| Notes |
- Schalk was a farmer in Oud-Beyerland.
From Janet Melville I learnt that, '...Schalk van der Merwe boer in Oud-Beyerland en (was) 'n kleinseun van Willem van der Merwe van wie die bestaande Van der Merwes in Nederland afstam.'
The first Boer commando
A turning point was reached in 1715 when the security situation at the Cape got out of hand and the VOC were unable to protect the free-burghers, partly due to the distance from the Cape and partly due to a lack of interest by the government.
After another attack, during which the home of Pieter Rossouw was burned down and cattle were looted, the burghers pleaded to the "politieke raad" for permission to retaliate. On 20 November 1715, a commando of 30 volunteers, under command of "burgervaandrig" Schalk Willemsz van der Merwe and "wagtmeester" Jan Harmensz Potgieter, were given orders to find the bushmen Hottentots and bring the cattle back. During this expedition, Jan Harmensz (the son of Harmen Jansz) killed a bushmen woman.
Jan was charged before the military court and, after many years of deliberation, evidence given, and embarrassment by the VOC, Jan was eventually discharged from the army on 14 October 1727 (due to "old age and inappropriate behaviour"). The expedition is however hailed as the start of the commando system in South Africa, where-by the protection of rural farm communities were left in the hands of civilian volunteers. At first, the commando's were a free for all wild west type of operation, but later on, it was organized under law, with the commandant and the field cornets as elected leaders of the commando's.
Sources:
"Stellenbosch - Drie eeue" (three centuries), edited and compiled by F Smith, published by the city council of Stellenbosch (1979), ISBN 0 620 03910-8. (Chapter 14, p429)
Resolusies van die Politieke Raad, Deel IV, 1707-1717
Resolusies van die Politieke Raad, Deel VII
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