The area that is now Portugal was first occupied by a tribe called the Lusitanians in about 1000 B.C. They were followed by other tribes, and eventually the Romans, who conquered the region in about 200 B.C. Next came the Visigoths and the Moors. In 1140 Portugal declared its independence after a series of battles with the Moors. Spain recognized the new country in 1143 and the Pope did the same in 1179. The southern part of the country, the Algarve, remained under the control of the Moors until 1249, when it was retaken by the Portuguese. Portugal has retained its independence from 1140 until the present day except for a brief period under Spanish rule from 1580 to 1640. It has the oldest fixed borders of any European country. Portugal became a republic on 05 October 1910.
The oldest links between South Africa and Europe are through Portugal and its voyages of discovery. The Portuguese were the first Europeans to set foot on South African soil. The first permanent European settlement was established by the Dutch on 06 April 1652.
THE EXPLORERS
BARTOLOMEU DIAS
Bartolomeu DIAS (aka Bartholomeu DIAZ), Portuguese navigator, went ashore at present-day Munro's Bay (Mossel Bay) on 03 February 1488. He named the area Aguada de São Bras (watering place of Saint Blaize), having arrived on the holy day of Saint Blaize and collecting fresh water from a spring. The spring is still there today but no longer flows, although it was still flowing in the 1970s. The first recorded Western religious service in South Africa was during Dias' visit. A Catholic Mass was held when the sailors erected the padráo (Dias Cross) near the Great Fish River. It was the Portuguese custom that a padráo be erected at the turning point before sailing home. Pieces of the padráo were found many years later at Kwaaihoek near the mouth of the Bushman's River and are now in safe-keeping at Wits University.
DIAS was born circa 1450 in the Algarve. Several Portuguese historians believe that he was a relative or descendant of João DIAS who sailed around Cape Bojador in 1434, and of Diniz DIAS who is said to have discovered the Cape Verde Islands. Bartolomeu was a cavalier of the Royal Court, superintendent of the Royal warehouses and a sailing-master. On 10 October 1486, King João II of Portugal appointed him head of an expedition which was to sail around the southern tip of Africa to find a trade route leading to Asia. DIAS left Lisbon in August 1487 with a fleet consisting of three ships, two armed caravels and one supply-ship. DIAS was in the caravel São Christovao, and was accompanied by João Infante in the São Pantaleao. Among his companions were Pero DE ALENQUER, Alvaro MARTINS and João GREGO. The supply-ship was commanded by Bartolomeu's brother, Pero DIAS. There were also two African men and four women on board who served as translators.
DIAS sailed first towards the mouth of the Congo River, discovered the year before by Diogo CÂO and Martin BEHAIM. Following the African coast, he entered Walvis Bay. From the present-day Port Nolloth area, a storm lasting thirteen days drove the fleet south, taking them past the Cape without them knowing it. When calm weather returned, they sailed in an easterly direction and, when no land appeared, turned northward, landing in Bahia dos Vaqueiros (Mossel Bay). This was later renamed Mossel Bay by the Dutch. On his return voyage, DIAS saw the Cape and called it Cabo Tormentoso or Cabo das Tormentas (Cape of Storms). It was later renamed Cabo da Boa Esperança (Cape of Good Hope) by King João II when DIAS returned to Lisbon in December 1488. In 1500 DIAS commanded a ship in the expedition of Pedro Alvarez CABRAL. His vessel was one of those wrecked not far from the Cape of Good Hope on 29 May 1500. His grandson, Paulo Dias DE NOVAIS, landed in Luanda ( Angola ) in early 1575, in command of a fleet of seven ships carrying a hundred families of colonists and 400 soldiers.
VASCO DA GAMA
On 26 November 1497 Vasco DA GAMA visited Aguada de São Bras and bartered for cattle from the Khoikhoi, making this most likely the first commercial transaction between Europeans and indigenous people in South Africa. In December, having sailed further on, DA GAMA went ashore on the east coast and as it was Christmas Day, named the area Terra do Natal (meaning Land of Christmas in Portuguese). DA GAMA met the first black people near the mouth of the Limpopo. They were friendly and he named the area Terra de Boa Gente (Land of Good People). DA GAMA and his crew reached India in May, becoming the first Europeans to journey by sea to India.
