Renewed signature
Did you know that when Jan van Riebeeck and his entourage arrived at the Cape of Good Hope in 1652, they were starving, weakened by disease, and possessed nothing? The Africans they encountered — who had been living in the area for generations — did not harm them. On the contrary, they welcomed them, fed them, and nursed them back to health.
But history took a dark turn.
As evidenced by permits like the one shown here, these newcomers did not simply coexist with the local people. Instead of respecting the kindness shown to them, they began hunting the indigenous inhabitants like animals. And unlike the animals, which were hunted for food, Africans were killed for sport and systematically driven off their land, their communities pushed to the brink of extinction.
This distinction is critical. It wasn’t about survival — it was about conquest, dispossession, and erasure. What began as a moment of compassion from the African people ended in brutal colonization and centuries of suffering.