Tesselaarsdal (formerly Teslaarsdal) is a
dispersed rural settlement in the
Theewaterskloof Municipality,
Western Cape,
South Africa. It is situated on the northern side of the
Kleinrivier Mountains, south of the town of
Caledon. The
2011 census recorded a population of 1,395 people in 428 households in Tesselaarsdal and on the surrounding farms.
History
The farm Hartebeesterivier was granted in 1781 to Johannes Jacobus Tesselaar as payment for his military service for the
Dutch East India Company (VOC).
It was one of five loan farms in the
Overberg that Tesselaar was to receive.
Tesselaar died in 1810 and his farms passed to his widow Aaltje. Following her death in 1832, under the terms of the Tesselaars' joint will,
the farm Harteebestrivier was left to nine former servants or slaves and their descendants.
The community now known as Tesselaarsdal developed from these nine original families. Over the years a primary school, a
Dutch Reformed Mission church
The Uniting Reformed Church in Southern Africa () was formed by the union of the black and coloured Nederduits Gereformeerde Kerk mission churches.
Main markers in the URCSA'S history
In 1652 the Dutch formed a halfway station at the Cape, which ...
and an
Anglican church were established. The name change from Hartebeesterivier to Tesselaarsdal was required when a post office was opened, to avoid confusion with another Hartebeesterivier.
During the
apartheid era, some residents were classified as "
White" and others as "
Coloured
Coloureds ( af, Kleurlinge or , ) refers to members of multiracial ethnic communities in Southern Africa who may have ancestry from more than one of the various populations inhabiting the region, including African, European, and Asian. South ...
". Despite this, the
Group Areas Act was never applied to Tesselaarsdal and there were no forced removals.
However, white farmers did benefit from agricultural subsidies not available to Coloured farmers.
Ownership of land within the settlement was handled informally, with subdivisions and transfers not registered with government authorities. In 1971 the Caledon Divisional Council approached the
Cape Supreme Court to determine legal ownership of the farm, but the case was rejected.
In 1982 a committee was established under the Land Titles Adjustment Act to survey the land and give legal title to the ''de facto'' owners.
Notable people
*
Peter Clarke Peter Clarke may refer to:
*Peter B. Clarke (1940–2011), British religious scholar
*Peter J. Clarke, U.S. Navy admiral, see Joint Task Force Guantanamo
* Peter Clarke (admiral) (born 1951), Australian admiral
*Peter Clarke (artist) (1929–2014 ...
began his artistic career on a three-month holiday in Tesselaarsdal in 1956.
References
{{Overberg District Municipality
Populated places in the Theewaterskloof Local Municipality