1652
Jan van Riebeeck, the Dutch Governor, arrived in South Africa in 1652 and planted the first vines of French provenance in the Cape Town area in 1655. Simon van der Stel, a well-traveled guy with experience growing wine in Europe, took over as his successor.
Jan van Riebeeck has enormous cultural and historical significance in South Africa, particularly during the Apartheid era. Many Afrikaners see him as their country’s founding father. As a result, his likeness appeared on stamps and bank notes produced until 1994. After South Africa became a republic in 1961, the image on currency notes was supposed to be that of van Riebeeck, but it was actually that of Bartholomeus Vermuyden.
6 April was once known as van Riebeeck’s Day, and afterwards as Founders’ Day, but the African National Congress administration canceled the holiday following the 1994 elections. His image is no longer on any official currency or stamps, although monuments of him and his wife may still be found on Adderley Street in Cape Town. Cape Town’s coat of arms is based on the van Riebeeck family coat of arms.
Many streets in South African towns and communities bear his name. Riebeek-Kasteel, together with its sister town Riebeek West, is one of South Africa’s oldest settlements, located 75 kilometers from Cape Town in the Riebeek Valley.
Jan van Riebeeck Horskool is an Afrikaans high school in Cape Town.
Jan van Riebeeck arrived in South Africa via what means?
On 6 April 1652, he landed two ships (the Drommedaris and Goede Hoope) at Table Bay, at the future Cape Town site, and a third ship, the Reijger, on 7 April 1652.
Jan van Riebeeck left the Cape when?
1662
When van Riebeeck left the Cape in 1662, there were more than 100 colonists there. He was appointed secretary to the Council of India in 1665.
Jan van Riebeeck discovered what?
Van Riebeeck reported the first comet discovered from South Africa, C/1652 Y1, on December 17, 1652. The VOC awarded the first permission in February 1657 to liberate 9 company servants (Free Burghers) to farm along the Liesbeek River.
What did Van Riebeeck do to help slaves?
When Jan van Riebeeck arrived to the Cape, the Dutch forbade him from enslaving any of the locals. Stowaways were the only slaves at the Cape for the first five years. More employees were needed to grow gardens, build houses, and run the refreshment station as more Dutch settlers arrived at the Cape.
What motivated Jan van Riebeeck to seek slaves at the Cape?
Van Riebeeck believed that slaves were essential to the survival of the colony since the Freeburghers were unable to obtain enough labor from Europeans, either knechts or company servants, to farm to the level and extent required for their labor to become lucrative.
