Cape Chronicle – Special Historical Feature
PAARL, August 1875. — Nearly seventy years have passed since the British assumed permanent control of the Cape in 1806, and with that change English has steadily become the language of government, law, and public administration. Policies encouraging the use of English have gradually diminished the standing of Dutch, while the spoken language of the Cape’s farming communities has received little official recognition.
Yet in the town of Paarl a determined circle of ministers, teachers, and scholars has begun to champion the language spoken daily by thousands throughout the Colony.
One of the earliest efforts to preserve Dutch education came in 1858 when the Rev. G.W.A. van der Lingen established the private school De Gimnasium, where instruction was conducted in Dutch rather than English. Among the school’s most distinguished masters was Arnoldus Pannevis, a Dutch linguist who arrived in Paarl in 1866.
Mr. Pannevis soon observed that the Cape vernacular had developed far beyond a mere provincial form of Dutch. He became one of the earliest scholars to describe this language as Afrikaans, recognising it as a distinct tongue worthy of study and cultivation.
A man of profound religious conviction, Mr. Pannevis believed that the Holy Scriptures should be available in the language most readily understood by the ordinary people of the Colony. He appealed to the British and Foreign Bible Society, recommending that the young minister Rev. S.J. du Toit undertake the work of translation. Before authorising such an undertaking, the Society requested Rev. du Toit to determine whether sufficient public demand for an Afrikaans Bible truly existed.
To consider this important question, Rev. du Toit gathered a number of relatives and trusted associates at the residence of Mr. Gideon Malherbe in Paarl on 14 August 1875.
The meeting reached a conclusion that would prove far more significant than the original purpose for which it had been convened.
Those assembled agreed that while the people greatly desired the Scriptures in their own language, Afrikaans had not yet gained recognition as a written language. Before a Bible could be translated successfully, the language itself would require cultivation, standardisation, and wider acceptance in literature, education, and public life.
It was therefore resolved to establish an organisation devoted to advancing the language and interests of Afrikaans speakers. Thus was founded the Genootskap van Regte Afrikaners (Society of True Afrikaners).
The founders explained that they recognised three broad groups among the Colony’s European descendants. Some still regarded themselves chiefly as Dutch in sentiment, maintaining close attachment to the Netherlands. Others had embraced the language and customs of the British Empire. The Society sought instead to unite those who considered themselves true Afrikaners, whose loyalty lay with the land in which they had been born and with the language that had developed upon African soil.
The Society’s ambitions extended well beyond language alone. Its members believed that a people’s language, literature, education, and traditions were inseparable, and that the preservation of one required the encouragement of all.
In pursuit of these aims, the Society resolved to establish both a newspaper and a school to promote Afrikaans learning.
The newspaper, Die Afrikaanse Patriot, first appeared on 15 January 1876 as a modest monthly publication. Its popularity increased rapidly, and within little more than a decade it had grown into a substantial weekly newspaper, becoming one of the principal voices of the emerging Afrikaans movement. Among its earliest editors was D.F. du Toit, affectionately known to readers as Oom Lokomotief.
From the quiet streets of Paarl, a movement has thus arisen whose influence may extend far beyond this district. Whether Afrikaans shall one day stand beside the established languages of learning and government remains to be seen, but few can deny that the events of August 1875 have marked the beginning of a new chapter in the literary and cultural history of the Cape.
Although Die Afrikaanse Patriot became the best-known early Afrikaans newspaper, it was not the first publication to print Afrikaans. That distinction belongs to De Bode, issued by the Moravian Mission at Genadendal from 1859, which had already included letters and articles written in the language.
