Early Cape Town History

The area known as Cape Town was settled by the San and Khoikhoi tribes, collectively known as the Khoisan, long before the Dutch East India Company (Vereenigde Oost-Indische Compagnie, or 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 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, 15.5 miles (25 kilometers) north of Cape Town, the colony was ceded to the Crown on August 13, 1814. The slave trade was abolished in 1808, and all slaves were emancipated in 1833.