Andries Hendrik Potgieter establishes the town of Potchefstroom
Andries Hendrik Potgieter
Date: 22 December, 1838
Andries Hendrik Potgieter establishes the town of Potchefstroom after moving away from Natal and heading inland and eventually settling in the northern Free State. Potgieter was born in the Graaff Reinet district in the Cape Colony on the 19th of December 1792. He was the second child of Petronella Margaretha and Hermanus Potgieter. He fought in the Fourth and Fifth Frontier Wars and was a wealthy sheep farmer when, like many other Dutch farmers at the Cape, he decided to leave the colony in 1834. In 1835 a group of Voortrekkers left the colony under his leadership. After crossing the Orange River the various groups spread in different directions to settle in the region.
At a Voortrekker meeting on 2 December 1836 he was elected as the Chief Commandant. By 1837 Mzilikazi and his Matabele were completely removed from the western Transvaal.
In 1838 more Voortrekkers were attacked in Natal and Potgieter went to their aid and suffered a severe loss from an ambush. The Natal frontiersmen blamed him for the incident. He was deeply offended and left the region and moved on to found the town of Potchefstroom. Potchefstroom was the first town north of the Vaal River and was named after Potgieter.
References
- Anon, Early History of Potchefstroom [online] Available at www.potchefstroom.info [Accessed 24 November 2010]
- SAHO, Andries Hendrik Potgieter, from South African History Online (SAHO), [online] Available at www.sahistory.org.za [Accessed 24 November 2010]
- Anton Ehlers, DESEGREGATING HISTORY IN SOUTH AFRICA: THE CASE OF THE COVENANT AND THE BATTLE OF BLOOD/NCOME RIVER, (Academic Paper), from the University of Stellenbosch, Department of History.