Gold and diamonds -1886 – Griqualand West

 

Slaan maar ou kaarte na, dit wys presies van die ou gebiede uit.  Daar word steeds in media berigte verklaar hoe ons Boere (blankes) die mense se grond gesteel het, en dit word vandag steeds deur leiers soos Ramaphosa, Zuma, Mbeki, Malema en veel ander prontuit gepropageer.   Dit skep die indruk hoe aaklig ons is omdat ons nie ander die son gun nie.   Soveel leuens al vir etlike dekades wat al voor 1900 begin het.   Daarom word daar so baie gesing “Kill the BOER” kill the Farmer”.     So many lies on our heads from the British rules and even those struggle songs is not the truth.

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Daar word al vir jare verkondig ons as Boere (blankes) besit die meeste grondgebiede, terwyl dit alles leuens is.   Grond is eenvoudig deur Brittanje afgeneem en koloniale gebiede gemaak om ons almal te regeer – of as Reservate of Kroongebiede.   

Dit is beslis nie deur die Boere republieke (of selfs ander nie-onafhanklike Boere republieke), wat destyds volle onafhanklikheid geniet het nie, gedoen nie.   Daar was baie goeie buurmanskap tussen blanke leiers en swartes destyds.    Swartes het teen mekaar oorlog gemaak meeste van die tyd, ook tydens Mfecane voor 1930.

Ons het wel sekere gebiede beheer, wat binne die Vrystaat en ou Transvaal geval het, maar nie die grondgebiede wat as Reservate of Kroongebiede verklaar is nie. 

Inteendeel die gebiede word as sulks ook in die grondwet van die Unie in 1910 beskerm.  Sekere gebiede was niemandsland en grondgebiede wat nie gebruik is nie, is aan Boere verhandel vir sekere dienste gelewer deur ons voorgeslagte.   

Ons voorgeslagte sou mos dom gewees het om nie daarvan gebruik te maak nie – enige ooreenkoms wat bereik was, was wettig bereik.   Daar word vandag steeds baie ooreenkomste aangegaan en daar vind triljoene rande se korrupsie onder ANC  bewind plaas.  Hoeveel van hierdie korrupsie geld is al ooit teruggevind of skuldiges vervolg?  Dit was ook immigrante en werkers uit ander lande wat ingevlieg is na 1902 deur Brittanje om in die myne te kom werk.  Later het Randlords ryker geword en om die myne gevestig.   Meestal immigrante en Engelse randlords.

Daar was voorheen gebiede wat aan spesifieke volksgroepe behoort het.    So het die Griekwas ook deurgeloop en hul grondgebiede is deur die Britte geannekseer.   Daar word melding gemaak plase is geforseer om verkoop te word, maar aan wie?   Blankes kon enige persoon gewees het en beslis nie net ‘n Boer nie.   Volgens die Unie dokumente kan dit nie gebeur nie.   Trustgebiede vandag, was Reservate en Boere (blankes) kan nie grond daar bekom of koop nie.  Dalk huur – lees die Ingonyama Trust se bepalinge en wetgewings.  

In 1871 the British formally annexed Griqualand West, incorporating it into the Cape Colony nine years later. Most Griqua were forced to sell their farms to whites.   What whites?   Various emigrants were also whites. Very few remained in the area by the end of the 19th  century.

Diamonds continue to be mined in Griqualand West, and cattle and sheep are grazed.    The rich deposits of the Finsch diamond pipe mine east of Postmasburg have been worked since 1963 by De Beers Consolidated Mines, Ltd. The main town is Kimberley.    Who are the owners of De Beers … read also mineral rights and who is behind this.

https://www.britannica.com/place/Griqualand-West

 

But more trouble was to follow for the Griquas who remained in Griqualand West. It was in the heart of the Griqua lands, at Hopetown, that the famous “Eureka and Star of Africa diamonds” were found and indentified by the larger than life personality, Dr Atherstone, starting a flood of speculators. 

