africa.
The Cape Colony, also known as the Cape of Good Hope, was a British colony in present-day South Africa named after the Cape of Good Hope. It existed from 1795 to 1802, and again from 1806 to 1910, when it united with three other colonies to form the Union of South Africa, then became the Cape Province, which existed even after 1961, when South Africa had become a republic, albeit, temporarily outside the Commonwealth of Nations (1961–94).
The Great Trek was a northward migration of Dutch-speaking settlers who travelled by wagon trains from the Cape Colony into the interior of modern South Africa from 1836 onwards, seeking to live beyond the Cape's British colonial administration. The Great Trek resulted from the culmination of tensions between rural descendants of the Cape's original European settlers, known collectively as Boers, and the British. It was also reflective of an increasingly common trend among individual Boer communities to pursue an isolationist and semi-nomadic lifestyle away from the developing administrative complexities in Cape Town. Boers who took part in the Great Trek identified themselves as voortrekkers, meaning "pioneers" or "pathfinders" in Dutch and Afrikaans.
The Boer republics were independent, self-governing republics formed by Dutch-speaking inhabitants of the Cape Colony and their descendants. The founders – variously named Trekboers, Boers, and Voortrekkers – settled mainly in the middle, northern, north-eastern and eastern parts of present-day South Africa. Two of the Boer republics achieved international recognition and complete independence: the South African Republic and the Orange Free State. The republics did not provide for the separation of church and state, initially allowing only the Dutch Reformed Church, and later also other Protestant churches in the Calvinist tradition. The republics came to an end after the Second Boer War of 1899–1902, which resulted in British annexation and later incorporation of their lands into the Union of South Africa.
The Maritz rebellion, also known as the Boer revolt, Third Boer War, or the Five Shilling rebellion, was an armed pro-German insurrection in South Africa in 1914, at the start of World War I. It was led by Boers who supported the re-establishment of the South African Republic in the Transvaal. Many members of the South African government were themselves Boers who had fought with the Maritz rebels against the British in the Second Boer War, which had ended twelve years earlier. The rebellion failed, with 124 rebels killed and 229 wounded out of 12,000. The surviving ringleaders received heavy fines and prison terms. One of them, Jopie Fourie, was executed.
The following lists events that happened during 1999 in South Africa.
7de Laan was a South African Afrikaans soap opera created by Danie Odendaal and produced by Danie Odendaal Productions. The series focuses on the lives of residents in and around the community of 7de Laan, in the suburb of Hillside. The programme's dialogue is primarily in Afrikaans and was subtitled in English with some English and Zulu dialogue in between. The show was cancelled in July 2023 and its final episode aired on 26 December 2023.
Springbok Radio was a South African nationwide radio station that operated from 1950 to 1985.
Hendrik Witbooi was a chief of the ǀKhowesin people, a sub-tribe of the Khoikhoi. He led the Nama people during their revolts against the German colonial empire in present-day Namibia, in connection with the events surrounding the Herero and Namaqua Genocide. He was killed in action on 29 October 1905. Witbooi is regarded as one of the national heroes of Namibia, and his face is portrayed on the obverse of all N$50, N$100, and N$200 Namibian dollar banknotes.
Ian Roberts is a South African actor, playwright and singer. A native English speaker, he is also fluent in Afrikaans and Xhosa.
The "!Oroǀõas" ("Ward-girl"), spelled in Dutch as Krotoa or Kroket, otherwise known by her Christian name Eva, was a !Uriǁ'aeǀona translator who worked for the Vereenigde Oostindische Compagnie (VOC) during the founding of the Cape Colony.
The military history of South Africa chronicles a vast time period and complex events from the dawn of history until the present time. It covers civil wars and wars of aggression and of self-defence both within South Africa and against it. It includes the history of battles fought in the territories of modern South Africa in neighbouring territories, in both world wars and in modern international conflicts.
Captain Alfred James "'Bulala" Taylor was an Anglo-Irish military officer who was active in Africa during the Scramble for Africa and the Second Boer War. He is best known as a defendant in one of the first war crimes prosecutions in British military history. Born into a middle-class Protestant family in Dublin, Ireland, Taylor jumped ship in Cape Town in 1886 and served in the British South Africa Police of the British South Africa Company (BSAC). He played a major role in the colonisation of modern-day Zimbabwe by the BSAC. During two subsequent uprisings by the Northern Ndebele people against Company rule in Rhodesia, Taylor was dubbed by the Ndebele "Bulala" and "Bamba".
The Slachter's Nek Rebellion was an uprising by Boers in 1815 on the eastern border of the Cape Colony.
Reeva Rebecca Steenkamp was a South African model and paralegal. She modelled for FHM magazine and was the first face of Avon cosmetics in South Africa. Steenkamp once worked as the live roaming presenter for FashionTV in South Africa and starred in television advertisements for Toyota Land Cruiser, Clover Industries, Redds and Aldor Pin Pop. She was a celebrity contestant on the BBC Lifestyle show Baking Made Easy in 2012 and on Tropika Island of Treasure season 5 which aired on SABC 3 in February 2013.
Willem Steenkamp is a South African author, journalist, historian, military analyst and citizen soldier. He has published a number of books and consults widely in military affairs.
Bittereinder is a South African rap/electro band from Pretoria who perform in Afrikaans. Jaco van der Merwe, Peach van Pletzen, and Louis Minnaar founded the three-man band in 2009, and have since performed at major South African festivals such as Oppikoppi, across southern Africa, and the Netherlands. They are known for their high-energy performances.
Arende, is a 1994 South African action war film film, directed by Dirk de Villiers. The film stars Ian Roberts and Gavin van den Berg in lead roles along with Diane Wilson, Keith Grenville and Percy Sieff in supportive roles. It is a continuation of the Arende TV series that preceded it.
Petrus Johannes Liebenberg was a South African Boer politician for Potchefstroom and a general in the Anglo-Boer War (1899–1902). He successfully invaded the Cape Colony, failed to prevent the British relief of Mafeking, and fought to the end up to the Battle of Rooiwal. During the First World War Liebenberg criticised the policy of the Botha government to attack German South West Africa but did not condone the Maritz rebellion.