DA GAMA was born about 1469 at Sines, Portugal. His father, Estevão DA GAMA, was a nobleman and the civil governor of Sines. After the return of DIAS, Estevão was chosen by King João II to command the next expedition of discovery, but both died before it happened. The task was given by King Emmanuel I to Vasco, who had already distinguished himself in 1490 by defending the Portuguese colonies on the coast of Guinea against the French. As Vasco was not the first-born son, he had no right to a coat-of-arms, a title or to his father's fortune. All that belonged to the first-born son, Paulo. Vasco turned to the military and the sea for his career.
The fleet going to India consisted of four vessels and set sail after prayers at a chapel on the site of the present-day church, Santa Maria de Belem. On 08 July 1497 they left Lisbon. The ships were the São Gabriel (commanded by Vasco and with 150 crew), São Rafael (commanded by his brother Paulo), Berrio (later re-baptized São Miguel, commanded by Nicolau COELHO) and a supply ship of unknown name commanded by Gonçalo NUNES, later lost near the Bay of São Brás. One of the 600 men aboard the ships was Bartolomeu DIAS, who was on his way to Mina, near present-day Accra, to act as captain-general. In early November they dropped anchor in St. Helena Bay. This was soon followed by the sighting of the Cape of Good Hope.
DA GAMA returned to Portugal in September 1499. King Emmanuel I gave him the title of Dom (Lord). In December 1519 he was made Count of Vidigueira. King João III made him Viceroy of India, and on 05 April 1524 he left Lisbon for India, accompanied by his sons Estevão and Paulo. They arrived in Goa during September. That Christmas Eve Vasco died at Cochin after a short illness, and was buried in the Franciscan monastery. In 1538 his son Pedro had his father's remains returned to Portugal and entombed in the town of Vidigueira. On the 400th anniversary of the discovery of the sea route to India he was reburied as a national hero in the Jeronimos monastery at Belem, Lisbon. He was immortalized by Luis Vaz DE CAMÕES in his epic national poem, Os Lusíadas.
PEDRO DE ATAIDE
In 1500 Pedro DE ATAIDE, a Portuguese ship's captain in the fleet under CABRAL which made the second voyage round the Cape of Good Hope to India, sought safety in the present-day Mossel Bay from a storm which destroyed part of the fleet. The first letter posted in South Africa was deposited in a shoe hung on a milkwood tree in the bay by DE ATAIDE. The letter described the disaster that had befallen the Portuguese fleet on the voyage to India and warned the following fleet against hostilities to be expected on the Indian coast. This tree, still standing 350 m from Santos Beach, is considered the first post office in South Africa. It was declared a national monument on 30 September 1938. The bronze plaque reads: "This post office tree stands near the fountains where the Portuguese navigators regularly drew water at Aguada de São Bras (now Mossel Bay) from 1488 onwards. In May 1500 Pedro DE ATAIDE, captain of a homeward bound ship of Pedro CABRAL's fleet, left a message here which was found on 7th July 1507 by the outward bound ships of João DA NOVA. According to tradition the message was placed in an old shoe and tied to a tree". In 1962 a post box, in the shape of a shoe, was erected and letters mailed there carry a special stamp.
