Dirk Postmas coming to South Africa

Dirk Postma's coming to South Africa: There was only one minister in the Transvaal State Church viz. Dirk van der Hoff. There was, therefore, a great need for ministers. The Synod of the Christian Seceded Reformed Church delegated Rev. Postma to travel to South Africa. Part of his assignment was to investigate the religious conditions in the Transvaal. Rev. Postma travelled by ship and arrived in Simon's Town in 1858 and visited Cape Town and Durban. He then left for the Transvaal where he met congregants in Rustenburg. The group was not happy about singing hymns during the church service and also felt strongly about certain "heresies". Some of the members requested Rev. Postma to assist them in their quest for a solution. This resulted in Postma assisting them in the establishment of the Reformed Church in Rustenburg on 11 February 1859. Rev. Postma served several congregations in the Transvaal, the Free State and the Cape Colony. In 1866, he became minister at Burgerdorp and also assisted in the training of the students. From 1879 to 1890 he served as a full-time professor at the Theological School of the Reformed Churches. Rev. Postma was married five times and some of his children and sons-in-law played important roles in the Reformed Church. His sons-in-law were Jan Lion Cachet, J A du Plessis and J D du Toit and his son Petrus was chaplain to Pres Paul Kruger. One of his other sons, Martinus, was professor in Burgersdorp.