Autshumato dies

Autshumato, also recorded as Autshumao or Herry, was a Goringhaicona leader who worked as an interpreter and trading intermediary before and after the VOC settlement was founded. He built relationships with passing ships, negotiated livestock access and was imprisoned on Robben Island in 1658; after escaping in 1659, he returned to the Cape and resumed his intermediary work. He died in 1663.

Significance

His death closed the career of one of the Cape’s principal pre- and early-colonial intermediaries, whose trading relationships and negotiations connected local communities with passing ships and the VOC station.