The Roots of a Mixed Population: Intermingling at the Cape
The origins of South Africa's mixed population are deeply intertwined with the history of the Cape Colony. The arrival of Dutch settlers in the 17th century – comprising VOC officials, former VOC officials known as Free Burghers, and soldiers and sailors from across Europe – led to significant interracial contact and mixing with the indigenous Khoisan people, who were diverse groups of Black African hunter-gatherers and cattle breeders.
A notable figure in this early intermingling was Krotoa (also known as Eva van Meerhof) of the Watermans tribe. She became the stammoeder (ancestress) of many South Africans, including prominent figures like former President FW de Klerk and Boer generals Paul Kruger (also a pious slave trader) and Jan Smuts.
The historical record reveals a significant gender imbalance among early European settlers. In 1658, there were approximately 10 white women for every 340 white men. Additionally, between 10 to 20 personal female slaves accompanied the Dutch to the Cape and on journeys to the Netherlands from the East. Two of these enslaved women from Bengal – Angela of Bengal, Catharine of Bengal, and later Anna de Koning (Angela's daughter) – were notably manumitted and married Dutch settlers, becoming matriarchs of many South Africans across all racial classifications.
From 1658 onwards, the importation of enslaved people from diverse regions, including Angola, Ghana, Guinea, Kenya, Mozambique, Madagascar, Mauritius, Batavia, Bengal, Japan, and China, further contributed to this dynamic. The sexual exploitation of enslaved women by European men blurred racial lines, leading to a mixed-race population being born in the Cape Colony. This prompted the VOC to send Dutch female "orphans" to the Cape in 1687 to counteract the "creolization" of the population. These women were Engeltje Cornelisse van de Bout, Petronella Cornelisz, Willemyntje Ariens de Wit, Anna Elkop, Ariaantje Jacobs (who reportedly was the typhoid Mary of a genetic disease), Ariaante Jansse, and Catherina Jansz van der Zee. However, these 8 volunteers who arrived were insufficient to significantly alter the gender imbalance or prevent ongoing interracial mixing.
Even with the arrival of French Huguenots (c. 1671-1692) and British settlers (c. 1820), which increased the European population, the intermingling of races continued. Despite attempts to maintain racial purity, marriages, cohabitation, and non-consensual sexual relationships persisted between people of different ethnicities. In many cases, these relationships were initiated by European men, but relationships between European women and men of other ethnicities also occurred. The tragic case of Maria Mouton, a French woman, and Titus of Bengal, an enslaved man, starkly highlights the complex dynamics of race, power, and criminality, in colonial South Africa.
Inboekstelsel
As soon as the Groot Trek ended in 1840 and afterwards when the Boer republics of the South African Republic (Transvaal) and the Orange Free State gained independence in the mid-19th century, they continued the practice of slavery. Although the British had formally abolished slavery in the Cape Colony in 1834, the Boer republics continued to engage in the slave trade (often with the complicity of African slave trading chiefs), primarily through raids and wars against local African communities.
During these raids, adult men and women were often killed, while women and children were abducted and forced into servitude. This system, known as inboekstelsel, or "the apprenticeship system," primarily focused on the enslavement of children, who were often orphaned by the violence of the raids. These children were then "registered" and forced to work as laborers, with the practice also including the sexual exploitation of enslaved females. This system of forced labor and exploitation continued in the independent Boer territories until the end of the Second Boer War in 1902.
Apartheid's Grip and the Persistence of Connection
In the 20th century, the Union of South Africa enacted laws to enforce strict racial segregation. The Immorality Act of 1927 criminalized extramarital sexual relationships between Europeans and Black people, while the Prohibition of Mixed Marriages Act of 1949 extended these restrictions to "Coloured" people and Asians. These laws were designed to preserve racial purity and uphold white supremacy.
However, despite these oppressive measures, interracial relationships persisted, demonstrating the resilience of human connection and the limitations of legal enforcement. Ultimately, these discriminatory laws were repealed between 1985 and 2007, marking a significant step towards dismantling the legal framework of apartheid.
