The Tanganiyka Treks - Trekking
away from the English to German East Africa
A few years ago, I joined a good friend in her hunt for her
East African family. We eventually dug up the family records, and family
members, and in doing so we learnt that there were other Afrikaner treks other
than the Great Trek by the famous Afrikaner Voortrekkers (pioneers) of 1835.
Having lived in Tanzania and Kenya as a child, we were aware
that there had been an Afrikaner settlement near Moshi, under Mount Kilimanjaro;
that the settlement had been insular; it had its own schools and churches.
Few
Afrikaners had remained in East Africa after the countries had gained
independence, the descendants of the original settlers having moved back to ‘Die
Suid’ ‘The South’, as South Africa had always been referred to by the
pioneers. Trying to find information on
this settlement and the people who lived there proved difficult.
On a recent trip, the two of us were in Pretoria, to meet
friends, and as we had a few hours to kill. I suggested that we visit the
Voortrekker Monument,
which I had never visited, in all the years I had lived in
South Africa. As we drove up to the colossal monument, which is in a reserve, we
had to slow down, and let some zebras get off the road. Because of the zebras,
and that our eyes got averted from the powerful symbol of the Afrikaner nation,
we caught sight of a small signboard, pointing to ‘The Tanganyika Monument’. Simultaneously,
we asked each other what that was. Because I’m involved in tourism in South
Africa, she hoped I knew. Well, I hadn’t ever heard of it, but we said we would
pop over there on our way back down the hill.
Voortrekker Monument Pretoria |
Of course, as time does, it flew;
we spent a lot longer at the awesome Voortrekker Monument than what we thought
we would, and almost scuppered our plans to ‘pop over’ in the direction of the
Tanganiyka sign. We decided, that as we would probably not be in the area for
ages, best we go. We went. The road ended in a parking lot.
Schanskop Fort |
We parked the car,
got out and the only thing of interest we could find, was the Schanskop Fort built
in 1896 by President Kruger of the Zuid Afrikaanshe Republiek to protect
Pretoria. As forts go, it is interesting, but its newness made it unremarkable
to me. Not being able find anything that answered to the Tanganiyka Monument, we
asked the security staff there, but seemed quite blank, just saying; ‘go up,
go up’. Which we did, because that was where the parking lot was. And we found
the monument – we had walked right past it, in our hurry to find it.
To describe us as awed, was an understatement.
The monument itself is small and simple, it was the information carved into the
stonework, and information boards next to it that floored us. Here was all the
history of the Afrikaners in East Africa.
The Tanganiyka Trek Monument, Pretoria |
Tanganiyka Territories flag 1919 - 1961 |
Names of the Tanagniyka Trek families |
The Great Trek of 1835, came about because the Dutch Speaking colonists in the Cape were unhappy being under British rule, and decided to migrate to the interior of what is now South Africa. Small republics were formed in different areas, some were recognized internationally, other existed only for a few years or less.
British Concentration Camp for Boers |
As Cornelia Joubert was quoted in the Pieterse Diary:
“Wij heben we vrede maar welk een bittere vrede
is het niet. Het land Engelsch en de Engelsche vlag moet van nu af over onze
hoofden waaien, onze dierbaar Vierkleur afgehaald en de Engelsche vlag gehesen.
Gedenk!”
(‘We do in fact have peace, but what a bitter peace it is.
The country is English, and the English flag must henceforth fly over us, our
beloved ‘Four Colour’ removed and the British flag hoisted. Think of it!”)
The Vierkleur |
Their solution was to trek (migrate). Three migrations took
place, one went to Argentina, a second small one settled in Mexico, and one
went north to what was then German East Africa. Three different treks to East
Africa took place, namely two in 1904, the last in 1906. The first Saamtrekkers
(Pioneer group) left from Delagoa Bay under the leadership of Pieter Frederick
van Landsberg, and arrived at their destination, in the Mount Meru area, on 4
December 1904.
