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Limpopo "Northern Transvaal" redirects here. For the rugby union team, see Blue Bulls . For the cricket team previously called Northern Transvaal, see Northerns (cricket team) . Limpopo (/lɪmˈpoʊpoʊ/ ) is the northernmost province of South Africa . It is named after the Limpopo River , which forms the province's western and northern borders. The capital and largest city in the province is Polokwane , while the provincial legislature is situated in Lebowakgomo . The province is made up of three former homelands of Lebowa , Gazankulu and Venda and part of the former Transvaal province. The Limpopo province was established as one of nine provinces after the 1994 South African general election . The province's name was first "Northern Transvaal", later changed to "Northern Province" on 28 June 1995, with two other provinces. The name was later changed again in 2002 to the Limpopo Province. Limpopo is made up of three main ethnic groups: the Pedi , the Tsonga and the Venda . Traditional leaders and chiefs still form a strong backbone of the province's political landscape. Established in terms of the Limpopo House of Traditional Leaders Act, Act 5 of 2005, the Limpopo House of Traditional Leaders' main function is to advise the government and the legislature on matters related to custom, tradition, and culture, including developmental initiatives that affect rural communities. On 18 August 2017, Kgosi Malesela Dikgale was re-elected as the Chairperson of the Limpopo House of Traditional Leaders. Geography Sundown over one of the mountain ranges found in Limpopo. Limpopo Province shares international borders with districts and provinces of three countries: Botswana 's Central and Kgatleng districts to the west and northwest respectively, Zimbabwe 's Matabeleland South and Masvingo provinces to the north and northeast respectively, and Mozambique 's Gaza Province to the east. Limpopo is the link between South Africa and countries further afield in sub-Saharan Africa . On its southern edge, from east to west, it shares borders with the South African provinces of Mpumalanga , Gauteng , and North West . Its border with Gauteng includes that province's Johannesburg -Pretoria axis, the most industrialised metropolis on the continent. The province is central to regional, national, and international developing markets. Limpopo contains much of the Waterberg Biosphere , a massif of approximately 15,000 km2 (5,800 sq mi) which is the first region in the northern part of South Africa to be named a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve . Law and government Main article: Politics of Limpopo The current Premier of Limpopo Province is Stanley Mathabatha , representing the African National Congress . Municipalities Main article: List of municipalities in Limpopo Limpopo districts and local municipalities Limpopo Province is divided into five district municipalities . The district municipalities are in turn divided into 25 local municipalities : District municipalities Capricorn District Blouberg Lepele-Nkumpi Molemole Polokwane Mopani District Ba-Phalaborwa Greater Giyani Greater Letaba Greater Tzaneen Maruleng Sekhukhune District Elias Motsoaledi Ephraim Mogale Fetakgomo Tubatse Makhuduthamaga Vhembe District Makhado Musina Collins Chabane Thulamela Waterberg District Bela-Bela Lephalale Modimolle–Mookgophong Mogalakwena Thabazimbi Economy Man and his donkeys collecting wood in a rural area Limpopo has a total population of 6.015 Million with 1.641million Households., The province has a high Human Development Index (HDI) of 0.710, which is the third highest in South Africa. Agriculture The bushveld is beef cattle country, where extensive ranching operations are often supplemented by controlled hunting. About 80% of South Africa's game hunting industry is in Limpopo. Sunflowers , cotton , maize and peanuts are cultivated in the Bela-Bela and Modimolle areas. Modimolle is also known for its table grapes . An embryotic wine industry is growing in Limpopo. Tropical fruit, such as bananas , litchis , pineapples , mangoes and pawpaws , as well as a variety of nuts , are grown in the Tzaneen and Louis Trichardt areas. Tzaneen is also at the centre of extensive citrus , tea , and coffee plantations and a major forestry industry. Most of the farmers and households lack a water supply. Therefore, they drill their boreholes on their premises. Housing Most Limpopo residents live in rural areas; this has led to a new phenomenon of rural development, where the residents have invested in building lavish homes on their tribal land. Limpopo rural houses have been profiled by TV channels, lifestyle vloggers, social media influencers, and Africa's biggest facts brand, Africa Facts Zone. According to 96.2% of Limpopo live in formal housing, above the national average of 84.0%. This makes Limpopo the province with the highest percentage of people living in formal housing in South Africa. Mining Ajoite in quartz , from the Messina mine, Limpopo Province, South Africa. Scale at bottom is one inch, with a rule at one cm. Limpopo's rich mineral deposits include the platinum group metals, iron ore, chromium, high- and middle-grade coking coal , diamonds, antimony , phosphate , and copper, as well as mineral reserves like gold, emeralds, scheelite , magnetite , vermiculite , silicon , and mica . Commodities such as black granite , corundum , and feldspar are also found. Mining contributes to over a fifth of the provincial economy. Limpopo has the largest platinum deposit in South Africa. The Waterberg Coalfield , the eastern extension of Botswana 's Mmamabula coalfields, is estimated to contain 40% of South Africa's coal reserves. Tourism The Limpopo Department of Economic Development, Environment and Tourism has targeted the province as a preferred eco-tourism destination. Its Environment and Tourism Programme encompasses tourism, protected areas, and community environment development to achieve sustainable economic growth. While Limpopo is one of South Africa's poorest provinces, it is rich in wildlife, which gives it an advantage in attracting tourists. Both the private and public sectors are investing in tourism development. Near Modjadjiskloof , at Sunland Baobab farms, there is a large Baobab tree which has been fashioned into a relatively spacious pub. Transportation and communications The province has excellent road, rail, and air links. The N1 route from Johannesburg , which extends the length of the province, is the busiest overland route in Africa in terms of cross-border trade in raw materials and beneficiated goods. The port of Durban , South Africa's busiest, is served directly by the province, as are the ports of Richards Bay and Maputo . Polokwane International Airport is situated just north of Polokwane . Limpopo province contains approximately 56 airports and airstrips. Education The Department of Education is responsible for effecting quality education and training for all. The Department has to coordinate all professional development and support. Policies, systems, and procedures had to be developed. Educational institutions As of December 2020, 12.9% of the Limpopo population had attained some post-school qualifications. The following higher education institutions are found in Limpopo: University of Limpopo (Polokwane , Mankweng ) University of Venda (Thohoyandou ) Tshwane University of Technology (Polokwane Campus) Capricorn College for TVET (Seshego ) Capricorn College for TVET (Polokwane) Lephalale TVET College (Lephalale)[ Letaba TVET College (Tzaneen)[ Mopani South East TVET College (Phalaborwa) Sekhukhune TVET College (Motetema) Vhembe TVET College (Venda) Waterberg TVET College (Mokopane) Giyani Campus Of Nursing College Limpopo Province College of Nursing (Giyani Campus) Sports Association football : Polokwane was one of South Africa's host cities for the 2010 FIFA World Cup , with matches being played at the Peter Mokaba Stadium . Football clubs in the province include Real Rovers, Silver Stars, Black Leopards, Polokwane City, Baroka, Ria Stars, and Dynamos. Rugby union : Limpopo has no provincial rugby team of its own; it is represented in the domestic Currie Cup by the Pretoria -based Blue Bulls . The Blue Bulls also operate a Super Rugby franchise, known simply as the Bulls . Limpopo nonetheless produces its share of top players. Most notably, the two most-capped forwards in the history of the country's national team , John Smit and Victor Matfield , are both natives of Polokwane. Basketball : The province is home to Limpopo Pride , a professional team that plays in South Africa's top basketball division, the Basketball National League . Demographics The population of Limpopo consists of several ethnic groups distinguished by culture, language, and race. 97.3% of the population is Black , 2.4% is White , 0.2% is Coloured , and 0.1% is Indian /Asian . The province has the smallest percentage and second smallest total number of White South Africans in the country. However, there are several localities with a White majority, notably Hoedspruit and Modimolle . It also has the highest Black percentage out of all the provinces. The Northern Sotho people comprise the largest percentage of the population, 52% of the province. The Tsonga people comprise about 24.0% of the province; the Tsonga also comprise about 11.5% of Mpumalanga province since the southern part of their homeland, Gazankulu , was cut off from Limpopo and allocated to Mpumalanga. The Venda make up about 16.7%. Afrikaners make up the majority of Limpopo's White population, about 95,000 people; English -speaking Whites number just over 20,000. Vhembe district has the smallest share of White people in Limpopo, about 5,000 total. In contrast, the Waterberg district has the largest share of Whites, with more than 60,000 Whites residing there. Coloureds and Asians /Indians make up a tiny percentage of the province's total population. HIV / AIDS At 18.5% (2007), Limpopo has a relatively high incidence of HIV compared to other South African provinces. Cases rose from 14.5% to 21.5% between 2001 and 2005, with a slight fall between 2005 and 2007. However, as at 2019, the Limpopo province HIV stats sat at (13.2%) which is one of the lowest in comparison with other provinces in South Africa. BACK TO TOP

Southernstar-Africa School Projects Work With Us Looking to promote your brand or destination to an audience of well-traveled families? See if we might be a good fit. Who We Are Welcome to Full Suitcase! We are a South African family , discovering the world’s most amazing destinations one trip at a time. Through our travel stories and captivating images on our travel Website as well as a school project for children around the world, we inspire others to travel more, discover new places, take their kids along, and make the most of every single trip! We take our kids to the most incredible places in South Africa , and prove that pretty much any destination can be visited by families with kids of any age. Our audience appreciates and trusts travel tips based on our first-hand experience. We get daily feedback from our readers who tell us that our Website inspires them to visit new places and helps them with the practical side of planning the trip. ​ Why Work With Us Our goal is to create win-win relationships! We offer multiple ways to reach a valuable audience of well-traveled people looking for travel inspiration and destination information. ​ Our readers relate to our first-hand experiences, value our credibility, and book their trips based on our recommendations. If your destination is a good fit with our blog and travel style, we will be happy to showcase it with an engaging review, coupled with professional-quality photography, and lots of practical tips to help people make a similar trip of their own. We will publish high-quality timeless content that will continue to attract readers over a long period of time. In addition, we can provide social media coverage via Instagram, Facebook, Twitter- X, and Pinterest. ​ Our Audience Our Website reaches a very large international audience of millions of readers each year. In addition, we have a strong presence on all major social media. Most of our readers come from the USA. The other half is from the UK, Canada, Europe, and Australia, but also India, Singapore, and pretty much all over the world. Interested to know more details? Contact us by email a.dezius@gmail.com and we can further discuss how we can work together! ​ Our Website : riseingsouthernstar-africa ,has been visited from all over the World PAGE VIEWS ; 79;518 FLAG COUNTRY VISITED : 175 ​ ​ View More Discover the rich and diverse history of South Africa with Southernstar-Africa School Projects. Learn about the lives of influential figures such as Jan van Riebeeck, Paul Kruger, and Nelson Mandela. Our team is dedicated to sharing our knowledge and passion for South African history with students from around the world. At Southernstar-Africa, we believe that education is the key to understanding and appreciating our history. Our team consists of experienced educators and historians who are committed to making learning fun and engaging. Join us on a journey through time and discover the people who shaped South Africa's rich history. Featured Featured In Our Partners Welcome to our partners page! We are thrilled to have you here. At [company name], we believe in building strong partnerships that benefit both parties. We are always looking for new partners to join us and grow together. Explore our website to learn more about our partnership opportunities and how we can work together. Contact Get in Touch a.dezius@gmai.com Or fill out the form below First Name Email Last Name Phone Message Submit Thank you for contacting us! BACK TO TOP

Wildlife Backgrounds and Glitters South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa, is a country located at the southern tip of Africa. It is divided into nine provinces and has 2,798 kilometres (1,739 mi) of coastline. To the north lie the neighbouring countries of Namibia, Botswana and Zimbabwe; to the east are Mozambique and Swaziland; while Lesotho is an enclave surrounded by South African territory. South Africa is the 25th largest country in the world by area and the 24th most populous country with over 51 million people. South Africa has a large variety of wildlife, including snakes, birds, plains animals, and predators. The country has 299 species of mammals and 858 species of birds. In Africa, the big five game animals are lion, African elephant, Cape buffalo, leopard, and rhinoceros.The term big five game sometimes capitalized or quoted as "Big Five" was coined by big-game hunters and refers to the five most difficult animals in Africa to hunt on foot. Subsequently the term was adopted by safari tour operators for marketing purposes.The term is still used in most tourist and wildlife guides that discuss African wildlife safaris. Wildlife Backgrounds and Glitters Riseingsouthernstar-africa Wallpaper This site is dedicated to providing free animal print wallpaper for royalty free use. Animal wallpapers come in all different patters, including Zebra, Leopard, Cheetah,Snakeskin,and Land Scapes almost any animal print you want you can find here to download for your computer desktop wallpaper for free.. Wallpapers are one of the best things you can use to customize your desktop well. In one way or the other, it somehow influences our mood as we look at it, it may inspire you to do better or just help you relax for a while. In any ways, these wallpapers can help in personalizing your desktop background... Download a new desktop background from a series of photos that utilize vivid color to highlight the power of photography. In this post we will be showcasing Free Adorable Animal Wallpapers. In this collection we have gathered yet another set of wallpapers featuring some of the charming animals from domestic to exotic ones. These are all for free to download for your personal use. Why don’t you take a peek and choose your pick. SOUTH AFRICAN SUNSET WALLPAPER / BACKGROUNDS WILDLIFE ANIMAL WALLPAPER / BACKGROUNDS ​ SOUTH AFRICAN LAND SCAPE WALLPAPER / BACKGROUNDS MIXED WILDLIFE WALLPAPER / BACKGROUNDS ​ LION AND SUNSET WALLPAPER / BACKGROUNDS ANIMAL BACKGROUNDS / WALLPAPER ANIMAL SKINS BACKGROUNDS / WALLPAPER ANIMAL SKINS BACKGROUNDS / WALLPAPER ​ ANIMATED SUNSET MIRROR PICTURES... Wildlife Backgrounds and Glitters Wildlife Backgrounds and Glitters Riseingsouthernstar-africa Wallpaper This site is dedicated to providing free animal print wallpaper for royalty free use. Animal wallpapers come in all different patters, including Zebra, Leopard, Cheetah,Snakeskin,and Land Scapes almost any animal print you want you can find here to download for your computer desktop wallpaper for free.. Wallpapers are one of the best things you can use to customize your desktop well. In one way or the other, it somehow influences our mood as we look at it, it may inspire you to do better or just help you relax for a while. In any ways, these wallpapers can help in personalizing your desktop background... Download a new desktop background from a series of photos that utilize vivid color to highlight the power of photography. In this post we will be showcasing Free Adorable Animal Wallpapers. In this collection we have gathered yet another set of wallpapers featuring some of the charming animals from domestic to exotic ones. These are all for free to download for your personal use. Why don’t you take a peek and choose your pick. BACK TO TOP

AFRIKAANER BOERE VOORTREKKERS The Afrikaner, Boer, and Voortrekkers are all groups of people from South Africa with unique histories and cultures. The Afrikaner are descendants of Dutch, German, and French settlers who arrived in South Africa in the 17th century. The Boer are descendants of Afrikaner farmers who migrated inland during the 19th century. The Voortrekkers were a group of Boer pioneers who embarked on a mass migration known as the Great Trek in the 1830s. DIE AFRIKAANER Afrikaners (Afrikaans: are a Southern African ethnic group descended from predominantly Dutch settlers first arriving at the Cape of Good Hope in 1652. Until 1994, they dominated South Africa's politics as well as the country's commercial agricultural sector.[ Afrikaners make up approximately 5.2% of the total South African population, based upon the number of White South Africans who speak Afrikaans as a first language in the South African National Census of 2011. Afrikaans , South Africa's third most widely spoken home language, evolved as the mother tongue of Afrikaners and most Cape Coloureds. Afrikaans as a formal language originated from the Dutch vernacular of South Holland,incorporating numerous terms and words brought from the Dutch East Indies (now Indonesia) and Madagascar by slaves. The arrival of Portuguese explorer Vasco da Gama at Calicut, India, in 1498 opened a gateway of free access to Asia from Western Europe around the Cape of Good Hope; however, it also necessitated the founding and safeguarding of trade stations in the East. The Portuguese landed in Mossel Bay in 1500, explored Table Bay two years later, and by 1510 had started raiding inland. Shortly afterwards, the Dutch Republic sent merchant vessels to India and, in 1602, founded the Dutch East India Company (Vereenigde Oostindische Compagnie; VOC). As the volume of traffic rounding the Cape increased, the VOC recognised its natural harbour as an ideal watering point for the long voyage around Africa to the Orient and established a victualling station there in 1652. VOC officials did not favour the permanent settlement of Europeans in their trading empire, although during the 140 years of Dutch rule many VOC servants retired or were discharged and remained as private citizens. Furthermore, the exigencies of supplying local garrisons and passing fleets compelled the administration to confer free status on employees and oblige them to become independent farmers. Encouraged by the success of this experiment, the company extended free passage from 1685 to 1707 for Dutch families wishing to settle at the Cape. In 1688, it sponsored the settlement of 200 French Huguenot refugees forced into exile by the Edict of Fontainebleau. The terms under which the Huguenots agreed to immigrate were the same as those offered to other VOC subjects, including free passage and the requisite farm equipment on credit. Prior attempts at cultivating vineyards or exploiting olive groves for fruit had been unsuccessful, and it was hoped that Huguenot colonists accustomed to Mediterranean agriculture could succeed where the Dutch had failed. They were augmented by VOC soldiers returning from Asia, predominantly Germans channeled into Amsterdam by the company's extensive recruitment network and thence overseas. Despite their diverse nationalities, the colonists used a common language and adopted similar attitudes towards politics. The attributes they shared served as a basis for the evolution of Afrikaner identity and consciousness. In the twentieth century, Afrikaner nationalism took the form of political parties and closed societies, such as the Broederbond. In 1914, the National Party was founded to promote Afrikaner interests.[9] It gained power by winning South Africa's 1948 general elections. The party was noted for implementing a harsh policy of racial segregation (apartheid) and declaring South Africa a republic in 1961. Following decades of domestic unrest and international sanctions that resulted in bilateral and multi-party negotiations to end apartheid, South Africa held its first multiracial elections under a universal franchise in 1994. As a result of this election the National Party was ousted from power, and was eventually dissolved in 2005. Nomenclature The term "Afrikaner" (formerly sometimes in the forms Afrikaander or Afrikaaner, from the Dutch Africaander currently denotes the politically, culturally, and socially dominant and majority group need quotation to verify] among white South Africans, or the Afrikaans-speaking population of Dutch origin. Their original progenitors, especially in paternal lines, also included smaller numbers of Flemish, French Huguenot, German, Danish, Norwegian, Swiss, and Swedish immigrants. Historically, the terms "burgher" and "Boer" have both been used to describe white Afrikaans-speakers as a group; neither is particularly objectionable, but "Afrikaner" has been considered a more appropriate term. By the late nineteenth century, the term was in common usage in both the Boer republics and the Cape Colony. At one time, burghers denoted Cape Dutch: those settlers who were influential in the administration, able to participate in urban affairs, and did so regularly. Boers often refer to settled ethnic European farmers or nomadic cattleherders. During the Batavian Republic of 1795–1806, burgher ('citizen') was popularised[by whom?] among Dutch communities both at home and abroad as a popular revolutionary form of address. In South Africa, it remained in use as late as the Second Boer War of 1899–1902. The first recorded instance of a colonist identifying as an Afrikaner occurred in March 1707, during a disturbance in Stellenbosch. When the magistrate, Johannes Starrenburg, ordered an unruly crowd to desist, a young white man named Hendrik Biebouw retorted, "Ik wil niet loopen, ik ben een Afrikaander – al slaat de landdrost mij dood, of al zetten hij mij in de tronk, ik zal, nog wil niet zwijgen!" ("I will not leave, I am an African – even if the magistrate were to beat me to death or put me in jail, I shall not be, nor will I stay, silent!"). Biebouw was flogged for his insolence and later banished to Batavia[ (present-day Jakarta, Indonesia). The word Afrikaner is thought to have first been used to classify Cape Coloureds, or other groups of mixed-race ancestry. Biebouw had numerous "half-caste" (mixed race) siblings and may have identified with Coloureds socially. The growing use of the term appeared to express the rise of a new identity for white South Africans, suggesting for the first time a group identification with the Cape Colony rather than with an ancestral homeland in Europe. Afrikaner culture and people are also commonly referred to as the Afrikaans or Afrikaans people. For the years 1985–2011, the census statistics show the number of Afrikaans-speaking whites. Considering that there could be a significant number of English-speaking Afrikaners (especially after 2001), the numbers could be higher. VOC initially had no intention of establishing a permanent European settlement at the Cape of Good Hope ; until 1657, it devoted as little attention as possible to the development or administration of the Dutch Cape Colony . From the VOC's perspective, there was little financial incentive to regard the region as anything more than the site of a strategic manufacturing centre. Furthermore, the Cape was unpopular among VOC employees, who regarded it as a barren and insignificant outpost with little opportunity for advancement. A small number of longtime VOC employees who had been instrumental in the colony's founding and its first five years of existence, however, expressed interest in applying for grants of land with the objective of retiring at the Cape as farmers. In time, they came to form a class of former VOC employees, vrijlieden, also known as vrijburgers (free citizens," who stayed in Dutch territories overseas after serving their contracts. The vrijburgers were to be of Dutch birth (although exceptions were made for some Germans), married, "of good character", and had to undertake to spend at least twenty years in Southern Africa. In March 1657, when the first vrijburgers started receiving their farms, the white population of the Cape was only about Although the soil and climate in Cape Town were suitable for farming, willing immigrants remained in short supply, including a number of orphans, refugees, and foreigners. From 1688 onward, the Cape attracted some French Huguenots, most of them refugees from the protracted conflict between Protestants and Catholics in France. South Africa's white population in 1691 has been described as the Afrikaner "parent stock", as no significant effort was made to secure more colonist families after the dawn of the 18th century,[9] and a majority of Afrikaners are descended from progenitors who arrived prior to 1700 in general and the late 1600s in particular. Although some two-thirds of this figure were Dutch-speaking Hollanders, there were at least 150 Huguenots and a nearly equal number of Low German speakers. Also represented in smaller numbers were Swedes, Danes, and Belgians ​ DIE BOER Boers Afrikaans : Boere ([ˈbuːrə] ) are the descendants of the proto Afrikaans -speaking Free Burghers of the eastern Cape frontier[2] in Southern Africa during the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries. From 1652 to 1795, the Dutch East India Company controlled Dutch Cape Colony , but the United Kingdom incorporated it into the British Empire in 1806. The name of the group is derived from Trekboer then later "boer", which means "farmer" in Dutch and Afrikaans. In addition, the term Boeren also applied to those who left the Cape Colony during the 19th century to colonise in the Orange Free State , Transvaal (together known as the Boer Republics ), and to a lesser extent Natal . They emigrated from the Cape to live beyond the reach of the British colonial administration, with their reasons for doing so primarily being the new Anglophone common law system being introduced into the Cape and the British abolition of slavery in 1833. The term Afrikaners or Afrikaans people is generally used in modern-day South Africa for the white Afrikaans-speaking population of South Africa (the largest group of White South Africans ) encompassing the descendants of both the Boers, and the Cape Dutch who did not embark on the Great Trek . ​ Origin European colonists Flag of the Dutch East India Company The Dutch East India Company (Dutch : Vereenigde Oostindische Compagnie; VOC) was formed in the Dutch Republic in 1602, and at this time the Dutch had entered the competition for the colonial and imperial trade of commerce in Southeast Asia. The end of the Thirty Years' War in 1648 saw European soldiers and refugees widely dispersed across Europe. Immigrants from Germany, Scandinavia, and Switzerland traveled to the Netherlands in the hope of finding employment with the VOC. During the same year, one of their ships was stranded in Table Bay near what would eventually become Cape Town , and the shipwrecked crew had to forage for themselves on shore for several months. They were so impressed with the natural resources of the country that on their return to the Republic, they represented to the VOC directors the great advantages to be had for the Dutch Eastern trade from a properly provided and fortified station at the Cape. As a result, the VOC sent a Dutch expedition in 1652 led by Jan van Riebeek , who constructed a fort and laid out vegetable gardens at Table Bay and took control over Cape Town, which he governed for a decade. Free Burghers Main article: Free Burghers VOC favoured the idea of freemen at the Cape and many workers of VOC requested to be discharged in order to become free burghers. As a result Jan van Riebeeck approved the notion on favourable conditions and earmarked two areas near the Liesbeek River for farming purposes in 1657. The two areas which were allocated to the freemen, for agricultural purposes, were named Groeneveld and Dutch Garden. These areas were separated by the Amstel River (Liesbeek River). Nine of the best applicants were selected to use the land for agricultural purposes. The freemen or free burghers as they were afterwards termed, thus became subjects of VOC and were no longer its servants. In 1671, the Dutch first purchased land from the indigenous Khoikhoi beyond the limits of the fort built by Van Riebeek; this marked the development of the Colony proper . As the result of the investigations of a 1685 commissioner, the government worked to recruit a greater variety of immigrants to develop a stable community. They formed part of the class of vrijlieden, also known as vrijburgers ('free citizens'), former VOC employees who remained at the Cape after serving their contracts.[10] A large number of vrijburgers became independent farmers and applied for grants of land, as well as loans of seed and tools, from VOC administration. Dutch free immigrants VOC authorities had been endeavouring to induce gardeners and small farmers to emigrate from Europe to South Africa, but with little success. They were only able to attract a few families through tales of wealth, but the Cape had little charm in comparison. In October 1670, however, the Chamber of Amsterdam announced that a few families were willing to leave for the Cape and Mauritius during the following December. Among the new names of burghers at this time are Jacob and Dirk van Niekerk, Johannes van As, Francois Villion, Jacob Brouwer, Jan van Eden, Hermanus Potgieter, Albertus Gildenhuis, and Jacobus van den Berg. French Huguenots During 1688–1689, the colony was greatly strengthened by the arrival of nearly two hundred French Huguenots , who were political refugees from the religious wars in France following the revocation of the Edict of Nantes . They joined colonies at Stellenbosch , Drakenstein , Franschhoek and Paarl . The influence of the Huguenots on the character of the colonists was marked, leading to the VOC directing in 1701 that only Dutch should be taught in schools. This resulted in the Huguenots assimilating by the middle of the 18th century, with a loss in the use and knowledge of French . The colony gradually spread eastwards, and in 1754 land as far as Algoa Bay was included in the colony. At this time the European colonists numbered eight to ten thousand. They possessed numerous slaves, grew wheat in sufficient quantity to make it a commodity crop for export, and were famed for the good quality of their wines . But their chief wealth was in cattle. They enjoyed considerable prosperity. Through the latter half of the 17th and the whole of the 18th century, troubles arose between the colonists and the government as the VOC administration was despotic . Its policies were not directed at development of the colony, but to using it to profit the VOC. VOC closed the colony against free immigration, kept the whole of the trade in its own hands, combined the administrative, legislative and judicial powers in one body, prescribed to the farmers the nature of the crops they were to grow, demanded a large part of their produce as a kind of tax, and made other exactions. Trekboers Main article: Trekboers This section needs additional citations for verification . Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources in this section. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (February 2021) (Learn how and when to remove this template message ) From time to time, indentured VOC servants were endowed with the right of freeburghers but the VOC retained the power to compel them to return into its service whenever they deemed it necessary. This right to force into servitude those who might incur the displeasure of the governor or other high officers was not only exercised with reference to the individuals themselves; it was claimed by the government to be applicable to their children as well. The tyranny caused many to feel desperate and to flee from oppression, even before 1700 trekking began. In 1780, Joachim van Plettenberg , the governor, proclaimed the Sneeuberge to be the northern boundary of the colony, expressing "the anxious hope that no more extension should take place, and with heavy penalties forbidding the rambling peasants to wander beyond". In 1789, so strong had feelings amongst the burghers become that delegates were sent from the Cape to interview the authorities at Amsterdam . After this deputation, some nominal reforms were granted. Descending from the Sneeuberge, a scene near Graaff-Reinet , by Burchell Passing Cradock Pass, Outeniqua Mountains , by Charles Collier Michell An aquatint by Samuel Daniell of Trekboers making camp Trekboers crossing the Karoo by Charles Davidson Bell It was largely to escape oppression that the farmers trekked farther and farther from the seat of government. VOC, to control the emigrants, established a magistracy at Swellendam in 1745 and another at Graaff Reinet in 1786. The Gamtoos River had been declared, c. 1740, the eastern frontier of the colony but it was soon passed. In 1780, however, the Dutch, to avoid collision with the Bantu peoples , agreed with them to make the Great Fish River the common boundary. In 1795 the heavily taxed burghers of the frontier districts, who were afforded no protection against the Bantus, expelled the VOC officials, and set up independent governments at Swellendam and Graaff Reinet. The trekboers of the 19th century were the lineal descendants of the trekboers of the 18th century. The end of the 19th century saw a revival of the same tyrannical monopolist policy as that in the VOC government in the Transvaal . If the formula, "In all things political, purely despotic; in all things commercial, purely monopolist", was true of the VOC government in the 18th century, it was equally true of Kruger 's government in the latter part of the 19th. The underlying fact which made the trek possible is that the Dutch-descended colonists in the eastern and northeastern parts of the colony were not cultivators of the soil, but of purely pastoral and nomadic habits, ever ready to seek new pastures for their flocks and herds, possessing no special affection for any particular locality. These people, thinly scattered over a wide territory, had lived for so long with little restraint from the law that when, in 1815, by the institution of "Commissions of Circuit", justice was brought nearer to their homes, various offences were brought to light, the remedying of which caused much resentment. The Dutch-descended colonists in the eastern and northeastern parts of the colony, as a result of the Great Trek , had removed themselves from governmental rule and become widely spread out. However, the institution of "Commissions of Circuit" in 1815 allowed the prosecution of crimes, with offences committed by the trekboers—notably including many against people they had enslaved—seeing justice. These prosecutions were very unpopular amongst the trekkers and were seen as interfering with their rights over the enslaved people they viewed as their property. A map of the expansion of the Trekboers (1700–1800) Evolution of the Dutch Cape Colony (1700–1800) Administrative divisions of the Dutch Cape Colony Invasion of the Cape Colony Main article: Invasion of the Cape Colony The Invasion of the Cape Colony was a British military expedition launched in 1795 against the Dutch Cape Colony at the Cape of Good Hope . The Netherlands had fallen under the revolutionary government of France and a British force under General Sir James Henry Craig was sent to Cape Town to secure the colony from the French for the Prince of Orange , a refugee in England. The governor of Cape Town at first refused to obey the instructions from the Prince, but when the British proceeded to land troops to take possession anyway, he capitulated. His action was hastened by the fact that the Khoikhoi, escaping from their former enslavers, flocked to the British standard. The burghers of Graaff Reinet did not surrender until a force had been sent against them; in 1799 and again in 1801 they rose in revolt. In February 1803, as a result of the peace of Amiens (February 1803), the colony was handed over to the Batavian Republic which introduced many reforms, as had the British during their eight years' rule. One of the first acts of General Craig had been to abolish torture in the administration of justice. The country still remained essentially Dutch, and few British citizens were attracted to it. Its cost to the British exchequer during this period was £ 16,000,000. The Batavian Republic entertained very liberal views as to the administration of the country, but had little opportunity to enact them. When the War of the Third Coalition broke out in 1803, a British force was once again sent to the Cape. After an engagement (January 1806) on the shores of Table Bay, the Dutch garrison of Castle of Good Hope surrendered to the British under Sir David Baird , and in the 1814 Anglo-Dutch treaty the colony was ceded outright by The Netherlands to the British crown . At that time the colony extended to the line of mountains guarding the vast central plateau, then called Bushmansland (after a name for the San people ), and had an area of about 120,000 sq. m. and a population of some 60,000, of whom 27,000 were whites, 17,000 free Khoikhoi and the rest enslaved people, mostly non-indigenous blacks and Malays. Dislike of British rule Although the colony was fairly prosperous, many of the Dutch farmers were as dissatisfied with British rule as they had been with that of the VOC, though their grounds for complaint were not the same. In 1792, Moravian missions had been established which targeted the Khoikhoi, and in 1799 the London Missionary Society began work among both Khoikhoi and Bantu peoples. The missionaries' championing of Khoikhoi grievances caused much dissatisfaction among the majority of the Dutch colonists, whose views temporarily prevailed, for in 1812 an ordinance was issued which empowered magistrates to bind Khoikhoi children as apprentices under conditions which differed little from slavery . Simultaneously, the movement for the abolition of slavery was gaining strength in England, and the missionaries appealed from the colonists to the mother country. Slachter's Nek A farmer named Frederick Bezuidenhout refused to obey a summons issued on the complaint of a Khoikhoi, and, firing on the party sent to arrest him, was killed by the return fire. This caused a small rebellion in 1815, known as Slachters Nek , described as "the most insane attempt ever made by a set of men to wage war against their sovereign" by Henry Cloete. Upon its suppression, five ringleaders were publicly hanged at the spot where they had sworn to expel "the English tyrants". The feeling caused by the hanging of these men was deepened by the circumstances of the execution, as the scaffold on which the rebels were simultaneously hanged broke down from their united weight and the men were afterwards hanged one by one. An ordinance was passed in 1827, abolishing the old Dutch courts of landdrost and heemraden (resident magistrates being substituted) and establishing that henceforth all legal proceedings should be conducted in English. The granting in 1828, as a result of the representations of the missionaries, of equal rights with whites to the Khoikhoi and other free coloured people, the imposition (1830) of heavy penalties for harsh treatment of enslaved people, and finally the emancipation of the enslaved people in 1834, were measures which combined to aggravate the farmers' dislike of government. Moreover, what these enslavers viewed as the inadequate compensation for the freeing of the enslaved people, and the suspicions engendered by the method of payment, caused much resentment; and in 1835 the farmers again removed themselves to unknown country to escape the government. While emigration beyond the colonial border had been continuous for 150 years, it now took on larger proportions. Cape Frontier Wars (1779–1879) Main article: Xhosa Wars Map of the Cape Colony in 1809, early British rule The migration of the trekboers from the Cape Colony into the Eastern Cape parts of South Africa, where the native Xhosa people had established settlements, gave rise to a series of conflicts between the Boers and the Xhosas. In 1775 the Cape government established a boundary between the trekboers and the Xhosas at the Bushmans and Upper Fish Rivers. The Boers and Xhosas ignored the boundary, with both groups establishing homes on either side of the frontier. Governor van Plettenberg attempted to persuade both groups to respect the boundary line without success. The Xhosas were accused of stealing cattle and in 1779 a series of skirmishes erupted along the border which initiated the 1st Frontier War. The frontier remained unstable, resulting in the outbreak of the 2nd Frontier War in 1789. Raids carried out by Boers and Xhosas on both sides of the boundary caused much friction in the area which resulted in several groups being drawn into the conflict. In 1795, the British invasion of the Cape Colony resulted in a change of government. After the government takeover the British began to draw up policies with regards to the frontier resulting in a Boer rebellion in Graaff-Reinet . The policies caused the Khoisan tribes to join some Xhosa chiefs in attacks against British forces during the 3rd Frontier War (1799–1803): Peace was restored to the area when the British, under the Treaty of Amiens , returned the Cape Colony to the Dutch Batavian Republic in 1803. In January 1806 during a second invasion, the British reoccupied the colony after the Battle of Blaauwberg . Tensions in the Zuurveld led the colonial administration and Boer colonists to expel many of the Xhosa tribes from the area, initiating the 4th Frontier War in 1811. Conflicts between the Xhosas on the frontier led to the 5th Frontier War in 1819.