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.

Sources:

Muller, C.F.J. (ed)(1981). Five Hundred years: a history of South Africa; 3rd rev. ed., Pretoria: Academica, p. 165.

Potgieter, D.J. et al. (eds)(1970). Standard Encyclopaedia of Southern Africa, Cape Town: NASOU, v. 9 p. 66.

Potgieter, D.J. et al. (eds)(1970). Standard Encyclopaedia of Southern Africa, Cape Town: NASOU, v. 10 p. 608.