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Periodical article Periodical article Leiden University catalogue Leiden University catalogue WorldCat catalogue WorldCat
Title:Jan Viljoen, the South African Republic and the Bakwena, 1848-1882
Author:Grobler, J.E.H.
Year:1997
Periodical:South African Historical Journal
Issue:36
Pages:240-255
Language:English
Geographic terms:South Africa
Botswana
Subjects:Kwena
biographies (form)
History and Exploration
Politics and Government
Peoples of Africa (Ethnic Groups)
About person:Jan Viljoen
External link:https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/02582479708671277
Abstract:Jan Viljoen was one of the first white farmers who settled with their families in the valley of the Little Marico River in the western Transvaal towards the end of 1848. As field cornet and commandant of Marico for 21 years and even after his retirement in 1870, Viljoen fulfilled the role of 'ambassador' in the Transvaal western frontier. He was especially prominent in relations between the Transvaal Boers and the Kwena of 'kgosi' (chief) Sechele, who lived to the northwest of Marico on land which now forms part of Botswana. This article focuses on Viljoen's role as mediator between the government of the Zuid-Afrikaansche Republiek (ZAR) - or the South African Republic - and Sechele, who was one of the most influential and colourful figures on the 19th-century Transvaal western frontier. Viljoen never regarded the Kwena as enemies - and never referred to them as such - but treated them as neighbours with whom the Transvaal Boers had to co-exist, while he identified the British as the real enemy, who influenced life on the borderland negatively. Ref.
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