A piece of Sulawesi in South Africa?

[Johan van Zyl]

Friends, I am hoping in this brief thread to give some interesting information which I think might not yet be known to you all. Because, in fact, not far from where I live (about 50 km), there is a place called Macassar. Of course, you know the Macassar which is the provincial capital of South Sulawesi, the largest city on Sulawesi Island, from whence Bugis kerisses come.
But this Macassar is in the Western Cape Province, South Africa.
And there is a very definite connection with Macassar of Sulawesi. Far back in history, in 1664, Macassar (Sulawesi) had been captured by the Dutch. In 1693 an Indonesian Muslim of noble descent, Abadin Tadia Tjoessoep, more commonly known as Sheikh Yusuf, was exiled to the Western Cape, South Africa, along with 49 followers. They were housed on the farm Zandvliet, outside of Cape Town, and attempts were made to minimise his influence on the Dutch East India's slaves. The attempts did not work out. Sheikh Yusuf's settlement soon became a sanctuary for slaves and it was here that the first cohesive Islamic community in South Africa was established. Sheikh Yusuf died at Zandvliet in 1699. Thereafter the area surrounding Zandvliet farm was renamed Macassar after his place of birth.
One last fact: In Simonstown, near Cape Town, there is a Muslim museum I visited about two years ago. They had at least one keris with its sheath in a display cabinet. This was the very first and only time that I had ever seen a keris. Now that I am the proud owner of my first keris, I need to visit the museum again soon to take a few pics.
Johan.