Smallpox Epidemic Strikes the Cape
Date: 13 February, 1713
The first of several smallpox epidemics struck the refreshment station at the Cape, after arriving with the crew of a Dutch ship from the Orient. The disease wreaked irreparable havoc amongst the indigenous and colonist population of the Cape Peninsula and the adjacent interior. Hardest hit were the Khoi-Khoi, where whole societies were wiped out by this and subsequent epidemics in 1767, 1807, 1812, 1858 and 1881.
Sources:
Potgieter, D.J. et al. (eds) (1970). Standard Encyclopaedia of Southern Africa, Cape Town: NASOU, 4, p. 378.