16/12/2015
during the Apartheid era, 16 December was
known as Day of the Vow (also known as Day of the
Covenant or Dingaan's Day). The public holiday was
created to commemorate a vow taken by the
Voortrekkers, a group of Afrikaaners who had moved
inland to escape the clutches of British colonialiasm, in
preparation for a battle with the Zulu people with
which they were having a land dispute. The
Voortrekkers, who had moved onto and claimed the
Zulu people’s land,took a vow before God that they
would build a church for their descendants to observe
the day as a day of thanksgiving should they be granted
victory. More than 10 000 Zulu troops under the
command of Dambuza (Nzobo) and Nhlela attacked the
Voortrekkers on 16 December 1838, but the 470
Voortrekkers, with the advantage of gun powder,
warded them off. Only three Voortrekkers were
wounded, but more than 3 000 Zulus were killed
during what would become known as the ‘Battle of
Blood River’.
In the 1920s and 1930s the public holiday became a
day on which the divide between white South Africans
and black South Africans became especially gaping.
Those who felt discriminated against by the nation’s
unfair laws began staging protests and holding meetings
on this day to communicate their dissent and to rally
against a day that celebrated the Afrikaans conquest of
the indiginous African. Even into the 1960s, the day
retained signifcance; on On 16 December 1961
uMkhonto we Sizwe (MK) (Spear of the Nation) the
military wing of the ANC announced its existence by
launching its first acts of sabotage.
With the advent of democracy and a gallant gesture by
the new government in South Africa, 16 December
retained its status as a public holiday, however, this
time with the intent of building a nation and unity
amongst its people.
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