Cape Town history - Wolraad Woltemade - South Africa The story of Wolraad Woltemade is probably the story of South Africa's first hero. On 31 May 1773 there was a huge storm and there was a ship ( De Jonge Thomas) anchored in Table Bay. The storm raged for a day and a night and one by one the anchor ropes broke. There were 207 terrified men onboard.   Eventually the ship hit a sandbank and the men could do nothing but cling to the wreckage. Soldiers were sent to guard the ship - among them was Christian Ludwig Woltemade. His father Wolraad Woltemaade came to bring food for the soldiers and saw that no-one even tried to save the men on the ship.   He took his horse and went into the storm to save 2 men at a time. The 8th time he went in, too many men tried to climb on the horse and they all disappeared into the ocean.