[14] The Xhosas, due to dissatisfaction with vacillating government policies regarding where they were permitted to live, undertook large-scale cattle thefts on the frontier. The Cape government responded with several military expeditions. In 1834 a large Xhosa force moved into the Cape territory, which began the 6th Frontier War. Additional fortifications were built by the government and mounted patrols were not well received by the Xhosas, who continued with raids on farms during the 7th Frontier War (1846–1847). The 8th (1850–1853) and 9th Frontier Wars (1877–1878) continued at the same pace as their predecessors. Eventually the Xhosas were defeated and the territories were brought under British control. Great Trek Main article: Great Trek A map charting the routes of the largest trekking parties during the first wave of the Great Trek (1835–1840) along with key battles and events. The Great Trek occurred between 1835 and the early 1840s. During that period some 12,000 to 14,000 Boers (including women and children), impatient with British rule, emigrated from Cape Colony into the great plains beyond the Orange River , and across them again into Natal and the vastness of the Zoutspansberg , in the northern part of the Transvaal. Those Trekboers who occupied the eastern Cape were semi-nomadic. A significant number in the eastern Cape frontier later became Grensboere ('border farmers') who were the direct ancestors of the Voortrekkers . The Boers addressed several correspondence to the British Colonial Government before leaving the Cape Colony as reasons for their departure. Piet Retief , one of the leaders of the Boers during the time, addressed a letter to the government on 22 January 1837 in Grahamstown stating that the Boers did not see any prospect for peace or happiness for their children in a country with such internal commotions. Retief further complained about the severe financial losses which they felt had resulted from the laws of the British administration. While there was financial compensation for the freeing of the people they had enslaved, the Boers found it to be inadequate. They also felt that the English church system was incompatible with the Dutch Reformed Church . By this time the Boers had already formed a separate code of laws in preparation for the great trek and were aware of the dangerous territory they were about to enter. Retief concluded his letter with "We quit this colony under the full assurance that the English Government has nothing more to require of us, and will allow us to govern ourselves without its interference in future: ​ Anglo-Boer wars Main articles: First Boer War and Second Boer War Boer family traveling by covered wagon circa 1900 Following the British annexation of the Transvaal in 1877, Paul Kruger was a key figure in organizing a Boer resistance which led to expulsion of the British from the Transvaal. The Boers then fought the Second Boer War in the late 19th and early 20th century against the British in order to ensure the republics of the Transvaal (the Zuid-Afrikaansche Republiek ) and the Orange Free State , remaining independent, ultimately capitulating in 1902.[16] Boer War diaspora See also: Boer War diaspora After the Second Boer War, a Boer diaspora occurred. Starting in 1903, the largest group emigrated to the Patagonia region of Argentina and to Brazil . Another group emigrated to British colony of Kenya , from where most returned to South Africa during the 1930s, while a third group under the leadership of General Ben Viljoen emigrated to Mexico and to New Mexico and Texas in the southwestern United States. 1914 Boer Revolt Main article: Maritz Rebellion The Maritz Rebellion (also known as the Boer Revolt, the Five Shilling Rebellion or the Third Boer War) occurred in 1914 at the start of World War I , in which men who supported the re-creation of the Boer republics rose up against the government of the Union of South Africa because they did not want to side with the British against the German Empire so soon after the war with the British. Many Boers had German ancestry and many members of the government were themselves former Boer military leaders who had fought with the Maritz rebels against the British in the Second Boer War. The rebellion was put down by Louis Botha and Jan Smuts , and the ringleaders received heavy fines and terms of imprisonment. One, Jopie Fourie , an officer in the Union Defence Force , was convicted for treason when he refused to take up arms alongside the British, and was executed by the South African government in 1914. Characteristics Language Main article: Afrikaans Afrikaans is a West Germanic language spoken widely in South Africa and Namibia , and to a lesser extent in Botswana and Zimbabwe . It evolved from the Dutch vernacular of South Holland (Hollandic dialect) spoken by the mainly Dutch colonists of what is now South Africa, where it gradually began to develop distinguishing characteristics in the course of the 18th century.Hence, it is a daughter language of Dutch, and was previously referred to as Cape Dutch (also used to refer collectively to the early Cape colonists ) or kitchen Dutch (a derogatory term used in its earlier days). However, it is also variously (although incorrectly) described as a creole or as a partially creolised language. The term is ultimately derived from Dutch Afrikaans-Hollands meaning African Dutch. Culture Painting depicting the Bullock wagons moving over the billowy plains, 2 January 1860 The desire to wander, known as trekgees, was a notable characteristic of the Boers. It figured prominently in the late 17th century when the Trekboers began to inhabit the northern and eastern Cape frontiers, again during the Great Trek when the Voortrekkers left the eastern Cape en masse, and after the major republics were established during the Thirstland ('Dorsland') Trek. One such trekker described the impetus for emigrating as, "a drifting spirit was in our hearts, and we ourselves could not understand it. We just sold our farms and set out northwestwards to find a new home". A rustic characteristic and tradition was developed quite early on as Boer society was born on the frontiers of white colonisation and on the outskirts of Western civilisation. The Boer quest for independence manifested in a tradition of declaring republics, which predates the arrival of the British; when the British arrived, Boer republics had already been declared and were in rebellion from the VOC. Beliefs The Boers of the frontier were known for their independent spirit, resourcefulness, hardiness, and self-sufficiency, whose political notions verged on anarchy but had begun to be influenced by republicanism: The Boers had cut their ties to Europe as they emerged from the Trekboer group.[24] The Boers possessed a distinct Protestant culture , and the majority of Boers and their descendants were members of a Reformed Church . The Nederduitsch Hervormde Kerk ('Dutch Reformed Church') was the national Church of the South African Republic (1852–1902). The Orange Free State (1854–1902) was named after the Protestant House of Orange in the Netherlands . The Calvinist influence, in such fundamental Calvinist doctrines such as unconditional predestination and divine providence , remains present in a minority of Boer culture, who see their role in society as abiding by the national laws and accepting calamity and hardship as part of their Christian duty. Many Boers have since converted denominations and are now members of Baptist , Charismatic , Pentecostal or Lutheran Churches . Modern usage During recent times, mainly during the apartheid reform and post-1994 eras, some white Afrikaans -speaking people, mainly with conservative political views, and of Trekboer and Voortrekker descent, have chosen to be called Boere, rather than Afrikaners, to distinguish their identity.[25] They believe that many people of Voortrekker descent were not assimilated into what they see as the Cape -based Afrikaner identity. They suggest that this developed after the Second Anglo-Boer War and the subsequent establishment of the Union of South Africa in 1910. Some Boer nationalists have asserted that they do not identify as a right-wing element of the political spectrum.[26] They contend that the Boers of the South African Republic and Orange Free State republics were recognised as a separate people or cultural group under international law by the Sand River Convention (which created the South African Republic in 1852),[27] the Bloemfontein Convention (which created the Orange Free State Republic in 1854), the Pretoria Convention (which re-established the independence of the South African Republic 1881), the London Convention (which granted the full independence to the South African Republic in 1884), and the Vereeniging Peace Treaty, which formally ended the Second Anglo-Boer War on 31 May 1902. Others contend, however, that these treaties dealt only with agreements between governmental entities and do not imply the recognition of a Boer cultural identity per se. The supporters of these views feel that the Afrikaner label was used from the 1930s onwards as a means of politically unifying the white Afrikaans speakers of the Western Cape with those of Trekboer and Voortrekker descent in the north of South Africa, where the Boer Republics were established. Since the Anglo-Boer war, the term Boerevolk ('farmer people') was rarely used in the 20th century by the various regimes because of the effort to assimilate the Boerevolk with the Afrikaners. A portion of those who are the descendants of the Boerevolk have reasserted use of this designation. The supporters of the Boer designation view the term Afrikaner as an artificial political label which usurped their history and culture, turning Boer achievements into Afrikaner achievements. They feel that the Western-Cape based Afrikaners – whose ancestors did not trek eastwards or northwards – took advantage of the republican Boers' destitution following the Anglo-Boer War. At that time, the Afrikaners attempted to assimilate the Boers into the new politically-based cultural label In contemporary South Africa, Boer and Afrikaner have often been used interchangeably. The Boers are the smaller segment within the Afrikaner designation, as the Afrikaners of Cape Dutch origin are more numerous. Afrikaner directly translated means African, and thus refers to all Afrikaans-speaking people in Africa who have their origins in the Cape Colony founded by Jan Van Riebeeck. Boer is a specific group within the larger Afrikaans-speaking population. During apartheid, Boer was used by opponents of apartheid in various contexts, referring to institutional structures such as the National Party, or to specific groups of people, such as members of the Police Force (colloquially known as Boere) and Army, Afrikaners, or white South Africans generally. This usage is often viewed as pejorative in contemporary South Africa. Politics Boere-Vryheidsbeweging Boerestaat Party Freedom Front Plus Front National Herstigte Nasionale Party National Conservative Party of South Africa Education The Movement for Christian-National Education is a federation of 47 Calvinist private schools, primarily in the Free State and the Transvaal, committed to educating Boer children from grade 0 through to 12. Media Some local radio stations promote the ideals of those who identify with the Boer people, like Radio Rosestad 100.6 FM (in Bloemfontein), Overvaal Stereo and Radio Pretoria . An internet-based radio station, Boerevolk Radio , promotes Boer separatism. Territories See also: Volkstaat Territorial areas in the form of a Boerestaat ('Boer State') are being developed as colonies exclusively for Boers/Afrikaners, notably Orania in the Northern Cape and Kleinfontein near Pretoria . Notable Boers Voortrekker leaders Sarel Cilliers Andries Hendrik Potgieter Andries Pretorius Piet Retief Great trek Racheltjie de Beer Dirkie Uys Marthinus Jacobus Oosthuizen Participants in the Second Anglo-Boer War Koos de la Rey , general; regarded as being one of the great military leaders of the Second Anglo-Boer War Danie Theron , soldier Christiaan Rudolf de Wet , general Siener van Rensburg , considered a prophet by some Politicians Louis Botha , first prime minister of South Africa (1910–1919) and former Boer general Petrus Jacobus Joubert , general and cabinet member of the Transvaal Republic Paul Kruger , president of the Transvaal Republic Martinus Theunis Steyn , 6th State President of the Orange Free State Spies Robey Leibbrandt Fritz Joubert Duquesne , Boer captain known as the Black Panther who served in the Second Boer War In modern fiction The history of the Cape Colony and the Boers in South Africa is covered at length in the 1980 novel The Covenant by American author James A. Michener. See also Boerboel Boerehaat Boer goat Boer music Great Trek Natalia Republic Orange Free State South African farm attacks South African Republic Transvaal civil war Transvaal Colony Volkstaat Voortrekker ​ DIE VOORTREKKER DIE VOORTREKKER The Voortrekkers were white Afrikaner farmers who emigrated from the British controlled Cape Colony into the erstwhile black-populated areas north of the Orange River in what is now South Africa 1 2 . They were also known as Boers 1 2 . The Voortrekkers left the Cape Colony during the 1830s and 1840s 1 3 . They migrated into the interior Highveld north of the Orange River. Voortrekker, any of the Boers (Dutch settlers or their descendants), or, as they came to be called in the 20th century, Afrikaners, who left the British Cape Colony in Southern Africa after 1834 and migrated into the interior Highveld north of the Orange River . During the next 20 years, they founded new communities in the Southern African interior that evolved into the colony of Natal and the independent Boer states of the Orange Free State and the South African Republic (the Transvaal ). The “Voortrekkers” label is used for the Boers who participated in the organized migrations of systematic colonization—commonly referred to as the Great Trek —and as a term it is to be distinguished from “trekboers,” who were Boers who had moved into the interior prior to the mid-1830s but on an individual or temporary basis. Most Voortrekkers were farming families from the eastern frontier region of the Cape Colony, and their departure is associated with the war against the Xhosa of 1835 (see Cape Frontier Wars ), although the relationship is disputed. The Voortrekkers traditionally have been depicted by English historians as economically backward people who left the Cape Colony as a protest against aspects of British rule, especially the ban on holding slaves (implemented after 1834) and British reluctance to take further land from the Xhosa for white settlement. More recently it has been argued that the very power of the British and the easy victory over the Xhosa in 1835, as well as an increase in the settler population, enticed the Voortrekkers into the interior with the prospect of more land and easy conquests. In this view, the Voortrekker exodus was part of a highly dynamic global movement of European expansion. ​ Trekboers ​ Not to be confused with Voortrekkers or Boers . An aquatint by Samuel Daniell of Trekboers making camp. Depicted around 1804. The Trekboers (/ˈtrɛkbuːrs/ Afrikaans : Trekboere) were nomadic pastoralists descended from European colonists on the frontiers of the Dutch Cape Colony in Southern Africa . The Trekboers began migrating into the interior from the areas surrounding what is now Cape Town , such as Paarl (settled from 1688), Stellenbosch (founded in 1679), and Franschhoek (settled from 1688), during the late 17th century and throughout the 18th century. Origins The Trekboers were seminomadic pastoralists , subsistence farmers who began trekking both northwards and eastwards into the interior to find better pastures/farmlands for their livestock to graze, as well as to escape the autocratic rule of the Dutch East India Company (or VOC), which administered the Cape . They believed the VOC was tainted with corruption and not concerned with the interests of the free burghers , the social class of most of the Trekboers. Trekboers also traded with indigenous people. This meant their herds were of hardy local stock.They formed a vital link between the pool of animals in the interior and the providers of shipping provisions at the Cape. Trekboere were nomadic, living in their wagons and rarely remaining in one location for an extended period of time. A number of Trekboers settled in the eastern Cape, where their descendants became known as Grensboere (Border Farmers). Expansion Main articles: Great Trek and Dorsland Trek A map of the expansion of the Trekboers out of the Cape Colony between 1700 and 1800 Despite the VOC's attempts to prevent settler expansion beyond the western Cape, the frontier of the Colony remained open: the authorities in Cape Town lacked the means to police the Colony's borders.By the 1740s the Trekboers had entered the Little Karoo . By the 1760s they reached the deep interior of the Great Karoo . Independent republics Due to the collapse of the VOC (which went bankrupt in 1800) and inspired by the French Revolution (1789) and the American Revolution ,[citation needed ] groups of Boers rebelled against VOC rule. They set up independent republics in the town of Graaff-Reinet (1795), and four months later, in Swellendam (17 June 1795). A few months later, the newly established Batavian Republic nationalised the VOC (1 March 1796); the Netherlands came under the sway of the new post-revolution French government . The British , who captured Cape Town in September 1795 in the course of the French Revolutionary Wars and took over the administration of Cape Colony, increased the level of government oversight the Trekboers were subject to. Tensions between the Trekboers and the British colonial administration would culminate in the Slachter's Nek Rebellion of 1815, which was rapidly suppressed and the leaders of the rebellion executed. Eventually, due to a combination of dissatisfaction with the British administration, constant frontier wars with the Xhosa to the east, and growing shortages of land, the Trekboers eventually went on the Great Trek . Legacy Mixed-race "Afrikander" Trekboer nomads in the Cape Colony, ancestral to the Baster people. Numerous Trekboers settled down to become border farmers for a few generations and later voortrekkers . But many of the group continued well into the 19th century as an economic class of nomadic pastoralists. Many Trekboers crossed the Orange River decades before the Voortrekkers did. Voortrekkers often encountered Trekboers in Transorangia during their Great Trek of the 1830s and 1840s. In 1815, a Trekboer/trader named Coenraad (Du) Buys (a surname of French Huguenot origin) was accused of cattle theft and fled from the British. He settled in the (western) Transvaal . He allegedly contracted polygamous marriages with hundreds of indigenous women, with his descendants' populating the town of Buysplaas in the Gourits River valley. He continued having numerous wives after leaving the colony. Descendants of his second series of marriages still live in the small town of Buysdorp, near the mission station of Mara, 20 km to the west of Louis Trichardt in the modern Limpopo province. Buys eventually disappeared while traveling along the Limpopo River . By the late 17th century, both the Trekboers and the Voortrekkers were collectively called Boers . Language "Karoo Trekboer," by Charles Davidson Bell The Trekboers spoke a variety of Dutch which they called die taal (lit. 'the language'), which evolved into the modern-day dialect Eastern Border Afrikaans , also known as East Cape Afrikaans. The Afrikaans language as a whole generally originated from 17th- and 18th-century Dutch dialects. Over time it incorporated numerous words and expressions from French, German, Portuguese, Malay , Khoi , and later also English. Still, roughly 90% of the vocabulary is of Dutch origin and it is closer linguistically to Standard Dutch than many Dutch dialects. If Afrikaans had not been defined a separate language during the 20th century, its various dialects would have been considered dialects of Dutch. ​ Section Subtitle BACK TO TOP

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South african Culture South African flag Songs Oranje-blanje-blou Oranje-blanje-blou (Afrikaans for Orange, white and blue) refers, of course, to the old South African flag used between 1928 and 1994. This song was popular especially among Afrikaners when this flag flew over South Africa. The tune is by Henry Hugh Pierson (they don't say whether it was borrowed from this composer), and the lyrics are by an Afrikaans poet who wrote under the name Eitemal. The attribution for the text reads: "EITEMAL na: ,,O.D., hoch in Ehren''. (There is a commonly used style of quotation marks, primarily German but often used in Afrikaans, that opens a quote with commas rather than the more familiar "inverted commas"). The title simply gives the colours of the 1928 South African flag, or, more strictly, the Dutch Princenvlag: orange, white and blue. (I am not certain of the derivation of "blanje", since it is not used in ordinary spoken Afrikaans, but I would guess that it is a form of the French "blanc", white). The text reads: Die Hoogland is ons woning, die land van son en veld, waar woeste vryheidswinde waai oor graf van meenge held. Die ruimtes het ons siel gevoed, ons kan g'n slawe wees, want vryer as die arendsvlug, die vlugte van ons gees. Chorus: Dis die tyd, (repeated) dis die dag, (repeated) om te handhaaf en te bou. Hoog die hart, (repeated) hoog die vlag, (repeated) hoog Oranje-blanje-blou! Ons gaan saam die donker toekoms in om as een te sneuwel of oorwin, met ons oog gerig op jou, ons Oranje-blanje-blou! (Note: In the sixth line [hoog Oranje-blanje-blou], there is an echo of "blou, blanje-blou!") Die ruwe berge-reekse staan hoog teen awendlug, soos gryse ewighede daar versteen, verstyf in vlug. En stewig soos die grou graniet ons Boeretrots en -trou, die fondament warop ond hier 'n nuwe nasie bou. (Chorus) Die God van onse vaders het ons hierheen gelei ons dien sy grootse skeppings-plan, solank ons Boere bly. Ons buig ons hoof voor Hom alleen; en as Hy ons verhoor omgord ons bly die lendene: Die toekoms wink daar voor. Translation (off the cuff - any improvements welcome). Note: the reference to Hoogland (translated here as highlands) is probably poetic licence for Highveld (Afrikaans Hoe"veld), a region which includes large parts of both the former Transvaal Province (Zuid- Afrikaansche Republiek) and the current Free State Province (the old Oranje Vrij Staat). The highlands are our home, the land of sun and veld, where wild winds of freedom blow over [the] grave of many a hero. The open spaces have fed our souls, we cannot be slaves [literaaly "we can be no slaves"] as freer than the eagle's flight, the flights of our spirit. Chorus: It's the time, it's the day, to maintain and to build. High the heart, high the flag, high Orange-white-blue! We go together into the dark future together to die or win, with our eye fixed on you, our Orange-white-blue! (Sneuwel means literally to die in warfare; oorwin means to win in battle.) The rugged mountain ranges stand high against the evening light like petrified grey eternities there, stiffened in flight. And firmly like the grey granite our Boer pride and loyalty, the foundation upon which we here are building a new nation. (The word awendlug [evening air] seems to be an error; it seems more logical to say awendlig [evening light]; awend is a poetic form [harking back to Dutch] for the more usual Afrikaans "aand"). The God of our fathers led us here, we serve his mighty creation plan, as long as we Boers remain. Webend our heads before Him alone; and if He hears us we gird our loins joyfully: The future waves us on. (Source: The FAK [Federasie van Afrikaanse Kultuurvereninge] Sangbunde). Mike Oettle, 06 Feb 2004. Ons Vlag Nou waai ons Vlag en wapper fier! Sy kleure is ons vreugde; hul skoonheid spoor ons harte aan tot ware, ed'le deugde. Oranje dui op heldemoed wat krag vind by die Here; die Blanje eis 'n rein gemoed; die Blou verg trou en ere. Ons Vlag bly steeds ons eenheidsband. Al kom ook sware tye; dis God wat waak oor Volk en Land, Suid-Afrika ons eie. Translation: Now our flag waves and flaps bravely! Its colours are our joy; their beauty encourages our hearts to true, noble virtues. Orange stands for heroic courage which draws strength from the Lord; the White demands a pure attitude; the Blue wants loyalty and honour. Our flag remains our bond of unity. Even if times get hard; it's God who watches over Nation and Land, South Africa our own. The forms "sware" (where "swaar" would be the usual way of speaking), "ed'le" (for "edele") and "ere" (for "eer") are poetic forms, adaptations to the scansion. The same goes for the word "meen'ge" in Oranje-blanje-blou, which would normally be "menige". (Source: The FAK [ Federasie van Afrikaanse Kultuurvereninge] Sangbunde). Mike Oettle, 10 Feb 2004 De Vlaamse Leeuw This song is an odd one to find in the FAK Sangbundel, since its title translates as "The Flemish Lion" and the language is Dutch, definitely not Afrikaans. Clearly, it was included because, centuries after the Eighty Years War, the symbol of Flanders still finds a resonance with Afrikaner descendants of those Protestant Flemings who fled Spanish rule and went to live in the Seven Provinces. The words are credited to T H van Peene, and the tune to K Mirij, arrangement by Dirkie de Villiers (son of M L de Villiers, the composer of the music to Die Stem van Suid-Afrika, the former South African national anthem). There are two verses and a refrain: Zij zullen hem niet temmen, de fiere Vlaamse Leeuw, al dreigen zij zijn vrijheid met kluisters en geschreeuw. Zij zullen hem niet temmen, zolang e'e'n Vlaming leeft, zolang de Leeuw kan klauwen, zolang hij tanden heeft. Refrain: Zij zullen him niet temmen zolang e'e'n Vlaming leeft, zolang de Leeuw kan klauwen, zolang hij tanden heeft, zolang de Leeuw kan klauwen, zolang hij tanden heeft. De tijd verslindt de steden, geen tronen blijven staan, de legerbenden sneven, een volk zal niet vergaan. De vijand trekt te velde, omringd van doodsgevaar. Wij lachen met zijn woede, die Vlaamse Leeuw is daar. Here's an attempt at a translation: They won't tame him, the proud Flemish Lion, even if they threaten his freedom with chains and shouting. They will not be able to tame him as long as even one Fleming lives, as long as the Lion can claw, as long as he has teeth. Refrain: They will not tame him, the proud Flemish Lion, as long as one Fleming lives, as long as the Lion has claws, as long as he has teeth, as long as the Lion has claws, as long as he has teeth. Time eats up the cities, no thrones last forever, the armed companies die in battle, a people will not disappear. The enemy goes out to war, surrounded by deadly danger. We laugh at his anger, the Flemish Lion is there. I have written the word een as e'e'n - each 'e' carries an acute accent. This emphasises the word, giving the meaning "even if only one Fleming is left alive". The word verslindt means to destroy by eating - this verb is used literally only of animals (never humans) and, poetically, of things that destroy in like manner. I am not certain that I have the right word for "kluisters" - I don't have a dictionary at hand as I write this - and would be grateful if some Dutch correspondent would check that. "Geschreeuw" can mean either shouting or screaming, but shouting seems more appropriate. In the second verse, "de legerbenden sneven" - "leger" means army, but "armed companies" seems to fit better with "benden" or bands. "Sneven" (in Afrikaans "sneuwel") means to die in war or in battle (rather than dying of disease, another common way in which soldiers have traditionally lost their lives). I have rendered "een volk" as "a people", but "a nation" could also be appropriate. "Trekt te velde" means literally to go out into the fields, but its application to an enemy means that it is out on campaign (after all, campaign comes from a word meaning "fields", also). Mike Oettle, 02 Mar 2004 Transvaalse Volkslied The Transvaalse Volkslied, although the official anthem of the Zuid-Afrikaansche Republiek and when the territory was officially called Transvaal (1879-81and 1901 onwards), it was not well thought of by the authorities. The words and music of the Transvaalse Volkslied are by Catharina F van Rees, and it is dated 1875 - surprisingly it dates to the period before the annexation of 1879, since the emotions seem to blend well with those of the victorious rebels of 1881. Possibly this date accounts for the song's non-avoidance of the word Transvaal, which was the name of the state so strongly rejected in the uprising of 1880-81. The arrangement is by G G Cillie'. (There is an acute accent on the final letter in this surname; it is pronounced "Sil-yee". The surname is French, although its spelling is no longer authentically French; other members of this family spell it as Cilliers or Celliers.) The language is Dutch. (As mentioned previously, Afrikaans was the spoken language of all the 19th-century Boer republics, but was hardly ever written, and was not generally well thought of by those who had been educated in either English or Dutch.) Kent gij dat volk vol heldenmoed en toch zo lang geknecht? Het heeft geofferd goed en bloed voor vryheid en voor recht. Komt burgers! laat de vlaggen wapp'ren, ons lijden is voorbij; roemt in die zege onzer dapp'ren: Dat vrije volk zijn wij! Dat vrije volk, dat vrije volk, dat vrije, vrije volk zijn wij! Kent gij dat land, zo schaars bezocht en toch zo heerlik schoon; waar de natuur haar wond'ren wrocht, en kwistig stelt ten toon? Transvalers! laat ons feestlied schallen! Daar waar ons volk hield stand, waar onze vreugdeschoten knallen, daar is ons vaderland! Dat heerlik land, dat heerlik land, dat is, dat is ons vaderland! Kent gij die Staat, nog maar een kind in's werelds Statenrij, maar tog door 't machtig Brits bewind weleer verklaard voor vrij? Transvalers! edel was uw streven, en pijnlik onze smaad, maar God die uitkomst heeft gegeven, zij lof voor d'eigen Staat! Looft onze God! Looft onze God! Looft onze God voor land en Staat! Now for a translation (again lease excuse and correct! any errors): Do you know the people full of heroic courage and yet so long servants? It has offered possessions and blood for freedom and for justice. Come, citizens, let the flags wave, our suffering is past; be joyous in the victory of our brave ones; We are the free people! The free people, the free people, the free, free people are we! Do you know the land, so seldom visited, and yet so wonderfully beautiful; where nature has wrought her wonders, and profligately puts them on display? Transvalers! let our festival song resound! There were our people stood fast, where our gunshots of joy resound, there is our fatherland, That wonderful land, that wonderful land, that is, that is our fatherland! Do you know the State, yet still a child among the States of the world, but nontheless by the mighty British power truly declared as free? Transvalers! Noble was your struggle, and painful our suffering, but God has given the outcome, and praise for our own State! Praise our God! Praise our God! Praise our God! Praise our God for land and State! In the first verse, "wapp'ren" and "dapp'ren" are poetic forms that omit the middle vowel. The same goes for "wond'ren" in the second verse. "Geknecht" means "reduced to the state of servants" (not quite slaves). In the third verse the word Statenrij has no exact equivalent in English, although English occasionally uses the same construction of ending a word with -ry to form a noun from a shorter one, as in "heraldry". "Statenrij" is perhaps best rendered as "the multitude of States" or "the variety of States" (independent states, that is). "Door't" is a typically Dutch construction which has disappeared from Afrikaans, except in one or two idioms, where the definite object "het" is reduced to its final letter and (sometimes) tagged onto the previous word. (North country English has a comparable usage, although this is a shortening of "the".) Mike Oettle, 04 Mar 2004 Vryheidslied On flipping through the FAK book I came across a song. The title is Vryheidslied. The lyrics are by Jan F E Celliers, and the music by Emiel Hullebroeck. The words are: Vrome vad're, fier en groot Deur vervolging, ramp en nood, was hul leuse, tot die dood: Vryheid! Vryheid! Erf'nis van hul moed en trou is die grond waar ons op bou. Juigend tot die hemel-blou: Vryheid! Vryheid! Ere wie die dood mag lei om te rus aan hulle sy, met die sterwenswoord te skei: Vryheid! Vryheid! Op dan, broers, en druk hul spoor, voorwaarts, broers, die vaandel voor, laat die veld ons krygsroep hoor: Vryheid! Vryheid! Woes geweld mag hoogty hou, kettings mag ons lede knou, maar die leuse bly ons trou: Vryheid! Vryheid! Jukke mag vir slawe wees, manneharte ken geen vrees, duld geen boei vir lyf of gees: Vryheid! Vryheid! Now the English translation: Pious fathers (ancestors), proud and brave Through persecution, disaster and need their motto, to the death, was: Freedom! Freedom! The heritage of their courage and faith is the land we build on. Joyful to the blue heavens: Freedom! Freedom! Honours to those led by death to rest at its side, uttering their final word: Freedom! Freedom! Up, then, brothers, and follow their tracks, forwards, brothers, the banner in front, may the veld hear our battle cry: Freedom! Freedom! Brutal force might with the day, chains may chafe our limbs, but to this motto we are faithful: Freedom! Freedom! Yokes may be for slaves, the hearts of men know no fear, tolerating no shackles for body or soul: Freedom! Freedom! Notes: The word "vader" translates as "father", and its usual plural is "vaders" ("fathers"). The plural form "vadere" (here poetically shortened to "vad're") means "ancestors". The word "lede" means "members", but is here an abbreviation of "ledemate" ("body parts" or "limbs"). "Ledemate" is used also of members of a church community, a reference to St Paul's description of the Church as being the Body of Christ, made up of people with different functions. The ordinary translation of "vaandel" is "ensign" (a naval ensign is a vlootvaandel), but in the poetic context, "banner" seems more appropriate. Mike Oettle, 14 April 2004 Vaarwel aan die Vierkleur Here are the lyrics of Vaarwel aan die Vierkleur, as they appear in the FAK-Sangbundel (Fourth Edition 1979, sixth printing of 2002) published by Protea Boekhuis for the Federasie van Afrikaanse Kultuurvereniginge (FAK). I don't know if I've managed to turn out an acceptable rendition in English. The original is rather tearful I'm afraid. The word 'Vierkleur' I kept, 'Fourhue' rather sounds like a steed ridden by a LOTR character. To pronounce 'Vierkleur', say "veerckler" with -er as in 'her'. One strong image gets lost in translation, the word 'vlag' is feminine you see. Here goes: No longer may the Vierkleur wave, in tears we gave it up, it has been buried with our braves sunk into an honourable grave it has been buried with our braves sunk into an honourable grave. Happier those who fell when still the Flag was borne, than us who had to see and mourn it dragged into the dust than us who had to see and mourn it dragged into the dust. No happy morning for it there, we part from it forever now resting in the Nation's heart and dedicated to the Past now resting in the Nation's heart and dedicated to the Past. Blessed to those who bore it boldly to brave the prideful foe whose feeble arms to it did cling as they went to their death whose feeble arms to it did cling as they went to their death. Let Future Ages never forget them as long as men endure till even Heaven is outworn and Earth reels before its fall, till even Heaven is outworn and Earth reels before its fall. Jan Mertens, 30 Apr 2004 Die Vlaglied / The Song of the Flag Another flag song, this time abut the former South African flag called "Die Vlaglied" / "The Song of the Flag" which was composed by CJ Langenhoven, the composer of the former South African National Anthem "Die Stem van Suid-Afrika" / "The Call of South Africa". This song was sung by a Children's Choir at the dedication ceremony marking the establishment of the Republic of South Africa held at the Cape Show Grounds in Cape Town on 31 May 1961. The English and Afrikaans versions are as follows: "The Song of the Flag" Cradled in beauty forever shall fly In the gold of her sunshine the blue of her sky, South Africa's pledge of her freedom and pride In their home by sacrifice glorified. By righteousness armed, we'll defend in our might The sign and the seal of our freedom and right, The emblem and loyalty, service and love; To our own selves true and to God above, Our faith shall keep what our hearts enthrone - The flag of the land that is all our own. "Die Vlaglied" Nooit hoef jou kinders wat trou is te vra: "Wat beteken jou vlag dan, Suid-Afrika?" On sweet hy's die seel van ons vryheid en reg Vir naaste en vreemde, vir oorman en kneg; Die pand van ons erf'nis, geslag op geslag, Om te hou vir ons kinders se kinder swat wag; Ons nasie se grondbrief van eiendomsland, Uitgegee op gesag van die Hoogste se hand. Oor ons hoof sal ons hys, in ons hart sal ons dra, Die vlag van ons eie Suid-Afrika. Bruce Berry, 31 Aug 2007 DIE VLAGLIED Die betekenis van 'n eie nasionale vlag word nêrens mooier en treffender besing as in die woorde van C.J. Langenhoven se Vlaglied nie. Die Vlaglied is slegs die laaste strofe van die gedig “Ons eie vlag”. Dit is deur F.J. Joubert getoonset. Nooit hoef jou kinders wat trou is te vra: Wat beteken jou vlag dan, Suid-Afrika? Ons weet hy's die seël van ons vryheid en reg Vir naaste en vreemde,vir oorman en kneg; Die pand van ons erf'nis,geslag op geslag, Om te hou vir ons kinders se kinders wat wag; Ons nasie se grondbrief van eiendomsland, Uitgegee op gesag van die Hoogste se hand. Oor ons hoof sal ons hys, in ons hart sal ons dra, Die vlag van ons eie Suid-Afrika. Which I translate as follows: THE FLAG SONG Nowhere the meaning of an own national flag is expressed more beautifully and fittingly than in the words of C.J. Langenhoven's Flag Song. This is the last stanza of the poem “Ons eie vlag” (Our own flag). It was set to music by F.J. Joubert. Never your children so faithful need ask: What does you flag mean then, South Africa? We know it's the seal of our freedom and rights For neighbour and stranger, for servant and boss; The pledge of our heritage, from parent to child To keep for our children's children to be The writ of our nation of the right to the land. That was written on authority of the Highest own hand We'll hoist ov'r our heads, and we'll hold in our heart The flag of our dearest South Africa Peter Hans van den Muijzenberg, 31 Aug 2007 The Fallen Flag While this is not a song about a flag (it has no tune that I am aware of), it is very much a poem about the vierkleur of the Zuid-Afrikaansche Republiek, and to my mind belongs with the South African flag songs which have already been posted to FOTW. This poem was published in England in 1902 as part of a collection entitled "Songs of the Veld". The book was banned in South Africa by the British military authorities at that time. A new edition of "Songs of the Veld" has just been published in Cape Town, with the addition of commentary and historical notes in both Afrikaans and English. The ISBN is 978-0-620-39432-1. THE FALLEN FLAG Inscribed to Albert Cartwright – The African Bonivard. Furl the fourfold banner, Lay that flag to rest; In the roll of honour – The brightest, bravest, best. Now no hand may wave it, O'er valley, pass or hill; Where thousands died to save it – The patriot hearts are still. It flew o'er proud Majuba, Where the victor farmers stood: O'er the tide of the Tugela – Dark-dyed with hostile blood. On Stormberg passes glorious – And o'er Ma'rsfontein* height, – Wher Cronje's host victorious Withstood the British might. But a prouder grander story Is the record of the band, Which surpassed all former glory, In the latest greatest stand. When ten to one outnumbered – Of hope and help bereft, On ground with graves encumbered, Defenders still were left. There were hero hearts to lead them, On the path where death was won; To float the flag of Freedom Where the eagle sees the sun. To keep the Vierkleur flying On every fortress hill; From the cold clasp of the dying There were hands to sieze it still. O Land, so fondly cherished – Endeared by patriot graves, – The soil where such have perished Is not the soil for slaves. From age to age your story Shall sound to other days: You leave your sons the glory That fallen flag to raise. O sacred smitten Nation, Crowned on thy Calvary, There's a day of restoration – An Easter Morn for Thee. Vierkleur, young hands shall grab thee – New armies round thee stand; Men whose fathers died shall clasp thee On the blood-bought Burghers' Land. * Magersfontein should thus be pronounced. [This footnote, explaining the spelling Ma'rsfontein, appears under the second stanza.] Mike Oettle, 18 Dec 2008 South African Music South African Music Afrikaans music Afrikaans music was primarily influenced by Dutch folk styles, along with French and German influences, in the early twentieth century. Zydeco-type string bands led by a concertina were popular, as were elements of American country music, especially Jim Reeves. Bushveld music based on the Zulu were reinterpreted by such singers as Marais and Miranda. Melodramatic and sentimental songs called trane trekkers (tear jerkers) were especially common. In 1979 the South African Music scene changed from the Tranetrekkers to more lively sounds and the introduction of new names in the market with the likes of Anton Goosen, David Kramer, Koos du Plessis, Fanie de Jager, and Laurika Rauch. Afrikaans music is currently one of the most popular and best selling industries on the South African music scene. SOUTH AFRICA MOVIE SHOWS The period after 1994 saw a dramatic growth in the popularity of Afrikaans music. Numerous new young Afrikaans singers (soloists and groups) released CDs and DVDs and attracted large audiences at "kunstefeeste" (art festivals) such as the "Klein Karoo Nasionale Kunstefees - KKNK" in Oudtshoorn, "Aardklop" in Potchefstroom and "Innibos" in Nelspruit. Apart from dozens of new songs being introduced into the Afrikaans music