Kousop
Encyclopedia
Kousop birth date unknown, killed in a battle at Slypklip, Vaal River
, near Kimberley
, Northern Cape
, South Africa
, on 6 July 1858, was the leader of a group of San
or Khoe-San who inhabited the area between the Modder, Riet and Vaal Rivers, western Orange Free State, in the mid nineteenth century.
, in the year 1839, by which a vast tract of land passed into white ownership. In an attempt to dissipate friction, colonial officials granted Kousop a farm along the Vaal River
. However, tensions only mounted after further complaints to the Orange Free State Republic were dismissed, and as white farmers and new townspeople settled more permanently.
of 400 men – composed of 240 burghers, a number of Mfengu
, and Khoe-San who were loyal to the burghers – was called up and equipped with a canon. On 6 July 1858 they surrounded Kousop and his followers upstream from what is now Riverton, in the vicinity of “Khossopskraal”, on the Vaal River
, and forced them to surrender after a battle of three hours. Kousop himself with about 130 of his people, consisting of San
, Khoekhoe, Korana
and Griqua, were killed in the battle and 43 men and 50 women were captured.
The subsequent ambush and massacre of male prisoners, as they were being taken from Boshof
to stand trial in Bloemfontein
, was never fully investigated and came to represent a major miscarriage of justice. It is known to have caused much personal indignation and anguish on the part of President Boshof, at the head of a young Republic finding itself not quite able or, locally, willing to enforce its authority. However, upon the President’s instructions, the women and children from Kousop’s group, who had been captured and divided among the local farmers as indentured labour, were freed.
writer Dolf van Niekerk.
The Tswana Kgosi Mahura observed in a letter to Boshof at the time that he had “realised that a little spark would ignite the entire country” and that Kousop might “bring fire to our land.” The historian Karel Schoeman
writes that the documentation surrounding Kousop’s “sustained protest against his dispossession” is a valuable record of the “vain attempts by an indigenous leader” to assert his authority in the face of farmers taking over his land. Frustration over his powerlessness “eventually drove him to large-scale violence.” Schoeman adds that the support he received from various indigenous groups demonstrates how “he embodied sentiments that were real and widely felt.”
The conclusive way in which Kousop’s resistance, and that of Gasibonwe of the Trans-Vaal, were suppressed and, more specifically, the murder of the prisoners of Kousop’s group, “made a profound impression upon the indigenous people, and did much to discourage future resistance and to consolidate the position of the whites in the two republics.”
, Kousop is judged a champion for indigenous rights. As a leader Kousop was able, remarkably, to mobilize multi-ethnic opposition to colonial encroachment. But the odds were ultimately stacked against him and his people, and their resistance was suppressed with considerable violence.
On Sunday 6 July 2008, the 150th anniversary of the battle in which Kousop and about 130 of his followers were killed, the South African San Institute, as part of its ‘Footprints of the San’ project, and in association with the !Xun and Khwe communities, the Friends of Wildebeest Kuil and the Northern Cape Rock Art Trust, hosted the unveiling (by the Revd Mario Mahongo) of an inscribed stone on the edge of the hill at Wildebeest Kuil. One historical reference speaks of Kousop as living, at some period in his life, at the hill which is now the Wildebeest Kuil Rock Art Centre
outside Kimberley. To commemorate the life of this hero of anti-colonial resistance, the programme additionally included the ceremonial lighting of a fire, creation of a memorial cairn, and traditional dancing. Speakers included the Revd Mario Mahongo and Barend van Wyk.
The memory of Kousop had been reflected in the story line at Wildebeest Kuil since the site opened in 2001. The commemoration of 6 July 2008 placed this story more centre-stage, to initiate a process to grant greater recognition to a significant figure in the resistance to colonial conquest in central South Africa in the mid nineteenth century.
Vaal River
The Vaal River is the largest tributary of the Orange River in South Africa. The river has its source in the Drakensberg mountains in Mpumalanga, east of Johannesburg and about 30 km north of Ermelo and only about 240 km from the Indian Ocean. It then flows westwards to its conjunction...
, near Kimberley
Kimberley, Northern Cape
Kimberley is a city in South Africa, and the capital of the Northern Cape. It is located near the confluence of the Vaal and Orange Rivers. The town has considerable historical significance due its diamond mining past and siege during the Second Boer War...