Speculators flocked over the Griqua Lands in 1871 with new diamond finds such as Du Toits Pan, Bultfontein, Wesselton, Koffyfontein, Jagersfontein and, the biggest of them all, the Colesberg Kopje (later named the big hole of Kimberley) being mined. It was tales of overnight fortunes being made that created the rush of speculators which, in turn, saved the evolving boer republic of the Orange Free State from bankruptcy.

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In 1848 the British annexed the entire area between the Orange and Vaal Rivers, which included the Griqualand area, and called it the Orange River Sovereignty with a Magistrate at Bloemfontein who flew the Union Jack.

In 1854 the Orange Free State was established and the Transvaal would slowly form by 1860.

This also meant that Griqualand West was technically independent but it would have to fight off incursions from Boers or any other interested groups.   

Who wanted the minerals?   1902 – British Empire.   Why did they not stay in England – they all have a country – why did they annexed all our areas?

An independent arbiter found in favour of the Griqua rather than the Boers. This allowed the British to declare a protectorate over the area from Cape Colony in 1871. However, the British moved with rather indecent haste and declared that Griqualand West was to become a full Crown Colony just two years later.

The purpose for this haste was to force the Griqua Captain to sell his mineral rights and those of his people for a thousand pounds per year. The Transvaal was understandly incensed by this diplomatic sleight of hand, arguing that Britain had challenged Boer attempts to annex lands whilst annexing it for themselves.

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In a treaty signed in 1834, the Cape Colony accorded due recognition to the Griqua kaptyn, Andries Waterboer, as an independent chief and agreed to pay him a salary of £100 a year for protecting the colonial frontier, warning the authorities of possible attacks and sending back fugitives.

A similar treaty was signed in 1843 with another Griqua leader, Adam Kok, who had established a statelet based on Philippolis, a mission station to the east of Waterboer’s territory.

https://erenow.net/modern/diamondsgoldandwarmartinmeredith/3.php

https://www.britishempire.co.uk/maproom/griqualandwest.htm

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KONFEDERASIES EN FEDERASIE – BOERE REPUBLIEKE EN DIE GRIEKWAVOLK

Niemand glo in elk geval die storie wat die Britte aan ons of ons nageslag opdis dat die Boere republieke bankrot was nie, dis ook alles leuens, veral gesien teen die feite hoe daar gedelf en geld gemaak is, spesifiek al die Britse immigrante wat hulself RANDlords gedoop het.   Hulle het enorme huise gebou met al die geld wat uit die twee Boere republieke se goudmyne gemaak is.   Dus, hoe kon ons voorgeslagte bankrot gewees het.   Dis ons voorouers wat van hierdie diamantvelde afgeboender is, nes hulle dit vandag doen met die ANC of eerder Britse statebond aan bewind.   Indien dit so sleg gegaan het en indien dit bankrot was, hoekom sou die Britse regering die Anglo-Boere oorloë aangepak en selfs al die myne, in 1902 geannekseer het.    Niemand sou twee oorloë en soveel uitgawes aangegaan het, met lewensverliese as dit nie om geld, diamante, goud en minerale gegaan het nie.

Hulle het seker gemaak hul annekseer heel eerste al die ander volke se grondgebiede voor hul die Boere van hul grond verwilder het met hul verskroeide aarde beleid en Britse helkampe waar meer as 34000 Vrouens en kinders dood is weens hongersnood en gebrek aan mediese sorg.   Hoekom sou die Britte soveel moeite gedoen het om na 1907 te begin om meer as 400000 immigrante uit Afrika en selfs China in te vlieg?   Daar was nie bankrotskap ter sprake nie, inteendeel.   Dit was verkondig dat Paul Kruger en selfs Vrystaat was bankrot, maar dit is nie die geval nie.  Alles leuens om ons voorgeslagte te oorrompel en die Presidente af te maak as  geen leiers nie.