market, it became popular for modern young artists to sing old Afrikaans songs on a stage or in a pub, with crowds of young admirers singing along. The reason for the dramatic increase in the popularity of Afrikaans music can only be speculated about. One theory is that the end of Apartheid in 1994 also meant the end of the privileged position that the Afrikaans culture had in South Africa. After losing the privileged protection and promotion of the language and the culture by the State, the Afrikaans-speaking community seems to have spontaneously started embracing and developing their language and culture. This was due to pop artists like Steve Hofmeyr, Nádine, Kurt Darren, and Nicolis Louw bringing a new fresh sound in Afrikaans Music. Many of the songs sung and/or written by these artist are similar in sound to Euro dance music. Critics would claim that all an Afrikaans pop artist needs for a song to be popular is a catchy tune and an easy beat. This is due to the massive popularity of a form of couples dancing called "langarm" or "sokkie". The dance halls where this takes place could be considered as night clubs but they play almost exclusively Afrikaans pop music. The Afrikaans pop music market therefore generates tremendous demand for new material. Bok van Blerk (Louis Andreas Pepler) born on March 30th 1978 grew up in Pretoria, South Africa. After finishing school at Die Wilgers, Bok van Blerk went to the Netherlands to play rugby for 9 months. He then studies construction and practised it for 7 years before starting his singing career. In 2005 he was approached by Sean Else and Johan Voster to become their production company’s first client (Mozi Records). In March 2006 he launched his first album “ Jy praat nog steeds my taal”. In October that year, the album got released again but under the title “De la Rey”. Since then this song has become hugely popular in the Afrikaner nation. The album became one of the top sellers in 2007. Up to know the album sold more than 200 000 copies, making it one of the most successful Afrikaans albums of all time. He won three Tempo awards, five Vonk awards and his video “De la Rey” won the MK music video of the year (2007) In 2007 Bok van Blerk helped produce the “Ons vir Jou” rugby music album, which sold over 90 000 copies. After the success of “De la Rey”, Bok van Blerk waited a quite a while before releasing his second album called “Afrikanerhart” which already achieved double platinum status. Since the start of his singing career in 2006, Bok has grown tremendously as an artist. That’s one of the reason he waited so long to release his second album, he wanted to wait for the right time to release it. Bok van Blerk as person loves nature, hunting, deep-sea fishing and music of course. He has made a huge impact on Afrikaner music in South Africa, not only did he provide us with brilliant music, Bok van Blerk helped bring the Afrikaner nation together again, he reminded us of our history and the “trots” we should have in being a Afrikaner that fought for our country. Bok van Blerk cds are making waves through out the country with his hot, orginal hits! Bok van Blerk cds oozes with wonderful culture. From the excellent hits like ’68 Cevy (Minki), Habana! En Hatfield right through to the heart warming “So waai die wind” and the powerful and unique hit for the nation….De La Rey. Currently Bok van Blerk cds include; “De la Rey” and “Afrikanerhart” but he also produced the rugby cd called “Ons vir jou Suid Afrika” The following Bok van Blerk cds are available to purchase: Bok van Blerk cds – De la Rey This is probably Bok van Blerk‘s most popular CD as it sold over 200 000 copies. It contains the popular song “De la Rey“. The Cd consist of the following songs: 1. Praat nog steeds my taal 2. De la Rey 3. Vodka en OJ 4. ’68 Chevy 5. Lenteblomme 6. Stuk van jou 7. Op Walvisbaai 8. Girls in bikinis 9. Die K*k moet end kry 10. Katie 11. Somer reen 12. Plek vir die maan 13. Habana 14. De la Rey (extended version) The CD was released in October 2006. Bok van Blerk cds – Afrikanerhart Bok van Blerk‘s second album “Afrikanerhart” was released in May 2009. The cd consist of the following songs: 1. Tyd om te trek 2. Afrikanerhart 3. Super Schalk 4. Brandewyn het nie brieke nie 5. Jou Pa is hier 6. Klaar met my 7. Die Kaplyn 8. My angel 9. Die kleur van my vel 10. Seilvis skoffel 11. Boeregirl 12. Miss U.S.A 13. Nooit weer gesien nie 14. Sink of swem 15. Pa en seun Bok van Blerk + Various Artists – Ons vir Jou Suid-Afrika This Cd is mainly dedicated to South African rugby. It contains some of the best South African artists including Bok van Blerk and Robbie Wessels. the cd consist of the following songs: 1. Ons vir jou Suid Afrika – Duet met Bok van Blerk en Robbie Wessels 2. Go Bokke! (“I’m gonna walk 500miles”) – Robbie Wessels 3. Spickerish – Bok van Blerk 4. Bokkoors (“Eye of the tiger”) – Robbie Wessels 5. Hak hom Blokkies – Theuns Jordaan 6. Dik nek en klein tandjies – Bok van Blerk 7. Habana – Bok van Blerk 8. Wie trou dan op ‘n final – Bok van Blerk 9. Shosholoza – Coleske 10. Hokkaai – Thys die Bosveldklong 11. Trek aan jou trui – Hugo 12. Is jy Bang – Eden 13. Bel, bel , bel man – Liani May 14. Boeremusiek RugbMedley – So speel die boere 15. Verewig Suid Afrika – Drie van die Beste Steve Hofmeyr (born 29 August 1964) is a South African singer, songwriter and actor. Hofmeyr married actress Natasha Sutherland, whom he had met on the set of Egoli: Place of Gold in 1998, they had two sons, Sebastian, born 13 December 2001 and Benjamin, born later (Hofmeyr also has a few children by other women.. In total, Hofmeyr has five children. The couple was divorced after reports of numerous affairs dominated Hofmeyr's time in the spotlight in 2008.In December 2008, Hofmeyr allegedly assaulted Miss Esmaré Weideman, editor of Huisgenoot, a popular Afrikaans magazine, by pouring a cup of cold tea over her at the Miss South Africa finals. He was said to have blamed her and two other journalists for his divorce from Sutherland. Miss Weideman subsequently dropped her accusations In January 2007 there were reports that one branch of the News Cafe restaurant chain would not play Hofmeyr's song Pampoen (Pumpkin). The managing director of the company that owns the franchise denies that this is company policy and points out that many Afrikaans acts, such as Karen Zoid and Arno Carstens have performed at News Cafe. On 12 May 2011, Hofmeyr released the lyrics to his new song called "Ons sal dit oorleef", which means "We will survive this". The song is controversial, because Hofmeyr has threatened to include the word "kaffir" (the common Arabic word meaning "infidel" used by the British and the Boers in the 19th and early 20th century to refer to blacks in the context of his song, but today a very derogatory name for the black population of South Africa) in the lyrics of the song should a judge rule in favour of Julius Malema. When the presiding judge, Leon Halgryn ruled that "... the publication and chanting of the words 'dubula ibhunu', prima facie satisfies the crime of incitement to murder," Hofmeyr removed the offensive word in his song also,citing that the word would offend his black friends and colleagues. Malema is currently on trial for the singing the song "Shoot The Boer", a song argued to be inciting violence upon ethnic Boers, white South Africans, particularly farmers. Some people see the murder of Eugène Terre'Blanche as an example of violence provoked by this song. Emo Adams Bobby Angel Arno Carstens Chris Chameleon Mimi Coertse Jacques de Coning Janita Claassens Zirk Bergh Helene Bester Bok van Blerk Piet van Blerk Jan Blohm Thys die Bosveldklong Mel Botes Danie Botha Piet Botha Louis Brittz Liza Brönner Clive Bruce Johan Brug Retief Burger Kurt Darren Izak Davel Al Debbo Tommy Dell Ray Dillan Dowwe Dolla Dozi Fanie de Jager Dennis East Erica Eloff Billy Forrest David Fourie Freda Francis Albert Frost Ghapi Anton Goosen Die Grafsteensangers Guillaume Theuns Jordaan is a South African singer and songwriter born on 10 January 1971. His first career moves had him spend long nights at restaurants in the area around the University of Stellenbosch, a university in the Western Cape Province, where he had been studying industrial psychology. His first performance was on 21 October 1992 at a local bar called Upstairs. Having had immersed himself in the local music scene, Theuns started composing his own lyrics, which resulted in five songs in his debut album, Vreemde Stad. After he completed his studies, Theuns spent a year as an entrepreneur. In October 1998 he moved from the Cape to Gauteng - specifically Pretoria. After gaining popularity in the city, he recorded his debut album, Vreemde Stad, in Stellenbosch. This album was released in 2000 at an arts festival, the Klein Karoo Nasionale Kunstefees. EMI released Vreemde Stad shortly after this and the album surpassed triple platinum status (150 000 copies) in July 2003. He launched his second album, Tjailatyd at the Aardklop music festival in 2002, which also sold more than 150, 000 records. The South African guitar player, Anton L'Amour, performed with Theuns and was responsible for all the guitar tracks in Vreemde Stad and Tjailatyd.Theuns Jordaan's singing is characterized by his deeply emotive bass voice. His music has been said to be "faintly bluesly, radio-friendly", with his lyrics "infused with a mournful love of South Africa". Albums Vreemde stad (1999) Klein Verbond Onthou Jy Nog Skipskop Makiesakie Beautiful In Beaufort-Wes Sonvanger Visserman Skielik Is Jy Vry Vreemde Stad Lalie Hakieshart Sien Jou Weer Loslappie Mengelmoes Liedjieboer Mengelmoes Tjailatyd (2002) Soos Bloed Hanne Gesiggle Straattroebadoere As Ek Vra Tjallatyd Hoe Draai Die Wind Dan Nou Moenie Vermiste Mense Alleen Sonder Jou Buitekant Waar Was Jy Loslappie Medley: Dis Julle Wat Die Wind, Transkaroo, Coca-Cola-Nooi, Bloometjie Gedenk Aan My, Silver De Lange, Halala Afrika, Huisie By Die See, Pampoene Seisoen (2005) Jou asem Hillbrow Skadu in die nag Namibsroos Ek roep jou naam Stofpad Praat is te laat Wie weet Donkerpad Bietjie van my Huise van glas Jukebox medley:Kalbassies,Travel in Staail,Hex-Vallei,City/Stad,Meisie sonner sokkies,Die skoene moe Groet sonder woorde Juanita du Plessis Sonja Herholdt Laurinda Hofmeyr Steve Hofmeyr Karin Hougaard Hugo Rina Hugo Bobby van Jaarsveld Hennie Jacobs Lance James Joggie Johnny & Vivian Johrné Greta Jones Watkin Tudor Jones Arno Jordaan Theuns Jordaan Johannes Kerkorrel Carike Keuzenkamp Robbie Klay Lochner de Kock Koos Kombuis Gé Korsten Pieter Koen Karin Kortje David Kramer Joey Lane Riku Lätti Virginia Lee Kevin Leo Patricia Lewis Lienka Jakkie Louw Nicholis Louw Glenys Lynne Lucas Maree Lianie May George Meiring Trevor Nasser Nádine Nataniël Riana Nel Fredi Nest Rudi Neitz Nianell Joe Niemand Zak van Niekerk Jack Parow Jaco du Plessis Juanita du Plessis Gert Potgieter Jacques du Preez Karla du Plessis Koos du Plessis Vicki du Preez Jak de Priester Adam Tas Jacques Terry Jannie du Toit Laurika Rauch Barbara Ray Paul Riekert Mathys Roets Anneli van Rooyen André Schwartz Min Shaw Johan Small Piet Smit Pieter Smith Snotkop Christo Snyman Christa Steyn Etienne Steyn Gerhard Steyn Amanda Strydom Wynand Strydom Blackie Swart Valiant Swart Sonja Herholdt is an Afrikaner singer-songwriter and actress. Herholdt was born in the small Gauteng mining village of Nigel, Gauteng and at the age of three made her first singing performance at the local community recreation hall, singing the Afrikaans lullaby Slaap, my Kindjie.She attended the Afrikaans-medium Tienie Vorster Primary and John Vorster High School where she became Head Girl in both and followed her theatrical pursuits. She later obtained a diploma cum laude in Teaching after three years at the Johannesburg (Goudstad) College of Education. She gave up teaching to pursue music after meeting her future husband, FC Hamman. The couple married in 1976 and started a family, their youngest son later developed an extreme hearing impairment in 1993. Herholdt subsequently decided to start a school for hearing and linguistically impaired Afrikaans children, this was housed in the pre-primary section of Bryanston Primary School. This resulted in Herholdt returning to teach for a period of time. In 1996, Herholdt was involved in a serious car accident. She and her husband subsequently divorced after 21 years of marriage.In collaboration with Carel Cronjé, she released her autobiography in 2007 Sonja: Meisie van Nigel. Later that year she was injured in a robbery on the way home from Cronjé's Johannesburg home ,Herholdt has recorded several albums and singles since the 1970s; Albums Sonja (1976) Sonja Herholdt (1977) On stage/In die kalklig (1978) Waterblommetjies (1978) 'n Lied vir Kersfees (1979) Harlekyn (Gold) (1979) Grootste Treffers (1980) Waarom Daarom (1981) Reflections (1982) Liefdeslig (1984) Lofsang - Sonja Herholdt en Jan de Wet (1985) Dis net vir jou (1987) Sonja Herholdt sing die Jeugsangbundel (1987) Sonja Herholdt sing die Jeugsangbundel 2 (1988) Tuiskoms (1988) Die Klokkespel 'Vrede (1989) The Warrior is a Child (1989) 'n Ster Vanaand (1994) Tuiskoms (1995) More sal die son weer skyn (1996) Ritsel in die Rietbos (1998) Reconstructing Alice (2000) Sonjare 20 Gunsteling treffers Dis Kersfees Sonja Herholdt Skipskop Die mense wat ek liefhet*Gunsteling treffers (1992) Sê die engele moet kyk na my (1994) Die verhale van vrouwees She She The Princess Liefling die movie Pêrels Barbara Veenemans Bennie Veenemans Leonore Veenemans Michelle Veenemans André de Villiers Yolandi Visser Amor Vittone Jacques Viviers Casper de Vries Jody Wayne Robbie Wessels Richard van der Westhuizen Randall Wicomb Arina de Witt Piet van Wyk de Vries Gérard Korsten (popularly known as Gé) (6 December 1927 – 29 September 1999) was a South African opera tenor and actor who had a great influence on Afrikaans culture. Born in Rotterdam, the Netherlands as the youngest of eight children, Korsten and his family emigrated to South Africa when he was nine years old. He married Elna Burger and had five children, among them renowned conductor and violinist Gérard Korsten.Initially he worked as an electrician, but from the age of 20, started singing in choirs. However, he received his first formal vocal training in 1952, when he was well into his 20s, studying under Adelheid Armhold at the South African College of Music.In 1955 he moved to Pretoria, where he was one of the founder members of the Pretoria opera company. In 1956, he debuted as Canio in Ruggero Leoncavallo's Pagliacci. Korsten won a bursary to study in Vienna in 1962, where he received tuition under Judith Hellwig. During this period he had the opportunity to perform in Vienna and Munich, but he never sang professionally outside South Africa, mainly due to family considerations. It was only in 1970 that Korsten sold his business to devote himself to full-time singing. In the course of his operatic career, Korsten appeared on stage more than 3,000 times, playing 23 roles in most of the major operas. In 1965, Korsten started his career in light music, with his album Gé Korsten Sing Uit Die Hart (English: Gé Korsten Sings From The Heart), and soon became a best-selling recording artist, with a career spanning 40 years. Nine of his 58 albums achieved gold status. Most of his recorded work is light Afrikaans music, including the song "Liefling" (English: Sweetheart), which is still performed at rugby matches in Bloemfontein and Pretoria. His popularity as a singer also led to lead roles in films such as Hoor My Lied (English: Hear My Song), Lied In My Hart (English: Song In My Heart) and A New Life, all of which included singing scenes. He received six Sarie awards and, in 1979, an ARTES award for his TV program Gé Sing (English: Gé Sings). In his later life, Korsten was well known for his role as family patriarch Walt Vorster in the long-running South African soap opera Egoli: Place of Gold.In 1985 he was appointed the managing director of the Cape Performing Arts Board (CAPAB) in Cape Town, a post which he held until 1989. Kurt Darren is in Pretoria gebore en het aan die Hoërskool Lyttelton Manor matrikuleer. Hy het sy besondere sangtalent by sy ma geërf. Op skool het Kurt aan verskeie musiekspele deelgeneem, en meen dat hy al van jongs af in musiek belang gestel het.Wat min mense weet is dat Kurt ten volle tweetalig is, te danke aan sy pa wat Afrikaanssprekend en sy ma wat Engelssprekend is. Sy ongelooflike talent as liedjieskrywer en sanger, in beide tale, het sy gretigheid om in albei tale te vermaak, en mee te voer, verwesenlik. Na matriek is Kurt weermag toe en doen hy sy basies in Walvisbaai. Sy wens was om aan die weermag se vermaaklikheidsgroep te behoort, en dit gebeur toe ook so. So toer hy vir n jaar saam met die boere-orkeslede van die weermag, en besef dat hy sy lewenslange droom, om 'n sanger te word, wil najaag. Hy word toe afgeraai deur mense wat sê dat hy nie 'n bestaan kan maak deur 'n sanger te word nie.Hy probeer toe maar 'n paar ander beroepe, soos om 'n wildbewaarder te word in die Kruger Nasionale Wildtuin, (die natuur lê hom baie na aan die hart), en tree ook as toergids op. Met meeste van sy familie in die boubedryf, beproef hy dit ook, maar nie vir lank nie. Kurt besluit toe om voltyds te begin sing. Dertien jaar lank het Kurt, balladesanger, roerloos op 'n stoeltjie met 'n mikrofoon gesit by korporatiewe geleenthede, kroeë en ander klein vergader-plekke. Van die een dorp na die volgende, het Kurt sy eie klankgereedskap vervoer, afgelaai, opgestel, afgestel en weer opgelaai. Hy het ook sy eie klank gedoen. Kurt is trots om te noem dat hy deur sy sangloopbaan al deel was van 'n paar "groepe", hierdie sluit in, onder andere: "Deep Blue" en "Keep Your Day Job". Hy het altyd geweet dat sy deurbraak gaan kom. Toe tree hy drie maande lank op 'n passasierskip op, verloor 'n paar kilogram en sny sy hare (vir die wat nie weet nie, Kurt se hare was skouerlengte vir n hele rukkie). En toe is hy reg en energiek vir "Meisie Meisie" - en die roem - toe dit eensklaps oor sy pad kom in 2002.Deesdae toer Kurt die land vol, en selfs buitelands, op 'n groeiende basis. Sy eerste album "For Your Precious Love" was in 1995 uitgereik, en daarna het hy die uitsonderlike geluk gehad om al die volgende albums op te neem, wat in chronologiese orde gelys word: • 1997 - "Kurt Darren". • 1998 - "Just When I Needed You Most". • 1999 - "Since I Found You". • 2001 - "Net Jy Alleen". • 2002 - "Meisie Meisie". * Met sy album "Meisie Meisie" het hy sy deurbraak in die Afrikaanse musiekbedryf in 2002 bewerkstellig. Kurt se reuse treffer, Meisie Meisie, maak steeds duike in die dansvloer en was een van die Top3 treffers van 2002! Dit is gedurende die opname van hierdie album dat Kurt liedjies begin skryf het saam met twee ongelooflike, inspirerende en talentvolle mense: Don Kelly en Marc Brendon. Hierdie trio komplimenteer mekaar tot vandag nog met die samestelling van lirieke vir nuwe liedjies. • 2003 - "Sê Net Ja". • 2004 - "Staan Op". • 2005 - "Vat My, Maak My Joune". • 2006 - "Lekker Lekker". • 2007 - "Voorwaarts Mars". • 2008 - "Uit Die Diepte Van My Hart". Hy is al lank bedrywig met musiek en van sy grootste drome is bewaarheid. Naas 'n dosyn solo-albums, pryk sy trefferstem ook op vele saamgestelde CD's.Kurt is al vir sewe agtereenvolgende albums besig om die golf van sukses te ondervind, hy is van plan om nog vir n baie lang tyd in die bedryf te bly en mense te vermaak met sy musikale talent. Hy het 'n ongelooflike passie vir musiek, en wil sy Godgegewe gawe met ieder en elk deel. 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South Africa is a nature lover's paradise, with its diverse landscapes and wildlife. Camping and hiking are popular activities for those who want to explore the country natural beauty up close. From the rugged Drakensberg Mountains to the stunning coastline of the Western Cape, there are endless opportunities for adventure and discovery. So pack your bags, grab your boots, and get ready for an unforgettable experience in South Africa's great outdoors. Welcome to the ultimate guide to the best camping places in South Africa! From the lush forests of Mpumalanga to the rugged coastline of the Western Cape, we've got you covered with top spots to pitch your tent in each of the provinces. Get ready to experience the beauty of South Africa's great outdoors like never before. GAUTENG WESTERN CAPE NORTHERN CAPE LIMPOPO MPUMALANGA NORTH WEST KWAZULU NATAL FREESTATE EASTERN CAPE Campsites in Limpopo Province is located in the far northern part of South Africa and shares borders with three neighboring countries: Botswana, Zimbabwe and Mozambique. The capital is Polokwane (previously Pietersburg). Other major cities and towns include Bela-Bela (Warmbad), Lephalale (Ellisras), Makhado (Louis Trichardt), Musina (Messina), Thabazimbi and Tzaneen. It is a land of beautiful and contrasting landscapes, which is typical of Africa. It has become a favourite destination for leisure and adventure travellers worldwide. The network of protected areas and nature reserves is amongst the best on the African continent. The spectatular mountain scenery, beckons hikers, climbers and bikers. The cultural destinations intrigue both local and international tourists. The game viewing is absolutely fantastic and possibly the best in the country. Limpopo landscape and vegetation varies from one area to the other. The vegetation ranges from Tropical Forests, Bush and Shrubs to semi-desert areas with small trees and bushes. The landscape also ranges from mountainous to flat land. Limpopo is the only Province in South Africa with more than two cultural groups staying together in their original habitat in harmony. Other ethnic groups include the English and Afrikaner people. English is regarded as a business language but other native languages of the province include Tshivenda, Sepedi, Xitsonga, Setswana, Isindebele and Afrikaans. ​ List Of Camping Sites In Limpopo Moriti Bush Camps ​ N11 Road 3,5 Km From The Groblersbridge Border Post, Tomburke website routenplaner AfriCamps Magoebaskloof ​ L4 2, Magoebaskloof, Cheerio Gardens, Mopani · Geschlossen · Öffnet morgen um 09:00 website routenplaner Silver Rocks Caravan Park ​ De Nyl Zyn Oog Rd, R101, Modimolle-Mookgophong · website routenplaner AfriCamps Hoedspruit Campingplatdspruit · Geschlossen · Öffnet morgen um 09:00 website routenplaner Kaoxa Bush Camp ​ Alldays Kostenloses Parken · Kostenloses WLAN · Swimmingpool ​ Bela Bela Campsites in Bela Bela Things to do in Bela Bela Bela-Bela is located in the Waterbergregion of the Limpopo Province and is ideally located off the N1 highway between Pretoria and Polokwane. Previously named Warmbaths, the Tswana tribes were the first to encounter the therapeutic hot springs in the early 1800’s, and named it Bela-Bela, meaning “the water that boils on its own”. Today the town boasts an extensive spa and holiday resort. Bela-Bela’s hot springs are located on the grounds of the Forever Resorts Warmbaths, who also host the 5150 Bela-Bela Triathlon. The climate inBela-Bela is mild during the winter months in South Africa with a majority of sunny days in the year which adds to the popularity of this destination. Visit: https://www.bela-bela-info.co.za/town Camping Sites In Gauteng Cast & Catch Fishing & Camping Fishing charter Plot, Pretora · Closed · Opens tomorrow 06:00 website directions Rocky Valley Christian Camp And Retreat Centre Mogale City website directions Jabula Bush Camp PRETORIA Airport shuttle · Swimming pool · Smoke-free rooms website directions See more results Rainforest Boutique Camp Agoda 30 Angelica Avenue Breaunanda, Krugersdorp website routenplaner ​ Camping Sites In Western Cape Kromrivier Cederberg Park ​ Cederberg Free parking · Free Wi-Fi · Business center · Restaurant website directions Wolfkop Camping Villages ​ Grootfontein Farm, Keerom Rd, Citrusdal · Open 24 hours website directions Rivierplaas Campsite ​ Rivierplaas Campsite, Scerpenheuwel, Worcester, Worcester, South Africa · website Camping Sites In Northern Cape Fiddlers Creek Campsite Campground Plot 26, Kotzeshoop, Vioolsdrif · website directions Richtersveld Wilderness Camp ​ Modderdrift-South, Vioolsdrif · website directions Kameeldoring Camping ​ Next to Augrabies falls national park, Augrabies · website directions Augrabies Rest Camp ​ Augrabies Falls National Park · website directions Broadwater River Estate Siyancuma website Camping Sites In Mpumalanga The Park Shop - Lower Sabie Rest Camp Holidaycheck · Grocery store ​ website directions Under The Stars Camping Plot 370 Brommers Plaas, Barberton · website directions Sabie River Camp 30 Plaaswaterval, Sabie · Closed · Opens tomorrow 08:00 website directions Syeta Tented Bush Camp ​ 26 Uitkyk Road, Nelspruit · directions Dullstroom on The Dam ​ Dullstroom website Camping Sites In North West South Africa Mosetlha Bush Camp & Eco Lodge ​ Madikwe Game Reserve Restaurant · Bar/lounge website directions TangleWood Nature Estate ​ Portion 42, Naauwpoort Farm 385 Boskop Dam, Potchefstroom · website directions Dube Private Game Reserve ​ Warmbad Street, Brits · website directions River Run Family Camp Site Campground 709 Ongegun Destrik, Vredefort · website directions Rust Oord Bushveld Camp ​ 410 Farm B, Brits · website directions See more results Camping Sites In Kwazulu Natal South Africa Salt Rock Caravan Park Campground 5 Hotel Road, Salt Rock · ​ Closed · Opens tomorrow 07:00 website directions Richards Bay Caravan Park Campground CNR Krewelkring U0026 Hibberd Drive, Meerensee, Richards Bay Closed · Opens tomorrow 07:00 website directions Dolphin Holiday resort Ballito Free parking · Swimming pool website directions See more results Camping Sites In Eastern Cape South Africa Nature's Rest Prince George Circuit, East London · website directions Yellowwood Forest Morgan Bay Campground 661 Link Rd, Yellowwood Forest, Morgan's Bay · website directions Mountain Zebra National Park National park 25 Km Outside Cradock, Cradock · Closed · Opens tomorrow 07:00 website directions Rendezvous Caravan Park CHINTSA WEST,RENDEZVOUS, EAST LONDON · Open 24 hours website directions Cefani Beach Resort CINTSA EAST, AMATOLA COASTAL · website directions See more results Camping Sites In Free State South Africa Dinkoeng Tented Camp And Adventure 12 Leratong Village Dinkoeng Tented Camp & Adventure Dinkoeng Tented Camp, Monontsha, Phuthaditjhaba · website directions Didima Camp Campground Winterton · website directions Zuikerkop Country Game Lodge Clocolan Free breakfast · Free parking · Free Wi-Fi website directions See more results BACK TO TOP

Search Results Όλα (84) Άλλες σελίδες (77) Δημοσιεύσεις Φόρουμ (7) Βρέθηκαν 84 στοιχεία για "" Άλλες σελίδες (77) Jokes and Poems | Southernstar-Africa South African Poems and Jokes The poetry of South Africa covers a broad range of themes, forms and styles.This article discusses the context that contemporary poets have come from and identifies the major poets of South Africa, their works and influence. The South African literary landscape from the 19th century to the present day has been fundamentally shaped by the social and political evolution of the country, particularly the trajectory from a colonial trading station to an apartheid state and finally toward a democracy. Primary forces of population growth and economic change which have propelled urban development have also impacted on what themes, forms and styles of literature and poetry in particular have emerged from the country over time. South Africa has had a rich history of literary output. Fiction and poetry specifically has been written in all of South Africa's eleven official languages While it has been recorded that literature by black South Africans only emerged in the 20th century, this is only a reflection of published works at the time, not of the reality that black South Africans were writing and reciting in oral forms. The first generation of mission-educated African writers sought to restore dignity to Africans by invoking and reconstructing a heroic African past. Herbert Isaac Ernest Dhlomo’s iconic works preached a "return to the source" or the wisdom of finding traditional ways of dealing with modern problems. His works included several plays and the long poem The Valley of a Thousand Hills (1941). Poets such as BW Vilakazi gave new literary life to their aboriginal languages, combining the traditional influence of Zulu oral praise poetry (izibongo) with that of the influence of English poets such as Keats, Shelley, Dunbar, Cotter[disambiguation needed], Gray and Goldsmith] (some of whose poetry he translated into Zulu). Herman Charles Bosman, is best known for his Unto Dust and In the Withaak's Shade capturing a portrait of Afrikaner storytelling skills and social attitudes. Bosman also wrote poetry, with a predominantly satirical tone. With the demise of apartheid and the release of Nelson Mandela in 1990, many observed that South African writers were confronted with the challenge of what was now most pertinent to write about, even though the after-effects of this history evidently still live on in the society. The "new South African" democratic era was characterized by what literary critic Stephane Serge Ibinga in her article "Post-Apartheid Literature Beyond Race" describes as "honeymoon literature" or "the literature of celebration", epitomised by Zakes Mda, who was active as a playwright and poet long before publishing his first novel in 1995. Poets of this relatively stable transition period in South African history also include more irreverent voices such as Lesego Rampolokeng, Sandile Dikeni and Lefifi Tladi, founder of the Dashiki performance poetry movement in the late 1960s. Another prevalent theme of post-apartheid poetry is the focus on nation-building, with many poets and other writers re-evaluating past identities and embracing notions of reconciliation in order to reflect authentically an inclusive concept of South Africa as a nation, a diverse people united in a commitment to heal the past and collectively address imbalances. The following are some poets in South Africa. The list is incomplete and inadequately captures the breadth and vibrancy of the poetry landscape in the country. A more comprehensive list with links sits on Wikipedia at List of South African poets. Gert Vlok Nel Gert Vlok Nel (born 1963) is a poet, singer, song writer, troubadour. He has published one collection of poems, Om te lewe is onnatuurlik (To live is unnatural), for which he received the Ingrid Jonker Prize. Lionel Abrahams Lionel Abrahams (1928-2004) was a poet, novelist, editor, essayist, and publisher. Abrahams's work is largely philosophical, praising integrity and compassion. His poems are characterized by free verse with emotional strength. Tatamkulu Afrika Although born in Egypt, Tatamkulu Afrika (1920-2002) went to South Africa at an early age. His first volume of poetry, Nine Lives was published in 1991. Afrika's poetry is rich in natural imagery, and the mood of his poems differ, from simple and innocent to lonely and frightened. Gabeba Baderoon Gabeba Baderoon is the 2005 recipient of the DaimlerChrysler Award for South African Poetry. She was born in Port Elizabeth, South Africa on 21 February 1969. She currently lives and works in Cape Town, South Africa, and Pennsylvania, USA. In 1989 she received her Bachelor of Arts in English and Psychology from the University of Cape Town. In 1991 she received her BA Honours Degree in English (First Class) from the University of Cape Town. She attained her Master of Arts in English with Distinction at the University of Cape Town in Postmodernist Television (Media Studies) and in 2004 completed her doctoral studies in Media Studies at the University of Cape Town, the same year spending time at the University of Sheffield, UK, as a Visiting Scholar. She also completed her dissertation entitled, "Oblique Figures: Representations of Islam in South African Media and Culture." Michael Cope The son of writer Jack Cope, Michael Cope (born 1952) is a jeweller and novelist as well as a poet. His first volume of poetry, Scenes and Visions, was published in 1990. His works detail people, their stories, and environmental imagery. Much of his poetry also quietly offers Cope's views on world-wide issues, such as business and poverty. Cope's second volume, GHAAP: Sonnets from the Northern Cape (Kwela and Snailpress) deals with human origins. His poetry is available online at http://www.cope.co.za/poetry.htm Also by Michael Cope: Goldin: A Tale (iUniverse, 2005), a literary novel dealing with the mythic; and Intricacy: A Meditation on Memory (Double Storey, 2005), a memoir investigating memory. Patrick Cullinan Patrick Cullinan (born 1932) has published 50000 volumes of poetry, an anthology on the work of Lionel Abrahams, a biography of Robert Jacob Gordon, and a novel, Matrix. Born in Pretoria, he was educated in Johannesburg and Europe. Cullinan's poetic style is dreamy and full of imagery, with a recurring theme of love. He was given the title cavaliere in 2003 by the government of Italy for his work translating much of his poetry into Italian. The child is not dead The child lifts his fists against his mother Who shouts Afrika ! shouts the breath Of freedom and the veld In the locations of the cordoned heart The child lifts his fists against his father in the march of the generations who shouts Afrika ! shout the breath of righteousness and blood in the streets of his embattled pride The child is not dead not at Langa nor at Nyanga not at Orlando nor at Sharpeville nor at the police station at Philippi where he lies with a bullet through his brain The child is the dark shadow of the soldiers on guard with rifles Saracens and batons the child is present at all assemblies and law-givings the child peers through the windows of houses and into the hearts of mothers this child who just wanted to play in the sun at Nyanga is everywhere the child grown to a man treks through all Africa the child grown into a giant journeys through the whole world Without a pass Uit hierdie Valkenburg het ek ontvlug en dink my nou in Gordonsbaai terug: Ek speel met paddavisse in ’n stroom en kerf swastikas in ’n rookransboom Ek is die hond wat op die strande draf en dom-allenig teen die aandwind blaf Ek is die seevoël wat verhongerd dwaal en dooie nagte opdig as ’n maal Die god wat jou geskep het uit die wind sodat my smart in jou volmaaktheid vind: My lyk lê uitgespoel in wier en gras op al die plekke waar ons eenmaal was. A CHRISTMAS GHOST-STORY ​ South of the Line, inland from far Durban, A mouldering soldier lies - your countryman. Awry and doubled up are his gray bones, And on the breeze his puzzled phantom moans Nightly to clear Canopus: "I would know By whom and when the All-Earth-Gladdening Law Of Peace, brought in by that Man Crucified, Was ruled to be inept, and set aside? And what of logic or of truth appears In tacking 'Anno Domini' to the years? Near twenty-hundred liveried thus have hied, But tarries yet the Cause for which He died." ​ Op Woes.co.za onder Poems Title: The Battle Of Blood River By: Louis van Niekerk A word of thousands of Zulus on their way, Made the boere's wives ready to pray, The question: to meet them or to wait? That was Cilliers and Andries' debate. 464 Boere waited quietly and shiver, Next to a donga and the Ncome river. That evening around the laager the mist lay, But ghostly lamps kept the zulus at bay. As dawn finally broke on a Sunday, All of Zululand sat there that day. 10 000 Zulu warriors ready for blood, Running to fight through the river's mud! Andries Pretorius was the boer leader, The Zulus attacked without a breather. Assagai and the long throwing spear, Had the single shot boer Muskets in fear. Dambuza and Ndlela's thousands of zulu men, Made Pretorius feel they're in the lion's den. Zulus shot running through the river's mud, Made the river's water turn to human blood. The boere prayed and asked the Lord in fear, To deliver them from the zulu spear. Vowed to build a church and always remember To Sabbath the date of 16 December. Two hours later and 4 waves of spears, Pretorius' men let go of their fears. Chased after the zulus as they scattered. Truly that day the warriors got battered. Dead bodies in the field that day was rife, But 464 of God's children was alive. Although three was injured and lying in bed. More than 3000 zulus was counted as dead. Date created: 2010-05-27 DRUMMER HODGE I They throw in Drummer Hodge, to rest Uncoffined - just as found: His landmark is a kopje-crest That breaks the veldt around; And foreign constellations west Each night above his mound. II Young Hodge the Drummer never knew - Fresh from his Wessex home - The meaning of the broad Karoo, The Bush, the dusty loam, And why uprose to nightly view Strange stars amid the gloam. III Yet portion of that unknown plain Will Hodge forever be; His homely Northern breast and brain Grow to some Southern tree, And strange-eyed constellations reign His stars eternally. ​ Now life goes on ​ He knows all my secrets, I thought I knew all his secrets, But I didn't know his most important one, That he didn't love me anymore. But I could expect it. One time, We kissed, I thought that I belonged to him, But I didn't. He said, I will never let you down But he lied He did let me down. He said, I love you more than a friend. But now, We're not even close to friends anymore. And every time I saw him, I felt a very strange feeling in my whole body, It felt great, He said he felt it too. Those moments with each other, Those moments were enough for us, But now, Those moments are gone forever, And I miss you already. I miss you, I miss your smile on your face when I saw you, I miss your eyes when they look at me, I miss the times when you were close to me, I miss your arms around me, I miss your lips on my lips, I miss you. But it went this way, And life must go on. Savannah Boere Thousands of White Crosses, white crosses along the road a dagger through every Boer heart. Endlessly erected On the road to the North thousands on every side. Wailing comes from every region throughout our whole land: Who rests there...a man, a wife...a child? Oh Lord, You know everything about us, Hear now also, out of need, our cry. We as a nation have been tested and purified down through the centuries, but preserved inspite of everything through You. We implore for charity, a gift of Your grace and Your faithfulness. Stay still stay, don't put us to shame. We can, no, we cannot mourn any longer. SOUTH AFRICAN JOKES The devil goes to South Africa. There he meets Gatiep and asks: Do you know who I am?" Gatiep: "Nay, djy's nie van die PLEK nie, give me a hint." Devil: "I'm the prince of darkness." Gatiep: "Oh, djy's 'n bigshot by Eskom" A Priest was seated next to Van Der Merwe on a flight to Brakpan. After the plane was airborne, drink orders were taken. Van Der Merwe asked for a Rum and Coke, which was brought and placed before him. The flight attendant then asked the priest if he would like a drink. He replied in disgust "I'd rather be savagely raped by a dozen whores than let liquor touch my lips." Van Der Merwe then handed his drink back to the attendant and said "Me too, I didn't know we had a choice." Submitted by Ella Rabe, Charlotte NC Three jokes uit die Kaap…… The fruit seller walks up to the car and says: “Peske, Peske. Lekke peskes. Net vyf rand virrie laanie." The guy in the car says: "Is hulle soet?" The fruit seller says: "Dja menee, kyk hoe stil sit hulle!!" Three guys selling snoek on the corner shouts: "Hiers djou snoek" The guy in the car says: "Wat vra julle vir daai snoek?" One guy replies: "Ons vra hulle niks. Wil djy hulle iets vra?" Gatiep & Maraai steel 'n snoek, en sien toe 'n Polisie man Gatiep sê: „Sit die snoek onder djou rok!“ Maraai sê: " Dit gaan stink Gatiep!" Gatiep sê vir Maraai: " Drukkie snoek se nies toe, man!" There was a German, an Italian and Van der Merwe on death row.The warden gave them a choice of three ways to die: 1. to be shot 2. to be hung 3. to be injected with the AIDS virus for a slow death. So the German said, "Shoot me right in the head." Boom, he was dead instantly. Then the Italian said, "Just hang me." Snap! He was dead. Then it was Van der Merwe turn , and he said, "Give me some of that AIDS stuff." They gave him the shot, and Van der Merwe fell down laughing. The guards looked at each other and wondered what was wrong with this guy Then Van der Merwe said, "Give me another one of those shots,"so the guards did. Now he was laughing so hard, tears rolled from his eyes and he doubled over. Finally the warden said, "What's wrong with you?" Van der Merwe replied, "You guys are so stupid..... I'm wearing a condom." A boer went to the appliance store sale and found a bargain. "I would like to buy this TV," he told the salesman. "Sorry, we don't sell to boere," the salesman replied. He hurried home, took a shower, changed his clothes and combed his hair, then came back and again told the salesman "I would like to buy this TV." "Sorry, we don't sell to boere," the salesman replied. "Bliksem, he recognized me," he thought. So he went for a complete disguise this time, haircut and new color, shaved off the baard, suit and tie, fake glasses, then waited a few days before he again approached the salesman. "I would like to buy this TV." Sorry, we don't sell to boere," the salesman replied. Frustrated, he exclaimed "Jislaaik, man! How do you know I'm a boer?" "Because that's a microwave," the salesman replied. Van's two 18-year-old twin daughters Hettie and Betty are helping Ma van der Merwe redecorate. They're about to paint a bedroom when Ma sticks her head round the door and tells them not to get any paint on their dresses. So the girls decide to paint the room in the nude. Some time later there's a knock on the door. "Who's there?", asks Hettie. "Blind man",comes the answer. The girls look at each other and decide it can do no harm to let him in. Betty opens the door and in walks a bloke with a bundle under his arm. "Nice boobs," says the guy. "Where do you want the blinds?" Many Names are changing in South Africa....... Cities have new names, provinces changed their names and maybe even the country may change its name soon! From 01 January 2007, the following changes will be made to all Fairy Tales in South Africa as follows: 1. Snow White - Coal Black 2. Goldilocks - Dreadlocks 3. Hansel & Gretel - Sipho & Thandi 4. Jack & the Beanstalk - Zuma & The Dagga Plant 5. Liewe Heksie - Lovely Felicia 6. Red Riding Hood - Riding in the Hood 7. The Big Bad Wolf - e Tokeloshi 8. The Three Little Pigs - Goodness, Gift & Precious 9. Barbie - Modjadji 10. The Little Mermaid - The Little Maid 11. The Smurfs - The Freedom Fighters 12. Alice in Wonderland - Busi in Gauteng 13. Cinderella - Cinderfikile 14. The Emperor’s New Clothes – Mbeki goes Gucci 15. The Princess and the Pea – Manto and the African Potato woman goes to the doctor, beaten black and blue. . . . . Doctor: "What happened? "Woman:" Doctor, I don't know what to do. Every time my husband comes home drunk he beats me to a pulp... "Doctor:"I have a real good medicine against that: When your husband comes home drunk, just take a glass of chamomile tea and start gargling with it. Just gargle and gargle" 2 weeks later she comes back to the doctor and looks reborn and fresh again. Woman:" Doc, that was a brilliant idea! Every time my husband came home drunk I gargled repeatedly with chamomile tea and he never touched me. Doctor:" you see how keeping your mouth shut helps!!!" Why so many South Africans are moving to Australia Van der Merwe had never been out of South Africa before and was visiting Bondi Beach, Australia . He spotted a long line of black dots out in the water and said to an Aussie who was sitting close by, "Meneer, what are all those little black things out there?" "They're buoys," replied the Aussie. "Boys?!" replied Van der Merwe. "What are they doing out there?" "Holding up the shark net, mate," the Aussie told him. "Fucking great country, this!" said Van der Merwe, deeply impressed. "We'd never get away with that at home!" Van der Merwe in London........Courtesy of Libby Murphy in Cape Town! Van der Merwe goes to London to watch the Boks take on the Poms at Twickenham. Whilst in London, he walks around, gaping and staring at everything. So much so that he walks smack bang into a fire hydrant which hits him so hard on the family jewels that they burst. He gets rushed to hospital where the doctors tell him they have to remove his testicles. Van goes berserk: he bites and snarls at every one and he won't let anybody within 10 metres of him. Eventually they find a South African doctor in the hospital and get him to talk to Van. He walks up to Van and tells him, "Hey Van, die ouens moet jou ballas uithaal." Van replies "O, okay, ek dog die bliksems wil my test tickets vat." Van in Paris Van goes to the top house of ill repute in Paris. He goes up to the Madam and asks,.. "I want your best girl !!". The Madam then calls her top girl, and the two of them go upstairs. Two minutes later the girl comes down the stairs screaming, "Nevair ! nevair ! 