The legacy of Krotoa – Mother of the Nation – was told as a story of hope through cultural activities such as a play, poetry, music, dialogue and exhibitions in commemoration of the 350th year of her death at the weekend.
Activities included visits to three significant Krotoa-related sites – Robben Island, where she was banished, lived with her husband and ultimately died, the Castle of Good Hope where she was initially buried, and Die Groote Kerk, her final place of rest.
The chairperson of the Western Cape First Nations Collective and leader of the Gorinhaiqua Cultural Council, Garu Zenzile Khoisan, said the story of Krotoa was one of recognition, restitution and restoration.
“The person of Krotoa represents an important figure of anchorage for the First Nations people for our struggle for recognition, restitution and restoration. The event between the RIM (Robben Island Museum) and the Castle of Good Hope is a recognition of who Krotoa was and also her importance as a woman of great worth and a woman whose legacy inspires us all to continue to deepen our consciousness of our indigenous Khoi heritage,” said Khoisan.
RIM chief executive Abigail Thulare said it was important to recognise that women played a significant role in the fight for democracy and freedom in South Africa.
“It is befitting that RIM celebrates Krotoa as the central focus of this important conversation set against the backdrop of her contemporaries and those of other women with connections to the Island, continuing to recognise women for their unwavering resilience and their achievements as an expression of appreciation for those who have risked their lives and freedom for a just South Africa.”
Krotoa was born into the Goringhaicona tribe in 1642 as the niece of Autshumao, a prominent Khoi leader during the early days of Dutch colonialism.
Her name means “a girl in the wardship of others”.
She was an 11-year-old girl who was taken as a servant in the home of Jan van Riebeeck, the first Dutch Commander at the Cape. There, she learned Dutch and ultimately became a critical translator and mediator between the Dutch settlers and the Khoi from 1650 to 1660.
She married Pieter van Meerhoff, a white Danish soldier and surgeon in the service of the Dutch East India Company, in 1664, the first recorded interracial marriage. Van Meerhoff was appointed postmaster of Robben Island in 1665 and thus relocated there with Krotoa and their two children.
After the death of her husband in 1666, she moved back to the mainland, where she was looked down upon and labelled as a traitor by her tribe. Her alleged excessive drinking and sex work prompted her expulsion from the Dutch.
She was then imprisoned at then-Van Riebeeck’s old Fort (on the current Grand Parade) before she was banished to Robben Island, where she later died.
According to most historical records, her remains were buried at the Castle of Good Hope, only to be exhumed and reburied in the Groote Church.
Castle of Good Hope chief executive Calvyn Gilfellan said Krotoa remains one of the most complex historical figures then and now.
“During her time, she was both unifier and divider, stateswoman and ordinary tribe member, diplomat and mother figure, to mention but a few.
But in our decolonial heritage endeavours at the Castle, we see her historical persona as a powerful modern symbol towards the healing of a dismembered, brutalised and dehumanised nation.”
Cape Times