Early Cape Town History
The area today known as Cape Town was settled by the San and Khoikhoi, collectively known as the Khoisan, long before the Dutch East India Company (Vereenigde Oost-Indische Compagnie, the VOC) established a supply depot in Cape Town in 1652. By and large the indigenous people refused to deal with the Dutch, so the VOC imported slaves from Madagascar, India, Ceylon, Malaya, and Indonesia to deal with the colony's chronic labor shortage. There was also a shortage of women in the colony, so the Europeans exploited the female slaves for both labor and sex. In time the slaves also mixed with the Khoisan. The offspring of these unions formed the basis of sections of today's Cape Colored population and also helps explain the unique character of the city’s Cape Malay population. During 150-odd years of Dutch rule, Kaapstad, as the Cape settlement became known, thrived and gained a wider reputation as the “Tavern of the Seas”, a riotous port used by every sailor traveling between Europe and the Orient. But, by the end of the 18th century, the VOC was nearly bankrupt, making Cape Town an easy target for British imperialist interests in the region. Following the British defeat of the Dutch in 1806 at Bloubergstrand, 25 kilometers north of Cape Town, the colony was ceded to the Crown on 13 August 1814. The slave trade was abolished in 1808, and all slaves were emancipated in 1833.
cape town’s 19th and 20th century history
Bubonic plague in 1901 gave the government an excuse to introduce racial segregation: Africans were moved to two locations, one near the docks and the other at Ndabeni on the western flank of Table Mountain. This was the start of what would later develop into the townships of Cape Flats. In 1948, the National Party stood for election on its apartheid policy and won. In a series of bitter court and constitutional battles, the limited rights of blacks and colored to vote in the Cape were removed, and the apartheid was erected. This resulted in whole communities being uprooted and cast out to the Cape Flats. The government tried for decades to eradicate squatter towns. In the last attempt between May and June 1986, an estimated 70,000 people were driven from their homes. But this attack was unsuccessful in eradicating the towns, and the government accepted the inevitable and began to upgrade conditions. Hours after being released from prison on February 11, 1990, Nelson Mandela made his first public speech in decades from the balcony of Cape Town’s City Hall, heralding the beginning of a new era for South Africa. Much has improved in Cape Town since; property prices are increasing greatly and the city centre is becoming safer, with the development of loft-style apartments in grand old structures such as the Old Mutual Building and the Board of Executors building. Full integration of Cape Town’s mixed population, however, remains a long way off, if it is achievable at all. The African National Congress (ANC) and the New National Party (NNP) are working together on the City Council, which is headed up by mayor Nomaindia Mfeketo, a black woman.
Women Unite
This all women, Guguletu based group is taking the traditional dance and music scene by storm. The dancers in this group all have previous experience from different dance backgrounds from ballet to ballroom, and have used this to create the vibrant, energetic and slick dance group that it is today.
posted by Hills @ 9:08 AM
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