Raising the British Flag (Alamy stock) |
Tanganiyka, which was part of
German East Africa (now Rwanda, Burundi and mainland Tanzania), was under German rule from 1884 until after the First World War, when it became a British Territory. At independence in 1964, with Zanzibar, it became the Republic of Tanzania.
Settling
primarily around Mt Meru, the Afrikaners did as all settlers the world over
did, and displaced the local peoples, and inhibited their rights to pasture and
water. They also resisted German policies, and in general contested German
settler policy, convincing the Germans that the British opinion of Afrikaners
as being a violent and backward population was correct (ref: du Toit – The Boers of German
East Africa).
The English were up against forces that weren't going to back down, and slating the amazingly strong and
resilient people, was only to be expected.
The flag of German East Africa |
Afrikaner
ethnicity was preserved by establishing Dutch Reformed Congregations in the
settlements and sending ‘Dominees’ (Ministers) to them, to teach
Christian National Education, which greatly helped the Afrikaner families, when
they returned to South Africa many decades later. The Afrikaans language was
taught in schools, very few settlers spoke English.
The
German administration was very strict, which later resulted in many families
moving across to Kenya, which was administered by the more lenient British
authorities. Security requirements to settle in German East Africa were strict
and harsh, and as the Afrikaners were completely impoverished by the guerilla
warfare, the concentration camps and the scorched earth policy implemented by
Britain in South Africa, the Afrikaners used very imaginative ploys to be
accepted for settlement under the German authorities.
No
sooner had they settled, when the WWl broke out in 1917. After armistice, many
German East African settlers were relocated, and internment to camps took place.
Some were even deported to Germany. Then the Great Depression hit them, and it
was only towards the mid 1930s that any economic stability amongst the
Afrikaner settlers took root.
Those
who trekked to Kenya, eventually trekked past ‘Farm One”, and crossed the
Sosiani River on the Uasin Gishu Plain.
Then they trekked past John de Waal’s
farm, and they could then see their destination, Sergoit Rock (now Sergoit
Hill) in the distance. The trip was made often by some, to collect farming
implements and such.
The
settlement of what became Eldoret was first called Sixty-Four (pronounced Si-si-for), because Willie
van Aardt built a post office on Farm 64 in 1909 or 1910, and other structures
which served traders were built around it in the following years.
The first
Standard Bank was opened there by another South African, JC Shaw, next to the
famous farmer’s meeting place, Eddie’s Bar. An Afrikaans school, the Van
Riebeck School was also established there, and it served the Afrikaans
community until 1962. It still exists and is now called Ndururumo High School.
Jan van Riebeeck School in 1957 |
After
Tanzania and Kenya gained independence in the 1960s, many Afrikaners feared for
their future and their lives, especially because of the earlier Mau Mau
uprising,
and a return trek to South Africa began. With many Afrikaners having
left, financial support of many missions stopped, and these missions collapsed.
Later, the denominational restrictions were removed, and the missions started
flourishing again under the name Reformed Church in Africa.
The Tanganiyka Flag 1961 - 1964 |
A decade
later, barely a dozen families of the 3500 odd Afrikaners remained in East
Africa. Amongst these were the Steyns, the du Toits, the Retief family, the van
Dyk brothers, Piet and Dawid, and the widower, Meneer Odendaal, who married a
Polish woman (their only common language was Swahili). Mr Ernst Kruger, whose children
were sent to die Suid to school also stayed. In Nairobi, the
Venters and Viljoens stayed, and under Mount Elgon, the Steenkamps opted to
stay. Many of these families took out Kenyan citizenship.
In 1996,
the van Tonders, Mullers, and Pretoriuses were still resident in Arusha,
Tanzania.
These
were the original families:
.1. The von Landsberg trek (1904) to German East Africa (GEA)
Bekker, Jurie J.
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Bekker, Piet J.
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