In a three-part series of articles, local resident and former school teacher Shakoor Vallie revisits some of the forgotten history that has shaped Rusthof and its people.
Once upon a time we were all poor, not by choice, but rather subjugation. This is the story told to our grandchildren and future generations. Since the advent of our democracy in 1994 learners from various schools are tasked with school projects that enable them to learn about area’s history, in this instance Rusthof, especially how it came into being and developed.
This time in 1963 we lived in unbearable conditions, but poverty brought this multi-cultural community closer despite the hardships they had to endure. Shops, schools, churches, mosques were far, and our parents had to make the best of those challenging conditions. The non-European community of Strand was uprooted and forcibly removed to an area called Rusthof, to live in matchbox houses. They had to endure the challenge of moving to an area with unfinished infrastructure, such as dusty roads, outside latrines and taps, no ceilings, no street lights, huge trenches in front of houses for drainage systems and so on. Life was not easy in the open-air prison, where a whole community was dumped, this unknown area that was dubbed “Lost World”. We used to live in the centre of town where all enjoyed the comfort of facilities in proximity. Most families were not fortunate to have the luxury of a car, even a bicycle or camera.
This seemed to be just another chapter in a history that began with the importing of slavery, started in 1658 when the colonisers struggled to subjugate indigenous tribes into forced labour. Slaves were imported in large numbers from Dutch, and later British, colonies to help develop South Africa. Most slaves came from India, Madagascar, the Indonesian Archipelago, East Africa and West Africa.
The first creole slaves came from Indonesia, those representative of 1 300 ethnic groups came from little islands such as Java, Sulawesi, Sumatra, Borneo, Ambon and many other islands. These slaves revolted against Dutch rule in their own country and were deported to South Africa. They were the first creole nation to settle in Cape Town and surrounding areas as far as Strand. they were quite diverse, with different skin colours, hair textures, facial looks and languages.
One thing they had in common was the practice of their religion, Islam, which tied them to one another as a community. It was difficult for the Dutch rulers to force them to change religion, not even when missionaries were later sent to South Africa to spread their message.
They became mixed because of their interaction with Chinese, Arabs, Indians, Polynesians, Samoans, Fijians, Sri Lankans, Australasians, Portuguese, Dutch and English. Most African slaves followed the same route of creolisation. The interaction of the Khoi and San groups with other African groups from Central Africa, who migrated south from the Great Lakes of Central Africa, creolised this population further.
In South Africa mixed races were classified as non-Europeans, brown and black people, and the apartheid government reclassified brown people as “coloureds”, a terminology most people hated. Our current government proceeded with racial classification as classified by the colonisers. Enslaved by Portuguese, Dutch and English rule they were devalued in terms of social justice and black people were worst off. All the oppressed were the property of their colonisers. These tendencies prevailed all over the world and the slave masters determined their fate. All of these slaves were poor because of the devaluation of their existence.
The only riches they came with was their religion and vocational skills. These slaves were craftsmen, builders, carpenters, tailors, bakers and outstanding in the art of cuisine. As bondage slaves they were restricted to plying their skills. Slaves from the Indian sub-continent mostly came from southern and central Indian coastal towns and started the sugar cane industry. Indian slaves mostly came from Gujarat province (Surat and Nausari) because of oppression by the English colonisers, who starved many Indians by destroying their economy and over-taxing the population. India had a thriving economy, especially the textile industry, which was destroyed by the British. Europeans were also poor farmworkers who suffered poverty through many European wars. They were encouraged to emigrate to the captured colonies and came as poor farmworkers and ex-soldiers. They had the privilege of being uprooted with the promise of mastery over stolen land in the colonies.
Europeans were also privileged to get assistance from colonial masters. For those who did not make it preferred to work for non-European landowners and assimilated into these groups. From there inter-racial relationships and inter-marriages took place and shaped a creolised community at the Cape. When the British took charge of the Cape in 1806, awareness of race separation was rife, and a systematic system started to take shape. From this period onwards gradual land grabs became a reality and systematic dispossession of property took place and the indigenous creole population was impoverished. Life was not easy for indigenous and creole people. The same principle of being taxed for property, which coincided with the impoverishment of India’s population, occurred in all British colonies.
Many revolts took place in South Africa as soon as the first Portuguese landed in South Africa in 1509. Many battles were fought by the Khoi to protect their freedom and defend their land.
In the Helderberg region present-day Skurwekop Mountain Hill, between Somerset West and Sir Lowry’s Pass, were inhabited by various Khoi tribes, such as the Cochoquas, Hessequas and many others under the leadership of a tribal head, King Sosoa. All these tribes were brutally forced off their land by Willem Adriaan van der Stel, and they fled along the eastern coastline towards Hangklip and the Hermanus area. They had to survive in caves in that area. Their farms and herds of cattle were confiscated, and genocide of the indigenous people took place.
As a youngster we were privileged to grow up in a community where people cared for one another owing to the shared experience of poverty. Despite our different backgrounds we were a happy and peaceful community. Gangsters were something foreign to us and children could play freely in open fields and the dusty streets. We had a diverse community that was respectful of different cultures and religions. Our colonisers tried their utmost to polarise communities, to create a wedge among the different groups. This was a colonial tool to ensure seperateness within a community.
In the next edition we will elaborate on the social aspects, sport, education, economics and the influence of colonialism that shaped our resistance towards imposed laws implemented by the rulers.
