Van Riebeeck’s legacy co-opted?

The first company to do business in SA set up shop exactly 365 years ago on Thursday. On April 6 1652 Jan van Riebeeck, an official of the Dutch East India Company, landed at the Cape with three ships. His job was to establish a fortified trading station, which became a Dutch colony, to supply ships plying the spice route. As far as can be established, no Zille was among the first settlers, it being a predominantly German name, but there were a few of the first Van der Somethings to set foot on SA soil.

The legacy of these early settlers is hotly contested, but they undeniably planted some useful crops, not least among them grapes for the production of wine. Not that this should be considered a positive development in any way.

Early business concepts such as wage labour were introduced, leading to the first use of the payroll and, inevitably, the first strike.

Interracial relationships, though officially frowned upon, started in workplaces, often during work hours.

The Dutch language slowly developed its own local dialect through mixing with local languages — some now common South African expressions trace their roots to those days.

The Dutch East India Company has long ceased to do business, but some companies in modern, postcolonial SA with roots in what used to be the East Indies still cut deals in the buccaneering way that old Jan once captured the Cape.