De Zuid-Afrikaan

Last updated
De Zuid-Afrikaan
TypeChanged over time
Founder(s) Christoffel Brand
FoundedApril 9, 1830 (1830-04-09)
Political alignment Afrikaner Bond
LanguageDutch
Ceased publication1930
Headquarters Cape 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.

Contents

The paper was founded by the advocate Christoffel Johan Brand on 9 April 1830 and played a major role in providing a mouthpiece for the more educated sections of the Cape Dutch community. Carl Juta, founder of Juta publishers in Cape Town, and brother-in-law of Karl Marx, printed De Zuid Afrikaan. Marx wrote begging letters to Juta and in return Juta asked him to write articles for De Zuid Afrikaan. These letters are to be seen in the history files of Juta and Co. In 1930 the paper finally succumbed to falling circulation figures resulting from the popularity of the Afrikaans language paper, Die Burger .

Context

The Dutch established a settlement in the Cape Colony in 1652. By the start of the Napoleonic Wars the colony was about twice the size of the current South African province of the Western Cape with a white population of some 15,500 and a slave population of 17,000. [1] The descendants of the slave population, mainly of Malay extraction, are today part of the Cape Coloured community. During the first century of the European settlement, migration eastwards into what is today the South African province of the Eastern Cape progressed relatively unhindered. Towards the end of the eighteenth century European migration eastwards met with a south-western migration of the Bantu peoples, notably the Xhosa. Friction between the two groups resulted in what has become known as 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 Congress of Vienna at the Treaty of Paris. After the Napoleonic Wars, large numbers of British settlers arrived in the Cape, amongst others the 1820 Settlers who, numbering some 5,000 people, were settled in the eastern parts of the colony to provide better protection against the Xhosa. Shortly after the newspaper's foundation many Dutch farmers, especially from the eastern part of the colony, dissatisfied with British rule, trekked into the interior where they set up their own republics - the Orange Free State and the South African Republic. Friction between the British authorities and 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 CBrand A1025.jpg
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. [9] it nevertheless saw British rule as "synonymous with civilized progress and order". The paper also played a large role in ensuring that common law on South Africa was based on Roman-Dutch Law rather than 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 Bible into Afrikaans for the benefit of the coloured community and the poorer section of the Cape Dutch community who spoke a local patois rather than Dutch. In 1875 SJ du Toit used these sentiments to launch the Genootskap van Regte Afrikaners (GRA) (Association of True Afrikaners) and his Afrikaans language newspaper 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 Botha who became prime minister of the newly formed Union of South Africa in 1910. When Hertzog broke with Botha in 1912 and in January 1914 formed the National Party the Dutch and Afrikaans press remained loyal to Botha. In 1915 three new pro-Hertzog Dutch language newspapers were established in South Africa - De Burger under the editorship of 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 viableits 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]
1834–1834JR Stapleton [4]
 ?–1839PA Brand [6]
1839 ? Christoffel Johan Brand [6]
1870–1904Jan Hendrik Hofmeyr
 ?–1930JPL Volsteedt

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Boers</span> Descendants of Afrikaners beyond the Cape Colony frontier

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Great Trek</span> 1836–1852 Boer migrations away from the British Cape Colony

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 Empire. 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", "pathfinders" in Dutch and Afrikaans.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Genootskap van Regte Afrikaners</span> Society to promote the Afrikaans language

The Genootskap van Regte Afrikaners was formed on 14 August 1875 in the town of Paarl by a group of Afrikaans speakers from the current Western Cape region. From 15 January 1876 the society published a journal in Afrikaans called Die Afrikaanse Patriot as well as a number of books, including grammars, dictionaries, religious material and histories. Die Afrikaanse Patriot was succeeded in 1905 by today's Paarl newspaper.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jan Hendrik Hofmeyr (Onze Jan)</span> South African politician

Jan Hendrik Hofmeyr was a politician in the Cape Colony. He was affectionately known as Onze Jan, "our Jan" in Dutch.

Cape Dutch, also commonly known as Cape Afrikaners, were a historic socioeconomic class of Afrikaners who lived in the Western Cape during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. The terms have been evoked to describe an affluent, apolitical section of the Cape Colony's Afrikaner population which did not participate in the Great Trek or the subsequent founding of the Boer republics. Today, the Cape Dutch are credited with helping shape and promote a unique Afrikaner cultural identity through their formation of civic associations such as the Afrikaner Bond, and promotion of the Afrikaans language.

<i>The Covenant</i> (novel)

The Covenant is a historical novel by American author James A. Michener, published in 1980.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Francis William Reitz</span> South African politician and statesman

Francis William Reitz, Jr. was a South African lawyer, politician, statesman, publicist, and poet who was a member of parliament of the Cape Colony, Chief Justice and fifth State President of the Orange Free State, State Secretary of the South African Republic at the time of the Second Boer War, and the first president of the Senate of the Union of South Africa.