ANTONIO DE SALDANHA
In 1503 Antonio DE SALDANHA, Portuguese fleet commander, sailed into Table Bay. A native of Castile, in the Portuguese service, he left Lisbon in May 1503. Owing to an error, he sailed into Table Bay after having lost sight of his other two ships. DE SALDANHA followed the freshwater stream to the foot of Table Mountain and then climbed up Plattekloof Gorge. This place is at the crossing of the current Adderley and Strand Streets, where two mountain streams flowed into the sea. His is the first recorded ascent of Table Mountain by a European. It is possible that he gave the mountain the name Mesa do Cabo (Table of the Cape). After his landing, Table Bay was known as Aguada de Saldanha meaning watering place of Saldanha. Table Bay was called Aguada de Saldanha until 1601 when Joris VAN SPILBERGEN arrived at the present-day Saldanha Bay and thought he was in Aguada de Saldanha. When he reached Table Bay a few days later, he realised the confusion and named it Table Bay, and gave the name Saldanha Bay to his mistaken port of call, the present-day Saldanha Bay. During DE SALDANHA's visit, the Portuguese attempted to barter with the Khoikhoi. They offered mirrors, glass beads and a rattle in return for two sheep and a cow. The sailors took the animals away, but perhaps the bargain had been misunderstood. A group of 200 Khoikhoi ambushed the sailors and took the animals back. DE SALDANHA was wounded in the arm. In 1505 and 1506 subsequent fleets traded without incident.
FRANCISCO DE ALMEIDA
On 01 March 1510, Dom Francisco DE ALMEIDA, a 60-year-old Portuguese aristocrat, soldier and explorer, went ashore at Table Bay. He was on his way back from India, returning to Portugal, when the fleet stopped for fresh water. Bartering had taken place with the Khoikhoi - iron and fabric was bartered for sheep or cattle from the Khoikhoi who were camped about 5 km from the Salt River mouth. When some sailors were given permission to go to the camp, some of their daggers went missing. One of the sailors, Concalo HOMEM, asked two Khoikhoi to carry his goods back to shore but they suspected malice on his part and soon a fight developed. When he returned to the fleet, with a bloodied face and broken teeth, he found that others had also suffered injuries. The next day, DE ALMEIDA led a punitive expedition of 150 men, armed with swords and lances, to the camp. They had taken some cattle and children, and had set fire to some of the dwellings, when they were surrounded by about the same number of Khoikhoi armed with assegaais, arrows and stones. DE ALMEIDA had ordered Diogo D'UNHO, ship master, to wait with their small boats close to shore. When the fleeing sailors ran back to the shore they found that strong winds had developed and D'UNHO had taken the boats closer to the ships for safety. The stranded men tried to protect DE ALMEIDA but he was already heavily wounded. As he was being carried by an officer, an assegaai pierced his throat and he died. Fifty-six sailors, including 12 captains, died that day. Among those who survived was Jorge DE MELLO, who returned to shore to find DE ALMEIDA's body stripped of his clothing. The dead were all buried at the Cape.
DE ALMEIDA was born in Lisbon circa 1450, the first son of the first Count of Abrantes. Two of his siblings became bishops and one became an ambassador to the Holy See. He distinguished himself as a counsellor of King João II and in the wars against the Moors and in the conquest of Granada in 1492. In 1505 King Emmanuel I made him first viceroy of Portuguese India. In 1509, he became the first Portuguese to set sail for Bombay. His son Lourenço was killed in battle. Francisco was survived by a daughter, Leonor, who married Rodrigo DE MELLO, Count of Tentugal.
JOÂO DA NOVA
João DA NOVA was born in the Spanish province of Galicia circa 1460. He served under King Emmanuel I of Portugal as a naval commander and later as police chief of Lisbon. In March 1501, he took four ships and 400 sailors to India, on the third voyage since the first by Vasco DA GAMA. DA NOVA arrived on 07 July 1501 at Aguada de São Bras (Mossel Bay), where he found the message left for him by Pedro DE ATAIDE. DA NOVA is credited with having erected the first building on South African soil, a chapel at Mossel Bay in 1501. The Mossel Bay Stone was found there with DA NOVA's name and a date (1501?) inscribed on it, which is now in the South African Museum, Cape Town. He also discovered the island of St Helena and named it on 21 May 1502 (St. Helena's Day) on his homeward voyage from India. João DA NOVA died a poor man in Cochin, India, in 1509.
FLEETING VISITORS
In 1505 a fleet under Lopo SOARES sailed past Cape St Blaize. One ship, under Pedro MENDONCA, ran aground during the night. The wreck was sighted at dawn but it was impossible to help the crew. A year later, a crew arrived and two convicts were sent ashore to search the coast for survivors. They returned after three days, stripped by the Khoikhoi and reported that they found a ship's mast and a skeleton.
