Piet Retief

This article is about the person. For the town, see Piet Retief (town).

Pieter Retief (usually referred to as Piet Retief), was born about 1780 in the Cape Colony, South Africa, and died 6 February 1838 in what is now Kwa-Zulu Natal. His family were Boere of French Huguenot origin. He grew up on a wine farm near Stellenbosch. After moving to the vicinity of Grahamstown he acquired a typically Boer wealth in livestock, but suffered repeated losses from Xhosa raids in the period leading up to the 6th Cape Frontier War. Losses like these impelled many frontier farmers to become Voortrekkers, literally those who move ahead to new lands north. Retief authored their 'manifesto', dated 22 January 1837, setting out their grievances with the British government which they felt offered them no protection, no redress, and freed their slaves with recompense to the owners hardly amounting to a quarter of their value. This was published in the Grahamstown Journal on 2 February and De Zuid-Afrikaan on 17 February just as the emigrant Boere started to leave their colony homesteads.

Retief's household departed in two wagons from their farm in the Winterberg District early February 1837. Along with a party of about 30 wagons they crossed the Orange River into independent territory. When several parties of the Great Trek converged at the Vet River, Retief was elected "governor of the United Laagers" and head of "The Free Province of New Holland in South East Africa." This coalition was very short-lived, leaving Retief as lone leader of the group moving east. On the 5 October 1837 Retief established a camp near the Drakensberg ridge and proceeded on horseback the next day to explore the region between the Drakensberg and Port Natal, now known as Kwa-Zulu Natal.

Upon receiving a positive impression of the region he started negotiations with the Zulu chief, Dingane in November 1837. Retief led his own band over the Drakensberg Mountains and convinced Voortrekker leaders Maritz and Potgieter to join him in January 1838. Upon a second visit Dingane agreed to Boer settlement in Natal, provided that the Boer delegation recovered cattle stolen from him by a rival tribe. This the Boere did, their reputation and rifles cowing the tribe into peacefully handing over the cattle.

Despite warnings, Retief left the Tugela region on 28 January 1838 in the belief that he could negotiate permanent boundaries of the Natal settlement with Dingane. The deed of cession of the Tugela-Umzimvubu region, although dated 4 February 1838, was signed by Dingane on 6 February 1838. This Dingane did by imitating writing and the two sides recording three witnesses each. Dingane then invited Retief's party to witness a performance by his soldiers. Upon a signal given by Dingane, the Zulus overwhelmed Retief's party of 70 and their coloured servants, taking all captive.

Retief, his son, men and servants, about a hundred in total, were taken to Kwa Matiwane Hill and murdered. Their bodies were left on the hillside to be devoured by wild animals, as was Dingane's custom with his enemies. Dingane now gave orders for the Voortrekker laagers to be attacked, which managed to plunge the emigrant movement into serious disarray. The Retief party's remains were recovered and buried on 21 December 1838 by members of the ‘victory’ commando led by Andries Pretorius upon the decisive victory at Blood River.

The commando also recovered the undamaged deed of cession from Retief's leather purse, as later verified by a member of the 'victory' commando, E.F. Potgieter. An exact copy survives, but the original deed disappeared in transit to the Netherlands during the Anglo-Boer War. The site of the Retief grave was more or less forgotten until pointed out in 1896 by J.H. Hattingh, a surviving member of Pretorius's ‘victory’ commando. A monument recording the names of Retief's delegation was erected near the grave in 1922.

Towns and cities named after him

The town of Piet Retief was later named after him. The city of Pietermaritzburg was also partly named after him. (The "maritz" part being named after Gert Maritz, another voortrekker leader.

The Retief Name

The progenitor of the Retief name in the region was a French Huguenot refugee named François Retif from Mer near Blois France who arrived in the Cape in 1689.^[1] The Retief name was one of the French names whose spelling was slightly changed or localized by the Dutch-speaking majority.

Notes

1. ^ Ces Francais Qui Ont Fait L'Afrique Du Sud. Translation: The French People Who Made South Africa. Bernard Lugan. January 1996. ISBN: 2841000869'

References

• The concise illustrated South African encyclopedia. Central News Agency, Johannesburg. First edition, about 212pp. 1980. Schirmer, P.

• Dingaanstat. Stander, Eerw. P.P.

• Voortrekkerlewe. 1988. Carstens, R. Grobbelaar, P.W.

See also

• Voortrekkers
• Dingane
• Andries Pretorius

External links

• An article on Piet Retief