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Freemasonry was brought toSouth Africa by members of theGrand Orient of the Netherlands in 1772. Today there are lodges chartered under theUnited Grand Lodge of England, theGrand Lodge of Scotland, theGrand Lodge of Ireland, the Grand Lodge of South Africa, as well asLe Droit Humain.
On 24 April 1772,Abraham van der Weijden, Deputy Grandmaster Abroad under theGrand Orient of the Netherlands, arrived in theCape of Good Hope.[1] 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.[1][2] The founding members of Lodge de Goede Hoop wereAbraham Chiron, Jacobus le Febre,Johann Gie, Pieter Soermans,Christoffel Brand, Jan van Schoor,Olof de Wet, and Petrus de Wit.[3][4]
While in 1774 the first two native-born candidates were initiated into freemasonry,[3] 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 asJ. A. Truter, who was Chief Justice.[1][5]
In 1795, the Britishoccupied the Cape, bringing with them military Lodges, but no new lodges were established in Cape colony during this time.
Another lodge was formed in 1800 by the Dutch called "De Goede Trouw" Lodge,[6] and in 1802 Jacob de Mist arrived from theNetherlands and was installed as the first Deputy Grand Master National in South Africa.
TheNapoleonic Wars brought asecond British invasion 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 theModerns' Grand Lodge of England in 1811, "British" Lodge.[2][7] TheAntients 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.[8] 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,[9] were some of the prominent Grand Masters through the early years. C.C. Silberbauer[10] 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.[11]
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.[12] The motto of the Southern Africa Grand Lodge is: "Deo et Collegio". It is Latin for "God and Order"[13] In November 1977, the Lodge admitted non-white members for the first time, as the South African Freemasons, previously were exclusively a white organization.[14]
Le Droit Humain 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.[15]
| Year term started | Year term ended | Surname | Name(s) | Date of birth | Date of death | Reference |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1804 | 1813 | de Mist | Jacobus Abraham Uitenhage | 20 April 1747 | 3 August 1823 | [3] |
| 1813 | 1831 | Neethling | Johannes Henoch | 1 August 1770 | 4 June 1838 | [3] |
| 1831 | 1837 | van Breda | Michiel | 12 August 1775 | 12 August 1847 | [3] |
| 1837 | 1874 | Brand | Christoffel Joseph | 24 June 1797 | 19 May 1875 | [3] |
| 1874 | 1893 | Hofmeyr | Jan Hendrik | 19 December 1818 | 25 April 1893 | [3] |
| 1893 | 1897 | Faure | David Pieter | 11 November 1842 | 17 August 1916 | [16] |
| 1897 | 1903 | Lewis | Charles Edwardes | 5 December 1855 | 13 January 1945 | [3] |
| 1903 | 1944 | Silberbauer | Conrad Christian | 23 September 1863 | 21 July 1944 | [17] |
| 1944 | 1957 | Rose | John George | 11 January 1876 | 18 February 1973 | [16] |
| 1957 | 1966 | Botha | Colin Graham | 15 August 1883 | 1 February 1973 | [18] |
| 1966 | 1973 | Conradie | Eddie | [18] | ||
| 1973 | 1983 | Gasson | Sydney Richard | 16 December 1927 | 20 March 2013 | [18] |
| 1983 | 1991 | Groenewald | Cornelius Botha | 24 June 1922 | 30 May 2009 | [18] |
| 1991 | 1997 | Bauser | Reunert Sidney | 25 December 1928 | 28 December 2017 | [18] |
| 1997 | 2003 | Lindeque | Barend Gerhardus | 5 November 1940 | 10 April 2015 | [18] |
| 2003 | 2008 | Bowen | John Thomas | 7 November 1935 | 26 November 2013 | [18] |
| 2008 | 2014 | Watson | Armiston | 26 November 1944 | 12 October 2014 | [18] |
| 2014 | 2017 | Edwards | Geoffrey Robert | 1945 | [19] | |
| 2017 | 2020 | Duncan | David James | 30 September 1944 | [20] | |
| 2020 | 2023 | Smith | John Ewald Henry | 14 November 1955 | [20] | |
| 2023 | present | Place | Godfrey Stuart | 25 June 1957 |
Note: Until 1961 the Grand Masters were called Deputy Grand Masters, because it was either part of the Netherlands Lodge.[clarification needed] There was close cooperation with Thomas Nathaniel Cranstoun-Day from the British Freemasons during the years up to 1961.