A Portuguese ship, the São João (after which Port St Johns was named), was wrecked on 18 June 1552 off Port Edward. Manuel de Sousa DE SEPULVEDA, a Portuguese nobleman, was the commander. Only 25 of the 500 passengers and crew survived. The Portuguese East Indiaman, the São Bento, was wrecked off Msikaba on 21 April 1554. The survivors of both wrecks walked up the coast to Delagoa Bay (Lourenço Marques). The São Bento was homeward-bound from Cochin and items found washed up included broken porcelain and cornelian trade beads. Fourty-four Portuguese and more than 100 slaves were lost. Ninety-eight Portuguese and 224 slaves survived the wreck. Manuel de Mesquita PERESTRELO, one of the few Portuguese survivors, wrote a narrative of the São Bento wreck, translated by THEAL in his Records of Eastern Africa, Vol 1. There is a memorial at the São João site in Port Edward.
The Santo Alberto, a Portuguese merchantman, was wrecked on the morning of 24 March 1593, whilst reputedly carrying a vast treasure. There are varying accounts of it being wrecked near Hole in the Wall or along the Ciskei coast. She carried 357 passengers and crew, made up of 153 Portuguese and 194 slaves. Twenty-eight Portuguese and 34 slaves died during the wreck. The survivors made it to shore and stayed there until 03 April 1593, when they set off on foot for Lourenço Marques. They reached their destination in mid-June.
The Nossa Senhora de Belem, a Portuguese galleon, ran aground near the estuary of the Umzimvubu River on 24 July 1635. The survivors set up camp on the shore for a year, while they built two lifeboats from the wreckage to take them home. They left in January 1636 and reached Angola.
Among the ships carrying Ming porcelain wrecked along the Eastern Cape coast were the São João, the São Jeronimo, the Nossa Senhora de Belem and the São Bento. The porcelain from the São João dates back to the Jiajing period of the Ming dynasty (1522-66).
Other Portuguese ship wrecks that make up South Africa 's underwater heritage include:
1552 - São Jeronimo wrecks north of Richards Bay ; São João wrecked near Port Edward
1554 - São Bento wrecked off Msikaba
1593 - Santo Alberto wrecked near East London
1608 - Santo Espirito wrecked near Haga-Haga
1622 - São João Baptista wrecked in October near the Fish River
1630 - São Gonçalo, ran aground at the Piesang River mouth in Plettenberg Bay, in July after developing a leak
1635 - Nossa Senhora de Belem ran aground near the Mzimvubu River
1643 - Santa Maria Madre de Deus wrecked near Bonza Bay, East London
1647 - Nossa Senhora de Atalaia do Pinheiro wrecked in June near the Cefane River, north-east of East London; Santissimo Sacramento wrecked in July west of Schoenmakerskop, near Port Elizabeth
1686 - Milagros sank off the Cape south coast
The ships were plying the route to the East, known as the Carreira da India (Indian Route). They often carried women and children, besides valuable cargoes. Most of the ships were wrecked in winter, usually because they had left the East too late on the voyage home and because they were overloaded. Survivors would salvage what they could from the wreck, and try to go north towards Portuguese trading posts on the East Coast. The few Portuguese who decided to stay put were mainly sailors. Subsequent parties of shipwreck survivors would occasionally come across them, but they chose to remain in Africa.
PORTUGUESE LEGEND AT THE CAPE
Adamastor is, according to Portuguese legend, the sea spirit of the Cape and was depicted by Luis Vaz DE CAMÕES in Canto V, of his epic, Os Lusíadas. According to DE CAMÕES, he showed his wrath when DA GAMA sailed by. A dark and ominous cloud appeared overhead taking the shape of a monstrous human figure who reproached the sailors for venturing into the seas “which I so long enjoyed, and kept alone”. He foretells the disasters, “shipwrecks and losses of each kind and race” which will befall those who round the Cape of Storms. The monster tells them that he is Adamastor. He tells of his lost love and his pursuit of the sea-nymph Thetis. He is punished by the gods by being turned into a mountain, and set at the Cape to guard the southern seas. The legend goes that Adamastor's revenge included Bartolomeu DIAS dying off the Cape coast, Francisco DE ALMEIDA dying at the Cape, and the fate that befell Manuel de Sousa DE SEPULVEDA, his wife Leanora and their two children in 1552. In Lisbon, on the Miradouro de Santa Catarina, Bairro Alto, stands a six metre high marble sculpture of Adamastor, created by the Portuguese sculptor Julio VAZ junior. It was unveiled in 1927.
