The notion of a Dutch Reformed Church (as a broad concept) arrived in South Africa in the seventeenth century, after Calvinist reforms in Europe had entrenched the idea of predestination, and the Synod of Dort in the Netherlands had proclaimed this church as the "community of the elect" in 1619. The church gained recognition as the state religion in 1651, and the Dutch East India Company, as an extension of the state in southern Africa, established the first Dutch Reformed Church at the Cape of Good Hope in 1652.

(See Calvinism)

Today the English term Dutch Reformed Church can refer to two of the three reformed Afrikaans churches in South Africa:

The Nederduits-Gereformeerde Kerk (NG Kerk or N.G. Kerk) and the Nederduitse Hervormde Kerk (NHK)

The third of the linked "sisters" churches, does not have the Dutch appellation, and is simply known as the Gereformeerde Kerk (The Reformed Church)

The Nederduits-Gereformeerde Kerk

The Nederduits-Gereformeerde Kerk is the senior of the three "sister churches" and constituted the official church of the South African government from 1910 till 1994. The Dutch Reformed Church arrived in South Africa in the seventeenth century, after Calvinist reforms in Europe had entrenched the idea of predestination, and the Synod of Dort in the Netherlands had proclaimed this church as the "community of the elect" in 1619. The church gained recognition as the state religion in 1651, and the Dutch East India Company, as an extension of the state in southern Africa, established the first Dutch Reformed Church at the Cape of Good Hope in 1652.