'ow can you ask me zat ?" The Madam is absolutely astounded, as that this has never happened before, but never the less she sends up her second best girl. Two minutes later the girl also comes down the stairs screaming, "Nevair ! nevair ! 'ow can you ask me zat ?" The Madam is now intensely curious, since she has experienced everything and is totally unshockable, she then decides that SHE must go upstairs and service this client herself. Two minutes later the Madam also comes down the stairs screaming, "Nevair ! nevair ! 'ow can you ask me zat ?" Some guys sitting at the bar and ask her what the hell was going on. She replies, " 'e vants to pay me in Rands !!!" Van der Merwe's pregnant sister and her husband live on a farm in Australia's outback. Soon she gives birth to twins and her husband phones Van in SA to ask him to register their births. He tells Van: "You must register the girl as Denise and the boy as........", but the phone cuts and Van doesn't hear the last name. Van goes off to register the twins and eventually his brother-inlaw phones back to ask him if he's done so. "Yes, I've registered them. Their names are: 'De Niece and De Nephew". Blonde Joke from Joburg - Courtesy of AmaBoston website! A blonde walks into a bank in Johannesburg and asks for the loans dept. She says she's going to Europe on business for three weeks and needs to borrow R10,000... The bank officer says the bank will need some kind of security for the loan, so the blonde hands over the keys to a new Rolls Royce. The car is parked on the street in front of the bank, she has the papers and everything checks out. The bank agrees to accept the car as collateral for the loan. The bank manager and its staff all enjoy a good laugh at the blonde for using a R500,000 Rolls as collateral against a R10,000 loan. An employee of the bank then proceeds to drive the Rolls into the bank's underground garage and parks it there. Two weeks later, the blonde returns, repays the R10,000 and the interest, which comes to R141.66. The bank manager says, "Miss, we are very happy to have had your business, and this transaction has worked out very nicely, but we are a little puzzled. While you were away, we checked you out and found that you are a multimillionaire. What puzzles us is, why would you bother to borrow R10,000?" The blond replies ... "Where else in Johannesburg can I park my car for two weeks for only R141.66 and expect it to be there when I return?" And everybody thinks blonds are dumb! Van from the klein Karroo goes to Joburg with his old school friend who had been living in Jozi for sometime. His friend, who has become accustomed to night clubs and wild Jozi parties, is a centre of attraction wherever they arrive. He complains to his friend that he felt an outsider and would like to be the THE man at their next stop. Then they come to the party birthday party of this English guy. During toasting everybody raised their glasses to said “cheers”. Van, who was almost sloshed and had problem to comprehend basic English, raised his, too, and raised his voice above everyone else and said “stoele!” Questions about South Africa were posted on a South African Tourism Website and were answered by the webmaster. Q: Does it ever get windy in South Africa? I have never seen it rain on TV, so how do the plants grow? (UK) A: We import all plants fully grown and then just sit around watching them die. Q: Will I be able to see elephants in the street? (USA) A: Depends how much you've been drinking or sniffing. Q: I want to walk from Durban to Cape Town - can I follow the railroad tracks? (Sweden) A: Sure, it's only two thousand kilometers. Take lots of water. Q: Is it safe to run around in the bushes in South Africa? (Sweden) A: So it's true what they say about Swedes. Q: Are there any ATMs (cash machines) in South Africa? Can you send me a list of them in JHB, Cape Town, Knysna and Jeffrey's Bay? (UK) A: What did your last slave die of? Q: Can you give me some information about Koala Bear racing in South Africa? (USA) A: Aus-tra-lia is that big island in the middle of the Pacific. A-fri-ca is the big triangle shaped continent south of Europe which does not... oh forget it. Sure, the Koala Bear racing is every Tuesday night in Hillbrow. Come naked. Q: Which direction is north in South Africa? (USA) A: Face south and then turn 90 degrees. Contact us when you get there and we'll send the rest of the directions. Q: Can I bring cutlery into South Africa? (UK) A: Why? Just use your fingers like we do. Q: Can you send me the Vienna Boys' Choir schedule? (USA) A: Aus-tri-a is that quaint little country bordering Ger-man-y, which is. oh forget it. Sure, the Vienna Boys Choir plays every Tuesday night in Hillbrow, straight after the Koala Bear races. Come naked. Q: Do you have perfume in South Africa? (France) A: No, WE don't stink. Q: I have developed a new product that is the fountain of youth. Can you tell me where I can sell it in South Africa? (USA) A: Anywhere significant numbers of Americans gather. Q: Can you tell me the regions in South Africa where the female population is smaller than the male population? (Italy) A: Yes, gay nightclubs. Q: Do you celebrate Christmas in South Africa? (France) A: Only at Christmas. Are there killer bees in South Africa? (Germany) A: Not yet, but for you, we'll import them. Q: Are there supermarkets in Cape Town and is milk available all year round? (Germany) A: No, we are a peaceful civilisation of vegan hunter-gatherers. Milk is illegal Q: Please send a list of all doctors in South Africa who can dispense rattlesnake serum. (USA) A: Rattlesnakes live in A-meri-ca, which is where YOU come from. All South African snakes are perfectly harmless, can be safely handled and make good pets. Good examples of snakes as pets are mambas (both green and black), rinkhals and municipal workers. Q: I was in South Africa in 1969, and I want to contact the girl I dated while I was staying in Hillbrow. Can you help? (USA) A: Yes, and you will still have to pay her by the hour. Q: Will I be able to speek English most places I go? (USA) A: Yes, but you'll have to learn it first. ​ MALEMA: Doctor, in my dreams, I play football every night. DR: Take this tablet, you will be ok. MALEMA : Can I take it tomorrow, tonight is final game. MALEMA comes back 2 his car & finds a note saying 'Parking Fine' He Writes a note and sticks it to a pole 'Thanks for compliment.' How do you recognize MALEMA in School? He is the one who erases the notes from the book when the teacher erases the board. Once MALEMA was walking he had a glove on one hand and not on other. So the man asked him why he did so. He replied that the weather forecast announced that on one hand it would be cold and on the other hand it would be hot. MALEMA is in a bar and his cellular phone rings. He picks it up and Says 'Hello, how did you know I was here?' MALEMA : Why are all these people running? Commentator: This is a race, the winner will get the cup MALEMA: If only the winner will get the cup, why are others running? Teacher: 'I killed a person' convert this sentence into future tense MALEMA : The future tense is 'u will go to jail' MALEMA says to his ser van t: 'Go and water the plants!' Ser van t: 'It's already raining.' MALEMA : 'So what? Take an umbrella and go.' Van was on a lekker holiday in Durbs. One day he heard from his friends that there was a fancy dress ball, and he could go. The dress theme was to symbolize a country. Unsure what to do, he hid in a bush outside the hall and watched what was going on. A woman arrived scantily dressed in a few feathers. When the doorman asked what country she was she said "Turkey", so he said, "Feathers, Turkey, OK you can go in". Another beautiful and shapely woman arrived clad only in a "G" string, her body smeared with oil. She said she was Iran. "Oil, Iran." OK go in. So then Van sauntered up to the door naked except for a brown paper packet placed over his manhood and said he was from Pakistan. The doorman could not understand and asked Van to explain: "Bring daardie twee meisies uit, dan sal jy sien hoe hierdie pakkie staan!!!" ​ BACK TO TOP Day of Vow | Southernstar-Africa Day of the Vow The Day of the Vow (Afrikaans : Geloftedag) is a religious public holiday in South Africa . It is an important day for Afrikaners , originating from the Battle of Blood River on 16 December 1838, before which about 400 Voortrekkers made a promise to God that if he rescued them out of the hands of the approximately 20,000 Zulu warriors they were facing, they would honour that day as a sabbath day in remembrance of what God did for them. Initially called Dingane's Day or Dingaan's Day (Afrikaans : Dingaansdag), 16 December was made an annual national holiday in 1910, before being renamed Day of the Vow in 1982. In 1994, after the end of Apartheid , it was officially replaced by the Day of Reconciliation , an annual holiday also on 16 December. However, many descendants still celebrate it as promised in the vow. The day of the Vow traces its origin as an annual religious holiday to The Battle of Blood River on 16 December 1838. The besieged Voortrekkers took a public vow (or covenant) together before the battle, led by Sarel Cilliers . In return for God's help in obtaining victory, they promised to build a house and forever honour this day as a sabbath day of God. They vowed that they and their descendants would keep the day as a holy Sabbath. During the battle, a group of about 470 Voortrekkers defeated a force of about 20,000 Zulu. Three Voortrekkers were wounded, and some 3,000 Zulu warriors died in the battle. Two of the earlier names given to the day stem from this prayer. Officially known as the Day of the Vow, the commemoration was renamed from the Day of the Covenant in 1982. Afrikaners colloquially refer to it as Dingaansdag (Dingane 's Day), a reference to the Zulu ruler of the defeated attackers. Wording No verbatim record of the vow exists. The version often considered to be the original vow is in fact W.E.G. Louw's ca. 1962 translation into Afrikaans of G.B.A. Gerdener's reconstruction of the vow in his 1919 biography of Sarel Cilliers (Bailey 2003:25). The wording of the Vow is: Afrikaans : Hier staan ons voor die Heilige God van Hemel en aarde om ʼn gelofte aan Hom te doen, dat, as Hy ons sal beskerm en ons vyand in ons hand sal gee, ons die dag en datum elke jaar as ʼn dankdag soos ʼn Sabbat sal deurbring; en dat ons ʼn huis tot Sy eer sal oprig waar dit Hom behaag, en dat ons ook aan ons kinders sal sê dat hulle met ons daarin moet deel tot nagedagtenis ook vir die opkomende geslagte. Want die eer van Sy naam sal verheerlik word deur die roem en die eer van oorwinning aan Hom te gee. English: We stand here before the Holy God of heaven and earth, to make a vow to Him that, if He will protect us and give our enemy into our hand, we shall keep this day and date every year as a day of thanksgiving like a sabbath, and that we shall build a house to His honour wherever it should please Him, and that we will also tell our children that they should share in that with us in memory for future generations. For the honour of His name will be glorified by giving Him the fame and honour for the victory. ​ ​ History ​ Plaque located approximately where the laager stood during the Battle of Blood River , with die Gelofte - the Vow - inscribed upon it The official version of the event is that a public vow was taken - The Covenant Vow on Sunday, 09th.Dec.1838 - It was at this Wasbank laager where Pretorius, Landman and Cilliers formulated "The Vow" and recorded by Jan Gerritze Bantjes (pages 54–55 of his journal - location of Wasbank, S28° 18' 38.82 E30° 8' 38.55). The original Bantjes words from the journal read as follows; "Sunday morning before service began, the Commander in Chief (Pretorius) asked those who would lead the service to come together and requested them to speak with the congregation so that they should be zealous in spirit, and in truth, pray to God for His help and assistance in the coming strike against the enemy, and tell them that Pretorius wanted to make a Vow towards the Almighty (if all agreed to this) that "if the Lord might give us victory, we hereby promise to found a house (church) as a memorial of his Great Name at a place (Pietermaritzburg) where it shall please Him", and that they also implore the help and assistance of God in accomplishing this vow and that they write down this Day of Victory in a book and disclose this event to our last posterities in order that this will forever be celebrated in the honour of God." This bound future descendants of the Afrikaner to commemorate the day as a religious holiday (sabbath) in the case of victory over the Zulus by promising to build a church in God's honour. By July 1839 nothing had yet been done at Pietermaritzburg regarding their pledge to build a church, and it was Jan Gerritze Bantjes himself who motivated everyone to keep that promise. In 1841 with capital accumulated by Bantjes at the Volksraad, the Church of the Vow at Pietermaritzburg was eventually built - the biggest donor being the widow, Mrs. H.J.van Niekerk in Sept.1839. As the original vow was never recorded in verbatim form, descriptions come only from the Bantjes Journal written of Jan Gerritze Bantjes with a dispatch written by Andries Pretorius to the Volksraad on 23 December 1838; and the recollections of Sarel Cilliers in 1871. A participant in the battle, Dewald Pretorius also wrote his recollections in 1862, interpreting the vow as including the building of churches and schools. Jan G. Bantjes (1817–1887), Clerk of the Volksraad and Pretorius' secretary-general, indicates that the initial promise was to build a House in return for victory. He notes that Pretorius called everyone together in his tent, (the senior officers) and asked them to pray for God's help. Bantjes writes in his journal that Pretorius told the assembly that he wanted to make a vow, "if everyone would agree". Bantjes does not say whether everyone did agree. Perhaps the fractious nature of the Boers dictated that the raiding party held their own prayers in the tents of various leading men . Pretorius is also quoted as wanting to have a book written to make known what God had done to even "our last descendants". Pretorius in his 1838 dispatch mentions a vow (Afrikaans : gelofte) in connection with the building of a church, but not that it would be binding for future generations. we here have decided among ourselves...to make known the day of our victory...among the whole of our generation, and that we want to devote it to God, and to celebrate [it] with thanksgiving, just as we...promised [beloofd] in public prayer — Andries Pretorius, Contrary to Pretorius, and in agreement with Bantjes, Cilliers in 1870 recalled a promise (Afrikaans : belofte), not a vow, to commemorate the day and to tell the story to future generations. Accordingly, they would remember: the day and date, every year as a commemoration and a day of thanksgiving, as though a Sabbath...and that we will also tell it to our children, that they should share in it with us, for the remembrance of our future generations — Sarel Cilliers, Cilliers writes that those who objected were given the option to leave. At least two persons declined to participate in the vow. Scholars disagree about whether the accompanying English settlers and servants complied . This seems to confirm that the promise was binding only on those present at the actual battle. Mackenzie (1997) claims that Cilliers may be recalling what he said to men who met in his tent. Up to the 1970s, the received version of events was seldom questioned, but since then scholars have questioned almost every aspect. They debate whether a vow was even taken and, if so, what its wording was. Some argue that the vow occurred on the day of the battle, others point to 7 or 9 December. Whether Andries Pretorius or Sarel Cilliers led the assembly has been debated; and even whether there was an assembly. The location at which the vow was taken has also produced diverging opinions, with some rejecting the Ncome River site . But despite some doubts, the Vow or Promise took place on the 9th Dec 1838 close to the Wasbank River as it states in Jan Bantjes 's journal and certainly not at the site of The Battle of Blood River, 16th Dec 1838. Commemorations Church of the Vow, Pietermaritzburg Disagreements exist about the extent to which the date was commemorated before the 1860s. Some historians maintained that little happened between 1838 and 1910.Historian S.P. Mackenzie argues that the day was not commemorated before the 1880s. Initial observations may have been limited to those associated with the battle at Ncome River and their descendants. While Sarel Cilliers upheld the day, Andries Pretorius did not (Ehlers 2003). In Natal Informal commemorations may have been held in the homes of former Voortrekkers in Pietermaritzburg in Natal. Voortrekker pastor Rev. Erasmus Smit [af ; nl ] announced the "7th annual" anniversary of the day in 1844 in De Natalier newspaper, for instance. Bailey mentions a meeting at the site of the battle in 1862 . In 1864, the General Synod of the Dutch Reformed Church in Natal decreed that all its congregations should observe the date as a day of thanksgiving. The decision was spurred by the efforts of two Dutch clergymen working in Pietermaritsburg during the 1860s, D.P.M. Huet [af ] and F. Lion Cachet [af ; nl ]. Large meetings were held in the church in Pietermaritzburg in 1864 and 1865 ). In 1866, the first large scale meeting took place at the traditional battle site, led by Cachet. Zulus who gathered to watch proceedings assisted the participants in gathering stones for a commemorative cairn. In his speech Cachet called for the evangelisation of black heathen. He relayed a message received from the Zulu monarch Cetshwayo . In his reply to Cetshwayo, Cachet hoped for harmony between the Zulu and white Natalians. Trekker survivors recalled events, an institution which in the 1867 observation at the site included a Zulu . Huet was of the same opinion as Delward Pretorius. He declared at a church inauguration in Greytown on 16 December 1866 that its construction was also part of fulfilling the vow . In the Transvaal Die Zuid-Afrikaansche Republiek declared 16 December a public holiday in 1865, to be commemorated by public religious services. However, until 1877, the general public there did not utilise the holiday as they did in Natal. Cricket matches and hunts were organised, some businesses remained open, and newspapers were sold. The name Dingane's Day appeared for the first time in the media, in an 1875 edition of De Volksstem. That newspaper wondered whether the lack of support for the holiday signalled a weakening sense of nationalism . After the Transvaal was annexed by the British in 1877, the new government refrained from state functions (like Supreme Court sittings) on the date . The desire by the Transvaal to retrieve its independence prompted the emergence of Afrikaner nationalism and the revival of 16 December in that territory. Transvaal burgers held meetings around the date to discuss responses to the annexation. In 1879 the first such a meeting convened at Wonderfontein on the West Rand. Burgers disregarded Sir G.J. Wolseley, the governor of Transvaal, who prohibited the meeting on 16 December. The following year they held a similar combination of discussions and the celebration of Dingane's Day at Paardekraal . Paul Kruger , president of the Transvaal Republic, believed that failure to observe the date led to the loss of independence and to the first Anglo-Boer war as a divine punishment. Before initiating hostilities with the British, a ceremony was held at Paardekraal on 16 December 1880 in which 5,000 burghers [citizens] piled a cairn of stones that symbolised past and future victories (over the Zulu and the British). After the success of its military campaign against the British, the Transvaal state organised a Dingane's Day festival every five years. At the first of these in 1881, an estimated 12,000 to 15,000 people listened to speeches by Kruger and others (Gilliomee 1989). At the third such festival in 1891, Kruger emphasised the need for the festival to be religious in nature . In the Free State The Free State government in 1894 declared 16 December a holiday . National commemorations The Union state in 1910 officially declared Dingane's Day as a national public holiday. In 1938, D.F. Malan , leader of the National Party , reiterated at the site that its soil was "sacred." He said that the Blood River battle established "South Africa as a civilized Christian country" and "the responsible authority of the white race". Malan compared the battle to the urban labour situation in which whites had to prevail . In 1952, the ruling National Party passed the Public Holidays Act (Act 5 of 1952), in which section 2 declared the day to be a religious public holiday. Accordingly, certain activities were prohibited, such as organised sports contests, theatre shows, and so on (Ehlers 2003). Pegging a claim on this day was also forbidden under section 48(4)(a) of the Mining Rights (Act 20 of 1967; repealed by the Minerals Act (Act 50 of 1991).[1] The name was changed to the Day of the Vow in order to be less offensive, and to emphasise the vow rather than the Zulu antagonist (Ehlers 2003). In 1961, the African National Congress chose 16 December to initiate a series of sabotages, signalling its decision to embark on an armed struggle against the regime through its military wing, Umkhonto we Sizwe . In 1983, the South African government vetoed the decision by the acting government of Namibia to discontinue observing the holiday. In response, the Democratic Turnhalle Alliance resigned its 41 seats in Namibia's 50-seat National Assembly. Act 5 of 1952 was repealed in 1994 by Act No. 36 of 1994, which changed the name of the public holiday to the Day of Reconciliation. Debates over the Holiday Scholars like historian Leonard Thompson have said that the events of the battle were woven into a new myth that justified racial oppression on the basis of racial superiority and divine providence. Accordingly, the victory over Dingaan was reinterpreted as a sign that God confirmed the rule of whites over black Africans, justifying the Boer project of acquiring land and eventually ascending to power in South Africa. In post-apartheid South Africa the holiday is often criticised as a racist holiday, which celebrates the success of Boer expansion over the black natives. By comparison with the large number of Afrikaners who participated in the annual celebrations of the Voortrekker victory, some did take exception. In 1971, for instance, Pro Veritate, the journal of the anti-apartheid organisation the Christian Institute of Southern Africa , devoted a special edition to the matter. Historian Anton Ehlers traces how political and economic factors changed the themes emphasised during celebrations of the Day of the Vow. During the 1940s and 1950s Afrikaner unity was emphasised over against black Africans. This theme acquired broader meaning in the 1960s and 1970s, when isolated "white" South Africa was positioned against the decolonisation of Africa . The economic and political crises of the 1970s and 1980s forced white Afrikaners to rethink the apartheid system. Afrikaner and other intellectuals began to critically evaluate the historical basis for the celebration. The need to include English and "moderate" black groups in reforms prompted a de-emphasis on "the ethnic exclusivity and divine mission of Afrikaners" (Ehlers 2003). December 16 and the Construction of Afrikaner Nationalism The date, December 16, holds a special significance in South African history. On this day in 1838, the Voortrekkers fought a battle for survival against Dingaan’s Zulu army, and were victorious. Later, the day was commemorated as part of the Afrikaner nationalist project. This article traces some of the main events that make up the history of the Afrikaner nationalist project and, indeed, the construction of the Afrikaners as a social group and a ‘race’, which led to the apartheid regime. The article briefly traces the key events that highlight the significance of December 16 as a political marker. (Consideration of these key events focus on their significance for the development of Afrikanerdom. For more detail on these key events see the articles dedicated to them on the SAHO site) Part 1 The Afrikaners: Birth of a people The emergence of an Afrikaner people, with their ‘own’ language, social and political traditions, culture, religious orientation, dietary habits and other marks of identity, was a process that was constructed by Afrikaner activists in reaction to British imperialism, on the one hand, and Black Africans living in southern Africa, on the other hand. These activists did not create something out of nothing, but rather took elements of South Africa’s history and forged a particular narrative that presented the Afrikaners as a group that was persecuted but heroic in resistance. The annexation of the Cape as a colony of the British sparked the need of the Dutch colonists to differentiate themselves from the English as a people, a volk, with particular interests that were not the same as those of the English and other groups. This process was accelerated by the imposition of laws that alienated the Dutch colonists from the political and cultural mainstream of the Cape Colony, especially when English was made the official language of the colony and the Dutch language was excluded from official, educational, church and other proceedings during the 19th century. The Slagtersnek Rebellion The Slagtersnek rebellion of 1815 brought home to the Dutch the new terms of citizenship that the British imposed on the colony. The British made every inhabitant of the Cape equal before the law, and imposed a new rule of law that put masters and their servants more or less on the same footing in the eyes of the law. So when Frederik Bezidenhout was reported to have mistreated his Khoikhoi labourers, he was summoned to a magistrate’s court in the Cape. He failed to appear and a warrant of arrest was issued. Bezuidenhout fled his farm and hid in a cave, but was discovered and shot for resisting arrest. His brother Hans Bezuidenhout, fuelled by a desire for revenge, gathered together a band to mount and uprising against the British authorities. They were confronted at Slagtersnek, and most of them surrendered, but Hans resisted arrest and was killed. Five of those arrested – Cornelis Faber (43), Stefanus Cornelis Botma (43), his brother Abraham Carel Botma (29), Hendrik Frederik Prinsloo (32) and Theunis de Klerk – were sentenced to death, while the remainder were set free or banished. The Abolition of Slavery But it was the abolition of slavery that sparked a unique event that would transform the former Dutch colonists into a new ‘volk’ – the Great Trek ). The British outlawed slavery in 1834. Without slaves, the burghers could not survive as farmers, and the Dutch Cape colonists experienced the British-imposed abolition as inimical to their way of life and their interests. About 6,000 of them embarked on what became known as the Great Trek, an exodus to areas north of the colony that would be beyond the rule of the British. The Great Trek and the murder of Piet Retief From 1836 parties of trekkers began leaving the Cape Colony with the worldly goods in ox-wagons, moving north beyond the frontiers of the colony. They moved in various directions: north towards what would become the Transvaal, (today Gauteng and Limpopo province); north-east towards Durban (today’s KwaZulu-Natal), and towards today’s Free State province. One of the leaders of the Voortrekkers, as they became known, was Piet Retief . He moved to Natal and tried to negotiate with Dingaan to secure a territory for the Boers to settle on. The wily Dingaan met with him and set as a condition the return of cattle and firearms stolen by Tlokwe chief Sekonyela . Retief fulfilled this condition and a date was set for a meeting to make final agreements. Meanwhile Dingaan had received reports that the Boers were streaming into his territory, and a letter Retief had sent him in 1837 contained an account of how the Boers had defeated Mzilikazi ­– an apparent threat that the Boers would wage war if their requirements were not met. At the meeting, on February 6 1838, Retief and his delegation of 100 men went to Umgungundlovu, where they were slaughtered. Dingaan mounted a campaign against the Boers that very day, and attacked a party in the Upper Tugela, as part of a series of attacks over the next few months. The Battle of Blood River The Boers felt that the entire Trek project would collapse. They mobilised a force of about 470 fighters and moved to a strategic point on the Buffalo River (also known as the Ncome River), where they formed a laager bounded on two sides by water, ready for an attack. Sarel Cilliers vowed that if God allowed the Boers to prevail, they would forever celebrate that day, December 16. The Zulus attacked but were defeated, with blood flowing into the Ncome River, which later became known as Blood River, and the conflict as the Battle of Blood River . A Political awakening After the Battle of Blood River, the Boers established colonies called Natal, Transvaal and the Orange Free State, where they governed themselves as republics. Natal proved to be a short-lived republic as it was soon annexed by the British. The development of the republics set Afrikanerdom at odds with the British more than any previous event. The culmination of the Great Trek, the republics developed as autonomous political units more or less outside the influence of British rule. But British imperial interests were threatened by the OFS and Transvaal as republics that could undermine the British foothold in the Cape. These developments could be seen as evidence of the coming into being of Afrikanerdom, and it would not be inaccurate to say that those who were burghers in the Cape, the Voortrekkers who had established republics in the north, now constituted a distinct, self conscious cultural and political entity. The Afrikaners had arrived, and they set about creating the basis for a cultural and political nationalism, focusing on issues of language and literature. In the Cape Colony, representative government was established in 1853, and the beginnings of party politics followed in the 1870s. By now, Afrikaners were agitating for recognition of their language, as it was not allowed in parliament, and was beginning to go into decline, with some burghers speaking English even in their homes. Two figures played the most significant role in this new struggle: SJ du Toit and JH ‘Onze Jan’ Hofmeyr. The First Language Movement Du Toit and a few fellow-travellers formed Die Genootskap vir Regte Afrikaners (the GRA, the Fellowship of True Afrikaners) in Paarl on 14 August 1875. This was the beginning of the First Language Movement of the Afrikaners, and the beginnings of a cultural nationalism that would eventually become a political nationalism. The GRA was dedicated to the recognition of Afrikaans as a language in Parliament, the civil service and schools. They launched a newspaper, Die Afrikaanse Patriot, first published on 15 January 1876, using a version of Afrikaans accessible to ordinary Afrikaners. Du Toit wrote a history of the Afrikaners, Die Geskiednis van ons Land in die Taal van ons Volk (The History of our Land in the Language of our Nation), published in 1877, which presented Afrikaners as oppressed throughout their history, and hailed those ‘martyred’ after the Slagter’s Nek rebellion. According to TRH Davenport: ‘It was romantic history of an exaggerated kind, in which the hero was the Afrikaner Boer. He was pictured, first of all, trying to build a colony, caught between the upper and nether millstones of the Dutch East India Company and the “wild nations”; and was seen to prevail over both because the Lord was on his side… they sought to arouse the group patriotism of the Afrikaner by a skilful use of melodrama, best seen in their account of the Slagters Nek executions in 1815.’ Du Toit then translated the Bible into Afrikaans, published Eerste Beginsels van die Afrikaans Taal (First Principles of the Afrikaans Language), a history of the Afrikaans language movement, an anthology of Afrikaans poetry, and picture books for children. The Afrikaner Bond Du Toit called for the establishment of an Afrikaner Bond, an organisation that would serve the interests of all those who saw themselves as Afrikaners. The call was heeded by Afrikaners especially after the British annexed the Transvaal in 1877, and after the Transvaalers found themselves at war with the British, a war that they swiftly won after the Battle of Majuba in 1881. The Bond became the first political party in South Africa, representing the interests of Afrikanerdom in the Cape Parliament, but also forging links and setting up branches in the OFS and Transvaal. In 1881, after the Boer victory in the first Anglo-Boer War, Paul Kruger , speaking at the state festival on December 16, said that God had given the Boers their victories at Majuba and Blood River. Increasingly, Afrikaners were commemorating December 16 as a founding myth. At the unveiling of the Paardekraal monument in 1891, Kruger warned that the Boers had to thankful to God for their victories. They would suffer if they failed to honour their covenant. In the Transvaal Paul Kruger maintained an anti-British policy that eventually led to the second Anglo-Boer War . The Anglo-Boer War When Britain went to war against the Boers in the second Anglo-Boer War, Afrikanerdom was not totally united against the British, who took steps to ensure the Cape Afrikaners did not join forces with their brethren in the republics, although a number of these did join the Boers in their struggle, either fighting or lending support. The Afrikaners lost the war, and suffered great hardships, with some 25,000 women and children dying in British concentration camps. They were forced to accept defeat in 1902. Union, 1910 After the war, Afrikaners were divided between those who decided that reconciliation with the British was the way forward, and the so-called bitter-einders, who had fought until the last and resisted a peace deal. Afrikaners increasingly referred to Dingaan’s Day as part of their mythology. Gustav Preller , the editor of Die Volkstem, published articles about Piet Retief in 1905/6. Historian F van Jaarsveld wrote that Preller saw the Great Trek as the birth of the Afrikaner nation. Plans for uniting the four colonies into a union of South Africa went ahead, and the Afrikaners entered into a new form of conflict: parliamentary politics. Political Developments 1910-1938 After union was established, Afrikaners sought to capture the state through political means, with Jan Smuts and Louis Botha’s South African Party winning the first election to national government. The SAP stood for reconciliation between English and Afrikaner, a position rejected by many Afrikaners, especially after South Africa entered the First World War on the side of the British. Increasingly, the Afrikaners began to develop their political mythology. The Slagtersnek Monument was unveiled in 1915, a hundred years after the original incident. Preller produced a film, The Voortrekkers, in 1916. The script was published in a book, together with articles celebrating Retief’s life. Preller referred to Retief as ‘faithful, valiant Retief, honest upright Afrikaner, and soul of the future Afrikaner nation’. In 1929 Prime Minister JBM Hertzog , gave a speech on Dingaan’s Day, in which he referred to the ‘significance of the Battle of Blood River’ and announced that ‘Dingaan's Day 1838 was decisive for the European race from Cape to Nyasa’. He said the ‘victory of those few trekkers on the Banks of Blood River achieved more than securing a fatherland for a few thousand expatriate farmers from the Cape’. The so-called poor-white problem that emerged in the 1920s saw the emergence of the ‘Second Great Trek’. Poorer Afrikaner farmers, increasingly driven off the land into the cities, began to constitute a class of white proletariat wit little or no skills with which to find jobs in an urban economy. Finding themselves in competition with Black workers, the state embarked on programmes to empower this class. The Second Language Movement A second Language Movement emerged in the 1930s, with writers now producing works of literature that far surpassed the earlier efforts of SJ du Toit and his followers. According to Hermann Giliomee: ‘One of the most remarkable features of the public debate between 1902 and 1934 was the public silence about the Anglo-Boer War.’ Giliomee adds that only nine books on the war were written in Afrikaans or Dutch between 1906 and 1931. And Die Burger editorialised that a veil had been thrown over the British concentration camps because Afrikaners were ‘ashamed of the way in which women and children of a brave nation had been treated’. But during the 1930s, Giliomee writes, ‘a new generation of Afrikaners sought to rediscover themselves through acknowledging both the heroism and the suffering of the war’. Having gained official recognition in 1925, Afrikaans now flowered as a language. Poets, novelists and historians began to contribute to a growing archive of literature. A new translation of the Bible was lauded by DF Malan as the greatest cultural event in the life of the Afrikaner people. Writers such as Uys Krige, Elisabeth Eybers and WEG Louw published their first volumes of poetry. The foremost Afrikaans writer, NP van Wyk Louw , produced a play, Die Dieper Reg (The Higher Justice), in which he presented the Voortrekkers as heroes who followed the ‘call of their blood’. Van Wyk Louw was part of the Dertigers, the Generation of the Thirties, which broke with the romantic traditions of their predecessors. He joined the Broederbond in 1934, joining fellow poet DJ Opperman. All the preceding developments serve as a brief background to the use of the December 16 date as a tool of political mobilisation. Part 2 The Political Use of December 16 Afrikaner nationalists claim that the Battle of Blood River saved the Great Trek; that it represented the birth of the Afrikaner nation; that the Voortrekkers' victory symbolized the triumph of Christianity over heathens; that all Afrikaners were irrevocably bound by the vow for all time; and that the battle itself must be regarded as a miracle in the sense that divine intervention gave the Voortrekkers their victory. The Boers’ vow to commemorate the day of their victory over Dingaan’s Zulu army was not observed in any significant way until the 1880s, and after 1838 the day arguably fell into disregard as the Boers focused on their everyday struggles. In 1864, Paul Kruger declared December 16 a public holiday in the Transvaal Republic. In 1880, the Boers remembered the covenant at a popular festival in Paardekraal, near Krugersdorp. In 1888 Kruger attended Dingaan’s Day celebrations on December 16 at the site of the Battle of Blood River, and proposed that a monument be built in honour of the Voortrekkers. In 1894, the OFS declared December 16 a public holiday. By 1908 December 16 became a South African national holiday. The Re-enactment of the Great Trek, 1938 In 1931 the Sentrale Volksmonumentekomitee (SVK) (Central People's Monuments Committee) was formed to build the Voortrekker monument . Construction began in July 1937. In 1938 the Afrikaanse Taal and Kultuurvereniging organised a re-enactment of the Great Trek. Beginning in the latter half of the year, nine ox-wagons travelled along two routes: from Cape Town to the site of the Battle of Blood River in northern Natal; and from Cape Town to Pretoria, where a foundation stone for a Voortrekker monument was laid on December 16. Moving through small towns and villages, the trekkers drew massive crowds, often dressed in clothing resembling that of the Voortrekkers. Wreaths were laid on graves of Afrikaner heroes, folk songs sung and people imitated the Voortrekkers’ eating habits, most notably by having barbecues – the famous South African braaivleis. On December 16, a crowd of over 100,000 attended the ceremony in Pretoria. Jan Smuts was also in attendance. In the Natal gathering, future prime minister DF Malan spoke of the poor-white problem, describing it as the greatest challenge to the survival of the Afrikaner people. He addressed Afrikaners, saying ‘you stand today in your own white laager at your own Blood River, seeing the dark masses gathering around your isolated white race’. Apartheid Ten years later, in 1948, the National Party came to power in South Africa, and instituted its apartheid programme. This was the culmination of the Afrikaner quest for political power. The event was soon followed by the completion of the Voortrekker Monument. On December 16 1949, the completed Voortrekker Monument was inaugurated, the event drawing the largest crowd the country had ever seen at an event until then. The monument was meant to 'engender pride in the nation of heroes which endured the hardships of the Great Trek’. The frieze on the interior of the monument is meant as a symbol of 'the Afrikaner's proprietary right to South Africa’. In his last major speech, Jan Smuts said that few nations could boast of such ‘a romantic history… and one of more griping human interest’. Interestingly, according to Giliomee, he warned: ‘Let us not be fanatical about our past and romanticise it.’ He also called for greater co-operation between Afrikaner and English white South Africans, and said that the greatest problem facing white South Africans, was ‘the problem of our native relations’, the ‘most difficult and final test of our civilisation’. Malan, by now prime minister, also spoke at the event, warning that global influences were undermining the spirit and ideals of the Voortrekkers. He said a ‘godless communism’ was threatening the achievements of the Afrikaners. According to Giliomee, Malan said that ‘there was a danger of blood mixing and disintegration of the white race. The only way of avoiding the spectre of a descent into “semi-barbarism” was a return to the Voortrekker spirit and a return to the volk, church and God.’ With apartheid becoming entrenched, the Afrikaners no longer needed mythmaking to acquire power, but rather to maintain power. BACK TO TOP South African Money | Southernstar-Africa Banknotes and Coin The South African Reserve Bank (SARB) released the upgraded Mandela banknotes and fourth decimal coin series on 3 May 2023. The upgraded banknotes and fourth decimal coin series have new designs and enhanced security features that utilise the latest technological advancements to protect the integrity of our currency and maintain public trust. The upgraded banknotes continue to pay homage to South Africa's first democratically elected president, Nelson Mandela, with his portrait featured on the front of all five denominations while the Big 5 animals are depicted as a family. The fourth decimal coin series is based on the theme of deep ecology, which celebrates the interconnectedness of humans and other living organisms as an integral part of the environment. OLD SOUTH AFRICAN BANK NOTES The South African rand The South African rand, or simply the rand, (sign : R; code : ZAR is the official currency of the Southern African Common Monetary Area : South Africa , Namibia (alongside the Namibian dollar ), Lesotho (alongside the Lesotho loti ) and Eswatini (alongside the Swazi lilangeni ). It is subdivided into 100 cents (sign: "c"), and a comma separates the rand and cents. The South African rand is legal tender in the Common Monetary Area member states of Namibia , Lesotho , and Eswatini , with these three countries also having national currencies: (the dollar , the loti and the lilangeni respectively) pegged with the rand at parity and still widely accepted as substitutes. The rand was also legal tender in Botswana until 1976 when the pula replaced the rand at par. Etymology The rand takes its name from the Witwatersrand ("white waters' ridge" in English, rand being the Afrikaans (and Dutch ) word for 'ridge '), the ridge upon which Johannesburg is built and where most of South Africa's gold deposits were found. In English and Afrikaans (and Dutch), the singular and plural forms of the unit ("rand") are the same: one rand, ten rand, and two million rand. History See also: South African pound The rand was introduced in the Union of South Africa in 1961, three months before the country declared itself a republic .[2] A Decimal Coinage Commission had been set up in 1956 to consider a move away from the denominations of pounds, shillings, and pence; it submitted its recommendations on 8 August 1958 It replaced the South African pound as legal tender, at the rate of 2 rand to 1 pound, or 10 shillings to the rand. The government introduced a mascot, Decimal Dan, "the rand-cent man" (known in Afrikaans as Daan Desimaal). This was accompanied by a radio jingle to inform the public about the new currency. Although pronounced in the Afrikaans style as /rʌnt/ in the jingles when introduce the contemporary pronunciation in South African English is /rænd/ . Brief exchange rate history 1961–2000 Value of the South African rand to the United States dollar from 1975 to 2015 by the blue columns: The percentage rate of change year-on-year is shown by the black line. One rand was worth US$ 1.40 (R0.72 per dollar) from the time of its inception in 1961 until late 1971, and the U.S. dollar became stronger than South African currency for the first time on 15 March 1982. Its value thereafter fluctuated as various exchange rate dispensations[clarification needed ] were implemented by the South African authorities. By the early 1980s, high inflation and mounting political pressure combined with sanctions placed against the country due to international opposition to the apartheid system had started to erode its value. The currency broke above parity with the dollar for the first time in March 1982. It continued to trade between R1 and R1.30 to the dollar until June 1984, when the currency's depreciation gained momentum. By February 1985, it was trading at over R2 per dollar, and in July of that year, all foreign exchange trading was suspended for three days to try to stop the depreciation. By the time that State President P. W. Botha made his Rubicon speech on 15 August 1985, it had weakened to R2.40 per dollar. The currency recovered somewhat between 1986 and 1988, trading near the R2 level most of the time and breaking beneath it sporadically. The recovery was short-lived; by the end of 1989, the rand was trading at more than R2.50 per dollar. As it became clear in the early 1990s that the country was destined for Black majority rule and one reform after the other was announced, uncertainty about the country's future hastened the depreciation until the level of R3 to the dollar was breached in November 1992. A host of local and international events influenced the currency after that, most notably the 1994 general election , which had it weaken to over R3.60 to the dollar, the election of Tito Mboweni as the governor of the South African Reserve Bank , and the inauguration of President Thabo Mbeki in 1999, which had it quickly slide to over R6 to the dollar. The controversial land reform programme that was initiated in Zimbabwe , followed by the September 11, 2001 attacks , propelled it to its weakest historical level of R13.84 to the dollar in December 2001. 2001–2011 Two generations of older notes and coins, later replaced with the "Big Five " notes, which were in turn replaced to show the face of Nelson Mandela in 2012 This sudden depreciation in 2001 led to a formal investigation and a dramatic recovery. By the end of 2002, the currency was trading under R9 to the dollar again, and by the end of 2004, it was trading under R5.70. The currency softened somewhat in 2005, trading around R6.35 to the dollar at the end of the year. At the start of 2006, however, the currency resumed its rally and, as of 19 January 2006, was trading under R6 to the dollar again. However, the rand weakened significantly during the second and third quarters of 2006 (i.e., April through September). In sterling terms, it fell from around 9.5% to just over 7%, losing some 25% of its international trade-weighted value in six months. In late 2007, the rand rallied modestly to just over 8%, only to experience a precipitous slide during the first quarter of 2008. This downward slide could be attributed to a range of factors: South Africa's worsening current account deficit, which widened to a 36‑year high of 7.3% of gross domestic product (GDP) in 2007; inflation at a five-year high of just under 9%; escalating global risk aversion as investors' concerns over the spreading impact of the sub-prime crisis grew; and a general flight to "safe havens", away from the perceived risks of emerging markets. The rand depreciation was exacerbated by the Eskom electricity crisis, which arose from the utility's inability to meet the country's rapidly growing energy demands. 2012–present A stalled mining industry in late 2012 led to new lows in early 2013. In late January 2014, the rand slid to R11.25 to the dollar, with analysts attributing the shift to "word from the US Federal Reserve that it would trim back stimulus spending, which led to a massive sell-off in emerging economies."In 2014, South Africa experienced its worst year against the US dollar since 2009, and in March 2015, the rand traded at its worst since 2002. At the time, Trading Economics released data that the rand "averaged R4.97 to the dollar between 1972–2015, reaching an all time high of R12.45 in December 2001 and a record low of R0.67 in June of 1973." By the end of 2014, the rand had weakened to R15.05 per dollar, partly due to South Africa's consistent trade account deficit with the rest of the world. From 9–13 December 2015, over four days, the rand dropped over 10% due to what some suspected was President Jacob Zuma's surprise announcement that he would be replacing the Finance Minister Nhlanhla Nene with the little-known David van Rooyen . The rapid drop in value stemmed when Zuma backtracked and announced that the better-known previous Minister of Finance, Pravin Gordhan , would instead be appointed to the post. Zuma's surprise sacking of Nene damaged international confidence in the rand, and the exchange rate was volatile throughout much of January 2016 and reached an all-time low of R17.9169 to the US dollar on 9 January 2016 before rebounding to R16.57 later the same day. The January drop in value was also partly caused by Japanese retail investors cutting their losses in the currency to look for higher-yield investments elsewhere and due to concerns over the impact of the economic slowdown in China , South Africa's largest export market. By mid-January, economists were speculating that the rand could expect to see further volatility for the rest of 2016. By 29 April, it reached its highest performance over the previous five months, exchanging at a rate of R14.16 to the United States dollar. Following the United Kingdom voting to leave the European Union, the rand dropped in value over 8% against the US$ on 24 June 2016, the currency's largest single-day decline since the 2008 economic crash. This was partly due to a general global financial retreat from currencies seen as risky to the US dollar and partly due to concerns over how British withdrawal from the EU would impact the South African economy and trade relations. In April 2017, a Reuters poll estimated that the rand would remain relatively stable for the rest of the year, as two polls found that analysts had already factored in a possible downgrade to "junk" status. At the time, Moody's rated South Africa two notches above junk status.[22] When President Jacob Zuma narrowly won a motion of no confidence in South Africa in August 2017, the rand continued to slide, dropping 1.7% that day. In September 2017, Goldman Sachs said that the debt and corruption of Eskom Holdings was the biggest risk to South Africa's economy and the exchange rate of the rand. At the time, it had no permanent CEO, and Colin Coleman of Goldman Sachs in Africa said the company was "having discussions on solutions" on finding credible management. In October 2017, the rand firmed against the US dollar as it recovered from a six-month low. Reuters noted, "South Africa is highly susceptible to global investor sentiment as the country relies on foreign money to cover its large budget and current account deficits." On 13 November 2017, the rand fell by over 1% when the budget chief, Michael Sachs, stood down from his position in Zuma's administration. In October 2022, the rand sank to its lowest point in two years, reaching R18.46 to the US dollar on 25 October 2022. Coins Main article: Coins of the South African rand A 5 rand bimetallic coin issued in 2004. Coins were introduced in 1961 in denominations of 1⁄2, 1, 2+1⁄2, 5, 10, 20, and 50 cents. In 1965, 2-cent coins replaced the 2+1⁄2 cent coins. The 1⁄2 cent coin was last struck for circulation in 1973. The 1 rand coin for circulation was introduced in 1967, followed by 2 rand coins in 1989 and 5 rand coins in 1994. Production of the 1 and 2-cent coins was discontinued in 2002, followed by 5-cent coins in 2012, primarily due to inflation having devalued them, but they remain legal tender. Shops normally round the total purchase price of goods to the nearest 10 cents. To curb counterfeiting, a new 5-rand coin was released in August 2004. Security features introduced on the coin include a bimetal design (similar to the €1 and €2 coins , the Thai ฿10 coin , the pre-2018 Philippine ₱10 coin , the British £2 coin , and the Canadian $2 coin ), a specially serrated security groove along the rim and microlettering. On 3 May 2023, the South African Reserve Bank announced that a new series of coins would be released. These will have the same denominations as the previous series. The 10c will feature an image of the Cape Honey Bee, the 20c the Bitter Aloe, the 50c the Knysna Turaco , the R1 the Springbok , the R2 the King Protea , and the R5 the Southern Right Whale . Banknotes The first series of rand banknotes was introduced in 1961 in denominations of 1, 2, 10, and 20 rand, with similar designs and colours to the preceding pound notes to ease the transition. They bore the image of what was believed at the time to be Jan van Riebeeck , the first VOC administrator of Cape Town . It was later discovered that the original portrait was not, in fact, Van Riebeeck at all, but a portrait of Bartholomeus Vermuyden had been mistaken for Van Riebeeck. In 1966, a second series with designs that moved away from the previous pound notes was released. Notes with 1, 5, and 10 rand denominations were produced with predominantly one colour per note. A smaller 1 rand note with the same design was introduced in 1973, and a 2 rand note was introduced in 1974. The 20 rand denomination from the first series was dropped. The practice of having an English and an Afrikaans version of each note was continued in this series. The 1978 series began with denominations of 2, 5, 10, and 20 rand, with a 50 rand introduced in 1984. This series had only one language variant for each denomination of note. Afrikaans was the first language on the 2, 10, and 50 rand, while English was the first on the 5 and 20 rand. A coin replaced the 1 rand note. Rand banknotes and coins. South African ATM showing R50 and R100 banknotes. In the 1990s, the notes were redesigned with images of the Big Five wildlife species. 10, 20, and 50 rand notes were introduced in 1992 & 1993, retaining the colour scheme of the previous issue. Coins were introduced for the 2 and 5 rand, replacing the notes of the previous series, mainly because of the severe wear and tear experienced with low-denomination notes in circulation. In 1994, 100 and 200 rand notes were introduced. The 2005 series has the same principal design but with additional security features, such as colour-shifting ink on the 50 rand and higher and the EURion constellation . The obverses of all denominations were printed in English, while two other official languages were printed on the reverse, thus using all 11 official languages of South Africa . In 2010, the South African Reserve Bank and commercial banks withdrew all 1994 series 200-rand banknotes due to relatively high-quality counterfeit notes in circulation. In 2011, the South African Reserve Bank issued defective 100 rand banknotes which lacked fluorescent printing visible under UV light . In June, the printing of this denomination was moved from the South African Bank Note Company to Crane Currency's Swedish division (Tumba Bruk ), which reportedly produced 80 million 100 rand notes. The South African Reserve Bank shredded 3.6 million 100-rand banknotes printed by Crane Currency because they had the same serial numbers as a batch printed by the South African Bank Note Company. In addition, the notes printed in Sweden were not the correct colour and were 1mm short. On 11 February 2012, President Jacob Zuma announced that the country would be issuing a new set of banknotes bearing Nelson Mandela 's image. They were entered into circulation on 6 November 2012. These contained the same denominations of 10, 20, 50, 100, and 200 rand. In 2013, the 2012 series was updated with the addition of the EURion constellation to all five denominations. On 18 July 2018, a special commemorative series of banknotes was released in commemoration of the 100th anniversary of Nelson Mandela's birth. This series includes notes of all denominations, 10, 20, 50, 100, and 200 rand. These notes will circulate alongside the existing notes. The notes depict the standard face of Nelson Mandela on the obverse. Still, instead of the Big Five animals on the reverse, they show a younger Mandela with different iconic scenes relating to his legacy. These scenes comprise the rolling hills of the Eastern Cape , featuring Mandela's humble birthplace of Mvezo (10 rand); the home of Mandela in Soweto , where he defined his political life alongside other struggle icons (20 rand); the site where Mandela was captured near Howick , following 17 months in hiding, where a monument to him has been erected (50 rand); the place of Mandela's 27-year imprisonment at Robben Island , showing a pile of quarried limestone (100 rand); the statue of Mandela at the Union Buildings in remembrance of when he was inaugurated there in 1994 (200 rand). On 3 May 2023, the South African Reserve Bank announced that a new series of banknotes would retain the image of Nelson Mandela on the obverse while showing the Big 5 in a family depiction on the reverse. This series contains the same denominations of 10, 20, 50, 100, and 200 rand. BANK NOTES OF THE BIG FIVE South Africa Currency 10 Rand banknote 1961 Jan van Riebeeck South Africa Currency 10 Rand banknote 1961 Jan van Riebeeck South Africa Currency 10 Rand banknote 1961 Jan van Riebeeck South African Reserve Bank - Suid-Afrikaanse Reserwebank Obverse: Portrait of Jan van Riebeeck (1619 – 1677), was a Dutch navigator and colonial administrator and the founder of Cape Town. At the top are the name of the bank in Afrikaans and English: "Suid-Afrikaanse Reserwebank" and "South African Reserve Bank". An inscriptions: "Ek beloof op aanvraag te betaal aan toonder te Pretoria TIEN RAND Vir die Suid-Afrikaanse Reserwebank" & "I promise to pay the bearer on demand at Pretoria TEN RAND For the South African Reserve Bank". An Allegory of Hope at lower left corner - seated allegorical female with an anchor symbolizes hope of Voortrekkers for best and richer future. Vignette of pioneers and covered wagons train drawn by bulls rolls across plain (Voortrekkers or Voor-trekkers) at bottom center. (The basic motive was taken after the colored illustration from Ian D. Colvin's book "South Africa", published by London publisher "Caxton Pub. Co." in 1909. The illustration made by G. S. Smithard and J. S. Skelton). At the lower right corner of the banknote depiction of a lemon tree (Citrus limon). On the left from Lemon tree are two Golden Wildebeest (male - forehead and female - on background). Signature: President Governor - Dr. Michiel Hendrik de Kock (29 January 1898 — 18 September 1976) was the third Governor of the South African Reserve Bank. His term of office was from 1 July 1945 to 30 June 1962. Reverse: The South Africa's iconic ship "Dromedaris" at center. The face value of the banknote in words, in English and Afrikaans, are at the top and in arabic numerals "10" in ornate guilloche are at lower corners. The name of the bank in Afrikaans and English: "Suid-Afrikaanse Reserwebank" and "South African Reserve Bank" at left and right. The "Dromedaris" was one of the three ships (Dromedaris, Rejiger and De Goede Hoop) landed by Jan van Riebeeck at the future Cape Town site on 6 April 1652 and the Reijger on 7 April 1652 and then commenced to fortify it as a way station for the Dutch East India Company (VOC "Vereenigde Oost-Indische Compagnie") trade route between the Netherlands and the East Indies. The primary purpose of this way station was to provide fresh provisions for the Dutch East India Company fleets sailing between the Dutch Republic and Batavia, as deaths en route were very high. The arrival of Van Riebeeck marked the beginning of permanent European settlement in the region. Watermark: Portrait of Jan van Riebeeck and the wavy lines along the borders of banknote. Size: 170 x 97 mm. Colour: Green and brown on multicolored underprint. 1961-1965 South African Currency 20 Rand banknote 1962 Jan van Riebeeck South African Currency 20 Rand banknote 1962 Jan van Riebeeck South African Reserve Bank - Suid-Afrikaanse Reserwebank Obverse: Portrait of Jan van Riebeeck (1619 – 1677), was a Dutch navigator and colonial administrator and the founder of Cape Town. At the top are the name of the bank in Afrikaans "Suid-Afrikaanse Reserwebank" and in English "South African Reserve Bank" at the bottom part of the banknote. An inscriptions: "Ek beloof op aanvraag te betaal aan toonder te Pretoria TWINTIG RAND Vir die Suid-Afrikaanse Reserwebank" & "I promise to pay the bearer on demand at Pretoria TWENTY RAND For the South African Reserve Bank". At the left part of the banknote depicted the vignette represents the South African animals: Antelope Springbok, Chacma Baboon, Burchell's zebra and Golden Wildebeest Bulls. At the bottom right corner of the banknote are Zulu woman with child, carrying a vessel on top of her head. Signature: President Governor - Gerard Rissik (21 February 1903 – 4 October 1979) was the fourth Governor of the South African Reserve Bank. His term of office was from 1 July 1962 to 30 June 1967. Reverse: The Line Conveyors at South Africa gold mine, Witwatersrand Basin. At the top are the name of the bank in Afrikaans "Suid-Afrikaanse Reserwebank" and in English "South African Reserve Bank" at the bottom part of the banknote. The face value of the banknote in arabic numerals "20" in ornate guilloche at each corners. Watermark: Portrait of Jan van Riebeeck and the wavy lines along the borders of banknote. Size: 170 x 97 mm. Colour: Brown-violet. 1961-1965 South Africa Currency 1 Rand banknote 1967 Jan van Riebeeck South Africa Currency 1 Rand banknote 1967 Jan van Riebeeck South African Reserve Bank - Suid-Afrikaanse Reserwebank Obverse: Portrait of Jan van Riebeeck (1619 – 1677), was a Dutch navigator and colonial administrator and the founder of Cape Town. Many Afrikaners view van Riebeeck as the father of the Afrikaner nation. The King Protea flower on the background at center, at bottom right corner and across all the field of the banknote (Proclaimed as South Africa's national flower in 1976, the king protea (Protea cynaroides) is a flowering bush as beautiful and unique as the country itself.). At the top are the name of the bank in Afrikaans "Suid-Afrikaanse Reserwebank" and in English "South African Reserve Bank" at the bottom part of the banknote. An inscriptions: "Ek beloof op aanvraag te betaal aan toonder te Pretoria EEN RAND Vir die Suid-Afrikaanse Reserwebank" & "I promise to pay the bearer on demand at Pretoria ONE RAND For the South African Reserve Bank". Signature: Theunis Willem de Jongh was the fifth Governor of the South African Reserve Bank. His term of office was from 1 July 1967 to 31 December 1980. Reverse: Two South African merino sheep are staying near the plow. Behind them is a corn field. Landscape of corn field and farmhouse and mountain range in the background. A lemon tree (Citrus limon) and tobacco plant at left. The national flower of South Africa - Giant or King Protea, pineapple, watermelon, pear, grapes and other fruits and vegetables at right. The face value of the banknote in arabic numerals "1" in ornate guilloche at upper right and bottom left corners. Watermark: Springbok - national animal of South Africa and mascot for many national sport teams. Size: 126 x 64 mm. Colour: Dark reddish brown on multicolored underprint. Printer: South African Bank Note Company Ltd, Pretoria. 1966-1975 South African Currency 5 Rand banknote 1967 Jan van Riebeeck South African Currency 5 Rand banknote 1967 Jan van Riebeeck South African Reserve Bank - Suid-Afrikaanse Reserwebank Obverse: Portrait of Jan van Riebeeck (1619 – 1677), was a Dutch navigator and colonial administrator and the founder of Cape Town. Many Afrikaners view van Riebeeck as the father of the Afrikaner nation. The Voortrekker Monument at center. Vignette of pioneers and covered wagons train drawn by bulls rolls across plain (Voortrekkers or Voor-trekkers) at bottom right corner. At the top are the name of the bank in English "South African Reserve Bank" and in Afrikaans "Suid-Afrikaanse Reserwebank". An inscriptions: "I promise to pay the bearer on demand at Pretoria FIVE RAND For the South African Reserve Bank" & "Ek beloof op aanvraag te betaal aan toonder te Pretoria VYF RAND Vir die Suid-Afrikaanse Reserwebank". The face value of the banknote in words at center: in English "FIVE RAND" and in Afrikaans "VYF RAND". The face value of the banknote in arabic numerals "5" in ornate guilloche at bottom left, upper right and left corners. Signature: Theunis Willem de Jongh was the fifth Governor of the South African Reserve Bank. His term of office was from 1 July 1967 to 31 December 1980. Reverse: Factory with industrial freight train. The face value of the banknote in arabic numerals "5" in ornate guilloche at upper right and left corners. Watermark: Portrait of Jan van Riebeeck. Size: 134 × 70 mm. Colour: Purple on multicolored underprint. Printer: South African Bank Note Company Ltd, Pretoria. 1966-1975 South Africa Currency 10 Rand banknote 1967 Jan van Riebeeck South Africa Currency 10 Rand banknote 1967 Jan van Riebeeck South African Reserve Bank - Suid-Afrikaanse Reserwebank Obverse: Portrait of Jan van Riebeeck (1619 – 1677), was a Dutch navigator and colonial administrator and the founder of Cape Town. Many Afrikaners view van Riebeeck as the father of the Afrikaner nation. The Union Buildings in Pretoria at center. (The Union Buildings form the official seat of the South African Government and also house the offices of the President of South Africa). The Springbok at bottom right, national animal of South Africa and mascot for many national sport teams. At the top are the name of the bank in English "South African Reserve Bank" and in Afrikaans "Suid-Afrikaanse Reserwebank" at the bottom part of the banknote. An inscriptions: "I promise to pay the bearer on demand at Pretoria TEN RAND For the South African Reserve Bank" & "Ek beloof op aanvraag te betaal aan toonder te Pretoria TIEN RAND Vir die Suid-Afrikaanse Reserwebank". The face value of the banknote in words at center: in English "TEN RAND" and in Afrikaans "TIEN RAND". The face value of the banknote in arabic numerals "10" in ornate guilloche at upper right and bottom left corners. Signature: Theunis Willem de Jongh was the fifth Governor of the South African Reserve Bank. His term of office was from 1 July 1967 to 31 December 1980. Reverse: The Table Bay and Table Mountain with Van Riebeeck’s three ships at his arrival on April 6, 1652: the "Dromedaris", "Reijger" and "Goede Hoop" first time reaching the cape of Good Hope. The face value of the banknote in arabic numerals "10" in ornate guilloche at upper right and left corners. Watermark: Springbok - national animal of South Africa and mascot for many national sport teams. Size: 140 x 76 mm. Colour: Dark green and brown on multicolored underprint. Printer: South African Bank Note Company Ltd, Pretoria. 1966-1975 South African Currency 2 Rand banknote 1978 Jan van Riebeeck South African Currency 2 Rand banknote 1978 Jan van Riebeeck South African Reserve Bank - Suid-Afrikaanse Reserwebank Obverse: Portrait of Jan van Riebeeck (1619 – 1677), was a Dutch navigator and colonial administrator and the founder of Cape Town. A vignette representing the infrastructure of the country: electric power transmission towers. The face value of the banknote in arabic numerals "2" in ornate guilloche at left and right. At the top are the name of the bank in Afrikaans "Suid-Afrikaanse Reserwebank" and in English "South African Reserve Bank" at the bottom part of the banknote. An inscriptions: "Ek beloof op aanvraag te betaal aan toonder te Pretoria TWEE RAND Vir die Suid-Afrikaanse Reserwebank" & "I promise to pay the bearer on demand at Pretoria TWO RAND For the South African Reserve Bank". The face value of the banknote in words at center: in Afrikaans "TWEE RAND" and in English "TWO RAND". Signature: Theunis Willem de Jongh was the fifth Governor of the South African Reserve Bank. His term of office was from 1 July 1967 to 31 December 1980. Reverse: A vignette representing the manufacturing of the country: Oil refinery plant of "Sasol Limited". The face value of the banknote in arabic numerals "2" are on left side and in lower right corner. Watermark: Portrait of Jan van Riebeeck. Size: 120 x 57 mm. Colour: Blue on multicolored underprint. Printer: South African Bank Note Company Ltd, Pretoria. South Africa Currency 5 Rand banknote 1978 Jan van Riebeeck South Africa Currency 5 Rand banknote 1978 Jan van Riebeeck South African Reserve Bank - Suid-Afrikaanse Reserwebank Obverse: Portrait of Jan van Riebeeck (1619 – 1677), was a Dutch navigator and colonial administrator and the founder of Cape Town. Large Diamond at center. The face value of the banknote in arabic numerals "5" in ornate guilloche at left and right. At the top are the name of the bank in English "South African Reserve Bank" and in Afrikaans "Suid-Afrikaanse Reserwebank" at the bottom part of the banknote. An inscriptions: "I promise to pay the bearer on demand at Pretoria FIVE RAND For the South African Reserve Bank" & "Ek beloof op aanvraag te betaal aan toonder te Pretoria VYF RAND Vir die Suid-Afrikaanse Reserwebank". The face value of the banknote in words at center: in Afrikaans "VYF RAND" and in English "FIVE RAND". Signature: Theunis Willem de Jongh was the fifth Governor of the South African Reserve Bank. His term of office was from 1 July 1967 to 31 December 1980. Reverse: A vignette representing the diamond mining of the country: Diamond mine at center. On right side is the city skyscraper skyline, as parallel between diamonds mining and wealth and civilization. On left side is the small stylized model of hydrocarbon atoms. The face value of the banknote in arabic numerals "5" are on left side and in lower right corner. Watermark: Portrait of Jan van Riebeeck. Size: 127 x 63 mm. Colour: Purple on multicolored underprint. Printer: South African Bank Note Company Ltd, Pretoria. South African Currency 10 Rand banknote 1978 Jan van Riebeeck South African Currency 10 Rand banknote 1978 Jan van Riebeeck South African Reserve Bank - Suid-Afrikaanse Reserwebank Obverse: Portrait of Jan van Riebeeck (1619 – 1677), was a Dutch navigator and colonial administrator and the founder of Cape Town. The King Protea flower at center (Proclaimed as South Africa's national flower in 1976, the king protea (Protea cynaroides) is a flowering bush as beautiful and unique as the country itself.). The face value of the banknote in arabic numerals "10" in ornate guilloche at left and right. At the top are the name of the bank in Afrikaans "Suid-Afrikaanse Reserwebank" and in English "South African Reserve Bank" at the bottom part of the banknote. An inscriptions: "Ek beloof op aanvraag te betaal aan toonder te Pretoria TIEN RAND Vir die Suid-Afrikaanse Reserwebank" & "I promise to pay the bearer on demand at Pretoria TEN RAND For the South African Reserve Bank". The face value of the banknote in words at center: in Afrikaans "TIEN RAND" and in English "TEN RAND". Signature: Theunis Willem de Jongh was the fifth Governor of the South African Reserve Bank. His term of office was from 1 July 1967 to 31 December 1980. Reverse: A vignette representing the agriculture of the country - Livestock: the South African merino sheep and Afrikaner bull. The face value of the banknote in arabic numerals "10" in ornate guilloche at left. Watermark: Portrait of Jan van Riebeeck. Size: 134 x 70 mm. Colour: Green on multicolored underprint. Printer: South African Bank Note Company Ltd, Pretoria. South Africa Currency 20 Rand banknote 1990 Jan van Riebeeck South Africa Currency 20 Rand banknote 1990 Jan van Riebeeck South African Reserve Bank - Suid-Afrikaanse Reserwebank Obverse: Portrait of Jan van Riebeeck (1619 – 1677), was a Dutch navigator and colonial administrator and the founder of Cape Town. Groot Constantia manor house, a historic building at center (Groot Constantia is the oldest wine estate in South Africa and provincial heritage site in the suburb of Constantia in Cape Town, South Africa). The face value of the banknote in arabic numerals "20" in ornate guilloche at left and right. At the top are the name of the bank in English "South African Reserve Bank" and in Afrikaans "Suid-Afrikaanse Reserwebank" at the bottom part of the banknote. An inscriptions: "I promise to pay the bearer on demand at Pretoria TWENTY RAND For the South African Reserve Bank" & "Ek beloof op aanvraag te betaal aan toonder te Pretoria TWINTIG RAND Vir die Suid-Afrikaanse Reserwebank". The face value of the banknote in words at center: in Afrikaans "TWINTIG RAND" and in English "TWENTY RAND". Signature: Dr. Chris Stals (born 13 March 1935) was the seventh Governor of the South African Reserve Bank, serving from 8 August 1989 to 7 August 1999. He succeeded Dr. Gerhard de Kock who had died in office. Reverse: The Table Bay and Table Mountain with Jan van Riebeeck’s three ships at his arrival on April 6, 1652: the "Dromedaris", "Reijger" and "Goede Hoop" first time reaching the cape of Good Hope. The (old) Coat of Arms of South Africa between 1910 and 2000, with the Latin motto "Ex Unitate Vires" - "From Unity, Strength" (also translated as "Unity Creates Strength"). "Ex Unitate Vires" was South Africa's motto until 27 April, 2000, when the new Coat of Arms and motto were adopted. Variations of the old motto were common in many Afrikaner and South African institutions, often in Afrikaans ("Eendrag maak mag") or Dutch ("Eendragt maakt magt" in old orthography, "Eendracht maakt macht" in modern orthography). Watermark: Portrait of Jan van Riebeeck. Size: 144 x 77 mm. Colour: Brown on multicolored underprint. Printer: South African Bank Note Company Ltd, Pretoria. South African Currency 50 Rand banknote 1984 Jan van Riebeeck South African Currency 50 Rand banknote 1984 Jan van Riebeeck South African Reserve Bank - Suid-Afrikaanse Reserwebank Obverse: Portrait of Jan van Riebeeck (1619 – 1677), was a Dutch navigator and colonial administrator and the founder of Cape Town. Close-up of male Transvaal Lion head in under-print at center, as member of "The Famous Big Five animals of Africa". The face value of the banknote in arabic numerals "50" in ornate guilloche at left and right. At the top are the name of the bank in Afrikaans "Suid-Afrikaanse Reserwebank" and in English "South African Reserve Bank" at the bottom part of the banknote. An inscriptions: "Ek beloof op aanvraag te betaal aan toonder te Pretoria VYFTIG RAND Vir die Suid-Afrikaanse Reserwebank" & "I promise to pay the bearer on demand at Pretoria FIFTY RAND For the South African Reserve Bank". The face value of the banknote in words at center: in Afrikaans "VYFTIG RAND" and in English "FIFTY RAND". Signature: Dr. Gerhard de Kock (14 February 1926 — 7 August 1989) was the sixth Governor of the South African Reserve Bank. He was the son of Dr. Michiel Hendrik de Kock, who was the third Governor of the South African Reserve Bank. Dr. de Kock was the first (and only) Governor of the South African Reserve Bank to die in office. His term was from 1 January 1981 until his death on 7 August 1989. Reverse: The vignette represents the South African animals at the watering, likely at Orange River: a giraffe, zebra, wildebeest, greater and lesser kudu. Crimson sun over a mountain range. The palm trees at the lower right corner. The face value of the banknote in arabic numerals "50" in ornate guilloche at left. Watermark: Portrait of Jan van Riebeeck. Size: 147 x 83 mm. Colour: Red on multicolored underprint. Printer: South African Bank Note Company Ltd, Pretoria. South Africa Currency 10 Rand banknote 1999 White Rhinoceros South Africa Currency 10 Rand banknote 1999 White Rhinoceros South African Reserve Bank - Suid-Afrikaanse Reserwebank The Famous Big Five animals of Africa Leopard, African Buffalo, Transvaal Lion, African Elephant, Rhinoceros Obverse: Close-up of a White Rhino head at right and a vignette of a White Rhinoceros mother and her Rhino baby in the African Savanna at center. Outline drawings of various round geometric figures at the bottom. Outline drawing of round geometric figure with coinciding register, as security measure at lower left corner. The parts printed on the back perfectly match the ones on the front. At the top are the name of the bank in Afrikaans "Suid-Afrikaanse Reserwebank" and in English "South African Reserve Bank" at the bottom. The face value of the banknote in arabic numerals "10" at center, in numerals and words: in English "TEN RAND" at right and Afrikaans "TIEN RAND" along the left side of the banknote. Signature: Chris Stals - President Governor of the South African Reserve Bank. (Dr. Christian Lodewyk Stals, better known as Chris Stals (born 13 March 1935) was the seventh Governor of the South African Reserve Bank, serving from 8 August 1989 to 7 August 1999. He succeeded Dr. Gerhard de Kock who had died in office). Reverse: The theme of this banknote reverse is Agriculture: Close-up of a Ram head at left. Lower are South African merino sheep on the pasture and mountains in the background, the windmill at lower left corner. Above are three contour image of sunflowers. At the top are the name of the bank in Afrikaans "Suid-Afrikaanse Reserwebank" and in English "South African Reserve Bank" at the bottom. The face value of the banknote in arabic numerals "10" at center, in numerals and words: in English "TEN RAND 10" at right and Afrikaans "TIEN RAND 10" along the left side of the banknote. Watermark: White rhino and electrotype 10. Size: 128 × 70 mm. Colour: Dark green and dark blue on brown and multicolored underprint. Printer: South African Bank Note Company Ltd, Pretoria. South African Currency 20 Rand banknote 1993 African Savanna Elephant South African Currency 20 Rand banknote 1993 African Savanna Elephant South African Reserve Bank - Suid-Afrikaanse Reserwebank The Famous Big Five animals of Africa Leopard, African Buffalo, Transvaal Lion, African Elephant, Rhinoceros Obverse: Close-up of an African Bush Elephant head at right and a vignette of the African Bush Elephant family walking in the bush at center (The African Bush Elephant, also known as the Savanna Elephant). Outline drawings of round brilliant cut at the bottom. Outline drawing of round brilliant cut with coinciding register, as security measure at lower left corner. The parts printed on the back perfectly match the ones on the front. At the top are the name of the bank in English "South African Reserve Bank" and in Afrikaans "Suid-Afrikaanse Reserwebank" at the bottom. The face value of the banknote in arabic numerals "20" at center, in numerals and words: in English "TWENTY RAND" at left and Afrikaans "TWINTING RAND" along the right side of the banknote. Signature: Chris Stals - President Governor of the South African Reserve Bank. (Dr. Christian Lodewyk Stals, better known as Chris Stals (born 13 March 1935) was the seventh Governor of the South African Reserve Bank, serving from 8 August 1989 to 7 August 1999. He succeeded Dr. Gerhard de Kock who had died in office). Reverse: The theme of this banknote reverse is Surface mining industry - Open-pit mining. On the upper part of the banknote are three graphic image of round brilliant cut. Outline drawing of round brilliant cut with coinciding register, as security measure at lower right corner. The parts printed on the back perfectly match the ones on the front. At the top are the name of the bank in English "South African Reserve Bank" and in Afrikaans "Suid-Afrikaanse Reserwebank" at the bottom. The face value of the banknote in arabic numerals "20" at center, in numerals and words: in English "TWENTY RAND 20" at left and Afrikaans "TWINTING RAND 20" along the right side of the banknote. Watermark: African Bush Elephant and electrotype 20. Size: 134 × 70 mm. Colour: Deep brown and red-brown on multicolored underprint. Printer: South African Bank Note Company Ltd, Pretoria. BANK NOTES OF MANDELA South Africa Currency 50 Rand banknote 1992 Transvaal Lion South Africa Currency 50 Rand banknote 1992 Transvaal Lion South African Reserve Bank - Suid-Afrikaanse Reserwebank The Famous Big Five animals of Africa Leopard, African Buffalo, Transvaal Lion, African Elephant, Rhinoceros Obverse: Close-up of male Transvaal Lion head at right and a vignette of the two Transvaal lionesses and cub drinking at water hole. Outline drawings of various round geometric shapes at the bottom. Outline drawing of stylized model of hydrocarbon atom with coinciding register, as security measure at lower left corner. The parts printed on the back perfectly match the ones on the front. At the top are the name of the bank in English "South African Reserve Bank" and in Afrikaans "Suid-Afrikaanse Reserwebank" at the bottom. The face value of the banknote in arabic numerals "50" at center, in numerals and words: in English "FIFTY RAND" at right and Afrikaans "VYFTIG RAND" along the left side of the banknote. Signature: Tito Mboweni - President Governor of the South African Reserve Bank. (Tito Titus Mboweni, born 16 March 1959) is the current Minister of Finance of South Africa. Mboweni was the eighth Governor of the South African Reserve Bank and the first Black South African to hold the post. He was sworn in as Finance Minister on 9 October 2018, following Nhlanhla Nene's resignation.) Reverse: The theme of this banknote reverse is Manufacturing - Sasol oil refinery at the bottom part of the note. On the upper part of the banknote are stylized model of hydrocarbon atoms. At the top are the name of the bank in English "South African Reserve Bank" and in Afrikaans "Suid-Afrikaanse Reserwebank" at the bottom. The face value of the banknote in arabic numerals "50" at center, in numerals and words: in English "FIFTY RAND 50" at right and Afrikaans "VYFTIG RAND 50" along the left side of the banknote. Refining capacity in South Africa is 250 million barrels/year, or about 700 thousand barrels/day, Including 500 thousand barrels/day of crude oil