Die Langeberg-rebellie en die totstandkoming van Olifantshoek

Abstract

The Northern Cape town of Olifantshoek was established early this century in an area previously inhabited by the Tswana. When Britain annexed Bechuanaland in 1885 the land of the indigenous inhabitants was limited to a number of reserves. When British Bechuanaland was incorporated into the Cape Colony in 1895, the reserves remained the property of the Tswana and could only be alienated with the consent of the British Secretary of State for the Colonies. Tswana opposition to White colonisation led to the Langeberg Rebellion of 1896-97, and through drastic government action the Tswana lost a further fifth of their land. The permission for this alienation had been easily obtained from the minister concerned. Farms in the confiscated reserves were surveyed and made available to White farmers. In the former Langeberg Reserve, situated in the south-west of Bechuanaland, a need arose from 1910 onwards for a centre to serve the growing farming community. This led to the laying out of lots at Olifantshoek in 1911 and the institution of a village management board in 1917.