Fire, life and loss
2009-03-25
Marguerite Lombard
THE fire on Paarl Mountain caused so much mayhem and destruction, that it is easy to forget the positive. Seeing friends fight fires side by side and tables of anonymous donations of sandwiches and cold drinks made me think, maybe this will be remembered as one of Paarl’s finest hours. All fires are not destructive. In fact our fynbos cannot survive without regular burns. Hundreds of years ago the Cochoqua pastoralists who lived and grazed their herds of cattle in the Berg River valley also used to set fire to traditional pastures so that succulent new grass could emerge from burnt veld. However, for the permanent settlers the Cape’s dry hot summers and gale force South-easters were a fearful and catastrophic combination; and for 18th century slave owners, arson was an ever present threat. In Trials of Slavery, Nigel Worden writes that in 1710 slave arsonists caused serious damage to property in the Stellenbosch area, and likewise in 1736 and 1798 in Cape Town. This fear of fire and the threat of fire even influenced the Cape’s vernacular architecture. “Brandsolders” were added to farm houses to fire-proof ceilings and to provide a rudimentary barrier between the house and its highly combustible thatched roof. Some documents also refer to the homestead’s central gable as the “fire” gable, possibly because it prevented the burning thatch from falling onto the wooden door and windows, or onto the inhabitants trying to escape the blaze. In the 1700s the authorities at the Cape issued many notices warning inhabitants on the dangers of fires, and the punishments arsonists could expect. Fires caused by negligence or accident did not go unpunished. Trials of Slavery provides a somewhat alarming glimpse at the brutality of the time. Slaves often used arson as a form of individual resistance by setting fire to their owner’s crops, houses or wine cellars. Slaves were in such a state of despair that their acts of rebellion were often followed by attempted suicides. For instance, in 1717 Aaron of Bengal set a cellar alight after a severe punishment, and then tried to commit suicide by cutting his own throat. Some cases also show the complexities of Cape society. Take the arson case of Ari the slave that took place in 1706 on the farm Ruigtevallei in Agter Paarl. The story has an interesting twist: Ruigtevallei’s owner, Guilliaume Frisnet, was married to Armosyn van de Kaap, a former slave manumitted by her former owner, Simon van der Stel. Ari himself shared the Castle’s notorious “Black Hole” cell with Jacobus van der Heijden, who was in jail for his part in the rebellion against Willem Adriaan van der Stel. It was also van der Heijden’s testimony that led to an alleged arsonists’s conviction. The story begins in 1706 when Ari – he was originally from modern day Pakistan – fled from his owner to a farm near the Berg River. There two slaves gave him some bread and tobacco. From there he fled up the slopes of Paarl Mountain. For a while he managed to sustain himself by stealing grapes, and met up with three more runaways. At some point one of the men – Anthonij - said that the wind conditions were ideal for setting fire to a few buildings, and the men headed towards a nearby house. Ari later confessed to throwing a burning brand into the thatch. During the ensuing chaos, Anthonij entered the house and stole a gun. Now armed, the group of runaways fled up Paarl Mountain, where the men had a rudimentary shelter and shared some cold mutton. Ari did not trust his new acquaintances and fled with the gun. He was apprehended later that same day. Although Ari confessed under torture, the court found him “uninformative” and sent him to Robben Island in chains pending further investigations. Ari died two years later. It is hard to tell if he was fortunate not to be sentenced, because the punishment for arson was extreme. In 1724 a slave arsonist had his right hand severed, was then tied to a stake and torched. The facts are shocking and brutal, and yet there is the nagging doubt that somehow very little has changed. Society – despite Human Rights Days – still manages to marginalise some people, and exploit others so that it becomes possible to set fire to a mountain.
More
News
|