, Northern Cape
Northern Cape
The Northern Cape is the largest and most sparsely populated province of South Africa. It was created in 1994 when the Cape Province was split up. Its capital is Kimberley. It includes the Kalahari Gemsbok National Park, part of an international park shared with Botswana...
, South Africa
South Africa
The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...
, on 6 July 1858, was the leader of a group of San
Bushmen
The indigenous people of Southern Africa, whose territory spans most areas of South Africa, Zimbabwe, Lesotho, Mozambique, Swaziland, Botswana, Namibia, and Angola, are variously referred to as Bushmen, San, Sho, Barwa, Kung, or Khwe...
or Khoe-San who inhabited the area between the Modder, Riet and Vaal Rivers, western Orange Free State, in the mid nineteenth century.
Kousop's resistance to colonial encroachment
From the mid 1840s Kousop enters the archival record contesting what he believed was a fraudulent transaction, which took place at the future BoshofBoshof
Boshof is the administrative town in the goldfields region of the Free State province, South Africa. The town was formed in 1855 on the Vanwyksvlei farm. It was named after Jacobus Boshoff who became the 2nd President of the Orange Free State on the 27 August 1855.The local commando was involved in...
, in the year 1839, by which a vast tract of land passed into white ownership. In an attempt to dissipate friction, colonial officials granted Kousop a farm along the Vaal River
Vaal River
The Vaal River is the largest tributary of the Orange River in South Africa. The river has its source in the Drakensberg mountains in Mpumalanga, east of Johannesburg and about 30 km north of Ermelo and only about 240 km from the Indian Ocean. It then flows westwards to its conjunction...
. However, tensions only mounted after further complaints to the Orange Free State Republic were dismissed, and as white farmers and new townspeople settled more permanently.
The 1858 rising
During May and June 1858, while the Orange Free State was engaged in war with the Basotho, Kousop launched a number of attacks on farms, including Benaauwdheidsfontein (Benfontein), now on the outskirts of Kimberley. Goliath Yzerbek and Gasibonwe, a Tlhaping Kgosi at Taung, were among Kousop’s allies. In retaliation, a commandoCommando
In English, the term commando means a specific kind of individual soldier or military unit. In contemporary usage, commando usually means elite light infantry and/or special operations forces units, specializing in amphibious landings, parachuting, rappelling and similar techniques, to conduct and...
of 400 men – composed of 240 burghers, a number of Mfengu
Mfengu
The Fengu are a Bantu people; originally closely related to the Zulu people. They were previously known in English as the "Fingo" people, and they gave their name to the district of Fingoland , the South West portion of the Transkei division, in the Cape Province...
, and Khoe-San who were loyal to the burghers – was called up and equipped with a canon. On 6 July 1858 they surrounded Kousop and his followers upstream from what is now Riverton, in the vicinity of “Khossopskraal”, on the Vaal River
Vaal River
The Vaal River is the largest tributary of the Orange River in South Africa. The river has its source in the Drakensberg mountains in Mpumalanga, east of Johannesburg and about 30 km north of Ermelo and only about 240 km from the Indian Ocean. It then flows westwards to its conjunction...
, and forced them to surrender after a battle of three hours. Kousop himself with about 130 of his people, consisting of San
Bushmen
The indigenous people of Southern Africa, whose territory spans most areas of South Africa, Zimbabwe, Lesotho, Mozambique, Swaziland, Botswana, Namibia, and Angola, are variously referred to as Bushmen, San, Sho, Barwa, Kung, or Khwe...
, Khoekhoe, Korana
Korana
The Korana is a river in central Croatia and west Bosnia and Herzegovina. The river has a total length of and watershed area of .It rises in the eastern parts of Lika, creates the world-famous Plitvice Lakes, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Downstream from Plitvice Lakes the Korana river forms a 25...
and Griqua, were killed in the battle and 43 men and 50 women were captured.
The subsequent ambush and massacre of male prisoners, as they were being taken from Boshof
Boshof
Boshof is the administrative town in the goldfields region of the Free State province, South Africa. The town was formed in 1855 on the Vanwyksvlei farm. It was named after Jacobus Boshoff who became the 2nd President of the Orange Free State on the 27 August 1855.The local commando was involved in...
to stand trial in Bloemfontein
Bloemfontein
Bloemfontein is the capital city of the Free State Province of South Africa; and, as the judicial capital of the nation, one of South Africa's three national capitals – the other two being Cape Town, the legislative capital, and Pretoria, the administrative capital.Bloemfontein is popularly and...
