Freemasonry Freemasonry or Masonry refers to fraternal organisations that trace their origins to the local guilds of stonemasons that, from the end of the 13th century, regulated the qualifications of stonemasons and their interaction with authorities ...

was brought to

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...

by members of the

Grand Orient of the Netherlands The Grand Orient of the Netherlands or Grand East of the Netherlands (Dutch: ''Orde van Vrijmetselaren onder het Grootoosten der Nederlanden'') is a Masonic Grand Lodge in the Netherlands. It falls within the mainstream Anglo-American tradition of ...

in 1772. Today there are lodges chartered under the

United Grand Lodge of England The United Grand Lodge of England (UGLE) is the governing Masonic lodge for the majority of freemasons in England, Wales and the Commonwealth of Nations. Claiming descent from the Masonic grand lodge formed 24 June 1717 at the Goose & Gridiron T ...

, the

Grand Lodge of Scotland The Grand Lodge of Antient Free and Accepted Masons of Scotland is the governing body of Freemasonry in Scotland. It was founded in 1736. About one third of Scotland's lodges were represented at the foundation meeting of the Grand Lodge. Histor ...

, the

Grand Lodge of Ireland The Grand Lodge of Ireland is the second most senior Grand Lodge of Freemasons in the world, and the oldest in continuous existence. Since no specific record of its foundation exists, 1725 is the year celebrated in Grand Lodge anniversaries, as ...

, the Grand Lodge of South Africa, as well as

Le Droit Humain The International Order of Freemasonry ''Le Droit Humain'' is a global Masonic Order, membership of which is available to men and women on equal terms, regardless of nationality, religion or ethnicity. History The Order is founded on the an ...

Early Colonial Period

On 24 April 1772, Abraham van der Weijden, Deputy Grandmaster Abroad under the

, arrived in the

Cape of Good Hope The Cape of Good Hope ( af, Kaap die Goeie Hoop ) ;''Kaap'' in isolation: pt, Cabo da Boa Esperança is a rocky headland on the Atlantic coast of the Cape Peninsula in South Africa. A common misconception is that the Cape of Good Hope is t ...

. He issued a warrant allowing for the founding of a lodge, “De Goede Hoop”, ten days after arriving, which was ratified by the Grand Orient on 1 September 1772.Mackey, Albert. ''Encyclopedia of Freemasonry and its Kindred Sciences.'' Jazzybee Verlag, 2013. The founding members of Lodge de Goede Hoop were Abraham Chiron, Jacobus le Febre, Johann Gie, Pieter Soermans,

Christoffel Brand Sir Christoffel Joseph Brand (21 June 1797 Cape Town – 19 May 1875 Cape Town) was a Cape jurist, politician, statesman and first Speaker of the Parliament of the Cape of Good Hope, Legislative Assembly of the Cape Colony. Early life and edu ...

, Jan van Schoor, Olof de Wet, and Petrus de Wit. While in 1774 the first two native-born candidates were initiated into freemasonry, the lodge failed to gain a foothold among the local population, and was dependent on visitors, which led to the lodge becoming dormant in 1781 until it was revived in 1794, when more local residents were attracted to the fraternity, such as J. A. Truter, who was Chief Justice. In 1795, the British occupied the Cape, bringing with them military Lodges, but no new lodges were established in Cape colony during this time.

British Rule

Another lodge was formed in 1800 by the Dutch called "De Goede Trouw" Lodge, and in 1802 Jacob de Mist arrived from the

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

and was installed as the first Deputy Grand Master National in South Africa. The

Napoleonic Wars The Napoleonic Wars (1803–1815) were a series of major global conflicts pitting the French Empire and its allies, led by Napoleon I, against a fluctuating array of European states formed into various coalitions. It produced a period of Fren ...

brought a

second British invasion The Second British Invasion consisted of music acts from the United Kingdom that became popular in the U.S. during the early-to-mid 1980s primarily due to the cable music channel MTV. The term derives from the similar British Invasion of the U. ...

of South Africa. With the beginning of British rule over the region, Dutch lodges saw an increase in members of English origin. Tensions arose between the British masons and their Dutch speaking counterparts, leading the English masons to form their own lodge in the Cape under the Moderns' Grand Lodge of England in 1811, "British" Lodge. The

Antients The Ancient Grand Lodge of England, as it is known today, or ''The Grand Lodge of the Most Ancient and Honourable Fraternity of Free and Accepted Masons (according to the Old Constitutions granted by His Royal Highness Prince Edwin, at York, Anno ...

established a rival lodge, "Cape of Good Hope", the following year in 1812. The British and Dutch freemasons started to work together and became one. The advocate CJ Brand (He was a grandson of one of the founders of freemasonry in South Africa), the first Mayor of Cape Town, M. van Breda and the Master of the Supreme Court, J.H. Hofmeyer, were some of the prominent Grand Masters through the early years. C.C. Silberbauer was Grand Master in the times when the organization in South Africa, had financial problems. T.N. Cranstoun-Day (from the British side) was adamant that lodge stayed pure English. Cranstown-Day could not speak Afrikaans.

Grand Lodge of South Africa

It was formed independently from the Netherlands and the UK. Under Colonel C.G. Botha it was established on 22 April 1961. Botha was named Grand Master. The motto of the Southern Africa Grand Lodge is: "Deo et Collegio". It is Latin for "God and Order" In November 1977, the Lodge admitted non-white members for the first time, as the South African Freemasons, previously were exclusively a white organization.

The International Order of Freemasonry for Men and Women Le Droit Humain South African Federation

first lodge in South Africa was founded in 1914 in Durban. South African Lodges were administered by the British Federation of the order until 1995 when the South Africa Federation was founded.

Grand Masters

Note: Until 1961 the Grand Masters were called Deputy Grand Masters, because it was either part of the Netherlands Lodge. There was close cooperation with Thomas Nathaniel Cranstoun-Day from the British Freemasons during the years up to 1961.

Notable South African Freemasons

P.J. Blignaut - Government Secretary of the

Orange Free State The Orange Free State ( nl, Oranje Vrijstaat; af, Oranje-Vrystaat;) was an independent Boer sovereign republic under British suzerainty in Southern Africa during the second half of the 19th century, which ceased to exist after it was defeat ...

J.H. Brand - 4th State President of the Orange Free State L. Botha - 1st Prime Minister of South Africa T.F. Burgers - 4th President of the South African Republic P.A. Cronje - South African General P.J. Joubert - South African General J.C. Laas - Organizer of the

Ossewabrandwag The ''Ossewabrandwag'' (OB) (, from af , ossewa , translation = ox-wagon and af , brandwag , translation = guard, picket, sentinel, sentry - ''Ox-wagon Sentinel'') was an anti-British and pro-German organisation in South Africa during Worl ...

C.J. Langenhoven Cornelis Jacobus Langenhoven (13 August 1873 – 15 July 1932), who published under his initials C.J. Langenhoven, was a South African poet who played a major role in the development of Afrikaans literature and cultural history. His poetry was ...

- South African poet J.P. Marais - Founder and maker of Klipdrift Brandy G.L.P. Moerdijk - Afrikaans architect, best known for the Voortrekker Monument. H.F. Oppenheimer - South African businessman M.W. Pretorius - First president of the South African Republic G.S. Preller - South African journalist F.W. Reitz - 5th State President of the Orange Free State T.J.deV. Roos - South African politician W.P. Steenkamp - Clergyman that erected churches in Namakwaland. D.J.S. Theron - Boer Army military leader J.H. de Villiers First Chief Justice of the Union of South Africa A.G. Visser - Afrikaans poet

References

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