| dc.description.abstract | After the Voortrekkers had established themselves in the Transvaal in the thirties
and forties of the previous century, they regarded it as a priority to gain access
to an independent harbour. By this they meant one which was not under British
jurisdiction. After the annexation of Natal, the only possible access to such a
harbour was via Portuguese territory. The obvious harbour was Lourenco
Marques situated in Mozambique.
Voortrekker leaders, like Louis Trichardt and A.H. Potgieter, had visited
Mozambique. This led to the founding of Ohrigstad and Lydenburg in order to
establish regular traffic with Lourenco Marques. During M.W. Pretorius's period
of office as president of the ZAR, a Scotsman, Alexander McCorkindale, planned
to implement a harbour scheme in the Portuguese harbours. All these attempts
failed, but the Boers were still interested in Lourenco Marques.
In 1873 payable gold was discovered in the Eastern Transvaal in the Lydenburg
district, and president Burgers proclaimed the Lydenburg-Ohrigstad area as
goldfields. Burgers realised how important it was for the Transvaal to have its
own harbour. At that stage a friendship treaty existed between the Portuguese
government and the ZAR. President Burgers decided to raise funds in Europe
for the building of a railway line between Pretoria and Lourenco Marques.
In 1873, Alois Hugo Nellmapius, from Kimberley, established himself as a digger
on the Eastern Transvaal goldfields. He met O.W.A. Forssman in Kimberley,
who offered him a post as terminus manager for the Transvaal Goldfields
Extension Transport Company in Pelgrimsrus. This was a company that
transported passengers and goods from Kimberley to the Eastern Transvaal
goldfields.
Nellmapius soon realised that president Burgers's railway-plan would take many
years to become operational and took the initiative to apply to the Volksraad to
establish a transport scheme between the goldfields of the Eastern Transvaal
and Lourenco Marques.
Much has been written about Nellmapius's later stay in Pretoria, but there are
only a few references to the pioneering work he did in the Eastern Transvaal.
For that reason a decision was made to study his stay during the seventies in
the Eastern Transvaal goldfields, and to describe it in more detail.
The dissertation gives an overview of his activities as a digger on the goldfields.
An interpretation is given of how Nellmapius planned the transport scheme. The
conditions under which the Volksraad gave him permission to implement the
scheme are explained. The contracts which he drew up with the ZAR, the
Portuguese government and his partner are described. The implementation of
the transport scheme is discussed.
The scheme failed, mainly as a result of the Sekhukhune War. Nellmapius went
bankrupt and the bank, which had given the guarantees, tried to sell the scheme
to the British after the first annexation of Transvaal in 1877. The bank failed to
accomplish this, but in 1883 the Transvaal government permanently re-allocated
the farms which had been allocated to Nellmapius during the negotiation phase.
He succeeded in surviving financially. His undertakings in Irene, where he
established himself after his stay in the Eastern Transvaal, were more
successful and he also become wellknown because of the influence he had on
President Kruger.
This study sheds light on aspects of the pioneer period of the Eastern Transvaal
goldfields when the ZAR was on the threshold of capitalistic development and
the accompanying international interest.
Archival research for this study was done mainly in Pretoria and Cape Town. | |