, was never fully investigated and came to represent a major miscarriage of justice. It is known to have caused much personal indignation and anguish on the part of President Boshof, at the head of a young Republic finding itself not quite able or, locally, willing to enforce its authority. However, upon the President’s instructions, the women and children from Kousop’s group, who had been captured and divided among the local farmers as indentured labour, were freed.
Assessments of Kousop
Much contemporary and historical writing dismissed Kousop, or Scheelkobus, as he was known on account of an injured eye, as a robber and a gangster. Some writers were more sympathetic, for example, the geologist George William Stow who was writing in the 1880s. Kousop is the hero in historical fiction by the AfrikaansAfrikaans
Afrikaans is a West Germanic language, spoken natively in South Africa and Namibia. It is a daughter language of Dutch, originating in its 17th century dialects, collectively referred to as Cape Dutch .Afrikaans is a daughter language of Dutch; see , , , , , .Afrikaans was historically called Cape...
writer Dolf van Niekerk.
The Tswana Kgosi Mahura observed in a letter to Boshof at the time that he had “realised that a little spark would ignite the entire country” and that Kousop might “bring fire to our land.” The historian Karel Schoeman
Karel Schoeman
Karel Schoeman is a South African novelist, historian, translator and man of letters. The author of 18 novels and numerous works of history, he is one of South Africa's most awarded and highly-regarded authors. Although several of Schoeman's non-fiction works are available in English, he has...
writes that the documentation surrounding Kousop’s “sustained protest against his dispossession” is a valuable record of the “vain attempts by an indigenous leader” to assert his authority in the face of farmers taking over his land. Frustration over his powerlessness “eventually drove him to large-scale violence.” Schoeman adds that the support he received from various indigenous groups demonstrates how “he embodied sentiments that were real and widely felt.”
The conclusive way in which Kousop’s resistance, and that of Gasibonwe of the Trans-Vaal, were suppressed and, more specifically, the murder of the prisoners of Kousop’s group, “made a profound impression upon the indigenous people, and did much to discourage future resistance and to consolidate the position of the whites in the two republics.”
Commemoration
A century and a half after his death near what would become KimberleyKimberley, Northern Cape
Kimberley is a city in South Africa, and the capital of the Northern Cape. It is located near the confluence of the Vaal and Orange Rivers. The town has considerable historical significance due its diamond mining past and siege during the Second Boer War...
, Kousop is judged a champion for indigenous rights. As a leader Kousop was able, remarkably, to mobilize multi-ethnic opposition to colonial encroachment. But the odds were ultimately stacked against him and his people, and their resistance was suppressed with considerable violence.
On Sunday 6 July 2008, the 150th anniversary of the battle in which Kousop and about 130 of his followers were killed, the South African San Institute, as part of its ‘Footprints of the San’ project, and in association with the !Xun and Khwe communities, the Friends of Wildebeest Kuil and the Northern Cape Rock Art Trust, hosted the unveiling (by the Revd Mario Mahongo) of an inscribed stone on the edge of the hill at Wildebeest Kuil. One historical reference speaks of Kousop as living, at some period in his life, at the hill which is now the Wildebeest Kuil Rock Art Centre
Wildebeest Kuil Rock Art Centre
Wildebeest Kuil Rock Art Centre is a rock engraving site with visitor centre on land owned by the !Xun and Khwe San situated about 16 km from Kimberley, Northern Cape, South Africa. It is a declared Provincial Heritage Site managed by the Northern Cape Rock Art Trust in association with the...
outside Kimberley. To commemorate the life of this hero of anti-colonial resistance, the programme additionally included the ceremonial lighting of a fire, creation of a memorial cairn, and traditional dancing. Speakers included the Revd Mario Mahongo and Barend van Wyk.
The memory of Kousop had been reflected in the story line at Wildebeest Kuil since the site opened in 2001. The commemoration of 6 July 2008 placed this story more centre-stage, to initiate a process to grant greater recognition to a significant figure in the resistance to colonial conquest in central South Africa in the mid nineteenth century.