TIES THAT BIND
The Cape Field Artillery is the oldest artillery unit in South Africa and the second oldest volunteer artillery unit in the world, after the British Honourable Artillery Company. It was founded in Cape Town on 26 Aug 1857 with the Chevalier Alfredo DUPRAT, a Portuguese nobleman who had formerly been second in command of the Cape Town Rifles, as its first commanding officer.
A large compass rose (a stone contraption used by 15th century sailors for their calculations) of Sintra marble was a gift from South Africa to the people of Portugal in memory of Prince Henry the Navigator. It forms part of a South African monument, the Terrace of Good Hope, in Lisbon and lies at the foot of the Portuguese national monument commemorating the great discoveries. The South African presentation took place in 1960 on the occasion of the 5th centenary of Prince Henry's birth.
So close was the link between the Portuguese and South Africa, that it was depicted on the facade of South Africa House in Trafalgar Square, London. A figure of Bartolomeu DIAS by the Pretoria sculptor Coert STEYNBERG used to be on display in the embassy.
In Port Elizabeth, the replica Dias Cross stands in the square in front of City Hall. It was presented to the city in 1954 by the Portuguese government and is made of stone from the same quarry near Lisbon as the original.
Agulhas (needles in Portuguese), at the southern tip of Africa, was named by DIAS on 16 May 1488 as Ponta de São Brandao, in honour of Saint Brendan. It was later renamed to Cabo d'Agulhas as the form and sharpness of the rocks resembled needles. The St Francis Bay area was originally named Bahia de São Francisco by Manuel PERESTRELO in 1575. It had been named in 1488 by DIAS as Golfo dos Pastores (Shepherds' Gulf) and was also known as Golfo dos Vaqueiros (Cowherds' Gulf). Paternoster, a fishing village on the west coast, is named for the first two words of the Latin Our Father prayer. Portuguese shipwrecked sailors prayed there for a safe return home. Machadodorp was founded in 1894 on the farm Geluk and was named after Joachim MACHADO, the Portuguese engineer who first surveyed the railway line between Pretoria and Delagoa Bay.
The Portuguese priest, Joaquim de Santa Rita MONTANHA, went on a journey from the port of Inhambane (in Mozambique ) to Schoemansdal to discuss trading links with the Boers there. No treaty was signed but his visit laid the foundations of Portuguese-Boer relations until the Anglo-Boer War. His illustrated travel diary, from 25 May 1855 to 18 September 1856, was published in Portugal in 1857. There was also an unpublished Afrikaans version 80 years later. This was revised a few years ago and published by Protea Boekhuis as Montanha in Zoutpansberg: 'n Portugese handelsending van Inhambane se besoek aan Schoemansdal, 1855-1856, edited by O.J.O. FERREIRA, C.E.F. VON REICHE and D.P.M. BOTES.
The PELSER family has quite a history linked to Portugal. Various family members were held there as Boer prisoners-of-war in Portugal. Daniel Petrus PELSER (born 07 Mar 1862 in Smithfield ) was a gunner with the Boers when he fled, with his family, to Lourenço Marques. They were imprisoned at Caldas de Rainha, Portugal. Catharina Frederika PELSER was born at Caldas de Rainha in July 1902. Hendrik Johannes (born 15 Jun 1856 in Burgersdorp) and later a miller in Belfast, was a Cape Rebel who fled to Lourenço Marques with his family. They were sent to Caldas da Rainha. Maria Magdalena PELSER (born 09 Mar 1885 in Burgersdorp) was married in July 1902 in the Caldas da Rainha camp to Stefanus PIENAAR.
