<P> The area fell out of regular contact with Europeans until 1652 , when Jan van Riebeeck and other employees of the Dutch East India Company ( Dutch : Vereenigde Oost - Indische Compagnie , or simply VOC ) were sent to the Cape to establish a halfway station to provide fresh water , vegetables , and meat for passing ships travelling to and from Asia . Van Riebeeck 's party of three vessels landed at the cape on 6 April 1652 . The Cape was under Dutch rule from 1652 to 1695 and again from 1803 to 1806 . The group quickly erected shelters and laid out vegetable gardens and orchards , and are preserved in the Company Gardens . Water from the Fresh River , which descended from Table Mountain , was channelled into canals to provide irrigation . The settlers bartered with the native Khoisan for their sheep and cattle . Forests in Hout Bay and the southern and eastern flanks of Table Mountain provided timber for ships and houses . At this point , the VOC had a monopoly on trade and prohibited any private trade . The Dutch gave their own names to the native inhabitants that they encountered , calling the pastoralists `` Hottentots '' , those that lived on the coast and subsisted on shellfishing `` Strandlopers '' , and those who were hunter - gatherers were named `` Bushmen '' . </P>
<P> The area fell out of regular contact with Europeans until 1652 , when Jan van Riebeeck and other employees of the Dutch East India Company ( Dutch : Vereenigde Oost - Indische Compagnie , or simply VOC ) were sent to the Cape to establish a halfway station to provide fresh water , vegetables , and meat for passing ships travelling to and from Asia . Van Riebeeck 's party of three vessels landed at the cape on 6 April 1652 . The Cape was under Dutch rule from 1652 to 1695 and again from 1803 to 1806 . The group quickly erected shelters and laid out vegetable gardens and orchards , and are preserved in the Company Gardens . Water from the Fresh River , which descended from Table Mountain , was channelled into canals to provide irrigation . The settlers bartered with the native Khoisan for their sheep and cattle . Forests in Hout Bay and the southern and eastern flanks of Table Mountain provided timber for ships and houses . At this point , the VOC had a monopoly on trade and prohibited any private trade . The Dutch gave their own names to the native inhabitants that they encountered , calling the pastoralists `` Hottentots '' , those that lived on the coast and subsisted on shellfishing `` Strandlopers '' , and those who were hunter - gatherers were named `` Bushmen '' . </P>
when did the dutch settlers arrived in the western cape
when did the dutch settlers arrived in the western cape
1652
1652