and 195 thousand barrels/day of synthetic liquid fuels from coal. It is interesting that the South African "Sasol" is the pioneer of the Fischer-Tpropsha producing synthetic fuel using this synthesis conversion of the gasified coal since 1955. Watermark: Transvaal lion and electrotype 50. Size: 140 × 70 mm. Colour: Maroon, brown and deep blue-green on multicolored underprint. Printer: South African Bank Note Company Ltd, Pretoria. South African Currency 100 Rand banknote 1999 Cape Buffalo South African Currency 100 Rand banknote 1999 Cape Buffalo South African Reserve Bank - Suid-Afrikaanse Reserwebank The Famous Big Five animals of Africa Leopard, African Buffalo, Transvaal Lion, African Elephant, Rhinoceros Obverse: Close-up of a Cape Buffalo head at right and a vignette of the two African or Cape Buffalos in the African Savannah at center. Outline drawings of various round geometric figures at the bottom. Outline drawing of round brilliant cut with coinciding register, as security measure at lower left corner. The parts printed on the back perfectly match the ones on the front. At the top are the name of the bank in English "South African Reserve Bank" and in Afrikaans "Suid-Afrikaanse Reserwebank" at the bottom. The face value of the banknote in arabic numerals "100" at center, in numerals and words: in English "ONE HUNDRED RAND" at left and Afrikaans "EEN HONDERD RAND" at right. Signature: Tito Mboweni - President Governor of the South African Reserve Bank. (Tito Titus Mboweni, born 16 March 1959) is the current Minister of Finance of South Africa. Mboweni was the eighth Governor of the South African Reserve Bank and the first Black South African to hold the post. He was sworn in as Finance Minister on 9 October 2018, following Nhlanhla Nene's resignation.) Reverse: The theme of this banknote is Tourism. A herd of zebras on the African savanna at the bottom. On the upper part of the banknote are four graphic image of round brilliant cut. At the top are the name of the bank in English "South African Reserve Bank" and in Afrikaans "Suid-Afrikaanse Reserwebank" at the bottom. The face value of the banknote in arabic numerals "100" at center, in numerals and words: in English "ONE HUNDRED RAND 100" at left and Afrikaans "EEN HONDERD RAND 100" at right. Watermark: The African buffalo or Cape buffalo and electrotype 100. Size: 146 × 70 mm. Colour: Blue on multicolored underprint. Printer: South African Bank Note Company Ltd, Pretoria. South Africa Currency 200 Rand banknote 1994 African leopard South Africa Currency 200 Rand banknote 1994 African leopard South African Reserve Bank - Suid-Afrikaanse Reserwebank The Famous Big Five animals of Africa Leopard, African Buffalo, Transvaal Lion, African Elephant, Rhinoceros Obverse: Close-up of a Leopard head at right and a vignette showing a leopard lying above the branch of a tree at center. Outline drawings of various round geometric figures at the bottom. Outline drawing of round geometric figure with coinciding register, as security measure at lower left corner. The parts printed on the back perfectly match the ones on the front. At the top are the name of the bank in Afrikaans "Suid-Afrikaanse Reserwebank" and in English "South African Reserve Bank" at the bottom. The face value of the banknote in arabic numerals "200" at center, in numerals and words: in English "TWO HUNDRED RAND" at right and Afrikaans "TWEE HONDERD RAND" along the left side of the banknote. Signature: Chris Stals - President Governor of the South African Reserve Bank. (Dr. Christian Lodewyk Stals, better known as Chris Stals (born 13 March 1935) was the seventh Governor of the South African Reserve Bank, serving from 8 August 1989 to 7 August 1999. He succeeded Dr. Gerhard de Kock who had died in office). Reverse: The theme of this banknote reverse is Transport and Telecommunications. The Bloukrans Bridge at center. On left side is a big satellite dish, symbolizing telecommunication. Centered, above, are three images: Left one reminds a the turbine of an aircraft, centered image - stylized wheel of car/truck/tractor and right one reminds the wheel of an Electric locomotive - as symbols of Transport. At the top are the name of the bank in Afrikaans "Suid-Afrikaanse Reserwebank" and in English "South African Reserve Bank" at the bottom. The face value of the banknote in arabic numerals "200" at center, in numerals and words: in English "TWO HUNDRED RAND 200" at right and Afrikaans "TWEE HONDERD RAND 200" along the left side of the banknote. Watermark: The African leopard (Panthera pardus pardus) and electrotype 200. Size: 152 × 70 mm. Printer: South African Bank Note Company Ltd, Pretoria. Bloukrans Bridge The Bloukrans Bridge is an arch bridge located near Nature's Valley, Western Cape, South Africa. Constructed between February 1980 and June 1983, the bridge stands at a height of 216m above the Bloukrans River. Its central span is 272m and the bridge is 451m in length in total. Its primary use is that of a road bridge, carrying national route N2. Bloukrans Bridge is the site of the world's highest commercial bridge bungee jumping, Bloukrans Bridge Bungy, operated by Face Adrenalin since 1997. The Bloukrans River below forms the border between the Eastern Cape and Western Cape provinces and is located in the Tsitsikamma region of the Garden Route. The Famous Big Five animals of Africa Africa is an environment with a diverse fauna and flora, that captures the hearts and minds of all who visit this beautiful content. A few animals, however, has been awarded a very special award, the Big Five. The famous Big Five refers to five of Africa's greatest wild animals - the Lion, Leopard, Elephant, Rhino, and Buffalo. The term "Big Five" was originally coined by hunters, and referred to the five most difficult animals to hunt on foot in Africa. The Big Five wasn't chosen for their size, but rather for the difficulty in hunting them, and the degree of danger involved. The term is still used today in most tourist and wildlife guides, and are usually high on the priority list and a real treat for many a visitor to African game reserves. African Elephant The African Elephant is a very large herbivore with thick, almost hairless skin. The upper incisors of the elephant forms long curved tusks of ivory. The African Elephant is difficult to spot because despite its large size, they are able to hide in tall grass, and more likely to charge than other species. Lion The Lion is a large carnivorous feline, with a short tawny coat and a tufted tail. Males have magnificent heavy manes around their necks and shoulders. Considered by many the best of the Big Five, lions are very dangerous animals, and would attack if given a chance. Cape Buffalo The African Buffalo is a large horned bovid. Buffalos are considered the most dangerous of the Big Five, reportedly having caused many hunter deaths. Buffalos are known as the "Black Death" in Africa, with wounded animals reportedly ambushing and attacking its pursuers. Rhinoceros Rhinoceros (also called Rhino for short) are large, thick-skinned herbivores with one or two upright horns on the nasal bridge. Rhinos are able to reach one tonne or more in weight. Rhinos are listed as "critically endangered" by the IUCN Red List, as they are killed by humans for their valuable horns, which are made of keratin, and wrongly believed by some to act as an aphrodisiac, amongst other things. Leopard The Leopard is a large, carnivorous feline with either tawny fur with dark rosetto-like markings, or black fur. Leopards are very difficult to spot as they have nocturnal feeding habits and secretive nature. Leopards are also extremely wary of humans, and will take flight in the face of danger. South African Currency 10 Rand banknote 2005 White Rhino South African Currency 10 Rand banknote 2005 White Rhino South African Reserve Bank - Suid-Afrikaanse Reserwebank The Famous Big Five animals of Africa Obverse: Close-up of a White Rhino head at right and a vignette of a White Rhinoceros mother and her Rhino baby in the African Savanna at center. Outline drawings of various round geometric figures at the bottom. Outline drawing of round geometric figure with coinciding register, as security measure at lower left corner. The parts printed on the back perfectly match the ones on the front. At the top are the name of the bank in English "South African Reserve Bank". The present South African Coat of Arms is used prominently on the front top left corner. The face value of the banknote in arabic numerals "10" are in top left and lower right corners and in words: in English "TEN RAND" along the right side of the banknote. Signature: Tito Mboweni - President Governor of the South African Reserve Bank. (Tito Titus Mboweni, born 16 March 1959) is the current Minister of Finance of South Africa. Mboweni was the eighth Governor of the South African Reserve Bank and the first Black South African to hold the post. He was sworn in as Finance Minister on 9 October 2018, following Nhlanhla Nene's resignation.) Reverse: The theme of this banknote reverse is Agriculture: Close-up of a Ram head at left. Lower are South African merino sheep on the pasture and mountains in the background, the windmill at lower left corner. Above are three contour image of sunflowers. At the top are the name of the bank in Afrikaans "Suid-Afrikaanse Reserwebank" and in Swati "liBhangi lesiLulu leNingizimu Afrika" at the bottom. The face value of the banknote in arabic numerals "10" are in top left and lower right corners, in numerals and words: in English "TEN RAND" along the right side of the banknote. Watermark: White rhino and electrotype 10. Size: 128 × 70 mm. Colour: Dark green and dark blue on brown and multicolored underprint. Printer: South African Bank Note Company Ltd, Pretoria. The South African Coat of Arms is used prominently on the front top left corner of all the denominations. It can also be seen in the iridescent band on the back, and as a holographic image in the security thread of the R50, R100 and R200 banknotes. Watermark: This is smaller and the denomination numeral is added to the watermark of the main motif. Perfect registration: This see-through security feature reveals the denomination numeral in perfect registration on the front and back when the banknote is held up to the light. Windowed security thread: On the R50, R100 and R200 banknotes the thread is 4 mm wide. “SARB”, “RAND” and the denomination numeral appear when the banknote is held up to the light, and a holographic Coat of Arms appears in the thread when tilted. On the R10 and R20 banknotes the thread is 2 mm wide and “SARB” and the denomination numeral appear in clear text. Diamond shapes: The dots on the front that assist the blind to distinguish between the denominations have been replaced with diamonds: 1 diamond for the R10, 2 diamonds for the R20, 3 diamonds for the R50, 4 diamonds for the R100, and 5 diamonds for the R200. Unique numbering: This has moved from the front to the back: a vertical number on the left-hand side and a horizontal number top right. The horizontal number is conical. Microlettering: “SOUTH AFRICAN RESERVE BANK” appears in microlettering to the right of the animal’s ear. The microlettering is printed in positive and negative text. Iridescent band: This is a very prominent feature in a gold colour on the back of all banknotes. When tilted, the Coat of Arms and the denomination numeral appear. Different geometric shapes: These have been added to the front of the banknotes as an aid for the partially sighted: diamond on the R10, square on the R20, circle on the R50, and different hexagons on the R100 and R200. Latent image: When the banknote is held almost horizontally at eye level, the denomination numeral appears inside the geometric shapes. Optically variable ink: On the R50, R100 and R200 banknotes the denomination numeral on the front bottom right is printed in colour-changing ink. When the R50 and R100 banknotes are tilted, the colour changes from green to gold. On the R200 it changes from magenta to green. Denomination numerals: These are more prominent on both the front and back of the banknotes. South Africa Currency 20 Rand banknote 2005 African Bush Elephant South Africa Currency 20 Rand banknote 2005 African Bush Elephant South African Reserve Bank - Suid-Afrikaanse Reserwebank The Famous Big Five animals of Africa Leopard, African Buffalo, Transvaal Lion, African Elephant, Rhinoceros Obverse: Close-up of an African Bush Elephant head at right and a vignette of the African Bush Elephant family walking in the bush at center (The African Bush Elephant, also known as the Savanna Elephant). Outline drawings of round brilliant cut at the bottom. Outline drawing of round brilliant cut with coinciding register, as security measure at lower left corner. The parts printed on the back perfectly match the ones on the front. At the top are the name of the bank in English "South African Reserve Bank". The present South African Coat of Arms is used prominently on the front top left corner. The face value of the banknote in arabic numerals "20" are in top left and lower right corners and in words: in English "TWENTY RAND" along the right side of the banknote. Signature: Tito Mboweni - President Governor of the South African Reserve Bank. (Tito Titus Mboweni, born 16 March 1959) is the current Minister of Finance of South Africa. Mboweni was the eighth Governor of the South African Reserve Bank and the first Black South African to hold the post. He was sworn in as Finance Minister on 9 October 2018, following Nhlanhla Nene's resignation.) Reverse: The theme of this banknote reverse is Surface mining industry - Open-pit mining. On the upper part of the banknote are three graphic image of round brilliant cut. Outline drawing of round brilliant cut with coinciding register, as security measure at lower right corner. The parts printed on the back perfectly match the ones on the front. At the top are the name of the bank in Tswana "Banka-kgolo ya Aforika Borwa " and in Southern Ndebele "lBulungelo-mali eliKhulu leSewula Afrika" at the bottom. The face value of the banknote in arabic numerals "20" are in top left and lower right corners, in numerals and words: in English "TWENTY RAND" along the right side of the banknote. Watermark: African Bush Elephant and electrotype 20. Size: 134 × 70 mm. Colour: Deep brown and red-brown on multicolored underprint. Printer: South African Bank Note Company Ltd, Pretoria. The South African Coat of Arms is used prominently on the front top left corner of all the denominations. It can also be seen in the iridescent band on the back, and as a holographic image in the security thread of the R50, R100 and R200 banknotes. Watermark: This is smaller and the denomination numeral is added to the watermark of the main motif. Perfect registration: This see-through security feature reveals the denomination numeral in perfect registration on the front and back when the banknote is held up to the light. Windowed security thread: On the R50, R100 and R200 banknotes the thread is 4 mm wide. “SARB”, “RAND” and the denomination numeral appear when the banknote is held up to the light, and a holographic Coat of Arms appears in the thread when tilted. On the R10 and R20 banknotes the thread is 2 mm wide and “SARB” and the denomination numeral appear in clear text. Diamond shapes: The dots on the front that assist the blind to distinguish between the denominations have been replaced with diamonds: 1 diamond for the R10, 2 diamonds for the R20, 3 diamonds for the R50, 4 diamonds for the R100, and 5 diamonds for the R200. Unique numbering: This has moved from the front to the back: a vertical number on the left-hand side and a horizontal number top right. The horizontal number is conical. Microlettering: “SOUTH AFRICAN RESERVE BANK” appears in microlettering to the right of the animal’s ear. The microlettering is printed in positive and negative text. Iridescent band: This is a very prominent feature in a gold colour on the back of all banknotes. When tilted, the Coat of Arms and the denomination numeral appear. Different geometric shapes: These have been added to the front of the banknotes as an aid for the partially sighted: diamond on the R10, square on the R20, circle on the R50, and different hexagons on the R100 and R200. Latent image: When the banknote is held almost horizontally at eye level, the denomination numeral appears inside the geometric shapes. Optically variable ink: On the R50, R100 and R200 banknotes the denomination numeral on the front bottom right is printed in colour-changing ink. When the R50 and R100 banknotes are tilted, the colour changes from green to gold. On the R200 it changes from magenta to green. Denomination numerals: These are more prominent on both the front and back of the banknotes. South African Currency 50 Rand banknote 2005 Transvaal Lion South African Currency 50 Rand banknote 2005 Transvaal Lion South African Reserve Bank - Suid-Afrikaanse Reserwebank The Famous Big Five animals of Africa Leopard, African Buffalo, Transvaal Lion, African Elephant, Rhinoceros Obverse: Close-up of male Transvaal Lion head at right and a vignette of the two Transvaal lionesses and cub drinking at water hole. Outline drawings of various round geometric shapes at the bottom. Outline drawing of stylized model of hydrocarbon atom with coinciding register, as security measure at lower left corner. The parts printed on the back perfectly match the ones on the front. At the top are the name of the bank in English "South African Reserve Bank". The present South African Coat of Arms is used prominently on the front top left corner. The face value of the banknote in arabic numerals "50" are in top left and lower right corners and in words: in English "FIFTY RAND" along the right side of the banknote. Signature: Tito Mboweni - President Governor of the South African Reserve Bank. (Tito Titus Mboweni, born 16 March 1959) is the current Minister of Finance of South Africa. Mboweni was the eighth Governor of the South African Reserve Bank and the first Black South African to hold the post. He was sworn in as Finance Minister on 9 October 2018, following Nhlanhla Nene's resignation.) Reverse: The theme of this banknote reverse is Manufacturing - Sasol oil refinery at the bottom part of the note. On the upper part of the banknote are stylized model of hydrocarbon atoms. At the top are the name of the bank in Xhosa "iBhanki enguVimba yoMzantsi Afrika " and in Venda "Bannga ya Vhukati ya Afurika Tshipembe" at the bottom. The face value of the banknote in arabic numerals "50" are in top left and lower right corners, in numerals and words: in English "FIFTY RAND" along the right side of the banknote. Refining capacity in South Africa is 250 million barrels/year, or about 700 thousand barrels/day, Including 500 thousand barrels/day of crude oil and 195 thousand barrels/day of synthetic liquid fuels from coal. It is interesting that the South African "Sasol" is the pioneer of the Fischer-Tpropsha producing synthetic fuel using this synthesis conversion of the gasified coal since 1955. Watermark: Transvaal lion and electrotype 50. Size: 140 × 70 mm. Colour: Maroon, brown and deep blue-green on multicolored underprint. Printer: South African Bank Note Company Ltd, Pretoria. The South African Coat of Arms is used prominently on the front top left corner of all the denominations. It can also be seen in the iridescent band on the back, and as a holographic image in the security thread of the R50, R100 and R200 banknotes. Watermark: This is smaller and the denomination numeral is added to the watermark of the main motif. Perfect registration: This see-through security feature reveals the denomination numeral in perfect registration on the front and back when the banknote is held up to the light. Windowed security thread: On the R50, R100 and R200 banknotes the thread is 4 mm wide. “SARB”, “RAND” and the denomination numeral appear when the banknote is held up to the light, and a holographic Coat of Arms appears in the thread when tilted. On the R10 and R20 banknotes the thread is 2 mm wide and “SARB” and the denomination numeral appear in clear text. Diamond shapes: The dots on the front that assist the blind to distinguish between the denominations have been replaced with diamonds: 1 diamond for the R10, 2 diamonds for the R20, 3 diamonds for the R50, 4 diamonds for the R100, and 5 diamonds for the R200. Unique numbering: This has moved from the front to the back: a vertical number on the left-hand side and a horizontal number top right. The horizontal number is conical. Microlettering: “SOUTH AFRICAN RESERVE BANK” appears in microlettering to the right of the animal’s ear. The microlettering is printed in positive and negative text. Iridescent band: This is a very prominent feature in a gold colour on the back of all banknotes. When tilted, the Coat of Arms and the denomination numeral appear. Different geometric shapes: These have been added to the front of the banknotes as an aid for the partially sighted: diamond on the R10, square on the R20, circle on the R50, and different hexagons on the R100 and R200. Latent image: When the banknote is held almost horizontally at eye level, the denomination numeral appears inside the geometric shapes. Optically variable ink: On the R50, R100 and R200 banknotes the denomination numeral on the front bottom right is printed in colour-changing ink. When the R50 and R100 banknotes are tilted, the colour changes from green to gold. On the R200 it changes from magenta to green. Denomination numerals: These are more prominent on both the front and back of the banknotes. South Africa Currency 100 Rand banknote 2005 African Buffalo South Africa Currency 100 Rand banknote 2005 African Buffalo South African Reserve Bank - Suid-Afrikaanse Reserwebank The Famous Big Five animals of Africa Leopard, African Buffalo, Transvaal Lion, African Elephant, Rhinoceros Obverse: Close-up of a Cape Buffalo head at right and a vignette of the two African or Cape Buffalos in the African Savannah at center. Outline drawings of various round geometric figures at the bottom. Outline drawing of round brilliant cut with coinciding register, as security measure at lower left corner. The parts printed on the back perfectly match the ones on the front. At the top are the name of the bank in English "South African Reserve Bank". The present South African Coat of Arms is used prominently on the front top left corner. The face value of the banknote in arabic numerals "100" are in top left and lower right corners and in words: in English "ONE HUNDRED RAND" along the right side of the banknote. Signature: Tito Mboweni - President Governor of the South African Reserve Bank. (Tito Titus Mboweni, born 16 March 1959) is the current Minister of Finance of South Africa. Mboweni was the eighth Governor of the South African Reserve Bank and the first Black South African to hold the post. He was sworn in as Finance Minister on 9 October 2018, following Nhlanhla Nene's resignation.) Reverse: The theme of this banknote is Tourism. A herd of zebras on the African savanna at the bottom. On the upper part of the banknote are four graphic image of round brilliant cut. At the top are the name of the bank in Northern Sotho "Panka ya Resefe ya Afrika Borwa " and in Tsonga "Banginkulu ya Afrika-Dzonga" at the bottom. The face value of the banknote in arabic numerals "100" are in top left and lower right corners, in numerals and words: in English "TWO HUNDRED RAND" along the right side of the banknote. Watermark: The African buffalo or Cape buffalo and electrotype 100. Size: 146 × 70 mm. Colour: Blue on multicolored underprint. Printer: South African Bank Note Company Ltd, Pretoria. The South African Coat of Arms is used prominently on the front top left corner of all the denominations. It can also be seen in the iridescent band on the back, and as a holographic image in the security thread of the R50, R100 and R200 banknotes. Watermark: This is smaller and the denomination numeral is added to the watermark of the main motif. Perfect registration: This see-through security feature reveals the denomination numeral in perfect registration on the front and back when the banknote is held up to the light. Windowed security thread: On the R50, R100 and R200 banknotes the thread is 4 mm wide. “SARB”, “RAND” and the denomination numeral appear when the banknote is held up to the light, and a holographic Coat of Arms appears in the thread when tilted. On the R10 and R20 banknotes the thread is 2 mm wide and “SARB” and the denomination numeral appear in clear text. Diamond shapes: The dots on the front that assist the blind to distinguish between the denominations have been replaced with diamonds: 1 diamond for the R10, 2 diamonds for the R20, 3 diamonds for the R50, 4 diamonds for the R100, and 5 diamonds for the R200. Unique numbering: This has moved from the front to the back: a vertical number on the left-hand side and a horizontal number top right. The horizontal number is conical. Microlettering: “SOUTH AFRICAN RESERVE BANK” appears in microlettering to the right of the animal’s ear. The microlettering is printed in positive and negative text. Iridescent band: This is a very prominent feature in a gold colour on the back of all banknotes. When tilted, the Coat of Arms and the denomination numeral appear. Different geometric shapes: These have been added to the front of the banknotes as an aid for the partially sighted: diamond on the R10, square on the R20, circle on the R50, and different hexagons on the R100 and R200. Latent image: When the banknote is held almost horizontally at eye level, the denomination numeral appears inside the geometric shapes. Optically variable ink: On the R50, R100 and R200 banknotes the denomination numeral on the front bottom right is printed in colour-changing ink. When the R50 and R100 banknotes are tilted, the colour changes from green to gold. On the R200 it changes from magenta to green. Denomination numerals: These are more prominent on both the front and back of the banknotes. South African Currency 200 Rand banknote 2005 African Leopard South African Currency 200 Rand banknote 2005 African Leopard South African Reserve Bank - Suid-Afrikaanse Reserwebank The Famous Big Five animals of Africa Leopard, African Buffalo, Transvaal Lion, African Elephant, Rhinoceros Obverse: Close-up of a Leopard head at right and a vignette showing a leopard lying above the branch of a tree at center. Outline drawings of various round geometric figures at the bottom. Outline drawing of round geometric figure with coinciding register, as security measure at lower left corner. The parts printed on the back perfectly match the ones on the front. At the top are the name of the bank in English "South African Reserve Bank". The present South African Coat of Arms is used prominently on the front top left corner. The face value of the banknote in arabic numerals "200" are in top left and lower right corners and in words: in English "TWO HUNDRED RAND" along the right side of the banknote. Signature: Tito Mboweni - President Governor of the South African Reserve Bank. (Tito Titus Mboweni, born 16 March 1959) is the current Minister of Finance of South Africa. Mboweni was the eighth Governor of the South African Reserve Bank and the first Black South African to hold the post. He was sworn in as Finance Minister on 9 October 2018, following Nhlanhla Nene's resignation.) Reverse: The theme of this banknote reverse is Transport and Telecommunications. The Bloukrans Bridge at center. On left side is a big satellite dish, symbolizing telecommunication. Centered, above, are three images: Left one reminds a the turbine of an aircraft, centered image - stylized wheel of car/truck/tractor and right one reminds the wheel of an Electric locomotive - as symbols of Transport. At the top are the name of the bank in Zulu "iBhange-ngodla laseNingizimu Afrika" and in Sotho "Banka ya Sesiu ya Afrika Borwa " at the bottom. The face value of the banknote in arabic numerals "200" are in top left and lower right corners, in numerals and words: in English "TWO HUNDRED RAND" along the right side of the banknote. Watermark: The African leopard (Panthera pardus pardus) and electrotype 200. Size: 152 × 70 mm. Printer: South African Bank Note Company Ltd, Pretoria. Bloukrans Bridge The Bloukrans Bridge is an arch bridge located near Nature's Valley, Western Cape, South Africa. Constructed between February 1980 and June 1983, the bridge stands at a height of 216m above the Bloukrans River. Its central span is 272m and the bridge is 451m in length in total. Its primary use is that of a road bridge, carrying national route N2. Bloukrans Bridge is the site of the world's highest commercial bridge bungee jumping, Bloukrans Bridge Bungy, operated by Face Adrenalin since 1997. The Bloukrans River below forms the border between the Eastern Cape and Western Cape provinces and is located in the Tsitsikamma region of the Garden Route. The South African Coat of Arms is used prominently on the front top left corner of all the denominations. It can also be seen in the iridescent band on the back, and as a holographic image in the security thread of the R50, R100 and R200 banknotes. Watermark: This is smaller and the denomination numeral is added to the watermark of the main motif. Perfect registration: This see-through security feature reveals the denomination numeral in perfect registration on the front and back when the banknote is held up to the light. Windowed security thread: On the R50, R100 and R200 banknotes the thread is 4 mm wide. “SARB”, “RAND” and the denomination numeral appear when the banknote is held up to the light, and a holographic Coat of Arms appears in the thread when tilted. On the R10 and R20 banknotes the thread is 2 mm wide and “SARB” and the denomination numeral appear in clear text. Diamond shapes: The dots on the front that assist the blind to distinguish between the denominations have been replaced with diamonds: 1 diamond for the R10, 2 diamonds for the R20, 3 diamonds for the R50, 4 diamonds for the R100, and 5 diamonds for the R200. Unique numbering: This has moved from the front to the back: a vertical number on the left-hand side and a horizontal number top right. The horizontal number is conical. Microlettering: “SOUTH AFRICAN RESERVE BANK” appears in microlettering to the right of the animal’s ear. The microlettering is printed in positive and negative text. Iridescent band: This is a very prominent feature in a gold colour on the back of all banknotes. When tilted, the Coat of Arms and the denomination numeral appear. Different geometric shapes: These have been added to the front of the banknotes as an aid for the partially sighted: diamond on the R10, square on the R20, circle on the R50, and different hexagons on the R100 and R200. Latent image: When the banknote is held almost horizontally at eye level, the denomination numeral appears inside the geometric shapes. Optically variable ink: On the R50, R100 and R200 banknotes the denomination numeral on the front bottom right is printed in colour-changing ink. When the R50 and R100 banknotes are tilted, the colour changes from green to gold. On the R200 it changes from magenta to green. Denomination numerals: These are more prominent on both the front and back of the banknotes. South Africa Currency 10 Rand banknote 2012 President Nelson Mandela ​ South Africa Currency 10 Rand banknote 2012 President Nelson Mandela The bank's name South African Reserve Bank are translated into two official South African languages: Suid-Afrikaanse Reserwebank (Afrikaans) and liBhangesilulu leNingizimu Afrika (Swati). The notes have been nicknamed the "randela". Obverse: An image of Nelson Mandela, considered by most South Africans (both black and white) to be the father of the post-apartheid new South Africa. He is held in deep respect within South Africa, where he is often referred to by his Xhosa clan name, Madiba, and described as the "Father of the Nation". Despite spending 27 years in jail, Mandela's presidency (1994-1999) was marked by a spirit of reconciliation and forgiveness. The denomination of the bank note in the lower-right-hand corner, printed in a special, colour-changing security ink that carries the pattern of Mandela’s famous shirts, and a seven-bar circle that frames Mandela’s portrait image. This aims to represent the bars seen on the post-apartheid South African national flag, and the seven bars on the door of Mandela’s prison cell at Robben Island. These bars also contain ultraviolet (UV) light technology, another security feature. At the top are the name of the bank in English "South African Reserve Bank". The face value of the banknote in arabic numerals "10" at left center and on the right of the portrait of Nelson Mandela along the bottom side of the note, and in words: in English "TEN RAND" along the right side of the banknote. Signature: Lesetja Kganyago - Governor of the South African Reserve Bank. Coat of arms of the Republic of South Africa at upper left. The White Rhinos on the background at center. Across all field of banknote are ornaments and leaping antelopes. Reverse: The Famous Big Five animals of Africa - A Closeup of a head of White Rhino and another White Rhino in the background at center. Watermark: Portrait of Nelson Mandela and electrotype 10. Size: 128 × 70 mm. Printer: South African Bank Note Company Ltd, Pretoria. South African Currency 20 Rand banknote 2012 President Nelson Mandela South African Currency 20 Rand banknote 2012 President Nelson Mandela The bank's name South African Reserve Bank are translated into two official South African languages: Suid-Afrikaanse Reserwebank (Afrikaans) and liBhangesilulu leNingizimu Afrika (Swati). The notes have been nicknamed the "randela". Obverse: An image of Nelson Mandela, considered by most South Africans (both black and white) to be the father of the post-apartheid new South Africa. He is held in deep respect within South Africa, where he is often referred to by his Xhosa clan name, Madiba, and described as the "Father of the Nation". Despite spending 27 years in jail, Mandela's presidency (1994-1999) was marked by a spirit of reconciliation and forgiveness. The denomination of the bank note in the lower-right-hand corner, printed in a special, colour-changing security ink that carries the pattern of Mandela’s famous shirts, and a seven-bar circle that frames Mandela’s portrait image. This aims to represent the bars seen on the post-apartheid South African national flag, and the seven bars on the door of Mandela’s prison cell at Robben Island. These bars also contain ultraviolet (UV) light technology, another security feature. At the top are the name of the bank in English "South African Reserve Bank". The face value of the banknote in arabic numerals "20" at left center and on the right of the portrait of Nelson Mandela along the bottom side of the note, and in words: in English "TWENTY RAND" along the right side of the banknote. Signature: Lesetja Kganyago - Governor of the South African Reserve Bank. Coat of arms of the Republic of South Africa at upper left. The African bush elephants on the background at center. Across all field of banknote an ornament and Prehistoric hunting scenes. Reverse: The Famous Big Five animals of Africa - A Closeup of a head of African bush elephant and another African bush elephant in the background at center. Watermark: Portrait of Nelson Mandela and electrotype 20. Size: 134 × 70 mm. Printer: South African Bank Note Company Ltd, Pretoria. South Africa Currency 50 Rand banknote 2012 President Nelson Mandela South Africa Currency 50 Rand banknote 2012 President Nelson Mandela The bank's name South African Reserve Bank are translated into two official South African languages: Suid-Afrikaanse Reserwebank (Afrikaans) and liBhangesilulu leNingizimu Afrika (Swati). The notes have been nicknamed the "randela". Obverse: An image of Nelson Mandela, considered by most South Africans (both black and white) to be the father of the post-apartheid new South Africa. He is held in deep respect within South Africa, where he is often referred to by his Xhosa clan name, Madiba, and described as the "Father of the Nation". Despite spending 27 years in jail, Mandela's presidency (1994-1999) was marked by a spirit of reconciliation and forgiveness. The denomination of the bank note in the lower-right-hand corner, printed in a special, colour-changing security ink that carries the pattern of Mandela’s famous shirts, and a seven-bar circle that frames Mandela’s portrait image. This aims to represent the bars seen on the post-apartheid South African national flag, and the seven bars on the door of Mandela’s prison cell at Robben Island. These bars also contain ultraviolet (UV) light technology, another security feature. At the top are the name of the bank in English "South African Reserve Bank". The face value of the banknote in arabic numerals "50" at left center and on the right of the portrait of Nelson Mandela along the bottom side of the note, and in words: in English "FIFTY RAND" along the right side of the banknote. Signature: Lesetja Kganyago - Governor of the South African Reserve Bank. Coat of arms of the Republic of South Africa at upper left. The Transvaal lions on the background at center. Across all field of banknote an ornament and Prehistoric hunting scenes. Reverse: The Famous Big Five animals of Africa - A Closeup of a head of Transvaal Lion and another Transvaal Lion in the background at center. Watermark: Portrait of Nelson Mandela and electrotype 50. Size: 140 × 70 mm. Printer: South African Bank Note Company Ltd, Pretoria. South African Currency 100 Rand banknote 2012 President Nelson Mandela South African Currency 100 Rand banknote 2012 President Nelson Mandela The bank's name South African Reserve Bank are translated into two official South African languages: Suid-Afrikaanse Reserwebank (Afrikaans) and liBhangesilulu leNingizimu Afrika (Swati). The notes have been nicknamed the "randela". Obverse: An image of Nelson Mandela, considered by most South Africans (both black and white) to be the father of the post-apartheid new South Africa. He is held in deep respect within South Africa, where he is often referred to by his Xhosa clan name, Madiba, and described as the "Father of the Nation". Despite spending 27 years in jail, Mandela's presidency (1994-1999) was marked by a spirit of reconciliation and forgiveness. The denomination of the bank note in the lower-right-hand corner, printed in a special, colour-changing security ink that carries the pattern of Mandela’s famous shirts, and a seven-bar circle that frames Mandela’s portrait image. This aims to represent the bars seen on the post-apartheid South African national flag, and the seven bars on the door of Mandela’s prison cell at Robben Island. These bars also contain ultraviolet (UV) light technology, another security feature. At the top are the name of the bank in English "South African Reserve Bank". The face value of the banknote in arabic numerals "100" at left center and on the right of the portrait of Nelson Mandela along the bottom side of the note, and in words: in English "ONE HUNDRED RAND" along the right side of the banknote. Signature: Lesetja Kganyago - Governor of the South African Reserve Bank. Coat of arms of the Republic of South Africa at upper left. The African buffalo on the background at center. Across all field of banknote an ornament and Prehistoric fishing scenes. Reverse: The Famous Big Five animals of Africa - A Closeup of a head of African Buffalo and another African Buffalo in the background at center. Watermark: Portrait of Nelson Mandela and electrotype 100. Size: 146 × 70 mm. Printer: South African Bank Note Company Ltd, Pretoria. South Africa Currency 200 Rand banknote 2013 President Nelson Mandela South Africa Currency 200 Rand banknote 2013 President Nelson Mandela The bank's name South African Reserve Bank are translated into two official South African languages: Suid-Afrikaanse Reserwebank (Afrikaans) and liBhangesilulu leNingizimu Afrika (Swati). The notes have been nicknamed the "randela". Obverse: An image of Nelson Mandela, considered by most South Africans (both black and white) to be the father of the post-apartheid new South Africa. He is held in deep respect within South Africa, where he is often referred to by his Xhosa clan name, Madiba, and described as the "Father of the Nation". Despite spending 27 years in jail, Mandela's presidency (1994-1999) was marked by a spirit of reconciliation and forgiveness. The denomination of the bank note in the lower-right-hand corner, printed in a special, colour-changing security ink that carries the pattern of Mandela’s famous shirts, and a seven-bar circle that frames Mandela’s portrait image. This aims to represent the bars seen on the post-apartheid South African national flag, and the seven bars on the door of Mandela’s prison cell at Robben Island. These bars also contain ultraviolet (UV) light technology, another security feature. At the top are the name of the bank in English "South African Reserve Bank". The face value of the banknote in arabic numerals "200" at left center and on the right of the portrait of Nelson Mandela along the bottom side of the note, and in words: in English "TWO HUNDRED RAND" along the right side of the banknote. Signature: Lesetja Kganyago - Governor of the South African Reserve Bank. Coat of arms of the Republic of South Africa at upper left. The African leopards on the background at center. Across all field of banknote an ornament and Prehistoric hunting scenes with dogs. Reverse: The Famous Big Five animals of Africa - A Closeup of a head of African Leopard and another African Leopard in the background at center. Watermark: Portrait of Nelson Mandela and electrotype 200. Size: 152 × 70 mm. Printer: South African Bank Note Company Ltd, Pretoria. South African Currency 10 Rand Commemorative banknote 2018 Nelson Mandela Centenary South African Currency 10 Rand Commemorative banknote 2018 Nelson Mandela Centenary 1918 - 2018 South African Reserve Bank The South African Reserve Bank (SARB) has issued the release of limited edition commemorative banknotes in honour of Nelson Mandela’s legacy, celebrating the liberation icon’s centenary in July 2018, which look to show “the journey of a nation as of the man”. The honorary ‘randelas’ are an ode to the former president’s struggle saga, which ultimately led to the liberation of South Africa and an end to apartheid oppression. Different imagery has been designed for each of the five notes, which look to chronologically “tell the story of Mandela’s life from a young boy through to president of South Africa”. Obverse: An image of Nelson Mandela, considered by most South Africans (both black and white) to be the father of the post-apartheid new South Africa. He is held in deep respect within South Africa, where he is often referred to by his Xhosa