The Day of the Vow
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The besieged Voortrekkers took a public vow together before the battle, led by either Andries Pretorius or Sarel Cilliers, depending on whose version is correct. In return for God's help in obtaining victory, they promised to build a church. Participants also vowed that they and their descendants would keep the day as a holy Sabbath. During the battle a group of about 470 Voortrekkers and their servants defeated a force of about ten thousand Zulu. Only three Voortrekkers were wounded, and some 3,000 Zulu warriors died in the battle.Two of the earlier names given to the day stem from this prayer. Officially known as the Day of the Vow, the commemoration was renamed from the Day of the Covenant in 1982. Afrikaners colloquially referred to it as Dingaansdag (English: Dingane's Day), a reference to the Zulu ruler of the defeated attackers. |
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Afrikaans: Hier staan ons voor die Heilige God van hemel en aarde om ʼn gelofte aan Hom te doen, dat, as Hy ons sal beskerm en ons vyand in ons hand sal gee, ons die dag en datum elke jaar as ʼn dankdag soos ʼn Sabbat sal deurbring; en dat ons ʼn huis tot Sy eer sal oprig waar dit Hom behaag, en dat ons ook aan ons kinders sal sê dat hulle met ons daarin moet deel tot nagedagtenis ook vir die opkomende geslagte. Want die eer van Sy naam sal verheerlik word deur die roem en die eer van oorwinning aan Hom te gee. English: Here we stand before the holy God of heaven and earth, to make a vow to Him that, if He will protect us and give our enemy into our hand, we shall keep this day and date every year as a day of thanksgiving like a sabbath, and that we shall erect a house to His honour wherever it should please Him, and that we also will tell our children that they should share in that with us in memory for future generations. For the honour of His name will be glorified by giving Him the fame and honour for the victory. The official version of the event is that a public vow was taken by a Trekker commando on December 16, 1838 at Ncome River (Blood River) which bound future descendants to commemorate the day as a religious holiday in the case of victory over the Zulu. In 1841 the victorious Trekkers built The Church of the Vow at Pietermaritzburg, and passed the obligation to keep the vow on to their descendants. |
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Jan B. Bantjes (1817–1887), Pretorius' secretary, indicates that the initial promise was to build a House in return for victory. He notes that Pretorius called everyone together, and asked them to pray for God's help. Bantjes writes that Pretorius told the assembly that he wanted to make a vow, "if everyone would agree" (Bailey Bantjes does not say whether everyone did so. |
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we here have decided among ourselves to make known the day of our victory...among the whole of our generation, and that we want to devote it to God, and to celebrate with thanksgiving, just as we promised in public prayer. Andries Pretorius Contrary to Pretorius, and in agreement with Bantjes, Cilliers in 1870 recalled a promise , not a vow, to commemorate the day and to tell the story to future generations. Accordingly, they would remember:the day and date, every year as a commemoration and a day of thanksgiving, as though a Sabbath and that we will also tell it to our children, that they should share in it with us, for the remembrance of our future generations |
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Cilliers writes that those who objected were given the option to leave.At least two persons declined to participate in the vow. Scholars disagree about whether the accompanying English settlers and servants complied . This seems to confirm that the promise was binding only on those present at the actual battle. Mackenzie (1997) claims that Cilliers may be recalling what he said to men who met in his tent. |
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Informal commemorations may have been held in the homes of former Voortrekkers in Pietermaritzburg in Natal. Voortrekker pastor Rev. Erasmus Smit announced the "7th annual" anniversary of the day in 1844 in De Natalier newspaper, for instance. Bailey mentions a meeting at the site of the battle in 1862. In 1864 the General Synod of the Dutch Reformed Church in Natal decreed that all its congregations should observe the date as a day of thanksgiving. The decision was spurred by the efforts of two Dutch clergymen working in Pietermaritsburg during the 1860s, D.P.M. Huet and F. Lion Cachet. Large meetings were held in the church in Pietermaritzburg in 1864 and 1865. |
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Huet was of the same opinion as Delward Pretorius. He declared at a church inauguration in Greytown on December 16, 1866 that its construction was also part of fulfilling the vow. In the Transvaal Die Zuid-Afrikaansche Republiek declared 16 December a public holiday in 1865, to be commemorated by public religious services. However, until 1877, the general public there did not utilize the holiday as they did in Natal. Cricket matches and hunts were organized, some businesses remained open, and newspapers were sold. The name Dingane's Day appeared for the first time in the media, in an 1875 edition of De Volksstem. That newspaper wondered whether the lack of support for the holiday signaled a weakening sense of nationalism. |
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Transvaal burgers held meetings around the date to discuss responses to the annexation. In 1879 the first such a meeting convened at Wonderfontein on the West Rand. Burgers disregarded Sir G.J. Wolseley, the governor of Transvaal, who prohibited the meeting on December 16. The following year they held a similar combination of discussions and the celebration of Dingane's Day at Paardekraal. |
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Before initiating hostilities with the British, a ceremony was held at Paardekraal on December 16, 1880 in which 5,000 burghers piled a cairn of stones that symbolized past and future victories over the Zulu and the British |
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