1794: The São José was a Portuguese slave ship which sank off what is today known as Clifton 2nd beach in Cape Town in the Western Cape. At the time of wrecking, it was carrying 512 enslaved people from Mozambique who were destined for Brazil, during a time when the slave trade between the two countries was just emerging. The ship’s voyage, although unsuccessful in its mission to bring enslaved people to Brazil, was an important precedent for the sourcing of enslaved people from East Africa, something which ultimately contributed to the establishment of the Atlantic Slave Trade. At about 02:00, the São José, having left Mozambique some three weeks earlier, struck submerged rocks about 100m off the beach during a storm. All the crew were rescued but only about half of the enslaved people made it to shore, with the rest perishing with the ship, most still shackled below deck. The enslaved people that were fortunate enough to survive the wrecking were sold into slavery in Cape Town. For 200 years the wreck lay undiscovered, until local divers stumbled upon it in the 1980s and misidentified it as a Dutch merchant vessel. After five years of careful archival work, the wreck was identified correctly in 2015 and the first artefacts were brought to the surface. The São José is the only slave shipwreck to have been excavated and scientifically studied off the coast of South Africa. As such, one of the primary categories of significance lies in the site’s scientific value. The story of the wrecking makes this site particularly special because of the links it establishes between the enslaved people’s home country of Mozambique, the Portuguese origins of the ship, the ship’s intended destination of Brazil, and its final resting place off the South African southwest coast. The site was declared a National Heritage Site in 2018.
For more information on the wreck, visit the Iziko Slave Lodge in Cape Town to see the permanent physical exhibition.
Objects from the wreck site of this transatlantic slave voyage have been diligently excavated, conserved and prepared. The artefacts – never before seen in South Africa – form the central element of the exhibition, and a large interactive experience of the wreck site, created by the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture (NMAAHC), is also on display.
Timeline (Compliments of the Smithsonian):
April 27, 1794—The São José, a ship owned by Antonio Perreira and captained by his brother, Manuel Joao Perreira, left Lisbon for Mozambique with more than 1,400 iron ballast bars in its cargo. Seeking new markets, it is one of the first attempts by European slave traders to bring East Africa into the broader trans-Atlantic West African trade.
Dec. 3, 1794—São José, laden with more than 400 captive Mozambicans likely from the interior of the country, set out for its destination: Maranhao, Brazil.
Dec. 27, 1794—Caught in variable winds and swells off the coast of Cape Town, the São José ran into submerged rocks in Camps Bay about 100 meters (328 feet) from shore. A rescue was attempted, and the captain, crew and approximately half of those enslaved were saved. The remaining Mozambican captives perished in the waves.
Dec. 29, 1794—The captain submitted his official testimony before court, describing the wrecking incident and accounting for the loss of property, including humans. Surviving Mozambicans were resold into slavery in the Western Cape. Apart from the court documents and scant reports throughout the years, the incident of the São José and the fate of those 200 enslaved Mozambicans passes out of public memory.
After 1794—The Portuguese family who owned and operated the São José continued their international slave trade and make several complete voyages bringing captive Mozambicans to Northeast Brazil where they are sold into slavery on plantations in and near Maranhao.
1840: Australia, this wooden sailing brig caught on fire, exploded, and foundered north of the Oliphants River mouth near the modern-day border between the Western Cape and Northern Cape. Reports vary, but either one or two people died because of the wrecking.
1976: Mary Kate, this motor-powered fishing trawler foundered off Amanzimtoti in KwaZulu-Natal.