clan name, Madiba, and described as the "Father of the Nation". Despite spending 27 years in jail, Mandela's presidency (1994-1999) was marked by a spirit of reconciliation and forgiveness. The denomination of the bank note in the lower-right-hand corner, printed in a special, colour-changing security ink that carries the pattern of Mandela’s famous shirts, and a seven-bar circle that frames Mandela’s portrait image. This aims to represent the bars seen on the post-apartheid South African national flag, and the seven bars on the door of Mandela’s prison cell at Robben Island. These bars also contain ultraviolet (UV) light technology, another security feature. At the top are the name of the bank in English "South African Reserve Bank". The face value of the banknote in arabic numerals "10" at left center and on the right of the portrait of Nelson Mandela along the bottom side of the note, and in words: in English "TEN RAND" along the right side of the banknote. A commemorative inscription "Mandela Centenary 1918 - 2018" along the right side of the bank note. Signature: Lesetja Kganyago - Governor of the South African Reserve Bank. Coat of arms of the Republic of South Africa at upper left. The White Rhinos on the background at center. Across all field of banknote are ornaments and leaping antelopes. A commemorative inscription "Mandela Centenary 1918 - 2018" at right. Reverse: A "youthful" portrait of Mandela dressed in traditional attire. The vignette of the life events of Mandela - "Birth" - Mvezo. The 10 Rand note portrays the humble rural hamlet of Madiba’s birthplace, Mvezo. The small Eastern Cape village solidified its place in the history books by being the official hometown of Nelson Mandela. While Mandela spent most of his childhood in the nearby town of Qunu, a time he describes as the “happiest moments of his childhood”, the honour bestowed upon Mvezo is commemorated by the Madiba Birthplace Museum. Mandela grew up in Qunu after his father was ousted as the chief of Mvezo. The bank's name South African Reserve Bank are translated into two official South African languages: iBhangle Lombuso laseNingizmu Afrika (Zulu) and Banka ya Risefe ya Afrika Borwa (Sotho). A commemorative inscription "Mandela Centenary 1918 - 2018" at right and "Madiba" at left. Watermark: Portrait of Nelson Mandela and electrotype 10. Size: 128 × 70 mm. Printer: South African Bank Note Company Ltd, Pretoria. South Africa Currency 20 Rand Commemorative banknote 2018 Nelson Mandela Centenary South Africa Currency 20 Rand Commemorative banknote 2018 Nelson Mandela Centenary 1918 - 2018 South African Reserve Bank The South African Reserve Bank (SARB) has issued the release of limited edition commemorative banknotes in honour of Nelson Mandela’s legacy, celebrating the liberation icon’s centenary in July 2018, which look to show “the journey of a nation as of the man”. The honorary ‘randelas’ are an ode to the former president’s struggle saga, which ultimately led to the liberation of South Africa and an end to apartheid oppression. Different imagery has been designed for each of the five notes, which look to chronologically “tell the story of Mandela’s life from a young boy through to president of South Africa”. Obverse: An image of Nelson Mandela, considered by most South Africans (both black and white) to be the father of the post-apartheid new South Africa. He is held in deep respect within South Africa, where he is often referred to by his Xhosa clan name, Madiba, and described as the "Father of the Nation". Despite spending 27 years in jail, Mandela's presidency (1994-1999) was marked by a spirit of reconciliation and forgiveness. The denomination of the bank note in the lower-right-hand corner, printed in a special, colour-changing security ink that carries the pattern of Mandela’s famous shirts, and a seven-bar circle that frames Mandela’s portrait image. This aims to represent the bars seen on the post-apartheid South African national flag, and the seven bars on the door of Mandela’s prison cell at Robben Island. These bars also contain ultraviolet (UV) light technology, another security feature. At the top are the name of the bank in English "South African Reserve Bank". The face value of the banknote in arabic numerals "20" at left center and on the right of the portrait of Nelson Mandela along the bottom side of the note, and in words: in English "TWENTY RAND" along the right side of the banknote. A commemorative inscription "Mandela Centenary 1918 - 2018" along the right side of the bank note. Signature: Lesetja Kganyago - Governor of the South African Reserve Bank. Coat of arms of the Republic of South Africa at upper left. The African bush elephants on the background at center. Across all field of banknote an ornament and Prehistoric hunting scenes. A commemorative inscription "Mandela Centenary 1918 - 2018" at right. Reverse: A "youthful" portrait of Mandela dressed in traditional attire. The vignette of the life events of Mandela - "Life" - Soweto. Nelson Mandela moved into his Soweto home in 1946. The 20 Rand note depicts the humble home at 8115 Orlando West, on the corner of Vilakazi and Ngakane Streets. The story of Mandela’s Soweto home is bittersweet; following his marriage to Winnie Madikizela, the struggle leader was in constant state of flux, evading the apartheid police and intelligence agencies, while being consumed by his commitment to the liberation struggle. In those years, Madiba seldom saw the inside of his Soweto home. Mandela returned here for a brief 11 days after his release from Robben Island in 1990. The house now operates as a museum, honouring the legacy of Madiba, managed by the Soweto Heritage Trust. The bank's name South African Reserve Bank are translated into two official South African languages: iBhangle Lombuso laseNingizmu Afrika (Zulu) and Banka ya Risefe ya Afrika Borwa (Sotho). A commemorative inscription "Mandela Centenary 1918 - 2018" at right and "Madiba" at left. Watermark: Portrait of Nelson Mandela and electrotype 20. Size: 134 × 70 mm. Printer: South African Bank Note Company Ltd, Pretoria. South African Currency 50 Rand Commemorative banknote 2018 Nelson Mandela Centenary South African Currency 50 Rand Commemorative banknote 2018 Nelson Mandela Centenary 1918 - 2018 South African Reserve Bank The South African Reserve Bank (SARB) has issued the release of limited edition commemorative banknotes in honour of Nelson Mandela’s legacy, celebrating the liberation icon’s centenary in July 2018, which look to show “the journey of a nation as of the man”. The honorary ‘randelas’ are an ode to the former president’s struggle saga, which ultimately led to the liberation of South Africa and an end to apartheid oppression. Different imagery has been designed for each of the five notes, which look to chronologically “tell the story of Mandela’s life from a young boy through to president of South Africa”. Obverse: An image of Nelson Mandela, considered by most South Africans (both black and white) to be the father of the post-apartheid new South Africa. He is held in deep respect within South Africa, where he is often referred to by his Xhosa clan name, Madiba, and described as the "Father of the Nation". Despite spending 27 years in jail, Mandela's presidency (1994-1999) was marked by a spirit of reconciliation and forgiveness. The denomination of the bank note in the lower-right-hand corner, printed in a special, colour-changing security ink that carries the pattern of Mandela’s famous shirts, and a seven-bar circle that frames Mandela’s portrait image. This aims to represent the bars seen on the post-apartheid South African national flag, and the seven bars on the door of Mandela’s prison cell at Robben Island. These bars also contain ultraviolet (UV) light technology, another security feature. At the top are the name of the bank in English "South African Reserve Bank". The face value of the banknote in arabic numerals "50" at left center and on the right of the portrait of Nelson Mandela along the bottom side of the note, and in words: in English "FIFTY RAND" along the right side of the banknote. A commemorative inscription "Mandela Centenary 1918 - 2018" along the right side of the bank note. Signature: Lesetja Kganyago - Governor of the South African Reserve Bank. Coat of arms of the Republic of South Africa at upper left. The Transvaal lions on the background at center. Across all field of banknote an ornament and Prehistoric hunting scenes. A commemorative inscription "Mandela Centenary 1918 - 2018" at right. Reverse: A "youthful" portrait of Mandela dressed in traditional attire. The vignette of the life events of Mandela - "Capture" - Howick. The 50 Rand note represents a place of pain in the life of Mandela. While the area is now a site for celebration, featuring a commemorative steel sculpture revealing a portrait of the struggle icon, on 5 August 1962 it became the site of Mandela’s capture. Mandella was travelling in disguise as the chauffeur of the car he drove and was on the R103 road between Durban and Johannesburg. Apartheid police and intelligence agencies had been on his trail for 17 months, eventually catching up to him on this stretch of road near Howick in KwaZulu-Natal. Then Nelson Mandela Capture Site is now home to a mammoth steel structure, comprised of 50 steel columns, which reveal a portrait of Madiba when viewed from a certain angle. The bank's name South African Reserve Bank are translated into two official South African languages: iBhangle Lombuso laseNingizmu Afrika (Zulu) and Banka ya Risefe ya Afrika Borwa (Sotho). A commemorative inscription "Mandela Centenary 1918 - 2018" at right and "Madiba" at left. Watermark: Portrait of Nelson Mandela and electrotype 50. Size: 140 × 70 mm. Printer: South African Bank Note Company Ltd, Pretoria. South Africa Currency 100 Rand Commemorative banknote 2018 Nelson Mandela Centenary South Africa Currency 100 Rand Commemorative banknote 2018 Nelson Mandela Centenary 1918 - 2018 South African Reserve Bank The South African Reserve Bank (SARB) has issued the release of limited edition commemorative banknotes in honour of Nelson Mandela’s legacy, celebrating the liberation icon’s centenary in July 2018, which look to show “the journey of a nation as of the man”. The honorary ‘randelas’ are an ode to the former president’s struggle saga, which ultimately led to the liberation of South Africa and an end to apartheid oppression. Different imagery has been designed for each of the five notes, which look to chronologically “tell the story of Mandela’s life from a young boy through to president of South Africa”. Obverse: An image of Nelson Mandela, considered by most South Africans (both black and white) to be the father of the post-apartheid new South Africa. He is held in deep respect within South Africa, where he is often referred to by his Xhosa clan name, Madiba, and described as the "Father of the Nation". Despite spending 27 years in jail, Mandela's presidency (1994-1999) was marked by a spirit of reconciliation and forgiveness. The denomination of the bank note in the lower-right-hand corner, printed in a special, colour-changing security ink that carries the pattern of Mandela’s famous shirts, and a seven-bar circle that frames Mandela’s portrait image. This aims to represent the bars seen on the post-apartheid South African national flag, and the seven bars on the door of Mandela’s prison cell at Robben Island. These bars also contain ultraviolet (UV) light technology, another security feature. At the top are the name of the bank in English "South African Reserve Bank". The face value of the banknote in arabic numerals "100" at left center and on the right of the portrait of Nelson Mandela along the bottom side of the note, and in words: in English "ONE HUNDRED RAND" along the right side of the banknote. A commemorative inscription "Mandela Centenary 1918 - 2018" along the right side of the bank note. Signature: Lesetja Kganyago - Governor of the South African Reserve Bank. Coat of arms of the Republic of South Africa at upper left. The African buffalo on the background at center. Across all field of banknote an ornament and Prehistoric fishing scenes. A commemorative inscription "Mandela Centenary 1918 - 2018" at right. Reverse: A "youthful" portrait of Mandela dressed in traditional attire. The vignette of the life events of Mandela - "Struggle" - Robben Island. A pile of rocks on Robben Island, where the great liberator was imprisoned from 1964–1982. Mandela spent 18 years on the stark island, working in a lime quarry, busting rocks as part of his forced labour. While on the island, he was permitted one visit and one letter every six months. While enduring physical and psychological torture at the hands of white warders, at night he persevered with his studies for an LLB degree which he was obtaining from the University of London. In April 1982, Mandela was transferred to Pollsmoor Prison in Tokai, Cape Town. The bank's name South African Reserve Bank are translated into two official South African languages: iBhangle Lombuso laseNingizmu Afrika (Zulu) and Banka ya Risefe ya Afrika Borwa (Sotho). A commemorative inscription "Mandela Centenary 1918 - 2018" at right and "Madiba" at left. Watermark: Portrait of Nelson Mandela and electrotype 100. Size: 146 × 70 mm. Printer: South African Bank Note Company Ltd, Pretoria. South African Currency 200 Rand Commemorative banknote 2018 Nelson Mandela Centenary South African Currency 200 Rand Commemorative banknote 2018 Nelson Mandela Centenary 1918 - 2018 South African Reserve Bank The South African Reserve Bank (SARB) has issued the release of limited edition commemorative banknotes in honour of Nelson Mandela’s legacy, celebrating the liberation icon’s centenary in July 2018, which look to show “the journey of a nation as of the man”. The honorary ‘randelas’ are an ode to the former president’s struggle saga, which ultimately led to the liberation of South Africa and an end to apartheid oppression. Different imagery has been designed for each of the five notes, which look to chronologically “tell the story of Mandela’s life from a young boy through to president of South Africa”. Obverse: An image of Nelson Mandela, considered by most South Africans (both black and white) to be the father of the post-apartheid new South Africa. He is held in deep respect within South Africa, where he is often referred to by his Xhosa clan name, Madiba, and described as the "Father of the Nation". Despite spending 27 years in jail, Mandela's presidency (1994-1999) was marked by a spirit of reconciliation and forgiveness. The denomination of the bank note in the lower-right-hand corner, printed in a special, colour-changing security ink that carries the pattern of Mandela’s famous shirts, and a seven-bar circle that frames Mandela’s portrait image. This aims to represent the bars seen on the post-apartheid South African national flag, and the seven bars on the door of Mandela’s prison cell at Robben Island. These bars also contain ultraviolet (UV) light technology, another security feature. At the top are the name of the bank in English "South African Reserve Bank". The face value of the banknote in arabic numerals "200" at left center and on the right of the portrait of Nelson Mandela along the bottom side of the note, and in words: in English "TWO HUNDRED RAND" along the right side of the banknote. A commemorative inscription "Mandela Centenary 1918 - 2018" along the right side of the bank note. Signature: Lesetja Kganyago - Governor of the South African Reserve Bank. Coat of arms of the Republic of South Africa at upper left. The African leopards on the background at center. Across all field of banknote an ornament and Prehistoric hunting scenes with dogs. A commemorative inscription "Mandela Centenary 1918 - 2018" at right. Reverse: A "youthful" portrait of Mandela dressed in traditional attire. The vignette of the life events of Mandela - "Destiny" - Union Buildings. This 200 Rand note represents the moment Mandela was inaugurated as South Africa’s first democratically elected president in 1994. The image on the note is that of a bronze statue situated at the Union Buildings, unveiled to close the official 10-day mourning period for the much loved former state president, who died at his Johannesburg home on 5 December 2013. South African sculptors André Prinsloo and Ruhan Janse van Vuuren were responsible for creating the statue. According to Prinsloo, the sculptors considered various poses like the Raised Fist Salute, but in the Spirit of Reconciliation, the current open arm pose was suggested. The bank's name South African Reserve Bank are translated into two official South African languages: iBhangle Lombuso laseNingizmu Afrika (Zulu) and Banka ya Risefe ya Afrika Borwa (Sotho). A commemorative inscription "Mandela Centenary 1918 - 2018" at right and "Madiba" at left. Watermark: Portrait of Nelson Mandela and electrotype 200. Size: 152 × 70 mm. Printer: South African Bank Note Company Ltd, Pretoria. BACK TO TOP Προβολή όλων Δημοσιεύσεις Φόρουμ (7) BIG 5 SOUTH AFRICA Σε General Discussion · 30 March 2024 1 1 3 BIG 5 SOUTH AFRICA Σε General Discussion 22 April 2024 1 0 Wild Life in South Africa Σε General Discussion · 23 August 2024 Kruger National Park is one of the largest game reserves in Africa. It covers an area of 19,485 square kilometres 7,523 sq mi in the provinces of Limpopo and Mpumalanga in northeastern South Africa, and extends 360 kilometres 220 mi from north to south and 65 kilometres 40 mi from east to west.The big five are among the most dangerous, yet most popular species for big game hunters to hunt.Safari Club International, an organization dedicated to trophy hunters, offers a trophy for hunting all five species, called the "African Big Five Grand Slam," along with 14 other Grand Slams for other species.South Africa Safari Information Many of the main tourist areas in South Africa are malaria-free, however, the Kruger National Park, the Lowveld of Mpumalanga and Limpopo, and the northern part of KwaZulu-Natal do pose a malaria risk in the summer months. Health care professionals recommend you take malaria prophylaxis. 0 0 0 Προβολή όλων BACK TO TOP

South African Arts The art of the peoples of South Africa is the oldest known art in the world, dating back over 100,000 years. The archeological discoveries there help scholars to date the evolution of cognition and intelligent progression. South African art in the modern era is influenced and molded by the trials of the South African people under apartheid and the years of European involvement in the area expressed in the found art of Africans making sense of modern traditions, and the Dutch influence on both white and black artists. With the many tribes, languages, cultures, and races of South Africa, there is a very diverse and eclectic art scene in historical and contemporary South Africa.The very beginnings of art, not just for South Africa, but for the world, were found at the Blombos cave. This ancient art studio contained paint pots in the form of shells that were used to store mixed paints from disparate sources. This proved to archeologists that early man may have been more sophisticated than previously thought. Whatever it was that they painted, be it clothing, faces, or the walls of the caves, the South African climate, particular in this sea cave is not conducive to the permanent survival of art. What has been found of ancient South African art are the cave paintings of the Khoisan, San, and Bushman tribes dating to 10,000 BC. Other cave painters left behind scenes of hunting and domestic life, and also of spiritual and magical art. The colors used are derived from nature and are therefore mostly in earth tones such as black, yellow, red, orange, white, and gray. “The drawings don’t start with ‘a beautiful mark’. It has to be a mark of something out there in the world. It doesn’t have to be an accurate drawing, but it has to stand for an observation, not something that is abstract, like an emotion”. – William Kentridge Cave scenes portray battles and hunts, animals, dancing, and later, white hunters on horseback. The figures are shown in long forms in action and some figures that are either dancing or participating in the shamanic rituals are costumed in clothing in unusual patterns and prints and are often wearing masks. It is unknown if these are people drawn from life, or if these represent symbolic characters. The symbols, themes, and subjects of the South African cave paintings are similar to what is seen in cave and rock paintings all over the world. European Influence The Boers, better known as the Dutch, and the English came to South Africa in the mid-19th century and the art of the Europeans that remained and the traditional art of the indigenous tribal people began to mix. The end of the 19th century spurred some artists to move away from this mixed art and begin studying art in realism, creating a unique art free from both European and native influences.Under European colonization, the native people suffered under racial segregation and prejudice. The English established museums, universities, art schools, and other education opportunities, but they were not ones open to the indigenous. However, white intellectuals and artists seeking inspiration from the art and culture of the African people sought them out and some artistic instruction was imparted by collaboration.As the tide of the world was changing to strive for respect of all peoples, the artists of South Africa, both white and black began to protest against apartheid, and against the cultural boycott on South Africa. Their success led to South African artists stepping up to a level global playing field. South African Art Key Highlights South Africa is home to the Thupelo Workshop, an annual workshop that brings artists from all over the world to share the diversity of artistic style, technique, and motivation with the global community of artists. The San culture are hunter-gatherers that are still in existence, but as their culture fades and there are fewer San artists, galleries are stepping in to help keep their art and culture alive. The lack of galleries on the Cape has given artists in that area freedom of expression without the restriction of pleasing the intellectual middle classes. The Ndebele tribe is known for its graphics geometric paintings on houses. The paints used were traditionally made from natural sources, but the Ndebele are now sometimes being supplied with commercial paints. Because of the rampant poverty in South Africa, poor artists use found media to create art. The talent and vision of the South African people is evident in the beauty they are able to create from these materials. For instance, baskets spiraling in vivid bright colors look to be made from highly died natural materials but are, in fact, made from telephone wires. South African Art Top Works: San Bushmen Rock Paintings – Drakensberg Mountains Elephants Charging over Quartos Country – Thomas Baines An Extensive View of Farmlands – JH Pierneef Pretoria Mural – Walter Battiss Song of the Pick – Gerard Sekoto The Rice Lady – Vladimir Tretchikoff The Conservationists Ball – William Kentridge The Butcher Boys – Jane Alexander Ndebele Beadwork Zulu Baskets ​ South African art is the visual art produced by the people inhabiting the territory occupied by the modern country of South Africa. The oldest art objects in the world were discovered in a South African cave. Archaeologists have discovered two sets of art kits thought to be 100,000 years old at a cave in South Africa. The findings provide a glimpse into how early humans produced and stored ochre – a form of paint – which pushes back our understanding of when evolved complex cognition occurred by around 20,000 – 30,000 years. Also, dating from 75,000 years ago, they found small drilled snail shells could have no other function than to have been strung on a string as a necklace. South Africa was one of the cradles of the human species. The scattered tribes of Khoisan and San peoples moving into South Africa from around 10000 BC had their own art styles seen today in a multitude of cave paintings] They were superseded by Bantu and Nguni peoples with their own vocabularies of art forms. In the present era, traditional tribal forms of art were scattered and re-melded by the divisive policies of apartheid. New forms of art evolved in the mines and townships: a dynamic art using everything from plastic strips to bicycle spokes. In addition to this, there also is the Dutch-influenced folk art of the Afrikaner Trek Boers and the urban white artists earnestly following changing European traditions from the 1850s onwards, making for an eclectic mix which continues to evolve today. ​ Paleolithic rock art Main article: San rock art San rock paintings, Perdekop Farm, (Mossel Bay , South Africa) The pre-Bantu peoples migrating southwards from around the year 30,000 BC were nomadic hunters who favoured caves as dwellings. Before the rise of the Nguni peoples along the east and southern coasts and central areas of Africa these nomadic hunters were widely distributed. It is thought they entered South Africa at least 1000 years ago. They have left many signs of life, such as artwork (San paintings) depicting hunting, domestic and magic-related art. There is a stylistic unity across the region and even with more ancient art in the Tassili n'Ajjer region of northern Africa, and also in what is now desert Chad but was once a lush landscape. The figures are dynamic and elongate, and the colours (derived probably from earthen and plant pigments and possibly also from insects) combine ochreous red, white, grey, black, and many warm tones ranging from red through to primary yellow. Common subjects include hunting, often depicting with great accuracy large animals which no longer inhabit the same region in the modern era, as well as: warfare among humans, dancing, domestic scenes, multiple images of various animals, including giraffes, antelope of many kinds, and snakes. The last of these works are poignant in their representation of larger, darker people and even of white hunters on horseback, both of whom would supplant the San peoples. Many of the "dancing" figures are decorated with unusual patterns and may be wearing masks and other festive clothing. Other paintings, depicting patterned quadrilaterals and other symbols, are obscure in their meaning and may be non-representational. Similar symbols are seen in shamanistic art worldwide. This art form is distributed from Angola in the west to Mozambique and Kenya , throughout Zimbabwe and South Africa and throughout Botswana wherever cave conditions have favoured preservation from the elements. ​ Black art post-apartheid The Bantu Education Act of 1955 barred Black South Africans from receiving formal art training during the years of apartheid and as a result, the artistic movements that had originated from this community have, until recently, been distinctly classified as “craft” rather than “art.” Informal art centers, that were funded by European states, became one of the few avenues in which Black South Africans could receive some form of artistic development. Throughout this time period from 1947 to the mid-1990s, the first practitioners to receive this informal training began passing down their knowledge to younger generations of practitioners. However, the traditional canon of African art, categorized as “fine art” had been formed in the 20th century by European and U.S. art audiences. South Africa's inequality gap is larger than that of other countries in the world so the audience for art is primarily the rich and not those who are subject to the artistic expression, giving these higher socio-economic groups a gatekeeper status in deciding what is classified as art. After the Soweto Riots of 1976, a new social consciousness emerged that retaliated against the government's policy of segregation and effectively reexamined the classification of certain Black South African artworks. One of the first artistic styles to receive critic attention was Venda sculpting because it aesthetically appealed to white patrons while also maintaining its “artistic manifestations of ethnic diversity.” These sculptures would be considered “transitional art” rather than “craft” and would gain access into fine art galleries. Other Black artistic expressions such as beadwork, photography, and studio arts have also begun to be slowly integrated into canonical South African art forms. The Johannesburg Biennale's Africus (1995) and Trade Routes (1997) had a significant impact on the cultural awareness of new South African art. These events were among the first exhibitions that revealed the “new South African art” to the international community, but also other local South Africans. This gave Black South African artists a new platform to express the effects to which apartheid had influenced society. In the post-apartheid regime, artists have now been given an apparatus to protest social issues such as inequality, sexuality, state control over the personal realm, and HIV/AIDS. However, the emphasis to embody many of these social issues within Black South African art has a led to a stereotype that many young artists are now trying to escape. International pressure has been said to once again demand a level of ‘authenticity’ within South African art that portrays discourse on the topic of apartheid. Scholar Victoria Rovine goes as far as to state that “these exhibitions represent a South Africa that seeks liberation not from apartheid itself but from apartheid as an already predictable subject for artistic production.” Furthermore, although South African art is not always political, conversations stemming from its interpretation are rarely apolitical and the high demand for apartheid symbols by private collectors have raised concerns over the collection of the art for the sake of nostalgia ​ BACK TO TOP

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Big Five Even though you know that Africa and South Africa are so much more than the Big Five, the familiar images soon begin playing in your mind: lions roaring; elephants trumpeting; buffalos lurking in long grass; rhinos standing stately under a thorn tree; leopards prowling in the gathering darkness. You’ve seen the Big Five in books and you’ve seen them on TV. But it’s time to come and see them for yourself. The real thing. In person. And there’s no better place for this than South Africa, which offers the most exciting, memorable and exhilarating experience of your life – coming face to face with the Big Five. Origin of the name How did these five animals – the lion, elephant, buffalo, rhinoceros and leopard – come to be called the Big Five? It was originally a hunting term used by the so-called ‘great white hunters’ in the hunting heyday of the 19th and early 20thcenturies, when professional hunters bagged as many trophies as possible in as short a time as possible. Considered a rite of passage for seasoned travellers, everybody from American presidents to European royalty and heads of state came to Africa to shoot a large, dangerous animal. The Big Five quickly became known as the most dangerous animals to hunt on foot, and the name stuck – although now ‘shooting’ is done through a camera lens. From Targets to Tourist Attractions: Understanding and Protecting the Big Five in South Africa The Big Five are a big deal. Synonymous with safaris, this term carries with it a distinct whiff of excitement and adventure. It wasn’t always about merely spotting animals, however – the phrase goes back to the Colonial Era and was once a hit list rather than a safari checklist. So, what are the Big Five and how did these animals come to be revered above the rest? Introducing the Big Five ​ Big Five refers to African lions, leopards, rhinoceros, elephants, and Cape buffalo. The phrase today is usually used to market safaris, but was first coined by big-game hunters more than 100 years ago. In the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, everyone from European royalty to American presidents wanted to bag an African hunting trophy. The larger and more unpredictable the beast, the better – which is how the Big Five became famous. The Big Five may be dangerous, but they aren’t invincible. African lions , leopards , and elephants are all classed as Vulnerable by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature. The black rhinoceros is Critically Endangered and the Southern white rhino is Near Threatened, while the Northern white rhino is on the verge of extinction. The Cape buffalo is of the least concern in terms of conservation, but this also makes it the most popular animal to hunt. Hunting, poaching, and habitat loss combined mean the Cape buffalo’s population is also on the decline. Where can you find the Big Five? South Africa is a premier destination for viewing the Big Five . Around 80 percent of Africa’s remaining wild rhino population live in South Africa, according to CITES, along with an elephant population of approximately 12,000 – a major recovery from a mere 120 in 1920. There are roughly 20,000 lions left in South Africa (down from 200,000 at the turn of the twentieth century), while leopard numbers are estimated at around 4,500. Tourists have a good chance of seeing the Big Five in many of South Africa’s national parks and private reserves. To get a closer look and better understanding of the Big Five, a volunteer program is a great alternative to a safari. Volunteering in a wildlife reserve in the Kruger Area will give you plenty of opportunities to observe the animals in their natural habitat. No safari tour can compare to monitoring the behavior of elephants and rhinos alongside an expert conservation team! ​ The Big Five then and now: How has game hunting changed since colonial times? There is still an active trade in legal hunting in Africa . South Africa is the biggest game hunting destination in the world. This practice however has undergone significant changes in implementation and public perception over the last century. Four of the Big Five can be hunted in South Africa – the Department of Environmental Affairs (DEA) banned leopard hunting in 2016. A lioness is typically the cheapest of the ‘set’ to bag, costing around $9,000 to hunt, while a white rhino can cost more than $125,000, says a report by the Natural Resources Committee. Back in colonial times, big game hunting had connotations of aristocracy and glamour. Today, game hunting still belongs to the elite and privileged, thanks to the hefty price tags, but for the most part associations of prestige and sportsmanship have been stripped away. Outside of hunting cliques, public opinion leans towards disgust over the killing of the Big Five. Given the widespread disapproval and population perils facing the Big Five, game hunters have shifted the way they present the practice. Supporters insist that hunting is helping to protect, rather than destroy, the animals. The Influence of Big Five game hunting on South Africa’s economy and conservation Remember Cecil the lion? This big cat’s death and subsequent photo of a dentist gloating over his body triggered outrage around the world and deeper examination of big game hunting in Africa. Arguments surrounding modern game hunting are heavily polarized. Defenders of game hunting say it can aid conservation efforts by generating revenue necessary to protect animals and their habitat – in many areas, land would be used for agriculture if it wasn’t for commercial hunting. Hunters also argue that they are helping to control animal populations and support local communities by providing jobs and income. This in turn could motivate people to protect animals from poaching. Critics argue that minimal profits reach local communities, and that whether or not hunting supports conservation relies on the appropriate management of funds raised and sustainable allocation of animal quotas. Inadequate monitoring makes these factors difficult to control. Either way, trophy hunting is big business in South Africa . According to Africa Check, around 8,500 trophy hunters visit South Africa each year, compared to 9.5 million tourists. These hunters spend more than the average tourist, averaging around $10,000 per hunting trip. Trophy hunting generates an estimated $100 million a year, says South Africa’s DEA. Game hunting might help conservation when managed appropriately, but there are ways to help the Big Five that are much more appealing to animal lovers. ​ What can you do to help preserve the Big Five? Wildlife lovers can assist in conservation efforts, either as tourists or volunteers. Tourists who come to shoot the Big Five with a camera lens rather than a weapon play an important role in conservation. The safari industry generates income to protect parks and reserves, provides jobs for locals, and incentivizes wildlife conservation . Volunteering with animals in South Africa is an even more direct way for you to help in thier conservation. Wildlife conservation centers and safari reserves act as hubs for education, provide refuge for orphaned and injured creatures and facilitate breeding programs to ensure the future of the Big Five. Volunteer program fees at these centers contribute toward running costs, and volunteers themselves return home as ambassadors for animal conservation. Sound good? We might have just the ticket for you. GoEco’s Big Five Volunteer Programs GoEco offers several options for animal lovers keen to enounter the Big Five in an ethical and sustainable way. You can choose to carry out research on elephants , contribute to wildlife conservation efforts by adding your own snaps to a photographic database, or geo-track elusive species . Each project is structured around learning more about and protecting Africa’s unique and beautiful animals. Volunteering in South Africa is a great opportunity for personal and professional growth. You’ll develop practical skills and gain comprehensive wildlife knowledge, all while living in some of the continent’s most stunning wilderness areas. If you’re feeling the call of the wildlife and want to get directly involved in Big Five conservation, reach out to us today to find out more about volunteering with South African animals. ​ Sources: http://www.cites.org/sites/default/files/eng/cop/11/prop/20.pdf http://www.panthera.org/cat/lion http://africacheck.org/factsheets/factsheet-how-much-does-hunting-contribute-to-african-economies/ http://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1748-9326/aa854b/pdf http://www.savetherhino.org/rhino_info/rhino_population_figures http://conservationaction.co.za/resources/reports/effects-trophy-hunting-five-africas-iconic-wild-animal-populations-six-countries-analysis/ http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2015/08/10/world/africa/africa-big-game-hunting.html http://conservationaction.co.za/resources/reports/effects-trophy-hunting-five-africas-iconic-wild-animal-populations-six-countries-analysis/ http://www.thedodo.com/does-hunting-help-conservation-1389284014.html http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Big_five_game http://businesstech.co.za/news/lifestyle/127055/how-much-it-costs-to-hunt-the-big-five-in-south-africa/ http://www.reuters.com/article/us-safrica-leopards/big-5-off-the-cards-as-south-africa-closes-2016-leopard-hunting-season-idUSKCN0WF07C All Videos All Videos Αναπαραγωγή βίντεο Κοινοποίηση Whole Channel This Video Facebook Twitter Pinterest Tumblr Αντιγραφή συνδέσμου Ο σύνδεσμος αντιγράφτηκε Αναζήτηση βίντεο... Now Playing South Africa Travel Documentary - Road trip along the Garden Route | Highlights [4K] 34:58 Αναπαραγωγή βίντεο Now Playing 10 Best Places to Visit in South Africa - Travel Video 11:41 Αναπαραγωγή βίντεο Now Playing SOUTH AFRICA TRAVEL (2024) | The 15 BEST Places To Visit In South Africa (+ Travel Tips) 17:51 Αναπαραγωγή βίντεο Now Playing HIGH UP in the East Cape Drakensberg: So Many INSANE Mountain Passes! | Drakensberg pt.1 24:30 Αναπαραγωγή βίντεο The Big Five The Lion The lion is arguably the most sought-after of the Big Five because it is synonymous with an African safari. Charismatic, powerful and beautiful, everybody wants to see the appropriately named 'King of the Beasts'. Once, hundreds of thousands of lions roamed the world, but today conservationists give approximate numbers of between 25 000 and 30 000 left, most in sub-Saharan Africa. In South Africa, your chances of seeing lions are high, whether in our national parks or in private game reserves. Lions are creatures of the savannah and open plains (you’ll rarely find them in a forest) and function in prides, usually numbering about five to 15, depending on the territory – although the Kruger National Park is known to have at least one big pride of up to 25 animals. They are social family animals – related females rule, usually alongside a large dominant male that has won the pride in fierce competition with other males. Lionesses stay with the pride, while young males leave at two to three years of age. Males sometimes form coalitions to enhance their hunting success, but you’ll rarely see one with more than four lions. Lionesses start breeding at four years old, and typically give birth to a litter of three or four cubs after 14 to 15 weeks of gestation. Lionesses of the same pride often give birth at or near the same time as their ‘sisters’, which allows for communal suckling and round-the-clock care. And don’t expect to see an old lion – they are defeated in battle, often die of their wounds or are no longer able to hunt. Lions are in their prime from five to nine years of age. Male lions, once they’ve taken over a pride, have to work hard to keep it. Younger males – with attitude – are always on the sidelines. Some prides specialise in hunting certain animals and develop specialised skills for this prey of choice – young elephants, ostrich, wildebeest. Lions have no natural enemies other than hunters, although lion cubs fall prey to nomadic male lions that kill them in attempting to take over a pride. Hyenas, leopards and wild dogs also kill lion cubs. The Elephant The Elephant Perhaps it’s the African elephant that should be called ‘King of the Beasts’ – it is the world’s largest and heaviest land animal. Its ears alone measure up to 2m x 1.2m (roughly the size of the surface area of a double bed) and can weigh up to 20kg (44lb) each, while it can grow to a height of more than 3m. Elephants abound in South Africa – you can see great herds of more than 100 in the Kruger National Park or smaller breeding herds in private reserves. Elephants are highly social animals and females rule. A herd will typically have a matriarch with vast cultural knowledge that leads the herd, keeps it under control and chooses its direction and pace. Even when feeding (and an adult elephant, arguably nature’s most versatile vegetarian, can eat up to 300kg of grass, bark, branches and foliage a day), the herd