page_title: Economic history of South Africa
section_title: European settlement
hierarchical_section_title: Economic history of South Africa / European settlement
context_page_description: Prior to the arrival of European settlers in the 15th century the economy of what was to become South Africa was dominated by subsistence agriculture and hunting.
  In the north, central and east of the country tribes of Bantu peoples occupied land on a communal basis under tribal chiefdoms. It was an overwhelmingly pastoral economy and wealth was measured in the number of cattle men held. Population growth had created a land pressure that had seen the tribes move steadily from the origins in central east Africa.
  In the southern and western parts of the country, San peoples led nomadic lives based on hunting and the Khoikhoi peoples led a pastoral existence.
  In the first half of the 20th century, agriculture and mining were the largest parts of the South African economy.
context_section_description: In 1652 a permanent European settlement was established in Cape Town in the far south west of the country. It was not originally planned as a colony but as a refreshment station. Malnutrition, especially scurvy, a vitamin C deficiency arising from a lack of fresh fruit and vegetables, was a problem for the ships of the Dutch East India Company that were plying trade between the Netherlands and the Dutch East Indies, modern Indonesia.
  To deal with the problems, the Company established a garden at the foot of Table Mountain and bartered cattle from the Khoikhoi to supply to passing ships.
  However, the arrival of permanent European settlers triggered profound change. The Europeans intentionally decimated the San through disease, driving them to the Kalahari Desert region and virtually destroyed the Khoikhoi people as a struggle against European colonialism. The Khoikhoi( Quena) were enslaved and their identity destroyed for the furtherance of European colonialism.
  Land hunger led to wars between the Bantu as the settlers migrated eastwards from the original settlement in Cape Town.
  Between the wars, commerce developed between the settlers and the indigenous peoples. Sales of produce and stock saw the development of a black, landed peasantry.
caption: View of Table Bay with ships of the Dutch East India Company (VOC), c. 1683.
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