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PODCAST

History of South Africa podcast

A series that seeks to tell the story of the South Africa in some depth. Presented by experienced broadcaster/podcaster Des Latham and updated weekly, the episodes will take a listener through the various epochs that have made up the story of South Africa.

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All Episodes

18:36

Episode 30 – Shipwrecked women and their Xhosa clan,...

History of South Africa podcast ·

2021/09/05

This is episode 30 and we’re covering the mid-18th Century, including tales of shipwrecked sailors, the art of making amasi and dealing with the amatakati or witches. We’ve heard much about the developments in the north of the Cape, the bokkeveld and the Roodezand up to 1740. Now we’ll swing our gaze to observe what was going on at the same time in the Eastern Cape frontier. It’s vaguely defined at least at this time as the area lying east of the Gamtoos River. This is important because its here

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19:22

Episode 29 – Murder, massacre and pacification of the...

History of South Africa podcast ·

2021/08/29

This is episode 29 and we’re dealing with the pacification of the Khoisan in 1739. The Bushman War of that year had broken out as we’ve heard over repeated incursions into Khoi territory by settlers who’d abused the hospitality of Captain Gal of the Great Namaqua – then shot him and eight of his family for good measure before driving off most of his cattle. This was the last straw for Khoi who rose up and began burning Dutch farms along the Olifant’s River. Not to be confused with the Olifants

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18:27

Episode 28 – The Bushman War of 1739 and the role of...

History of South Africa podcast ·

2021/08/22

This is episode 28, the Bushman War of 1739. Last episode we heard about the growing number of clashes reported in the run up to this full-scale war that did not last long – but extended in a great arc from the Piketberg in the north-west to the valley of the Langeberg in the south-east. It was the most extensive war between the settlers and the Khoisan since Van Riebeeck had arrived in 1652. Settlers were chased out of almost 60 cattle stations and farms, and more importantly, the stated aim of

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17:33

Episode 27 – The slaughtering in the Sandveld and the...

History of South Africa podcast ·

2021/08/15

This is episode 27 and we’re dealing with the period in the first half of 1700 – give or take a decade. Last episode we heard how the TrekBoer economy had developed and a new farmer had emerged on the landscape called the Boer. The descendents of Dutch and French immigrants were beginning to expand their footprint across southern Africa and of course the repercussions were enormous. Remember last episode we heard the minister of the Church at Drakenstein Petrus van Arkel who had written an

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16:28

Episode 26 – The Boers begin expanding across the...

History of South Africa podcast ·

2021/08/08

As we heard last episode, the direction of trekker expansion was largely a function of the nature of the terrain, along with the availability of water and the quality of pasture. What was to take place through the 18th century was a steady growth of loan farms that extended northwards along rivers and eastwards between mountain ranges, or following the coastal lowlands. The main areas settled before 1720 included the country north of the Berg River around the Piketberg, and to the east of the

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17:48

Episode 25 – The Xhosa social system and the TrekBoer...

History of South Africa podcast ·

2021/08/01

This is episode 25 and we’re following the early history of the Xhosa. They were about to come into direct contact with the Dutch expanding from the Cape Peninsular. Remember last episode we heard about the growing bizarre behaviour by Gcaleka who was one of Phalo’s sons – and his propensity to believe himself a diviner. That was after he escaped drowning in the musical sounding Ngxingxolo River. Phalo died in 1775 – but Gcaleka who became chief died only three years later. I was going to cover

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18:18

Episode 24 – The foundation of the Xhosa Kingdom,...

History of South Africa podcast ·

2021/07/25

This is episode 24, the Foundation of the Xhosa Kingdom, the heroes Tshawe and Phalo. I’ve made use of a number of books and documents in the series so far, but Jeff Perez’s House of Phalo is probably my favourite source material mainly because he lectured me at Rhodes University in the mid-1980s. His book on the Xhosa is still the go-to research document and I’m leaning quite heavily on the work for this episode. Let’s take ourselves back to Xhosa pre-history, that time in early oral tradition

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18:51

Episode 23 – A trip through ancient Xhosaland

History of South Africa podcast ·

2021/07/18

This is episode 23 and its time to shift our attention away from the Dutch in the Cape to the amaXhosa. At the turn of the 18th Century there were signs of increased conflict in the region as the Khoekhoe began to feel the pressures of the expanding Dutch settlements which spread out from the southern Cape. The boundaries of the territory occupied by the Xhosa fluctuated considerably over time but in the years between 1700 and the mid 1800s they were limited to the area east of the Sunday’s

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18:33

Episode 22 – Islam at the Cape, Adam Tas vs the...

History of South Africa podcast ·

2021/07/11

This is episode 22 and we’re dealing with a number of things. First is the arrival in the Cape of an influential Muslim Cleric called Sheik Yusufs al-Taj al-Khwalwari al-Maqasari who was to have a major impact on the colony. We’ll also hear about what was going on across southern Africa in the first two decades of the 18th Century – a time of major change which set the tone for the expansion of colonialism for the next two hundred years. Shayk Yusufs was exiled to the Cape from his home in Java

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18:45

Episode 21 – The Nguni move west, maize arrives and...

History of South Africa podcast ·

2021/07/04

This is episode 21 and we’re probing the growth of Nguni societies – as well as the terrible smallpox epidemic of 1713. First a note about historical records. As I’ve mentioned the use of archaeological surveys and oral history along with specific tools used such as pottery and metal artifacts provides quite a bit of detail about the history of the Nguni and Sotho as well as the Tswana in South Africa. However, the oral history comes with an obvious warning. And nowhere is that more important

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17:16

Episode 20 – The breakdown of Khoekhoe society in the...

