22 February 1707
News arrives that the Lords Seventeen have ruled against Van der Stel
On 22 February 1707, news reached the Cape that the VOC's Lords Seventeen had ruled against Governor Willem Adriaan van der Stel and associated officials.
View in timelineOn 22 February 1707, news reached Cape Town that the Lords Seventeen in the Netherlands had ruled against Governor Willem Adriaan van der Stel and officials associated with his administration. The decision followed the petitions, arrests and counter-petitions of 1705–1706 and upheld restrictions on Company officials holding farms and participating in private trade. The announcement preceded the governor's recall later that year.
Significance
The announcement made the directors' intervention public at the Cape and confirmed that the Company's rules on official privilege would shape the colony's political settlement.
Why it matters
The announcement showed that petitions from Cape residents could reach the Company's directors and that the directors would enforce limits on officials' private farming and trade.
Perspective notes
Colonial administrative records, petitions and counter-petitions preserve the dispute. The directors' decision upheld central Company rules while also granting core demands made by the free-burgher petitioners.