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GRIEKWAS EN ANDER VOLKE

Dus was die Griekwa en ander volke reeds in ‘n konfederasie of federale stelsel met die Britse regering en nou wil hulle presies dieselfde doen, maar met hulle in die meerderheid in daardie gebiede, veral oor die konserwatiewes Boere en Afrikaner blankes.   

Nou wil dieselfde spul, met al die tradisionele leiers en grondeise wat reeds toegeken is, konfederasies en federasies aangaan met minderheid konserwatiewe blankes in daardie gebiede.

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On being presented with a request from Nicholas Waterboer for union with the Cape Colony, there had begun a protracted debate over whether Griqualand West should be joined to the Cape in a confederation, or whether it should be annexed to the Cape Colony in a total union. The former view was supported by Lord Carnarvon and the British Colonial Office in London – as a first step to bringing all of southern Africa into a British-ruled confederation.

Basters are a separate ethnic group of similarly mixed origins living in south-central Namibia; Northern Cape at Campbell and Griquatown; (the historic territory of Griqualand West); the Western Cape (around the small le Fleur Griqua settlement at Kranshoek); and at Kokstad.

https://thereaderwiki.com/en/Griqualand_West

The British started to settle the eastern border of the cape colony, with the arrival in Port Elizabeth of the 1820 Settlers. They also began to introduce the first rudimentary rights for the Cape’s Black African population.

Known as Boers, they migrated westwards beyond the Cape Colony’s initial borders and had soon penetrated almost a thousand kilometres inland.    Some Boers even adopted a nomadic lifestyle permanently and were denoted as trekboers.

https://thereaderwiki.com/en/Cape_Colony

Boere are the descendants of the Dutch-speaking Free Burghers of the eastern Cape frontier.

https://thereaderwiki.com/en/Boer

1602

Immigrants from Germany, Scandinavia, and Switzerland journeyed to Holland in the hope of finding employment at the VOC.  Some of the men who had received land established themselves as farmers while others took service with the farmers as farm workers.  Burghers were allowed to purchase cattle from the Khoisan, provided they buy the cattle at the same price as the company were offering.

https://thereaderwiki.com/en/Free_Burghers

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KLIPDRIFT REPUBLIC

At the settlement of Klipdrift, on 30 July 1870 Stafford Parker declared the independent Klipdrift Republic (also known as the Digger’s Republic and the Republic of Griqualand West) and was also chosen as president. Klipdrift was promptly renamed “Parkerton” after the new president, who began to collect taxes (often at gunpoint). Factions in the Republic also implored the British Empire to impose its authority and annex the territory.

By December of the same year about 10 000 British settlers made their home in the new republic. The republic sat next to the Vaal River, but existed for an extremely short time. During the following year, Boer forces unsuccessfully attempted to regain the territory through negotiation. British Governor Sir Henry Barkly was asked to mediate. Barkly set up the Keate Committee to hear evidence and, in the famous “Keate Award”, ruled against the Boer Republics and in favour of Nicholas Waterboer.

The difference between proprietorship and sovereignty was confused or ignored. That Waterboer exercised no authority in the disputed district was admitted. In a crucial finding Stockenström ruled that, as the Griqua people were nomadic, the Griqua chiefs (or “captains”) were rulers over a people, but not over a fixed territory.     The Griqua captains therefore did not automatically get the right to own & develop all of the land through which they moved, but only those areas in which they would settle.

In the opinion of Dr Theal, who has written the history of the Boer Republics and has been a consistent supporter of the Boers, the annexation of Griqualand West was probably in the best interests of the Orange Free State. “There was,” he states, “no alternative from British sovereignty other than an independent diamond field republic.”

https://thereaderwiki.com/en/Griqualand_West

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MORE BACKGROUND

Griqualand West

Griquatown Andersons.com is the family tree for 4871 individuals linked to Anderson of Griquatown [William Anderson 1769-1852] and the Anderson-Davel family.

