Potgieter barters land from Chief Makwana

Updated: 30 Sep 2019

Potgieter barters land from Chief Makwana

Commandant Andries Hendrik Potgieter, one of the leaders of the Voortrekkers, obtained the territory between the Vet and Vaal Rivers from the Bataung captain, Makwana, in exchange for forty-nine head of cattle and the promise of protecting the Bataung against Mzilikazi, chief of the Matabele.

The Voortrekker town Winburg (originally Wenburg) was subsequently founded on a tributary of the Vet River.

There is some controversy about the actual date of this event, some sources state the date as somewhere in 1836.

How we know this

01Muller, C.F.J. (ed)(1981). Five Hundred years: a history of South Africa; 3rd rev. ed., Pretoria: Academica, p. 165.
02Potgieter, D.J. et al. (eds)(1970). Standard Encyclopaedia of Southern Africa, Cape Town: NASOU, v. 9 p. 66.
03Potgieter, D.J. et al. (eds)(1970). Standard Encyclopaedia of Southern Africa, Cape Town: NASOU, v. 10 p. 608.

Last updated · 30 Sep 2019

Cite this entry

South African History Online. (2011, March 16). Potgieter barters land from Chief Makwana. South African History Online. https://sahistory.org.za/ref/E-0010955

South African History Online (2011) 'Potgieter barters land from Chief Makwana', South African History Online, 16 March. Available at: https://sahistory.org.za/ref/E-0010955 (Accessed: 7 November 2026).

South African History Online, Potgieter barters land from Chief Makwana [website], https://sahistory.org.za/ref/E-0010955, (accessed 7 November 2026).

"Potgieter barters land from Chief Makwana." South African History Online, 16 Mar. 2011, https://sahistory.org.za/ref/E-0010955. Accessed 7 Nov. 2026.

South African History Online. "Potgieter barters land from Chief Makwana." South African History Online. March 16, 2011. https://sahistory.org.za/ref/E-0010955.