Rev B Haai
- Title
- Rev B Haai
- Honorific
- eng Reverend
- afr Dominee
- Name(s)
- Bart
- Alternate Name(s)
- BJ Haai
- Bart Haai
- Surname
- Haai
- Description
- London Missionary Society. One of Rev Haai's ancestors was Hans Haai, a formidable hunter whose exploits stretched from Danielskuil to Zimbabwe, in the years up to 1870.He often accompanied European hunters, traders adn missionaries, such as Edward Chapman of Kuruman (PHR Snyman, Danielskuil: Van Griekwa-buitepos tot dienssentrum, HSRC, 1988, p. 19). Another ancestor was Isaac Haai, who served in the Griqua Council of the Waterboer government, based at Griquatown (Snyman 1988, p. 23). The Haai family received land in the 1870s, when the new Griqualand West colonial government allocated some farms to leading Griqua. Isaac Haai received Kalkfontein, while Cobus Haai received Vlakfontein (Snyman 1988, p. 28). In the 1880s, Isaac and Samuel Haai were of the very few Griqua who could afford erven in Danielskuil town (Snyman 1988, p. 36), being part of a small indigenous economic elite living in a growing sea of poverty. Rev Bart Haai grew up in Danielskuil, and started his clerical career in Danielskuil in 1919. He soon became a local leader. He served as chair of the "Location Advisory Committee", to provide recommendations to the white-controlled Town Council. He argued for compensation for people who lost their homes as a result of forced removals, but this was rejected by the Council. He also lobbied for water to be provided to the new location (Snyman 1988, p. 89). His family was one of the last non-white families to have the means to live in the white town, at a time when black and coloured farmilies' rights and livelihoods were increasingly undermined by municipal policies, and they generally became a landless proletariat. For decades, Rev Haai travelled the region by horse or donkey-cart, and in 1931. the LMS purchased a motor vehicle for him.He worked alongside notable clergy at Kuruman, including J Tom Brown, AE Jennings and HC Thompson. He retired in 1963, and died in 1969, and was succeeded by Rev Esias Arends (Snyman 1988, p. 131).
Linked resources
Part of Rev B Haai