Foibles of memory

Stanley - quinta-feira

I'm sure what happened to me this week happens to everyone my age. I remembered something from the time of childhood, only to realise that it no longer exists. Usually, when this happens, it's about something physical: Balyna's fabulous diskbat cricket game; Studebakers; the Doll's House drive-up restaurant in Johannesburg; dial phones; blue flash bulbs for your camera; newsreels before movies; restaurants with tableside jukeboxes; home delivery of milk in glass bottles; 45 rpm vinyl records; BAYKO building sets; and WHITES ONLY signs. 

1950 Studebaker

Doll's House manager Lucky Mulewa carrying window tray to customer car

Do youngsters today know how to use one?

Flash bulb

News before the movie

I can't stand music in restaurants - this was worse!

I loved building BAYKO houses.

I could never stand these either.

And more recently gone but not forgotten (at least in South Africa): Marmite and peppermint crisps.

My flashback happened yesterday, which was April 6. Specifically what happened was that I thought it was a public holiday. Why? Because, when I grew up, April 6 celebrated the landing in 1652 at Table Bay of an employee of the Dutch East India Company, Jan van Riebeeck, and a small group of people whose task was to create a garden to supply vegetables to DEIC ships going to and from the East Indies. It was originally called Van Riebeeck's Day, and later Founders Day.

Van Riebeeck lands at the Cape - panting by Charles Bell

Model of Van Riebeeck's ship - the Dromedaris

When I noticed that traffic was the same, and people were going to work as usual, I realised my mistake. After the apartheid regime was replaced by a democratically-elected parliament in 1994, Founders Day was scrapped because, of course, Van Riebeeck and his colleagues weren't the first people to settle the Cape. The Khoikhoi had been there for eons.

That got me to think about the fact that Europeans had been rounding the Cape en route to the East for a very long time before Van Riebeeck planted his first potatoes. And that reminded me that but for one stupid mistake, I could have been writing this in Portuguese. I've written about this before, but it's worth a reprise.

In 1488, Bartolomeu Dias was the first known European to round the Cape - he called it Cabo das Tormentas - Cape of Storms.  King John II of Portugal later renamed it Cabo da Boa Esperança - Cape of Good Hope.

In 1497 Vasco da Gama also rounded the Cape and established that the route could be used to gain access to the spice producers of the East.  Until this time Venice had monopolised the spice trade through a combination of sea and overland through the Middle East. This discovery led to a massive Portuguese influence in the East.

Vasco da Gama

It is unclear why the Portuguese did not establish a settlement at the Cape - the harbours were good and the climate excellent.  They established settlements in what is now Mozambique in 1505, on the Island of Mozambique among other places.  And in 1575 that they created at settlement at Luanda in what is now Angola.  But they left the southern tip of Africa alone.

One argument of why this happened is because of what happened to another famous Portuguese explorer and colonist - Francisco de Almeida.  

Francisco de Almeida

In 1503 he was appointed Viceroy of India and left Portugal two years later with an impressive fleet.  He subdued most of the east coast of Africa, including Zanzibar, then accomplished the same in eastern and southern India.  By early 1509, the Portuguese had control over the area, with the Ottomans and Egyptians returning home.  This gave the Portuguese a monopoly over the spice trade for over 100 years.

In December 1509, De Almeida set sale for Portugal to pay homage to his king and to receive royal accolades for his successes. He cast anchor in Table Bay at the Cape for water and replenishment.  After some friendly trade with the local Khoi, De Almeida allowed some of his men to go to the Khoi encampment to steal cattle.  While this was happening, De Almeida and other men looked on.  

Unfortunately, at the same time, the ships were moved to a point where they could get fresh water.  The Khoi sensed that the Portuguese had no way to return to the boats and attacked.  Eventually 64 seamen were killed including De Almeida.  He was buried at the Cape.

After this slaughter, Portuguese seamen had a very negative attitude towards the Cape, this possibly being the reason why no further efforts were made for a very long time by the Portuguese or anyone else to use the Cape as a refreshment station.  In fact, nothing of importance from a European perspective happened at the Cape for nearly 150 years, when the Dutch established their vegetable gardens.

And so, if it were not for De Almeida's stupid decision to allow his men to steal cattle, I would be writing this in Portuguese.

Tim-tim

When did South Africa's history begin?

Jan van Riebeeck

When I grew up, I was taught that South African history started with the arrival of Johan Anthonisz "Jan" van Riebeeck in early April 1652.  His charge by the Dutch East India Company (DEIC – or as the Dutch called it, Vereenigde Oost-Indische Compagnie - VOC) was to set up a way-station to supply passing company ships with fresh produce and water.  What we learnt about pre-Van Riebeeck southern Africa could have been written (in tiny letters) on a postage stamp.  Namely:

Van Riebeeck arrives in Table Bay

In 1488, Bartolomeu Dias sailed around the Cape, which opened up the possibility of trade with the east without going overland.

In 1497, Vasco da Gama sailed around the Cape to open up the trade route.

In 1503, Antonio de Saldanha named the area around what is now known as Cape Town as “Agoada do Saldanha” – The watering place of Saldanha.  (People do like to name places after themselves.)

Jan van Riebeeck

(You can read why South Africa never became a Portuguese colony at http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=1990338437877873686#editor/target=post;postID=5491224666417113269)

In 1620, Englishman, Humphrey Fitzherbert claimed the area around Cape Town for King James.  King James wasn’t interested.

Before the Europeans came, there was an indigenous population of Khoikhoi people, sometimes called Hottentots, living in the area around Table Mountain.

Van Riebeeck immediately set about to build a fortification to protect the Dutch from the Khoikhoi, as well as planting vegetables and fruit and acquiring meat through barter or hunting.  It is also no coincidence that a few months after he arrived, England and Holland had gone to war, and the DEIC wanted to protect its investment.

Van Riebeeck and men meet Khoikhoi

He also planted a Wild Almond hedge around the settlement, some of which is still growing in the National Botanical Gardens at Kirstenbosch.  I have to say that it would be very difficult to crawl through it.  Overall, he was a good Commander of the Cape for the DEIC, which is not surprising that he was on his best behaviour, since he was probably lucky to get the post as he had been caught trading for his own account when he headed the DEIC trading post in Tonkin, Vietnam.

After naming several small villages after himself, Riebeeck’s Kasteel and Riebeeck Wes, he left the Cape in 1662 after two five-year contracts, and eventually died in what is now Jakarta in 1667.

Shaka kaSenzangakhona

What really interests me about Van Riebeeck is that his arrival is, or was, regarded as when history started in South Africa.  And the only reason for that is that he was a bureaucrat.  He kept records and diaries, so we know what happened and when.  There are no written or even oral records of the Khoikhoi’s history, so their history is disregarded.  Reminds me of Columbus ‘discovering’ America.

We only know about the earlier visits to the Cape by Europeans because they too were bureaucrats, keeping sailing logs and diaries and records.

None of the indigenous peoples of southern Africa have similar written records and, for the most part, oral records are sketchy at best.  We know about the great Zulu or Mtethwa chiefs, such as Dingiswayo or Shaka or Ceteswayo, because of European records, not indigenous ones.

Khoi man

And we know nothing of the histories or stories of the Khoikhoi or KhoiSan peoples.  And we probably will never find out, other than through speculations of anthropologists.

All I hope is that today’s South African children are taught a more indigenous perspective of their country’s history, although I am not entirely sure how it could be done.

Stan - Thursday