‘No indigenous person tortured or murdered in Castle’

I refer to Mike Nkalane’s article “Important to rename Castle” (Cape Times, August 31). I am the co-editor of, and a contributor to a new history of the VOC’s activities in Southern Africa, to be titled, in translation, The VOC in Southern Africa, 1602-1795, which is due for publication in 2016, the 350th anniversary of the Castle.

The article about the torture and murder of Koina and Sonqua (“Khoisan”) and the “killing” of their language in the Castle comes at a good time. The atrocities referred to can be researched and included in the new book, which would otherwise be incomplete. Who were the victims and how was their language killed?

I am well aware of the causes and processes of the Koina culture’s decline, as well as the Company’s contribution to it, but there is no record that their language was suppressed or forbidden.

I know that torture was part of the process of interrogation of accused of all – European settlers and indigenous people, in a legal system where a confession was required before a conviction.

Prof S Newton-King writes: “Torture tended to be applied only in cases where a guilty verdict would have resulted in a capital punishment.” (Quoted by N Worden and G Groenewald: Trials of Slavery 2005, p. xxiv). Legal torture did not often occur in the Castle. If the Koina and Sonqua concerned were not on trial for criminal acts, why would they have been in the Castle?

The suggestion of torture and murder in the Castle comes as a surprise. I have studied the Dutch period (1666 – 1795) and after 50 years of research in VOC archives and printed histories, I do not recall any case of an innocent indigenous person being tortured or murdered in the Castle. Neither did my experienced co-authors and historians who studied the VOC period, Drs de Wet and Sleigh (to mention two).

It is possible that my memory fails me, but I am open to correction and welcome new insights from informed sources. I am not informed what might have gone on in the Castle during its subsequent occupation by the British, as I have not studied that period.

I was a professor of History at UWC for 13 years (1978-1990). During that time of turmoil, no colleague or student in our department ever mentioned cases where indigenous people were tortured or murdered in the Castle.

If Mr Nkalane has evidence to the contrary, he is invited to share it with us, giving details (incidents, names and dates). We will gladly use such information, duly acknowledged, in our forthcoming book. My e-mail address is: leon9@mjvn.co.za

J L Hattingh (Prof)

Somerset West