History Of Slavery In South Africa
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The people from the other areas of Africa, India, Madagascar and East Asia were imported to South Africa to be domestic help or labors, but many turned out to be bricklayers and carpenters. Their skills were significant in developing Cape Colony quickly.
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The Dutch East India Company had the most number of slaves in cape colony of South Africa. The slaves stayed in the cape slave hostel. This slave hostel was then made into old Supreme Court and now is the cultural history museum in the Adderley Street in South Africa
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The owners of many slaves were free citizens. They are called as free citizens because they were permitted by the Dutch East India Company to earn their livelihood independent of the company. The slaves under the free citizens worked in the cultivation of wheat, wine and vegetables and some worked as domestic servants. Some of the owners made use of the slave in business like the goods suppliers such as furniture, clothes and shoes.
Many of the slaves were the lifetime slaves and some owners freed them after they died. The slaves were putting in extra effort to earn extra money to spend after they are free. The slaves who became free earned by selling vegetables, catching fish and by setting up small canteens.
As the slavery came to an end even though the owners were against it, the V.O.C had declared that Christians will not be sold and the owners were not willing to allow their slaves to be converted. In the year 1807, it was made illegal to trade slaves in the British Empire by the British parliament. In 1833 December, all the slaves were freed under the condition that they attended for the 4 years apprenticeship in case of the domestic slaves and 6 years in case of plantation slaves.
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