Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Dedication
- Contents
- List of abbreviations
- List of sources
- Terminology
- Preface
- Introduction
- PART ONE The incorporation of the Khoesan into the colonial body politic
- Chapter 1 From the earlier history
- Chapter 2 In the aftermath of Ordinance
- Chapter 3 The beginnings of the Kat River Settlement
- Chapter 4 The politics of vagrancy
- Chapter 5 Stoffels in London
- Chapter 6 The Interbellum
- Chapter 7 The War of the Axe
- Chapter 8 The business of life
- Chapter 9 The Kat River Settlement under strain
- Chapter 10 Madolo and his people
- Chapter 11 Freeman and the church
- PART TWO Colonial crisis and the establishment of a new order, 1848–1853
- PART THREE Post-rebellion politics
- Notes
- Bibliography
- Index
Chapter 5 - Stoffels in London
from PART ONE - The incorporation of the Khoesan into the colonial body politic
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 21 April 2018
- Frontmatter
- Dedication
- Contents
- List of abbreviations
- List of sources
- Terminology
- Preface
- Introduction
- PART ONE The incorporation of the Khoesan into the colonial body politic
- Chapter 1 From the earlier history
- Chapter 2 In the aftermath of Ordinance
- Chapter 3 The beginnings of the Kat River Settlement
- Chapter 4 The politics of vagrancy
- Chapter 5 Stoffels in London
- Chapter 6 The Interbellum
- Chapter 7 The War of the Axe
- Chapter 8 The business of life
- Chapter 9 The Kat River Settlement under strain
- Chapter 10 Madolo and his people
- Chapter 11 Freeman and the church
- PART TWO Colonial crisis and the establishment of a new order, 1848–1853
- PART THREE Post-rebellion politics
- Notes
- Bibliography
- Index
Summary
In the aftermath of Hintsa's War, fought between the Cape Colony and the amaXhosa from Christmas 1834 to the end of 1835, three missionaries of the London Missionary Society (LMS), Dr John Philip and the James Reads, father and son, went to England, accompanied by two of their converts, the Xhosa chief Jan Tzatzoe and Andries Stoffels. Stoffels was by this time about 60, and had lived for many years in Bethelsdorp, before moving to the Kat River. He was renowned as the finest orator among the Eastern Cape Khoekhoe and was the mission's prize convert. During their stay in Britain, the men gave testimony before the Select Committee (of the House of Commons) on Aborigines (British Settlements), and also attended the May meeting of the LMS in Exeter Hall. Stoffels's long speech to this gathering has been described as ‘an extraordinary statement of Khoekhoe dependence on missionaries’. At the same time, it was an attempt to call in the bargain which the Khoekhoe had made with the same missionaries, that the pay-off for conversion and the remodelling of Khoe life along evangelical Christian lines would be recognition of their civil rights.
Document 21: Stoffels before the Select Committee on Aborigines
4938. Chairman: Are you a native of South Africa?—Yes.
4939. Do you belong to the Hottentots?—Yes.
4940. Were you one of the Kat River settlers?—Yes.
4941. Did you live for some years at Bethelsdorf before you went to the Kat River?—Yes, I lived at Bethelsdorf a long time.
4942. What is your age?—Between 50 and 60.
4943. Will you give the Committee a little outline of your life; where did you spend your early years?—We lived in the mountains till the missionaries, Vanderkemp and Read, came amongst us, then I came amongst human beings.
4944. How many years is it since you lived at Bethelsdorf?—I went to Bethelsdorf, when Dr. Vanderkemp left Graaff Reinet to come to Bethelsdorf; I then left Zuurveldt to come to the missionary station.
4945. You knew Dr. Vanderkemp?—Yes.
4946. Was he a good man?—Yes.
4947. Did he labour hard for the benefit of the Hottentots?—Yes; it was after Dr. Vanderkemp and Mr. Read came among us that we put off our skins and put on clothes.
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- These Oppressions Won't CeaseAn Anthology of the Political Thought of the Cape Khoesan, 1777–1879, pp. 59 - 71Publisher: Wits University PressPrint publication year: 2017