Slagtersnek or Slachter's Nek ("Butcher's pass") can refer to a physical place, or to the so-called Slagtersnek Rebellie (Slachter's Nek Rebellion or Slagtersnek Rebellion) of 1815, a traumatic event in the Cape history which served as a key incitement to increased resistance to British colonial rule and ultimately for the Great Trek of 1838.

The historical event

In 1815, a farmer from the eastern border of the Cape Colony, Frederik Bezuidenhout, was summoned to appear before a magistrate's court after repeated allegations of his mistreating one of his Khoi labourers. Bezuidenhout resisted arrest and fled to a cave near his home where he defended himself against the soldiers sent to capture him. When he refused to surrender he was shot dead by one of the soldiers. One of his brothers, Hans Bezuidenhout, swore revenge and organised a rebellion against the British colonial powers, whom they believed to be hostile towards the Boers on the border. On 18th November 1815, a commando of rebels met an armed force from Landdrost (magistrate) Jacob Cuyler, the military commander, at Slachter's Nek on the eastern frontier. Though Negotiations failed and the majority of the rebels left without any shots being fired. Twenty rebels surrendered, followed by several more over the following days. However, some of the leaders, among whom was Hans Bezuidenhout, refused to turn themselves over to the British authorities. On 29th November 1815, they were attacked by colonial troops. Everybody but Bezuidenhout surrendered and, like his brother, Hans died while resisting arrest.

The rebels were finally charged at Uitenhage. Some were cleared, others imprisoned or banished. Six were sentenced to death but one of these was pardoned by the Governor, Lord Charles Somerset. On 9th March 1816 the remaining five were hanged in public at Van Aardtspos. Four of the nooses broke during the procedure as the hangman who came to perform the execution had not realised there were five to be hung, and old ropes had to be used. The four whose ropes broke, as well as the public, pleaded for their lives but Culyer ordered that they be hanged a second time and they were hung one by one. The names of the five who were hanged were Hendrik Prinsloo, Stephanus Bothma, Abraham Bothma, Cornelius Faber and Theunis de Klerk.

Although many of the frontier boere did not support or agree with the rebellion, some Voortrekkers have claimed that it was one of the reasons for the Great Trek.

Colonel Jacob Glen Cuyler was an American by birth who had remained loyal to Britain during the rebellion of the American colonies. He had first hand experience of the harshness meted out to loyalists by the rebels and had consequently a strong aversion for rebels, unfortunately for the Slachter's Nek rebels.

On 9th March 1916, exactly 100 years after the execution, a monument was unveiled on the spot where the hanging took place, on the N10 south of Cookhouse.

The rebellion has been the theme of a number of fictional or documentary works.

Among them: Slagtersnek (Van Bruggen, 1938),

Slagtersnek, a documentary drama in two acts by J.R.L. van Bruggen (1895-1948)

The original text

Part of a collection of Afrikaans one-act documentary plays by Van Bruggen entitled Bakens: Gedramatiseerde mylpale uit die Groot Trek, aimed at commemorating the Great Trek of 1839. (Published in Johannesburg in 1938/9 by A.P.B., some of the plays performed in 1938)

It deals with the Slagtersnek (literally "Butcher's Neck", meaning "Butcher's pass") rebellion, when Dutch/Afrikaner farmers rebelled against the British government in the Cape Province. [1] in 1815.

Sources

Marisa Keuris. 2013. "J.R.L. van Bruggen (Kleinjan) se eenbedryf “Bloedrivier” uit Bakens: Gedramatiseerde mylpale uit die Groot Trek (1938/1939) – ’n terugblik vanuit 2013", LitNet Akademies 10(3)[2]

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