Early 19th Century

Jewish immigrants from Germany and Holland arrived in Cape Town in the early 19th century seeking fortune and adventure. Some choose to join the Boers on their Great Trek into South Africa’s hinterland and some traveled into Rhodesia (present day Zimbabwe and Zambia). The Jews began building a commercial infrastructure for the Boer farmers and set up trading stations in villages and at railway sidings, which soon became local business centers. A credit system was established by the Jews to finance new industries. In the 1840's, Jews developed shipping, fishing and coastal trading and sugar enterprises. Jews were also active in the production of wine, clothing and steel.

The discovery of diamonds in 1867 in Kimberly attracted Jewish entrepreneurs and businessman from all over the world. Because of the extensive Jewish trade network, Jews immediately became involved in the diamond and precious stones industry, many moving north from Cape Town to Johannesburg. Two famous Jewish South African entrepreneurs were Barney Barnato and Sammy Marks. Barnato founded the De Beers Consolidated Mines for mining diamond fields. In 1897, Barnato mysteriously died while sailing to England.

Marks became involved in diamond trading and mining and, after amassing a huge fortune, he focused his attention on the Witwatersrand gold fields. Next, Marks became an industrialist and developed Transvaal; he planted fruit farms and forests, manufactured bricks, glass, steel and leather goods, exploited Transvaal’s coal and established the South African Breweries. He also founded the town of Veeringing, along Transvaal’s border. Marks openly practiced Judaism and served as a mediator between the British and the Boers during the Boer-British Wars. Eventually Marks served as senator for the first Parliament in South Africa.

The movement of Jews to Johannesburg caused Cape Town's Jewish community to shrink to only a few hundred families, who mostly assimilated and intermarried. However, between 1880 and 1910, the Jewish population swelled from 4,000 to 40,000 with Yiddish speaking immigrants from Lithuania, thus revitalizing the Jewish community of Cape Town. The new arrivals were fleeing political persecution and pogroms in Europe. South Africa became known as a Lithuanian colony. Many of the Eastern European immigrants discarded their old garb and mores and adopted new Anglo-Jewish customs. While many started out as peddlers, they eventually became shopkeepers.

These new immigrants infused South Africa with a love of Israel and a strong Zionist connection. They were instrumental in the creation of the South African Zionist Federation in 1898, responsible for coordinating all the Zionist activities throughout the country.

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