History of South Africa podcast ·

2021/06/27

This is episode 20 and the expansion of settlers from the Cape is gaining pace. At the same time, the Xhosa to the north are experiencing political upheavals, while further north, the Nguni speaking farmers have spread into the Free State and Transvaal highlands – now known as Gauteng. The decline of the Khoekhoe chiefs and the increasingly coercive nature of the trade took place at the same time as another major development in the Cape. This was the intensification of labour relations between

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20:36

Episode 19 – The French Huguenots arrive in 1688...

History of South Africa podcast ·

2021/06/20

This is episode 19 and we’re looking at the years between 1679 and 1700 and developments in both the Cape and the interior of the sub-continent. Last episode we heard how new Governor Simon van der Stel who arrived in 1679 began a rapid expansionist policy in the Cape, including building two new towns – Stellenbosch and Drakenstein. The last two decades of the 17th Century and the first two of the eighteenth are regarded as the most important in the early history of South Africa – at least with

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19:01

Episode 18 – Early days of coloured single-parent...

History of South Africa podcast ·

2021/06/13

This is episode 18 and we’re focusing on the 1670s through to the 1680s where a whole lot was going on in the south of Africa. Let me first start with race relations. South Africans probably have no idea that the man who launched the most aggressive drive to expand into Africa was not born in Europe – he was born in Mauritius of Dutch and Indian stock. Had he been born after apartheid’s firm grasp fixed South African in a race-based laws after 1948 he would have been classified coloured. The man

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19:55

Episode 17 – The second Khoe-Dutch war of 1673-1677...

History of South Africa podcast ·

2021/06/06

This is episode 17 and we’re dealing with the second Khoe-Dutch war of 1673 which dealt the Peninsular tribe known as the Cochoqua a terminal blow. The growing population at the Cape meant both the colonisers and the passing fleets needed to be well fed with fresh produce. The colonial programme was created to foster farming to supply the station’s needs – and it was the expanding use of arable land and fresh water that went along with it that further exacerbated the conflict with the indigenous

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18:06

Episode 16 – Krotoa aka Eva and the Khoekhoe disputes...

History of South Africa podcast ·

2021/05/30

This is episode 16 and its about de Kaap and the Peninsular in the 1660s. As we’ve heard, the trading with the Khoe at the Cape is not going as well as the Dutch hoped and Jan Van Riebeeck the fort commander had decided to lay out his formal frontier albeit a tiny start to what would become a major immigration. And it would start with a tree called the Bitter Almond which considering what was to happen to the Khoe over the next century, is a pretty accurate name. But first, some domestic news

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19:57

Episode 15 – The first Khoe-Dutch war of 1659-60, van...

History of South Africa podcast ·

2021/05/23

This is episode 15 and we’re looking at the first Khoe-Dutch war of 1659-1660. Up to now the relationship between the Dutch and the various Khoe tribes on the Cape Flats has been rife and filled with chaos. Things as you’ll hear, are not going to improve or settle down. By January 1659, Doman one of the Khoe translators we heard about last week had become disillusioned about Dutch aims in the Cape. He’d seen the VOC in action after a trip to the Far East, to the Dutch capital Batavia and was

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19:38

Episode 14 – The first settlers begin farming on...

History of South Africa podcast ·

2021/05/16

This is episode 14 and the first settlers are about to make their way out of the Dutch fort at the Cape after being allocated land to plant their gardens. This action which Jan Van Riebeeck took in 1657 was to have reverberations which are still being felt across the southern African region – and beyond. It must be remembered that the VOC did not envisage colonization as an end to itself. It merely wished to substitute limited private farming for state production in order to reduce expenditure

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20:17

Episode 13 – Harry the Strandloper makes off with the...

History of South Africa podcast ·

2021/05/09

This is episode 13 and we’re covering the period between 1652 and 1657. These five years saw the establishment of the Dutch’s refreshment station at the Cape and the increasing frustration of Jan van Riebeeck who commanded the small group of sailors and soldiers who were trying to build a garden to feed the passing VOC fleets. Last episode I explained how the Dutch were facing a problem in terms of communication. No-one in the little fortress could speak Khoekhoe and they were relying on Khoe

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17:57

Episode 12 – Jan van Riebeeck’s refreshment station...

History of South Africa podcast ·

2021/05/02

This is episode 12 and we’re at the point where Jan van Riebeeck and 88 men and women had setup the refreshment station to provide fruit, vegetables and meat to passing VOC fleets. As we heard last episode, the fort would take a year to complete. The Dutch had arrived in the Cape at precisely the wrong time, it was Autumn and the Mediterranean climate meant the coming winter would be cold and wet. Worse, the Khoekhoe had left their settlements on the Cape Flats heading up the east coast to areas

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18:36

Episode 11 – Jan van Riebeeck sets up the Tavern of...

History of South Africa podcast ·

2021/04/25

This is episode 11 and it’s all about Jan van Riebeeck arrival in 1652 and the amaXhosa/KhoeKhoe relationship. South Africa’s modern community is a melting pot of people and part of that melting story started when the Dutch company the VOC decided to build a refreshment station in Table Bay. But it took quite some time to convince the Heeren 17 to agree to this plan. Van Riebeeck’s landing was also extremely well documented – the logs he kept and those maintained by the VOC is a vast repository

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