1651
VOC directors authorise a permanent Cape refreshment station
VOC directors authorised a fortified refreshment station and garden at Table Bay after considering the Janssen–Proot recommendation and related reports.
View in timelineIn 1651 the directors of the Dutch East India Company authorised a permanent refreshment station at Table Bay, including a fortified post and cultivated garden. The decision followed the 1649 Janssen–Proot remonstrance and related assessments of water, agriculture, shipping requirements and the security of a small company settlement. Jan van Riebeeck was appointed to lead the expedition that implemented the decision in 1652.
The authorisation was an internal VOC decision. It did not record a negotiated transfer of land from Khoikhoi communities or settle the terms of future livestock exchange, labour and territorial control. Those relations developed through subsequent encounters and company policies after the station was established.
Significance
The decision set in motion the permanent VOC occupation that began with Jan van Riebeeck’s arrival in 1652 and transformed relations over land, labour, livestock and trade.
Why it matters
The decision set in motion the permanent VOC occupation that began with Jan van Riebeeck’s arrival in 1652 and transformed relations over land, labour, livestock and trade.
Disputed interpretations
The authorisation was a company decision to establish a station, not a treaty with Khoikhoi communities or proof of uncontested sovereignty. The precise dates and wording of the directors’ resolutions should be distinguished from the 1652 landing and subsequent expansion.