Basotho in Breede Valley X historical gap
A report about the settlement of the Basotho people in the Breede Valley released by a Stellenbosch historian puts the spotlight on the long history of this indigenous group in the area.
For more than 300 years many immigrant groups have arrived in South Africa to stay. First the Portuguese, then the Dutch (the first to stay), Indonesians (as slaves) and other slave-producing nationalities, and French Huguenots. Next came the British colonists, and British settlers of the Eastern Cape (1820). In 1857, German settlers first stepped ashore at the Cape.
They were followed by Indians to the subcontinent in 1860 and afterwards. After 1904, Chinese workers arrived here to work in the mines, and from 1915 onwards large numbers of Jews from the Baltic countries migrated to South Africa.
All these groups’ arrival in South Africa has been well documented. Not so Basotho migrants to South Africa, however, and especially those who came to settle in the Breede Valley.
In the 1930s and 40s large numbers of Basothos came and settled in the Breede River towns of Worcester, Rawsonville and De Doorns. The first wave of migrants worked for Eskom, while the second wave was recruited in 1948 to work at Hex River Textile (Hex Tex) Milling Company.
The Worcester Standard and Advertiser of early February 1948 reported the arrival of some British technicians, recruited by the Hextex Milling Company, yet it never mentioned the arrival of the Basothos.
Last year Brink, a historian and holder of two doctorates, was approached by the Basotho Bakae Cultural Council of Zwelethemba to research the history of Breede Valley’s Basotho community.
He readily admits that this important aspect of local history is not sufficiently researched and documented.
Not many primary sources have been found, and Brink has used secondary sources extensively. He has been careful not to use too many oral sources.
Dedicated to addressing this historical gap, Brink reflects he would like to have had more time for extensive research, armed with enough funds, especially to travel to Lesotho to establish why the Basotho migrants left. He readily declares his report is not academic, and is aimed at the ordinary reader.
Source: Worcester Standard News