Willem Jacobus PELSER (born 13 May 1857 in Burgersdorp) was a railways official in Burgersdorp. He accompanied President Paul KRUGER to Lourenço Marques. He was imprisoned in Alcobaça, Portugal. His son, Willem Jacobus (born 02 Nov 1883) was later a mine worker in Robertsham, Johannesburg. He was also sent to Alcobaça. Another Willem Jacobus PELSER (born 17 Jun 1875 in Burgersdorp) and later a mine worker in Kimberley, was also sent to Alcobaça.
Mathys van As PRETORIUS (born April 1847 at Colesberg) died in Peniche, Portugal, on 01 Jun 1901.
By the end of September 1900, Boers had crossed into Mozambique and exiled themselves to avoid capture by the British. They were regarded as internees but no attempts were made to restrict them. Following pressure by the British, 1260 adults and 173 children were shipped from Lourenço Marques to Lisbon during March and April 1901. On their arrival in Portugal they were accommodated at Caldas da Rainha, Peniche and Alcobaça.
Portuguese was spoken by many slaves at the Cape. During Batavian rule at the Cape (1803 to 1806) a large number of slaves were from Mozambique and Angola. Slaves who spoke Portuguese included Lindor of Mauritius, Adam of Mozambique, Jean Baptist of Mauritius and Spadille of Mozambique. Adonis of Mozambique also spoke Portuguese. He was taught to make barrels by the master cooper Jacob MEINERT. Joseph of Mozambique learnt the shoemaking trade from George MORRISON, master shoemaker of Oxford Street, London, who employed him as a servant. Arend of Mozambique was well-known for his skills with horses. Rachel of Mozambique worked for Captain Henry SMART, Commander of the Royal Engineers. Her daughter Flavia was apprenticed to Mrs MORRISON. Theresa of Mozambique was known for her washing and ironing skills. Mattheus of Mozambique had been at the Cape for a few months when he ran away in March 1804.
In September 1966 Dimitrio TSAFENDAS, assassinated Prime Minister Hendrik VERWOERD in Parliament. TSAFENDAS was the illegitimate son of a Greek father and a Mozambiquean mother. In South Africa the mentally distrubed man was classified coloured. Eventually, because of his Greek father, he was reclassified as white.
One of Portugal 's most celebrated poets, Fernando PESSOA, attended Durban schools. He was born in 1888 in Lisbon and died in 1935. He published one book of poems in Portuguese under his own name. He wrote under a number of pseudonyms - Alvaro de Campos, Alberto Caeiro and Ricardo Reis. At the age of seven, he accompanied his mother to Durban where her second husband, Commander João Miguel ROSA, was the Portuguese Consul. Fernando attended the West Street Convent School where he first learnt to read and speak English. In 1899 he was enrolled at Durban High School and three years later, after spending a year in Portugal and the Azores, enrolled at Durban 's Commercial School. Amongst the poems written while he was in Durban, was one denouncing Joseph CHAMBERLAIN for being the cause of the Anglo-Boer War. The English essay he wrote for his entrance exam to the University of Good Hope won him the Queen Victoria Prize. After completing his BA degree in 1905, he returned to Portugal for good. In 1987 a commemorative statue, funded by the Antonio de Almeida Foundation, was erected on the corner of Pine and Gardiner Streets in Durban.
Medical researchers at the University of Stellenbosch discovered two types of progressive familial heart blockage. Type I (PF-HBI) is a dominantly inherited cardiac bundle-branch conduction disorder that has been traced through nine generations. Family members descend from Inacio FERREIRA and his wife Martha TERBLANCHE. See Brink AJ, Torrington M. Progressive familial heart block - two types, in the South African Medical Journal 1977; pages 52-59.
One of the oldest houses in Pretoria was lost when plans to restore the Bras PEREIRA house on the corner of Skinner and Paul Kruger Streets in Fonteinedal, did not go through. The house was pulled down in the 1960s. It was built in 1866 and was to have been rebuilt as part of an open-air museum planned by the Genootskap Oud-Pretoria. The restoration of the thatched-roof house was to have been their first restoration projects. Bras PEREIRA was a Portuguese businessman in Pretoria.
