In 1713, a smallpox epidemic struck the Cape of Good Hope and became one of the most destructive health disasters in the region’s early history. The disease arrived with a Dutch ship that stopped at the Cape refreshment station. Infected crew members’ clothing was sent to the slave lodge of the Dutch East India Company to be washed, unintentionally spreading the virus.
Within weeks, Company slaves were dying in large numbers, followed soon by European settlers. By May 1713, smallpox had spread across the Cape Peninsula. Burial practices broke down due to shortages of wood and labour, and farming was severely disrupted. Emergency food supplies had to be imported from Batavia.
By mid-1713, the epidemic was largely contained in the Peninsula, but it continued to spread into the interior. Settler farmers were affected, and agricultural activity slowed further. By the end of the year, the disease had mostly passed through the European population, although an estimated quarter of the settlers had died.
The impact on the indigenous Khoikhoi people was far more severe. Smallpox was unknown in the region before this outbreak, and the Khoikhoi had no natural immunity. Entire clans were devastated. Many fled the Peninsula in an attempt to escape the disease, but this often spread the infection further. Fear and conflict followed, and some fleeing groups were killed by others trying to avoid contagion.
By early 1714, reports indicated that fewer than ten per cent of the Khoikhoi population of the south-western Cape had survived. In many cases, clan structures collapsed entirely, and traditional leadership and names were lost. The epidemic permanently altered settlement patterns and accelerated colonial expansion into previously occupied areas.
This event is frequently referenced in Western Cape town histories due to its lasting demographic, social, and geographic consequences.
Within six months of 1713, smallpox had killed an estimated 25% of Dutch colonists, 35% of slaves owned by the Dutch East India Company, and possibly 80 to 90% of the Khoekhoen population of the Cape.
Further smallpox epidemics struck the Cape in 1755, where a total of 2,372 people died, and in 1767 and 1871, again causing many deaths, particularly among indigenous communities.
