Zoutpansberg
Zoutpansberg
is the north-eastern division of the
Transvaal.
This was the district to which Louis Trichard and Jan van Rensburg, the forerunners
of the Great Trek, journeyed in
1835.
In
1845 Hendrik Potgieter, a prominent
leader of the Trek
Boers,
moved there. The Zoutpansberg Boers formed a semi-independent community, and in
1857 Stephanus Schoeman, their
commandant-general, sided against Marthinus Pretorius and
Paul
Kruger when they invaded the
Orange
Free State. It was not until
1864
that Zoutpansberg was definitely incorporated in the
South
African Republic. Trichard and his companions had been shown
gold
workings by the natives, and it was in this district in
1867-
70,
and in the neighbouring region of Lydenburg, that gold mines were first worked
by Europeans south of the
Limpopo.
The white settlers in Zoutpansberg had for many years a reputation for lawlessness,
and were later regarded as typical "back velt Boers". Zoutpansberg contains a
larger native population than any other region of the Transvaal. It is highly
mineralized, next to gold,
copper,
found near the Limpopo (where is the Messina mine) being the chief metal worked.
The chief towns are
Polokwane
and Leydsdorp.