Anderson landed at the Cape, South Africa in 1800 and the following year founded Griquatown – an isolated place far north (beyond the Cape border) that became the main route for explorers, and also the centre of British Colony “Griqualand West” 1873-1880 with its own flag, coins, stamps and the Kimberly diamonds. William Anderson came from England but his ancestors traced to Thomas Anderson (1635-1699) Aberdeen Scotland.

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Anderson of Griquatown married Johanna Maria Schonken (1777-1848) whose direct ancestors landed in 1723 from Holland.

 Johann Christiaan Davel (1788-1842) of the Anderson-Davel’s of Zimbabwe landed in South Africa in 1734 from Germany.

On the maternal side of this family, John Balfour Blyth (Abt 1807-1891) landed in 1856 from Scotland and Johannes Pretorius (1642-1694) before 1680 from Holland.

http://griquatownandersons.com/

1867
https://slideplayer.com/slide/4223463/

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Southern Africa experienced a transformation between 1870, when the diamond rush to Kimberley began, and 1902, when the Anglo Boer Wars ended.   During 1886, the world’s largest goldfields were discovered on the Witwatersrand.   

SEPARATE AREAS – RESERVES AND CROWN LANDS

British colonies, independent Boer republics and African kingdoms all came under British control since 1900 and also annexation of all minerals.     

The industry became a monopoly by 1889 when De Beers Consolidated Mines (controlled by Cecil Rhodes) became the sole producer.

The diamond zone was simultaneously claimed by the Orange Free State, the South African Republic, the western Griqua under Nicolaas Waterboer, and southern Tswana chiefs.

At a special hearing in October 1871, Robert W. Keate (then lieutenant governor of Natal) found in favour of Waterboer, but the British persuaded him to request protection against his Boer rivals, and the area was annexed as Griqualand West.

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The annexation of the diamond fields signaled a more progressive British policy under a Liberal ministry but fell short of the ambitious confederation policy pursued by Lord Carnarvon, the colonial secretary in Benjamin Disraeli’s 1874 Conservative government; he sought to unite the republics and colonies into a self-governing federation in the British Empire, a concept inspired by Theophilus Shepstone, who, as secretary for native affairs in Natal, urged a coherent regional policy with regard to African labour and administration.   Shepstone was also involved with the annexation of the Boer republics.

/https://www.britannica.com/place/South-Africa/Diamonds-gold-and-imperialist-intervention-1870-1902

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British were adamant to annex the two Boer republics for their minerals, gold and diamonds, etc.
Shepstone – Natal, roots of segregation

Referred to the various British Empire flags, rules – this Sheptone legislation/policy is about SEGREGATION AND APARTHEID – reserves and Crown lands.
British Empire and their colonial rules/flags

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British Empire was known to be “the empire on which sun never sets” and when Queen Victoria came to throne in 1873, Britain already governed Canada, Australia, New Zealand and parts of India, South America and Africa. Here are some more interesting facts about British Empire.
‘United we stand’ – British rule

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Hier kan ook gesien word dat myne reeds gevestig was.    Beeldmateriaal is in 1917 geplaas, goud en diamante. 

Nie net Kimberley en Witwatersrand nie, maar ook die Cullinan myn.   Die hostelle waar swartes gebly het word ook vertoon.    Alles onder Britse beheer – die Britse regering het myne beheer en bestuur, ook die hostelle waar hul hul immigrante gehuisves het.

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Gold and Diamond Mines of South Africa 1917 (part1)

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Gold and Diamond Mines of South Africa 1917 (part 2)

 

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Swart en wit het onder in die myne gewerk.      3000 voet.

Shows how gold and diamonds are extracted from the earth and processed in the province of Transvaal in South Africa. Pictures gold mining operations at the Joch Mine near Johannesburg and diamond mining operations at the Premier Mine in the town of Cullinan. Includes street scenes of Johannesburg and of Kimberley, the center of the world’s largest diamond mining operations.

https://www.loc.gov/item/00694217/

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WAAR IS AL DAARDIE GOUD EN DIAMANTE HEEN?   

WHERE ARE THE GOLD AND DIAMONDS TODAY?

Baron Rosmead