Galant of the Cape, 1825

In February 1825, Galant of the Cape, a slave, led the second of only two slave rebellions in the country on the farm Houdenbek at the foot of the Koue Bokkeveld Mountains. A number of slaves and Khoekhoe labourers (incl. Isaac Thys) joined him as they believed that the government had promised them emancipation but that their owners were not allowing it to proceed. They killed the farmer and two other people before escaping into the surrounding mountains. A slave woman raised the alarm, and a commando was despatched from Cape Town and captured Galant and his supporters on a cave near the banks of the Sand River. The slaves were captured and Galant was hanged for his role in this uprising.