Know your town: Drostdy Hotel

GRAAFF-REINET NEWS - The fourth oldest district established in the Cape Colony and the last of the town established under the Dutch rule in 1785, was the long-overdue Drostdy town of Graaff-Reinet. It serviced this remote area of the Karoo which was home to hundreds of farmers.

The town's name is a combination of two names - those of Governor CJ van de Graaff and his wife Reinet who hailed from Suriname.

The town was established on a bend in the Sundays River, on a piece of land which was made up of two farms owned by Dirk Coetzee. He had built a small homestead and some barns on this slope of one of the surrounding hills, not far from the Sundays River, along the track used by farmers who lived in the Sneeuberg.

The Drostdy (seat of government) at Graaff-Reinet was established in response to petitions from the Boers of the region.

Coetzee's homestead was chosen to house the Drostdy. He was paid a generous amount of money for his building and provided with land for him and his family free of rent. The new magistrate and his officials resided in the farmhouse whence they said about their duties.

The satisfaction that this provided was short-lived. The attitude of the officials of the Dutch East India Company antagonised the Boers, who resented being oppressed.

Life in the village was hard as fortune seekers soon realised. Land was available on an annual lease only and residents had to be satisfied with mud and daub or mud-brick buildings.

The Drostdy, jail and public offices were also constructed in this way since it was too expensive to import bricks and wood.

The appointment of Andries Stockenstorm as magistrate in 1803 resulted in the effective and drab-looking Drostdy of the early years, being replaced by a proper Drostdy building.

Little information exists about the appearance of the town before 1803 and the erection of the "fine Drostdy building" in Church Street.

Church Street is likely to have existed from an early stage since it is the main axis through the town from the South. With the first church of 1796 as its focus.