rarely strays far from the matriarch. Young bulls leave the herd when they become teenagers and either live alone, form bachelor herds or seek the company of old lone bulls that have long left the herd. Your first sighting of a tiny baby elephant will be one of your most indelible memories. How do these small creatures, some not yet reaching up to their mother’s tummy, avoid being stepped on or crushed by the herd? Mother, sisters, aunts and cousins are always on the alert. Watch how mothers protect their babies by always putting themselves between danger and their offspring, and how the whole herd immediately goes into protective group defence mode when threatened. If an elephant trumpets, you’ll certainly hear it, but the infrasonic tummy rumbles they use to communicate with one another are most often too low for the human ear to pick up – although research shows that these calls have an elephant range of up to several kilometres. And just because elephants are huge, don’t think they are slow; if a herd takes fright, or needs to move on quickly, elephants can reach speeds up to 40km/h – faster than you can run. Elephants love water. To see a herd drinking, playing, splashing, swimming and dunking in the water will be another of your favourite safari memories. The Buffalo The Buffalo Don’t be fooled by the docile appearance of the Cape buffalo (also known as the African buffalo). This mean, moody and magnificent animal is possibly the most dangerous of the Big Five, especially if you are on foot. Robert Ruark, the American novelist, wrote that ‘a buffalo always looks at you as if you owe him money’. Come face to face with a buffalo (preferably from the safety of a vehicle), and you’ll see exactly what Ruark meant – the stare is cold, calculating and cunning. Buffalos are social animals and move around in large herds – sometimes of many hundreds – chomping long grass as they collectively move and feed. In the dry season, you can often see a cloud of dust signalling an approaching herd. Buffalos have to drink daily, and to witness a large herd approaching a waterhole – often in the early morning or late afternoon – is a memorable and noisy experience. It’s quite easy to tell the males from the females. The males are blacker, bigger and have huge powerful horns that are joined in the middle to form a ‘boss’. When buffalos fight for rank and females (buffalos are non-territorial and don’t fight for territory like some others of the Big Five), the noise of the clashing and crashing of their bosses is awesome. It is estimated that the impact of their horns’ collision is equal to a car hitting a wall at 50km/h. Females are smaller, more reddish-brown in colour, and their much narrower horns don’t meet in the middle. Calves are usually born in the rainy season, and although they can stand up on wobbly legs immediately, it takes several weeks until they can keep up adequately with the herd. Although most of a buffalo’s senses are well developed, it’s their super-charged hearing that helps them find food and alerts them to danger. There’s usually a dominant male – or more if the herd is huge – that stays in the middle of the herd, as well as ‘pathfinders’, which may not be the biggest and best, but lead the herd and keep it together. You may also see a group of old bulls together – caked in mud from wallowing. These are known as ‘Dagha Boys’ after the ‘dagha’, or mud, the Zulus used to build their traditional huts. It’s quite easy to tell the males from the females. The males are blacker, bigger and have huge powerful horns that are joined in the middle to form a ‘boss’. When buffalos fight for rank and females (buffalos are non-territorial and don’t fight for territory like some others of the Big Five), the noise of the clashing and crashing of their bosses is awesome. It is estimated that the impact of their horns’ collision is equal to a car hitting a wall at 50km/h. Females are smaller, more reddish-brown in colour, and their much narrower horns don’t meet in the middle. Calves are usually born in the rainy season, and although they can stand up on wobbly legs immediately, it takes several weeks until they can keep up adequately with the herd. Although most of a buffalo’s senses are well developed, it’s their super-charged hearing that helps them find food and alerts them to danger. There’s usually a dominant male – or more if the herd is huge – that stays in the middle of the herd, as well as ‘pathfinders’, which may not be the biggest and best, but lead the herd and keep it together. You may also see a group of old bulls together – caked in mud from wallowing. These are known as ‘Dagha Boys’ after the ‘dagha’, or mud, the Zulus used to build their traditional huts. The White Rhino The White Rhino Your first impression will be of its bulk and size. And then you may wonder how such a prehistoric-looking animal has existed for so many millions of years. Although unfortunately, the brutality and intensity of present-day poaching is a serious threat to the continuing survival of the species. The second-largest land mammal, the white rhino’s name has nothing to do with its colour. It was the early Dutch settlers who referred to the animal’s broad lips as ‘wyd’ (wide), misinterpreted later as ‘white’. This is a remarkable animal, weighing in at nearly 2 500kg (about 5 500lb) and often living up to 40 years of age. Because it is a grazer, eating thick, tough grass, it needs lots of water to digest its food, and needs to drink at least once daily. Sometimes you’ll see a rhino eating mud or soil, which acts as a dietary mineral supplement. Its horn is used for fighting and defence and is not attached to the skull in any way. Females live together in small groups, individuals breaking away when a determined bull decides to mate. Only one calf is born to a female at a time; the cow is very protective of her calf and will fight off an aggressive bull if necessary. The calf always runs in front of its mother if they are fleeing from danger (a black rhino calf, on the other hand, will run behind its mother). You’ll often find a white rhino resting in shade in the heat of the day or wallowing in mud. The dried mud acts as a sunscreen, a cooling agent and helps evict parasites that break off with the dried mud. Look out for rhino middens beside the road. These are huge heaps of dung, used regularly by a particular male rhino to mark his territory. Females and non-dominant bulls also defecate on these middens, which act as markers and information signals to other rhinos. Rhinos have poor eyesight but a fantastic sense of hearing and smell; watch a rhino’s ears – they constantly rotate in all directions as it works out what’s going on around it. And don’t think that because it’s so big and ungainly it’s a slow animal. If it’s running away (or chasing you), it can reach speeds of 40km/h. The Black Rhino The black rhino is smaller than its larger ‘white’ relative, is more solitary and elusive, and has a shorter head and beak-shaped lip that it uses for browsing leaves and twigs. Regarded as a more dangerous animal than the white rhino because of its volatile temperament, it is now one of the most endangered animals in Africa. The Leopard The Leopard The one animal everybody wants to see – beautiful, charismatic, sexy and dramatic – and also the most elusive. The leopard is a solitary animal (unless mating, or a mother with cubs) and will, whether male or female, fiercely defend its own hunting territory from other leopards. Considered to be one of the most successful, if not the most successful, of all African predators, the leopard is a master stalker. If you are lucky, particularly on a night drive (as leopards are nocturnal animals), you may see a leopard stalking its prey – silently, ruthlessly – before getting to within 5m of the prey and then launching itself with a powerful spring. Surprise is its chief means of attack. Leopards often athletically drag their prey up into trees (sometimes the dead animal is as heavy as the leopard) to avoid having it pirated by other animals, particularly lions and hyenas. Look out for thick overhanging branches of big old trees – you may well find a leopard snoozing there during the hottest part of the day, or snacking on its prey. Leopards take great pains to advertise their territories by scent marking, scraping the ground and defecating in exposed spots. They try to avoid confrontation with other leopards (unless protecting their territory) because, as solitary hunters, they can’t afford to get injured. Leopards make great mothers and take excellent care of their offspring, moving them from one place of safety to another when the cubs are very small – just as well, because young cubs are vulnerable to other leopards, lions, hyenas and wild dogs. Take a look at the black markings behind the ears and white tip of a mother’s long tail – these are signals for small cubs to follow. That long tail is also used as a rudder for balance when the leopard is climbing a tree or hunting. A leopard also has long whiskers that it uses as antennae to judge spaces between bushes and trees – an essential tool for an animal that hunts at night. What are Africa’s Big Five? Black rhinoceroses stand in the savanna in Kenya's Lewa Wildlife Conservancy. There are fewer than 6,000 black rhinos left in the wild, though their population is on the rise. Photograph by Frans Lanting, Nat Geo Image Collection ​ What are Africa’s Big Five? Meet the continent’s most iconic wildlife Once mostly targeted by hunters, these large species are “awe-inspiring” sights for safari-goers. ByLiz Langley July 26, 2019 •5 min read ​ If you’ve gone on an African safari , chances are you’ve heard of the Big Five, the must-see list of iconic megafauna. Lions , leopards, elephants , African buffalo , and rhinoceroses are “what people think of when they think of Africa and wildlife,” says Natalia Borrego , a research associate at the University of Minnesota Lion Center. The term, coined in the late 1800s during Africa’s colonial period , refers to what trophy hunters considered the most challenging and dangerous animals to hunt on foot. These animals are still hunted today , but a shift toward tourism has also made seeing the Big Five an “awe-inspiring” goal for any safari-goer, Borrego says. 1:05 Africa’s Big Five Animals: What Are They?For a continent that is known for its amazing wildlife, these are the biggest of the big. These magnificent beasts are Africa's "big five." Learn photo tips for heading on safari in Botswana That’s especially true because all of these species are decreasing in population—lions in particular are struggling, having lost 94 percent of their original habitat . Only about 20,000 of the big cats remain in the wild. Here’s are some fascinating facts about the Big Five. Leopard This is the most elusive, and also the smallest, of the five. “I call them ninja cats because they’re just sneaky and they’re harder to spot,” Borrego says. Speaking of spots, most leopards are light-colored, with distinctive dark spots that are called rosettes. Black leopards, which appear to be almost solid in color because their spots are hard to distinguish, are commonly called black panthers . The solitary big cats haul large kills, such as zebra or antelope, into a tree to eat alone, in peace. There’s another reason for leopards to stay aloft: They don’t exactly get along with their fellow Big Fiver, the African lion. If a lion has a chance to kill a leopard, it will. (Related: “A lioness killing a leopard floored these filmmakers .”) African lion Lions are the only social big cat, but don’t expect to see the king. There isn’t one. These big cats are “not born into a rank,” Borrego says. “They are egalitarian, which means they don’t have a permanent social hierarchy.” One male may be dominant over the others, but that can change at any time. Lion society is also matrilineal, “so the females hold the territories,” and stay with the pride into which they’re born. (Related story: “In real life, Simba’s mom would be running the pride .”) African buffalo These hefty, cow-like animals often congregate by the thousands in the Serengeti; forming large groups is one defense against predators. Male and female buffalo both have horns, but the males’ curve upward and fuse together in the center, forming a solid bony plate called a boss. It’s a helpful defense—as is being more than three times heavier than their lion adversaries. That’s why a lion that attacks a buffalo is taking a huge risk of dying. Buffalo can be aggressive, and frequently come into conflict with humans outside of protected areas. African elephant The biggest of the Big Five is the African savanna elephant, which can weigh up to seven tons. The African forest elephant, which is about three feet shorter and lives in the forests of the Congo Basin, was declared a separate species after genetic testing in 2010 showed big differences between the forest and savanna dwellers. Savanna elephants are large enough to change the landscape , pulling up trees to make grasslands, dispersing seeds, and overall increasing biodiversity. Long sought after by poachers, elephants have a fragmented range throughout central and southern Africa . Rhinoceroses There are two species—the black rhinoceros and the white rhinoceros—and five subspecies between them left in Africa. Those include the northern white rhino, the southern white rhino, the eastern black rhino, the southern central black rhino, and the southwestern black rhino. All are huge, with a top weight of 5,000 pounds and horns that can grow up to five feet long. Due largely to poaching for their horns , the western black rhino was declared extinct in 2011 . The last male northern white rhino died in 2018 , with only two females remaining—making that subspecies functionally extinct. (Learn about the different types of extinction .) About 20,000 southern white rhinos remain, mostly in southern Africa. Conservation efforts have helped increase the population of the smaller, critically endangered black rhino , found mainly in East and southern Africa. Other Fives Africa is incredibly rich in wildlife, which is why several other “fives” have popped up over the years, such as the Little Five —including the leopard tortoise and the elephant shrew—the Shy Five , and the Ugly Five , which, to say the least, is a bit subjective. (Read why people find “ugly” animals cute .) BACK TO TOP

The First Boer War (Dutch: Eerste Boerenoorlog, Afrikaans: Eerste Vryheidsoorlog, The First Boer War (Dutch: Eerste Boerenoorlog, Afrikaans: Eerste Vryheidsoorlog, literally First Freedom War) also known as the First Anglo-Boer War or the Transvaal War, was fought from 16 December 1880 until 23 March 1881.The southern part of the African continent was dominated in the 19th century by a set of epic struggles to create within it a single unified state. British aggression into southern Africa was fuelled by three prime factors: first, the desire to control the trade routes to India that passed around the Cape; second, the discovery in 1868 of huge mineral deposits of diamonds around Kimberley on the joint borders of the South African Republic (called the Transvaal by the British), Orange Free State and the Cape Colony, and thereafter in 1886 in the Transvaal of a major gold find, all of which offered enormous wealth and power; and thirdly the race against other European colonial powers, as part of a general colonial expansion in Africa. Other potential colonisers included Portugal, who already controlled West (modern day Angola) and East Africa (modern day Mozambique), Germany (modern day Namibia), and further north, Belgium (modern day Democratic Republic of the Congo) and France (West and Equatorial Africa, and Madagascar). The British attempts in 1880 to annexe the Transvaal, and in 1899 both the Transvaal and the Orange Free State (leading to the Second Boer War), were their biggest incursions into southern Africa, but there were others. In 1868, the British annexed Basutoland in the Drakensberg Mountains (modern Lesotho, surrounded by the Orange Free State and Natal) following an appeal from Moshesh, the leader of a mixed group of African refugees from the Zulu wars, who sought British protection against both the Boers and the Zulus. The British did not try to stop Trekboers from moving away from the Cape. The Trekboers served as pioneers, opening up the interior for those who followed, and the British gradually extended their control away from the Cape along the coast toward the east, eventually annexing Natal in 1845. Indeed, the British subsequently ratified the two new Republics in a pair of treaties: the Sand River Convention of 1852 which recognised the independence of the Transvaal Republic, and the Bloemfontein Convention of 1854 which recognised the independence of the Orange Free State. However, British colonial expansion was, from the 1830s, marked by skirmishes and wars against both Boers and native African tribes .n 1875 Prime Minister Benjamin Disraeli's Colonial Secretary, Lord Carnarvon, in an attempt to extend British influence, approached the Orange Free State and the Transvaal Republic and tried to organise a federation of the British and Boer territories to be modelled after the 1867 federation of French and English provinces of Canada, however the Boer leaders turned him down. The successive British annexations, and in particular the annexation of West Griqualand, caused a climate of simmering unease for the Boer republics. Outbreak of War With the defeat of the Zulus, and the Pedi, the Transvaal Boers were able to give voice to the growing resentment against the 1877 British annexation of the Transvaal and complained that it had been a violation of the Sand River Convention of 1852, and the Bloemfontein Convention of 1854.Major-General Sir George Pomeroy Colley, after returning briefly to India, finally took over as Governor of Natal, Transvaal, High Commissioner of SE Africa and Military Commander in July 1880. Multiple commitments prevented Colley from visiting the Transvaal where he knew many of the senior Boers. Instead he relied on reports from the Administrator, Sir Owen Lanyon, who had no understanding of the Boer mood or capability. Belatedly Lanyon asked for troop reinforcements in December 1880 but was overtaken by events.The Boers on 16 December 1880 revolted and took action at Bronkhorstspruit against a British column of the 94th Foot, who were returning to reinforce Pretoria.After Transvaal formally declared independence from the United Kingdom, the war began on 16 December 1880 with shots fired by Transvaal Boers at Potchefstroom. This led to the action at Bronkhorstspruit on 20 December 1880, where the Boers ambushed and destroyed a British Army convoy. From 22 December 1880 to 6 January 1881, British army garrisons all over the Transvaal became besieged.Although generally called a war, the actual engagements were of a relatively minor nature considering the few men involved on both sides and the short duration of the combat, lasting some ten weeks of sporadic action. The fiercely independent Boers had no regular army; when danger threatened, all the men in a district would form a militia organised into military units called commandos and would elect officers.Commandos being civilian militia, each man wore what he wished, usually everyday dark-grey, neutral-coloured, or earthtone khaki farming clothes such as a jacket, trousers and slouch hat. Each man brought his own weapon, usually a hunting rifle, and his own horses. The average Boer citizens who made up their commandos were farmers who had spent almost all their working life in the saddle, and, because they had to depend on both their horse and their rifle for almost all of their meat, they were skilled hunters and expert marksmen.Most of the Boers had single-shot breech loading rifle such as the Westley Richards, the Martini-Henry, or the Remington Rolling Block. Only a few had repeaters like the Winchester or the Swiss Vetterli. As hunters they had learned to fire from cover, from a prone position and to make the first shot count, knowing that if they missed the game would be long gone. At community gatherings, they often held target shooting competitions using targets such as hens' eggs perched on posts over 100 yards away. The Boer commandos made for expert light cavalry, able to use every scrap of cover from which they could pour accurate and destructive fire at the British with their breech loading rifles.The British infantry uniforms at that date were red jackets, black trousers with red piping to the side, white pith helmets and pipe clayed equipment, a stark contrast to the African landscape.The Highlanders wore the kilt. The standard infantry weapon was the Martini Henry single-shot breech loading rifle with a long sword bayonet. Gunners of the Royal Artillery wore blue jackets. This enabled the Boer marksmen easily to snipe at red-clad British troops from a distance. The Boers carried no bayonets leaving them at a substantial disadvantage in close combat, which they avoided as far as possible. Drawing on years of experience of fighting frontier skirmishes with numerous and indigenous African tribes, they relied more on mobility, stealth, marksmanship and initiative while the British emphasised the traditional military values of command, discipline, formation and synchronised firepower. The average British soldier was not trained to be a marksman and got little target practice. What shooting training British soldiers had was mainly as a unit firing in volleys on command. At the first battle at Bronkhorstspruit, Lieutenant-Colonel Anstruther and 120 men of the 94th Foot (Connaught Rangers) were dead or wounded by Boer fire within minutes of the first shots. Boer losses totalled two killed and five wounded. This mainly Irish regiment was marching westward toward Pretoria, led by Lieutenant-Colonel Anstruther, when halted by a Boer commando group. Its leader, Piet Joubert, ordered Anstruther and the column to turn back, stating that the territory was now again a Boer Republic and therefore any further advance by the British would be deemed an act of war. Anstruther refused and ordered that ammunition be distributed. The Boers opened fire and the ambushed British troops were annihilated. With the majority of his troops dead or wounded, the dying Anstruther ordered surrender.The Boer uprising caught by surprise the six small British forts scattered around Transvaal, housing some 2,000 troops between them, including irregulars with as few as fifty men at Lydenburg in the east where Anstruther had just left. Being isolated, and with so few troops, all the forts could do was prepare for sieges, and wait to be relieved. The other five forts, with a minimum of fifty miles between any two, were at Wakkerstroom and Standerton in the south, Marabastadt in the north and Potchefstroom and Rustenburg in the west. The three main engagements of the war were all within about sixteen miles of each other, centred on the Battles of Laing’s Nek (28 January 1981), Ingogo River (8/2/81) and the rout at Majuba Hill (27 February 1981). These battles were the outcome of Major-General Sir George Pomeroy Colley’s attempts to relieve the besieged forts. Although Colley had requested reinforcements these would not reach him until mid-February. He was, however, convinced that the garrisons would not survive until then. Consequently, at Newcastle, near the Transvaal border he mustered a relief column (the Natal Field Force) of available men although this amounted to only 1,200 men. Colley’s force was further weakened in that few were mounted, a serious disadvantage in the terrain and type of warfare. Most Boers were mounted and good riders. Nonetheless, Colley’s force set out on 24 January 1881 northward for Laing’s Nek on route to relieve Wakkerstroom and Standerton, the nearest forts.At the Battle of Laing's Nek on 28 January 1881, the Natal Field Force under Major-General Sir George Pomeroy Colley attempted with cavalry and infantry attacks to break through the Boer positions on the Drakensberg mountain range to relieve their garrisons. The British were repulsed with heavy losses by the Boers under the command of Piet Joubert. Of the 480 British troops who made the charges, 150 never returned. Furthermore, sharpshooting Boers had killed or wounded many senior officers.Further actions included the Battle of Schuinshoogte (also known as Ingogo) on 8 February 1881, where another British force barely escaped destruction. Major-General Sir George Pomeroy Colley had sought refuge with the Natal Field Force at Mount Prospect, three miles to the south to await reinforcements. However, Colley was soon back into action. On 7 February a mail escort on its way to Newcastle had been attacked by the Boers and forced back to Mount Prospect. The next day Colley, determined to keep his supplies and communication route open, escorted the mail wagon personally and this time with a larger escort.The Boer attacked the convoy at the Ingogo River crossing, but with a stronger force of some 300 men. The firepower was evenly matched and the fight continued for several hours, but the Boer marksmen dominated the action until darkness and a storm permitted Colley and the remainder of his troops to retreat back to Mount Prospect. In this engagement the British lost 139 officers and men, half the original force that had set out to escort the mail convoy.On 14 February hostilities were suspended, awaiting the outcome of peace negotiations initiated by an offer from Kruger. During this time Colley’s promised reinforcements arrived with more to follow. The British government in the meantime had offered a Royal Commission investigation and possible troop withdrawal, and their attitude toward the Boers was conciliatory. Colley was critical of this stance and, whilst waiting for Kruger’s final agreement, decided to attack again with a view to enabling the British government to negotiate from a position of strength. Unfortunately this resulted in the disaster of the Battle of Majuba Hill on 27 February 1881, the greatest humiliation for the British. On 26 February 1881, Colley led a night march of some 360 men to the top of Majuba Hill that overlooked the main Boer position. Early the next morning the Boers saw Colley occupying the summit, and started to ascend the hill. The Boers, shooting accurately and using all available natural cover, advanced toward the trapped British position. Several Boer groups stormed the hill and drove off the British at great cost to the British, including the loss of Major-General Colley. Many of the British were killed or wounded, some falling to their deaths down the mountain. This had such an impact that during the Second Boer War, one of the British slogans was "Remember Majuba." The Boers suffered only one killed and five wounded.Hostilities continued until 6 March 1881, when a truce was declared, ironically on the same terms that Colley had disparaged. The Transvaal forts had endured, contrary to Colley’s forecast, with the sieges being generally uneventful, the Boers content to wait for hunger and sickness to strike. The forts had suffered only light casualties as an outcome of sporadic engagements, except at Potchefstroom, where twenty-four were killed, and seventeen at Pretoria, in each case resulting from occasional raids on Boer positions.Although the Boers exploited their advantages to the full, their unconventional tactics, marksman skills and mobility do not fully explain the heavy losses of the British. Like the Boers, British soldiers were equipped with breech-loading rifles (the Martini-Henry) but they were (unlike the Boers) professionals and the British Army had previously fought campaigns in difficult terrains and against elusive enemy such as the tribesmen of the Northern Territories in modern day Afghanistan.Historians lay much of the blame at the feet of the British command and Major-General Sir George Pomeroy Colley, in particular, but poor intelligence and bad communications also contributed to British losses.At Laing’s Nek it seems that Colley not only underestimated the Boer capabilities, but had been misinformed of, and was surprised by, the strength of the Boers forces. The confrontation at Ingogo Nek was perhaps rash, given that reserves were being sent, and Colley had by then experienced the Boer strength and capabilities. Indeed, strategists have speculated as to whether the convoy should have proceeded at all when it was known to be vulnerable to attack, and whether it was necessary for Colley himself to take command of the British guard. Colley's decision to initiate the attack at Majuba Hill when truce discussions were already underway appears to have been foolhardy particularly as there was limited strategic value, as the Boer positions were out of rifle range from the summit. Once the Battle of Majuba Hill had begun, Colley’s command and understanding of the dire situation seemed to deteriorate as the day went on, as he sent unclear signals to the British forces at Mount Prospect by heliograph, first requesting reinforcements and the next stating that the Boers were retreating. The poor leadership, intelligence and communications resulted in the deaths of many British soldiers.The British government of William Gladstone was conciliatory as it realised that any further action would require substantial troop reinforcements, and it was likely that the war would be costly, messy and protracted. Unwilling to get bogged down in a distant war with apparently minimal returns (the Transvaal at the time had no known mineral resources, or other significant resources, being essentially a cattle and sheep agricultural economy), the British government ordered a truce.Under instructions from the British government, Sir Evelyn Wood (who had replaced Colley upon his death on 27 February 1881) signed an armistice to end the war, and subsequently a peace treaty was signed with Kruger at O'Neil's Cottage on 6 March. In the final peace treaty on 23 March 1881, the British agreed to Boer self-government in the Transvaal under a theoretical British oversight, the Boers accepting the Queen’s nominal rule and British control over African affairs and native districts. A three-man Royal Commission drew up the Pretoria Convention, which was ratified on 25 October 1881, by the Transvaal Volksraad (parliament). This led to the withdrawal of the last British troops.When in 1886 a second major mineral find was made at an outcrop on a large ridge some thirty miles south of the Boer capital at Pretoria, it reignited British imperial interests. The ridge, known locally as the "Witwatersrand" (literally "white water ridge" – a watershed) contained the world's largest deposit of gold-bearing ore. Although it was not as rich as gold finds in Canada and Australia, its consistency made it especially well-suited to industrial mining methods. By 1899, when tensions erupted once more into the Second Boer War, the lure of gold made it worth committing the vast resources of the British Empire and incurring the huge costs required to win that war. The sharp lessons the British learned during the First Boer War which included Boer marksmanship, tactical flexibility, and good use of ground had largely been forgotten when the second war broke out 18 years later, which also led to heavy casualties as well as many setbacks for the British. Nicolaas Pieter Johannes ("Niklaas" or "Siener") Janse van Rensburg August 30, 1864 – March 11, 1926) was a Boer from the South African Republic - also known as the Transvaal Republic - and later a citizen of South Africa who was considered by some to be a prophet of the Boere (who are the smaller section of the language based macro group which became known as Afrikaners). Consequently his nickname became Siener, which is Afrikaans for "seer" or "soothsayer". His seemingly accurate predictions of future events were typically wrapped in a patriotic, religious format. During the Boer War he soon acquired a reputation which made him a trusted companion, if not advisor to General de la Rey and President Steyn. The true extent of his influence with these figures is disputed,though the very religious de la Rey seemed to have considered him a prophet of God ​ He was born on the farm Palmietfontein in the Potchefstroom district as son of Willem Jacobus Janse van Rensburg and Anna Catharina Janse van Rensburg. He only received 20 days of formal school training at the Rooipoort farm school, and spent much of his youth as a cattle herder. He could never write, but assisted by his mother learnt to read from the Bible. He never read anything else. At age 16 he participated in a government expedition against the rebellious tribal leader Mapog. He survived malaria acquired on the expedition and settled near Wolmaranstad in the then western ZAR. He was elected as elder for the Hervormde Kerk at age 21, possibly due to his scriptural knowledge. He married Anna Sophia Kruger in 1884. ​ Van Rensburg and his brother were commandeered to participate in the second Anglo-Boer War under General du Toit. He was however unarmed and never fired a shot, but delivered a stream of prophesies that continued throughout the war. As the seer would later explain, a nightly visitor would have woken him only a day before the outbreak of war, with a message that his work was dedicated to God. Following the encounter he was beset with a fear that wouldn't dissipate. When his disturbed state continued to their sojourn in Kimberley, his superiors sent him home. Experiencing no relief, he returned to the Siege of Kimberley, where a vision revealed to him the defeat and loss of life that the war would bring about.Shortly afterwards, possibly at Graspan, his disturbed state lifted permanently when a soldier was wounded on his side, as a vision revealed to him shortly before. Van Rensburg then travelled with general Piet Cronjé but escaped the encirclement by British forces at Paardeberg. Subsequently he travelled with different commandos, where a number of apparently accurate predictions established his reputation. A report of his visions attracted the attention of General de la Rey, who recruited Van Rensburg for his commando. On December 7, 1900, General de Wet found himself cornered against the Caledon River which was in flood, while British forces were assailing his position. When his surrender appeared imminent, a message of De la Rey was delivered by a Boer scout. Van Rensburg had foreseen the situation and the message outlined an escape route, which was duly followed, leaving the pursuers to succumb in the torrent De Wet had just traversed.De la Rey, also hard pressed by his enemy, dispatched Van Rensburg to accompany President Steyn to Roodewal, De Wet's safe retreat in the northern Free State. Here Van Rensburg advised them to wait upon two horsemen which he described, who arrived the next day with a message from acting President Schalk Burger. On September 13, 1901, Van Rensburg found himself in the camp of Commandant Roux at Rietkuil near Vredefort. Sensing imminent danger, he advised those present, who had just retired for the day, to depart from the camp at once. Roux was slow to take heed, and his men more so, as scouts had not observed any enemy units. Van Rensburg, his wife and children escaped on a cart, shortly before the greater part of the camp was captured in a surprise attack ​ Van Rensburg was present when Commandant Van Aardt's company returned from the action at Yzerspruit on February 25, 1902. Van Aardt was despondent as his brother was missing in action but Van Rensburg assured him that he was neither dead nor captured, but alive though in great pain. The wounded soldier was returned to camp the same evening, carried on the horse of a burgher who found him. Before the Battle of Tweebosch, Van Rensburg gave a number of predictions indicating how the enemy would approach along the Harts River, and when he deemed them most vulnerable. He also envisaged how the victory would enhance De la Rey's reputation. Methuen's force collapsed in the face of De la Rey's sudden attack on March 7, 1902, and Methuen was captured. On March 17, 1902, President Steyn, in the company of De Wet and Hertzog, arrived at Zendelingsfontein, De la Rey's headquarters near Klerksdorp, to consult De la Rey's physician about an eye ailment. Van Rensburg was once again dispatched to guard the president. Around the 23rd he had a vision of English troops arriving, but the president was unwilling to heed his warning, until De la Rey intervened urgently on Van Rensburg's behalf. The president departed for the safety of the Molopo River on the evening of the 24th. British troops arrived at Zendelingsfontein during the early hours of the 25th and captured two of De la Rey's adjutants. Gaining entry to General Kemp's war council in the bushveld region, he soon warned them against attacking a retreating enemy, which would leave them vulnerable to encirclement. ​ At the subsequent Battle of Harts River on March 31, 1902, some British units did fall back, though some Canadians stood their ground until overpowered by burgher forces. Kemp, though partially or grudgingly heeding the seer's visions, was generally reluctant to give him credit. ​ In January 1901 Van Rensburg had a vision indicating the flight of three Boer women, who were soon found and rescued by his host Willem Bosman. Days after rejoining De la Rey's commando he had visions of members of his own family being captured, and asked for leave to assist them. ​ The Van Rensburg family fled from their farmhouse as English forces approached, but the wagon train carrying the elderly, women and neighbours was surprised and captured by traitors the following morning. Van Rensburg's parents, eldest daughter Hester and four younger children were subsequently interned at the Mafeking concentration camp. Van Rensburg, his wife, eldest son Willem and two daughters travelled with a group which managed to evade their pursuers, and Van Rensburg once again joined De la Rey's commando. Upon meeting his wife again in mid October 1901, they found their farmhouse destroyed. Van Rensburg's ominous premonition concerning their daughters, Anna and Maria, was confirmed when news arrived that they and two relatives had died during an outbreak of measles in the concentration camp. ​ When the Union of South Africa came out in support of the Allied Powers in World War I, Van Rensburg allied with the rebels. The rebellion received a fatal blow even before it started, when the influential general Koos de la Rey was accidentally killed on September 15, 1914. De la Rey, when killed, was en route to General J.G.C. Kemp, who subsequently organised the rebellion in western Transvaal. On November 2, Kemp addressed a public meeting at Vleeskraal, near Schweizer-Reneke, with the locally influential Van Rensburg at his side. Van Rensburg also addressed the assembly, and assured them that his visions indicated they had little to fear. 610 men then joined the rebel cause, and with conscription imminent, the number of rebel volunteers grew to 1,800. General Kemp decided on a company of 720 men, mostly farmers, which included Van Rensburg and his son. They departed immediately on a journey to join Manie Maritz in German South-West Africa. After a desert trek and much hardship they linked up with Maritz's company on November 29. Rebels under De Wet and Beyers were rounded up by South African forces in the days that followed. Returning to South Africa, Maritz and Kemp engaged government forces at Nous, Lutzputs and finally at Upington, on February 3, 1915. Van Rensburg's son Willem was mortally wounded in the Upington clash, and the whole rebel force captured, with the exception of Maritz who fled via German South-West Africa, to Angola and from thence to Portugal,Van Rensburg, like his comrades, received a prison sentence. He however served about a year, first in Boksburg, then in the Old Fort, Johannesburg ​ After his release Nicolaas van Rensburg returned to his farm Rietkuil, near Wolmaranstad. Some of his visions were then recorded by reverend Dr. Rossouw. Van Rensburg's daughter Anna Badenhorst also recorded a set of visions up to his death at age 61. The latter set is considered to be difficult to interpret and not very coherent. With the outbreak of World War II, the collections of visions were considered inflammatory. Distribution was prohibited and some copies seized on orders of prime minister Jan Smuts. Upon Anna's death her hand written documents were transferred to Lichtenburg museum's archives, where they were rediscovered in 1991. The farm and van Rensburg family cemetery are located 11 km from Ottosdal, in the North West Province. Gen.De La Rey His mother perceived his visions even as a toddler, and noticed that these seemed to disturb him. General Hertzog described him as someone continuously distracted by a maze of imagery and symbolism. In all, some 700 visions have been recorded. The nature of his visions invariably concerned the welfare of the Boere, the Netherlands and Germany, and were experienced by him as visual imagery to be interpreted afterwards. When the image of the sisal plant occurred in his visions, he for instance interpreted this as a portend of an important meeting, assembly or parliament. He is believed by some to have made many accurate predictions of local events, including foretelling the death of general Koos de la Reyand the political transition of South Africa after his own death. At times his visions also concerned international events, among which the start of World War Iand the rise of Communism.He was unable to interpret some of his own visions. These, written down, are still open to interpretation, and believed by some to pertain to future events. Boer soldier Deneys Reitz's account of the Boer War contains a colourful objective account of one of the seer's predictions (shortened): ... a prophet, a strange character, with long flowing beard and wild fanatical eyes, who dreamed dreams and pretended to possess occult powers. I personally witnessed one of the lucky hits while we were congregated around the General's cart. Van Rensburg was expounding his latest vision to a hushed audience. It ran of a black bull and a red bull fighting, until at length the red bull sank defeated to its knees, referring to the British. Arms outstretched and eyes ablaze, he suddenly called out: See, who comes?; and, looking up, we made out a distant horseman spurring towards us. When he came up, he produced a letter from General Botha, hundreds of miles away. General de la Rey opened it and said: Men, believe me, the proud enemy is humbled. The letter contained news that the English had proposed a peace conference. Coming immediately upon the prophecy, it was a dramatic moment and I was impressed, even though I suspected that van Rensburg had stage-managed the scene. Of the general's sincerity there could be no doubt as he firmly believed in the seer's predictions. BACK TO TOP