The Complex History of Land Ownership in South Africa: Afrikaners and Indigenous Populations

Introduction

The history of land ownership in South Africa, particularly regarding the Afrikaners and the indigenous populations, is a complex and multifaceted narrative, rich with conflict and displacement.

Land Ownership and Displacement

Indigenous Peoples: Before the arrival of European settlers, the region was inhabited by various African groups who had established societies and systems of land use. The Tswana, for example, had established chiefdoms in the area that would become the Transvaal.

The Great Trek

In the 1830s and 1840s, many Afrikaners undertook the Great Trek, moving away from British-controlled areas in the Cape Colony into the interior of South Africa. They sought to establish their own independent republics, including the South African Republic (Transvaal) and the Orange Free State.

Conflict and Land Seizure

As Afrikaners moved into these regions, they often came into conflict with the indigenous populations. The Afrikaners seized land through a combination of military conquest, treaties, and negotiations that were often unfavorable to the indigenous groups. This led to significant displacement of the local populations.

The Gold Rush

The discovery of gold in the late 19th century, specifically in the Witwatersrand area in the 1880s, intensified the influx of European settlers and increased the demand for cheap labor. Many black Africans were indeed brought in as laborers to work in the mines, resulting in further displacement and disruption of their communities.

A More Accurate Picture of the Transvaal

While it is true that the Transvaal may have appeared underpopulated to some Afrikaners upon their arrival, it was not entirely vacant. Only the Highveld area, specifically the northern stretch of Orange Free State and south/central Transvaal, was rather empty. This area was largely vacated due to the effects of the Difaqane (Mfecane), a series of conflicts initiated by the unification of the Zulu nation by Shaka.

The Difaqane displaced many tribes, leading to their decimation, assimilation, or relocation. Shaka's general Mzilikazi rebelled against Shaka and moved with his followers to the southern/western Transvaal, where he established a new power base, further changing the demographic landscape. Tribes in his sphere of influence either were conquered, assimilated, decimated, or moved to safer areas like Lesotho or Swaziland.

When the Afrikaner pioneers arrived in Transvaal, they clashed with Mzilikazi, defeated him, and drove him to modern-day Zimbabwe. Thus, the south/central Transvaal was indeed rather vacant. However, to the north, the Bushveld region still had some Pedi northern Sotho clans, and the Venda kingdom was in the far north of Transvaal. Additionally, towards the eastern Lowveld, the Tsonga and the Swazi maintained their territories.

To conclude, the Transvaal is vast, and some parts were rather vacant when the Afrikaners arrived, while other parts were densely populated. The borders of the South African Republic eventually incorporated all these areas from the Vaal river to the Limpopo. More densely populated areas remained tribal land even after the Union of South Africa was established in 1910 and formalized with the Native Land Act of 1913. These areas are marked on the map as regions where the different tribes could exercise their political rights during apartheid.