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## The Arrival of Settlers and the Development of the Cape It has been said that the slaves came from many different countries and areas and did not have a common language. They all learned Dutch in order to communicate with each other and also with the slave owners. The slaves added their own word...

## The Arrival of Settlers and the Development of the Cape It has been said that the slaves came from many different countries and areas and did not have a common language. They all learned Dutch in order to communicate with each other and also with the slave owners. The slaves added their own words from their languages. Over time, this language became Afrikaans. Many words in Afrikaans were influenced by the languages the slaves spoke, for example: blatjang - chutney, sjambok - whip, etc. ### Free Burghers - The Dutch were not planning to start a large colony at the Cape. However, the settlement started to grow when some of the men who worked for the Company (VOC) became private farmers. - The first Dutch farmers were called free burghers because they no longer worked for the VOC. They lived along the Liesbeek River below Table Mountain and had good soil and water for their farming. As time passed, the VOC sent more people from Europe to settle in the Cape. These people were mostly Dutch or German. As the settlement grew, new towns such as Stellenbosch were built. The farmers began to take over more land. ### French Huguenots - These people were refugees from France. - At that time in France, there was a division in the Christian Church in France between the Catholics and Protestants. - The king was Catholic and many Protestant Huguenots fled from France to the Netherlands because of persecution. - The VOC decided to send those who were experienced farmers to the Cape. - They were given farms near Cape Town. - One such area was called Franschhoek (French corner). - They knew a lot about wine farming and helped to set up the wine industry in our country. - These people were assimilated into Dutch culture.