Slachter's Nek Rebellion

Slachter's Nek Rebellion
Date 1815 Location Cape Colony Result Revolt suppressed
Belligerents
Boer Rebels	United Kingdom
Commanders and leaders
Johannes Bezuidenhout †	Jacob Cuyler
Strength
~200	~300
Casualties and losses
5 executed	none

The Slachter's Nek Rebellion was an uprising by Boers in 1815 on the eastern border of the Cape Colony.

Background

In 1815 a farmer from the eastern border of the Cape Colony, Frederik Bezuidenhout, was summoned to appear before a magistrate's court after repeated allegations of mistreating one of his Khoi labourers. Bezuidenhout resisted arrest and fled to a cave near his home, where he defended himself against the Coloured soldiers sent to capture him. When he refused to surrender, he was shot dead by one of the soldiers.

One of Bezuidenhout's brothers, Hans, swore revenge. Historians believe that the fact that Bezuidenhout was killed by a Coloured was the reason behind the fury of Hans and that of many others.

Uprising

Hendrik Prinsloo, along with a neighbor Hans Bezuidenhout organised an uprising against the British colonial authority, which was believed, by the Boers (Afrikaner farmers) to be hostile towards themselves and to favour Blacks and Coloureds above the Afrikaner farmers. On 18 November a commando of rebels met an armed force sent by Colonel Jacob Cuyler, the military commander and Landdrost (magistrate) on the eastern borders, at Slachter's Nek.

Negotiations failed, and the majority of the rebels left without any shots being fired. Twenty rebels surrendered, followed by several more over the following few days. However, some of the leaders, among whom was Hans Bezuidenhout, refused to turn themselves over to the authorities. On 29 November they were attacked by colonial troops. Everybody but Bezuidenhout and his family surrendered, and like his brother, Hans died while resisting arrest.

Aftermath

The rebels were tried at Uitenhage.

Names of accused

• Hendrik Frederik Prinslo,
• Nicolaas Balthazar Prinslo, Mart^s-son,
• Wiilem Jacobus Prinslo, W^m-son,
• Nicolaas Prinslo, W^m-son,
• Wiilem Prinslo, N^s-son,
• Johannes Prinslo, M.son,
• Willem Krugel,
• Hendrik van der Nes,
• Cornelis van der Nes,
• Stoffel Rudolph Botha,
• Wiilem Adriaan Nel,
• Thomas Andries Dreyer,
• Johannes Bronkhorst,
• Hendrik Petrus Klopper,
• Jacobus Klopper, and
• Petrus Laurens Erasmus
• Joachim Johaunes Prinslo and
• Johannes Frederik Botha.
• Hendrik Frederik Prinsloo
• Nicolaas Balthazar Prinsloo. (He tookpart in the Great Trek and was murdered with the van Rensburg trek party at Djindispruit, Limpopo River, Mozambique at the end of July 1836.)

Some were acquitted, but six of the rebels were sentenced to death, one of these was pardoned by the Governor. On 9 March 1816 the remaining five were hanged in public at Van Aardtspos. Four of the nooses broke during the procedure and the still living convicts, together with many spectators, pleaded for their lives, but the executioner ordered that they be hanged a second time.

The rebellion and the consequent executions of the rebels has acquired special significance among contemporary South African historians as the beginning of Afrikaner struggle against British colonial rule.

References

Sources

• de Villiers, Christoffel Coetzee; Pama, C. (1966). Geslagsregisters van die ou Kaapse families [Genealogies of old South African families] (in Afrikaans). Vol. Vol II M-Z. Balkema. {{cite book}}: |volume= has extra text (help); Invalid |ref=harv (help)
• Leibbrandt, H. C. V., ed. (1902). The rebellion of 1815, generally known as Slachters Nek. Cape Town: J. C. Juta & Co. OL 6936361M. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
• Macmillan, William Miller (1970). The Road to Self-rule: A Study in Colonial Evolution. Ayer Publishing. p. 296. ISBN 0-8369-5608-7. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
• Patterson, Sheila (2004). The Last Trek: A Study of the Boer People and the Afrikaner Nation. Psychology Press. ISBN 978-0-415-32999-6. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
• Potgieter, Dirk Jacobus, ed. (1971). Standard Encyclopedia of Southern Africa. Human Sciences Research Council. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
• Visagie, Jan C. (2000). Voortrekkerstamouers, 1835-1845 [Voortrekker progenitors, 1835-1845] (in Afrikaans). Pretoria: Universiteit von Suid-Africa. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)

Further reading

• Cory, Sir George (1910). The Rise of South Africa: A History of the Origin of South African Colonisation and of Its Development Towards the East from the Earliest Times to 1857. Vol. Volume 1. Longmans, Green. {{cite book}}: |volume= has extra text (help); Invalid |ref=harv (help)
• Uys, C.J. (28 November 1964). "Slagtersnek: verdraaide beelde van 'n grusame gebeurtenis" [Slagtersnek: twisted images of a gruesome event]. Die Landstem (in Afrikaans).
• Heese, J.A. (1965). "Die Bezuidenhouts van Slagtersnek" [The Bezuidenhouts of Slagtersnek]. Familia (in Afrikaans) (4).