With the coming of the Dutch settlement, the Khoikhoi faced a demand for their cattle. Trade disputes and charges of theft caused great tension between colonists and the Khoikhoi who, for their part, feared that the settlement of free burghers (farmers) in 1657 would eventually deprive them of their valuable pastures and watering places.

These tensions led to the First and Second Khoikhoi-Dutch Wars.

Before the Second Khoikhoi-Dutch War the Dutch settlement began expanding within Table Valley, and outposts were built at Saldanha Bay and in the Hottentots Holland where, for the first time, land was purchased or bartered from the Khoikhoi chieftain Dhouw. As European explorers, hun­ters and traders (legally or illegally) crisscrossed the coun­tryside there were incidents of cattle-stealing and hunters were killed or wounded. Incidents and casualties mounted. Encouraged by the many enemies of the Cochoqua, the Dutch blamed Gonnema (the Cochoqua leader) for this uneasy truce.

On 18 July 1673, an expedition under the command of Jeronimus Cruse launched a highly successful campaign against Gonnema. The attack was executed on horseback and marked the beginning of the Second Dutch-Khoikhoi War. The Cochoqua fled into the mountains, leaving behind their livestock. With most other Khoikhoi groups siding with the Dutch, there was little Gonnema could do.

In 1674 the Dutch East India Company launched a second follow-up attack on the Chocoqua, These attacks gave the Company a fine yield of livestock and weapons. The war dragged on inconclusively until 25 June 1677 when Governor Isjbrand Goske's successor, Joan Bax, accepted a pledge from Gonnema that he would live at peace with the settlers and pay a tribute of 30 cattle an­nually.

Despite their submission to the Dutch, the Cocho­qua were not totally impoverished by the war. In fact, Gonnema continued to be regarded as one of the richest chiefs in the region. From a Dutch viewpoint, he also be­came a model leader, pursuing escaped slaves whenever officials at the fort requested him to do so, and allowing his people to aid white hunters.

However, once peace was restored, white expansion proceeded at a rapid pace. The number of settlers increased with the arrival of French Huguenot refugees in 1688 and a new class arose, that of the trekboer.

*note: Some historians argue that the second attack on the Chocoqua signaled the Third KhoiKhoi-Dutch War, however the majority agree that there were only two wars.

Sources:

1. Hermann Giliomee and Bernard Mbenga (2007). New History of South Africa. Tafelberg Publishers, Cape Town, pg 52.
2. Bulpin, T.V. (1985). Reader's Digest Illustrated Guide to Southern Africa, Cape Town: Reader's Digest Association South Africa, pg 47.
3. Khoikhoi-Dutch Wars. Website: wikipedia.