In this essay the relations between the Dutch settlers and the Khoikhoi will be analysed and discussed in connection to why this encounter turned violent so quickly. South Africa during the 1600’s became vulnerable to European imperialism and colonisation due to the fact that the land surrounding the Cape peninsula acts as a strategical position within the world. The Khoikhoi were the indigenous population who had inhabited the Cape for many generations and lived a free hunter-gatherer or pastoral lifestyle. The Dutch settlers arrived in the Cape in 1652 and from then on out clashes between the Dutch settlers and the Khoikhoi over trading negotiations and land escalated into warfare.
Nationalist historians wrote about South Africa in the 20th century as an ‘empty land’, therefore “legitimising” European colonisation. The myth of the ‘empty land’ was an allusion though, given there were many indigenous people who had inhabited …show more content…
The Dutch Golden Age was a global political, economic and cultural flourishing which can be attributed to an influx in skilled workers, cheap energy (windmills and peat) and the establishment of the VOC (Vereenigde Oost-Indische Compagnie) in 1602. The VOC was a private company which worked independently of the state and owned 6 000 ships and employed 48 000 sailors. The VOC set out to establish a refreshment station at the Cape and this was purely motivated by profit and not seen by the VOC as a civilizing mission. The refreshment station would provide fresh water, fruit, vegetables and meat, as well as medical care for sick sailors. Jan van Riebeeck was the first commander of the VOC settlement in the Cape and arrived in 1652 at Table Bay with 3