History Of Vicarage

As retired missionary Pastor DS. Botha put his whole being into establishing a missionary church. Under his guidance on the 4th July 1898 the Dutch Reformed Congregation of Swelledam decided to appoint a commission to investigate better utilisation in a separate building of the coloureds, who belonged to the Swellendam congregation.
This commission consisted of Pastor Botha, Pastor Rossouw and brothers Dooge and Matthews.

On the 30th July 1898 the Mother church's council accepted the recommendation of the commission, namely that attempts would be made to organise the coloured congregants in a separate congregation so that their interests could be better attended to and would help avoid unpleasantries between the whites and coloureds being in the same building.

The Anglo-Boer war delayed these recommendations being carried through. It was therefore only on 2 August 1902 that the Dutch Reformed Church finally decided on two separate congregations.

Under the leadership of Pastor Botha (who at the time was the Chairman of the Interior Missionary Commission of the Dutch Reformed Church in the Cape) and the Council of Swellendam the Dutch Reformed Missionary Community of Swellendam was established on the 14th September 1902. Pastor Du toit would serve and grow the congregation with great passion and success for the following 36 years.

The church building was completed in 1904.

The Pastor's residence (De Oude Pastorie) was completed in 1907 at a cost (915 pounds).