The ships were richly loaded with cargo from the East.
En route, the ships encountered a storm and got separated from each other.
They bartered livestock and fresh meat from the indigenous KhoiKhoi.
They also grew vegetables.
On 6 April 1652, five ships sailed into what would later become Cape Town.
A romanticized depiction of the arrival of Jan van Riebeeck in Table Bay, by Charles Davidson Bell.
In time, the Cape became home to a large population of Free Burghers, or free citizens.
They were former company employees who received permission to retire in Dutch territories overseas as independent farmers.
As their numbers swelled, the settlers ventured further and further inland.
The colonist gradually acquired all of the land belonging to the indigenous Khoikhoi people by raging war against them.
Aside from warfare, many tribesmen died from epidemics brought by the Europeans.
However, it wasnt until 1961, that South Africa became full independent republic.
View of Cape Town with Table Mountain in the distance.
