Page 146 - LD215 History of the Church in Africa A4 final

A History of the Church in Africa

The Beginnings of Protestant Missions

The Dutch Arrive in South Africa

By the sixteenth century, the Dutch had formed a commercial
company called the Dutch East India Company. Paas discusses the rise
of the Netherlands:

Born out of the Reformation and out of a successful war of
independence against Spain, the Republic of the Seven United
Netherlands developed as a mighty naval force, mainly directed
at trade. This force was not under the direct responsibility of the
Republic’s government but under the rule of a number of private
trading companies. (61)

In the late sixteenth century, the Dutch established trade centers
along the West African coast where they competed with the Portuguese,
as noted earlier. Like the Catholics, the Dutch took their religion to the
trading posts, and in doing this they exposed the people of West Africa
to Protestant Calvinism. The Dutch were also present in the Congo and
Angola during the seventeenth century, and their business took them as
far as the east coast of Africa.

Since the southern tip of Africa was strategic to the commercial ventures
of the Dutch, in 1652, Jan van Riebeeck led the Dutch in establishing a
“refreshment station” at Cape Town. Van Riebeeck was employed by the
Dutch East India Company, which had become one of the world’s largest,
with extensive holdings in many countries. Shaw adds: “Landing at the
Cape in 1652 with over one hundred employees, Van Riebeeck built a
hedge around the company’s property and then a fort within the hedge”
(1996, 119).

While southern Africa had been settled by the Khoisan (Khoikhoi
and San) and other Bantu groups, this was the first white settlement
in the area. Initially the local population thought the settlement of the
whites would be temporary. At first, the Dutch bought meat from the
local population and seized land on which to grow crops. Then as the
Dutch community began to grow, more farmers, referred to as Boers in
the Dutch language, were needed. Since common laborers were also
needed on farms, slaves were imported from Madagascar, East Africa,

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