In 1692, the farm Schoongezicht was granted to the freed slaves Anthoni and Manuel Marquard of Angola, Louis of Bengal, and to the VOC sergeant Isaac SCHRIJVER, by Simon VAN DER STEL. After they died, the farm had assorted owners. In 1922 it was bought by the aristocratic Mrs. Elisabeth Katharina ENGLISH for £18 000 and renamed Lanzerac.
In 2005, Quinta de Fernandez, a Westcliff mansion, was auctioned off for R12,2 million. It originally belonged to Ginger FERNANDEZ, an immigrant from Madeira, who had the house built in 1928 after making his fortune on the stock market. The elegant Madeiran-styled home with terracotta roof tiles and the terraced gardens was a reminder of his birth place. The vegetable garden and fruit trees further served as reminders to FERNANDEZ, who was fond of cooking. Prior to being sold on auction, the house belonged to Julien MISSAK who died in 1980. He bequethed the property to Randse Afrikaanse Universiteit, on condition that it be used for philanthropic purposes and promoted Armenian and Flemish cultures. The university ran it as a museum for 20 years before handing it to the St John the Baptist monastery in Essex, England, and the Armenian Benevolent Union.
A major Portuguese contribution to South African life has been on the culinary scene. Long before Nando's spread across the country, and later the world, Portuguese families enjoyed peri-peri chicken when it was known as Galinha à Africana or Galinha à Cafreal, having been introduced in Lourenço Marques. The name Nando's comes from Fernando DUARTE, who together with a Jewish friend, Robert BROZIN, bought a small restaurant called Chickenland in Rosettenville, Johannesburg, in September 1987. This became the first Nando's restaurant. Today, Nando's is a major success story.
The LM (Lourenço Marques) way of cooking - in lots of olive oil, garlic, onions, tomato, white wine and coriander - is synonymous with the Portuguese in South Africa. Other favourites include prego rolls, poncha (a traditional Madeiran shooter made of aguardente, honey and lemon), chouriço, bachalau (dried salt cod), espetada (beef skewers on bay leaf branches), grilled sardines, Portuguese bread, custard pastries, peri-peri chicken livers and catemba.
Jan VAN RIEBEECK brought the first guavas to South Africa, from Madeira. The first commercial guava plantation was started in 1890 by Gawie MALHERBE in Paarl. The Frank Malherbe and Rossouws cultivars descend from the original Madeira guavas.
In 1987, Cape Town was twinned with Funchal, the capital city of Madeira. In 1993 Madeira and the Transvaal were twinned at a ceremony in Pretoria.
The Da Gama Clock in Durban was a memorial donated by the Portuguese community to commemorate the first sighting of Durban by Vasco DA GAMA in 1497.
Dr. Gert SWART was instrumental in the establishment of the Portuguese NG Kerk. He died in Johannesburg in July 2004. In the 1960s he also worked among the Jewish community, which led to the opening of the English-speaking Andrew Murray NG Kerk in Johannesburg in 1967, where he served until his retirement in 1989.
South Africans will remember the days of listening to LM Radio. The popular music station broadcasted from Lourenço Marques and could be heard in South Africa. It started in 1935 as Radio Clube de Mocambique, broadcasting for a few hours per night. G.J. McHARRY, a local businessman, was involved in turning it into a commercial station. In 1946 a South African partner was found and an office was opened in Johannesburg to sell airtime to advertisers. On 01 March 1964, LM started broadcasting 24 hours per day, under the management of David DAVIS. Many South African broadcasters started their careers at LM Radio including Clark McKAY, Rob VICKERS, Dana NIEHAUS, Darryl JOOSTE, Robin ALEXANDER and John BERKS. On the 01 June 1972 LM Radio management was taken over by the SABC. LM Radio shut down at midnight on 12 October 1975. The next morning at 5 a.m. Radio Five (now 5FM) took to the air in Johannesburg.