Day of the Vow

The day of the Vow traces its origin as an annual religious holiday to The Battle of Blood River on 16 December 1838.

The original Bantjes words from the journal read as follows; "Sunday morning before service began, the Commander in Chief (Pretorius) asked those who would lead the service to come together and requested them to speak with the congregation so that they should be zealous in spirit, and in truth, pray to God for His help and assistance in the coming strike against the enemy, and tell them that Pretorius wanted to make a Vow towards the Almighty (if all agreed to this) that "if the Lord might give us victory, we hereby promise to found a house (church) as a memorial of his Great Name at a place (Pietermaritzburg) where it shall please Him", and that they also implore the help and assistance of God in accomplishing this vow and that they write down this Day of Victory in a book and disclose this event to our last posterities in order that this will forever be celebrated in the honour of God."

This bound future descendants of the Afrikaner to commemorate the day as a religious holiday (sabbath) in the case of victory over the Zulus by promising to build a church in God's honour.

In 1841 with capital accumulated by Bantjes at the Volksraad, the Church of the Vow at Pietermaritzburg was eventually built - the biggest donor being the widow, Mrs. H.J.van Niekerk in Sept.1839.

A participant in the battle, Dewald Pretorius also wrote his recollections in 1862, interpreting the vow as including the building of churches and schools (Bailey 2003:31).

Jan G. Bantjes (1817–1887), Clerk of the Volksraad and Pretorius' secretary-general, indicates that the initial promise was to build a House in return for victory.

Bantjes writes in his journal that Pretorius told the assembly that he wanted to make a vow, "if everyone would agree" (Bailey 2003:24).

Perhaps the fractious nature of the Boers dictated that the raiding party held their own prayers in the tents of various leading men (Mackenzie 1997:73).

[2] Pretorius in his 1838 dispatch mentions a vow (Afrikaans: gelofte) in connection with the building of a church, but not that it would be binding for future generations.

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 [it] with thanksgiving, just as we...promised [beloofd] in public prayerContrary to Pretorius, and in agreement with Bantjes, Cilliers in 1870 recalled a promise (Afrikaans: belofte), not a vow, to commemorate the day and to tell the story to future generations.

Erasmus Smit [af; nl] announced the "7th annual" anniversary of the day in 1844 in De Natalier newspaper, for instance.

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.

After the Transvaal was annexed by the British in 1877, the new government refrained from state functions (like Supreme Court sittings) on the date (Bailey 2003:41).

The desire by the Transvaal to retrieve its independence prompted the emergence of Afrikaner nationalism and the revival of 16 December in that territory.

Paul Kruger, president of the Transvaal Republic, believed that failure to observe the date led to the loss of independence and to the first Anglo-Boer war as a divine punishment.

After the success of its military campaign against the British, the Transvaal state organised a Dingane's Day festival every five years.

He said that the Blood River battle established "South Africa as a civilized Christian country" and "the responsible authority of the white race".

In 1961, the African National Congress chose 16 December to initiate a series of sabotages, signalling its decision to embark on an armed struggle against the regime through its military wing, Umkhonto we Sizwe.

Accordingly, the victory over Dingaan was reinterpreted as a sign that God confirmed the rule of whites over black Africans, justifying the Boer project of acquiring land and eventually ascending to power in South Africa.

In 1971, for instance, Pro Veritate, the journal of the anti-apartheid organisation the Christian Institute of Southern Africa, devoted a special edition to the matter.

Historian Anton Ehlers traces how political and economic factors changed the themes emphasised during celebrations of the Day of the Vow.

The need to include English and "moderate" black groups in reforms prompted a de-emphasis on "the ethnic exclusivity and divine mission of Afrikaners" (Ehlers 2003).