The South African Party was a political party that existed in the Union of South Africa from 1911 to 1934.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Stephanus Jacobus du Toit</span> Afrikaans clergyman, founder of the First Afrikaans Language Movement (1847–1911)

The Reverend Stephanus Jacobus du Toit was a controversial South African nationalist, theologian, journalist and failed politician. In his younger years Du Toit did much to promote the Afrikaans language as a symbol of Afrikaner nationalism. Apart from the years 1882-8 when he was Superintendent of Education in the South African Republic, he lived in or near the town of Paarl in the Cape Colony. Disillusionment with the Kruger regime led him, in later years, to moderate his views. He was instrumental in initiating the translation of the Bible into Afrikaans and was a proponent of the Afrikaans language. He died an outcast.

Die Burger is a daily Afrikaans-language newspaper, published by Naspers. By 2008, it had a circulation of 91,665 in the Western and Eastern Cape Provinces of South Africa. Along with Beeld and Volksblad, it is one of three broadsheet dailies in the Media24 stable.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Christoffel Brand</span> Cape lawyer (1797–1875)

Sir Christoffel Joseph Brand was a Cape jurist, politician, statesman and first Speaker of the Legislative Assembly of the Cape Colony.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Afrikaners</span> Southern African ethnic group descended from predominantly Dutch settlers

Afrikaners are a Southern African ethnic group descended from predominantly Dutch settlers first arriving at the Cape of Good Hope in 1652. Until 1994, they dominated South Africa's politics as well as the country's commercial agricultural sector. Afrikaners make up approximately 5.2% of the total South African population, based upon the number of White South Africans who speak Afrikaans as a first language in the South African National Census of 2011. Afrikaans, South Africa's third most widely spoken home language, evolved as the mother tongue of Afrikaners and most Cape Coloureds. It originated in the Dutch vernacular of South Holland, incorporating words brought from the Dutch East Indies and Madagascar by slaves.

The Slachter's Nek Rebellion was an uprising by Boers in 1815 on the eastern border of the Cape Colony.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Burgersdorp</span> Place in Eastern Cape, South Africa

Burgersdorp is a medium-sized town in Walter Sisulu in the Joe Gqabi District Municipality of the Eastern Cape province of South Africa.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">D. C. Boonzaier</span> South African cartoon artist

Daniël Cornelis Boonzaier, more commonly known as D.C. Boonzaier, was a South African cartoonist. He was famous for his caricatures of Cape politicians and celebrities at the turn of the century, and later for his anti-capitalist and anti-imperialist cartoons for Die Burger. He fathered the artist Gregoire Boonzaier.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Parliament of the Cape of Good Hope</span> Historic legislature of the British Cape Colony

The Parliament of the Cape of Good Hope functioned as the legislature of the Cape Colony, from its founding in 1853, until the creation of the Union of South Africa in 1910, when it was dissolved and the Parliament of South Africa was established. It consisted of the House of Assembly and the legislative council.

Charles Etienne Boniface was an early nineteenth century music teacher, playwright, journalist and polyglot who was born in France, but who spent his adult life in Southern Africa. His writings and compositions are amongst the earliest publications of what was then the Cape Colony.

Boerehaat is an Afrikaans word that means "ethnic hatred of Boers" or Afrikaners as they became known after the Second Boer War. The related term Boerehater has been used to describe a person who hates, prejudices or criticises Boers or Afrikaners.

Freemasonry was brought to South Africa by members of the Grand Orient of the Netherlands in 1772. Today there are lodges chartered under the United Grand Lodge of England, the Grand Lodge of Scotland, the Grand Lodge of Ireland, the Grand Lodge of South Africa, as well as Le Droit Humain

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Joachim Christoffel Fourie</span> Anglo-Boer War general (1845–1900)

Joachim Christoffel Fourie was an Anglo-Boer War Combat General and Assistant Commander-in-Chief for the South African Republic.

References

  1. Walker, Eric A (1968). A History of Southern Africa. London: Longmans. p. 106.
  2. 1 2 "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. 1 2 3 4 Wigston, David (2007). "Chapter 1: A History of the South African Media". In Fourie, Pieter J. (ed.). Media Studies, Volume 1: Media History, Media and Society (Second ed.). Juta. p. 38. 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. 1 2 3 "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. Dooling, Wayne (2007). Slavery, emancipation and colonial rule in South Africa. Scottsville, South Africa: University of KwaZulu-Natal Press. pp. 98–100. ISBN   978-0-89680-263-6 . Retrieved 1 June 2013.
  8. Blum, Timothy Martin. "'Brand's City' : Dutch Space and Identity in Cape Town, 1830-1850". History in the Making. 1 (1): 53. ISSN   2200-4777 . Retrieved 7 June 2013.
  9. 1 2 Giliomee, Hermann (2003). "The" Afrikaners: Biography of a People. London: C Hurst & Co. pp. 215–220. ISBN   1-85065-714-9.
  10. Worden, Nigel; van Heyningen, E.; Bickford-Smith, Vivian (1998). Cape Town: The Making of a City : an Illustrated Social History. Cape Town, South Africa and Hilversum, Netherlands: David Phillips (Pty) Ltd and Verloren Publishers. p. 158. ISBN   90-6550-161-4 . Retrieved 30 May 2013.
  11. Ross, Robert John (2004). Status and Respectability in the Cape Colony, 1750-1870. Cambridge, United Kingdom: Cambridge University Press. p. 68. ISBN   0-521-62122-4 . Retrieved 31 May 2013.
  12. 1 2 3 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.