THE FOUR BOER REPUBLICS.
The Four Boer Republics in what is now KwaZulu-Natal.
Records are few, and mostly from the British side, so that is largely the view presented here.
Late in May of 1847 the British authorities in Natal received vague reports that a group of Boers living between the Buffalo and Tugela rivers had renounced allegiance to the British Crown and reached an agreement with Mpande kaSenzangakhona, the king of the Zulus, in which he ceded to them the territory between the Tugela and Buffalo rivers and the Drakensberg Mountains: territory which the British authorities considered Mpande had no right or claim over. This was a beginning of either the Klip River Republic or the so called Klip River Insurrection or Affair, depending on whether seen from the Boer or British perspective. It was very short-lived, lasting only until December 1847, when the British finally re-established their control over the territory, and most of the Boers emigrated over the Drakensberg to join their compatriots in Transorangia, or over the Buffalo River into what was later to become the Utrecht Republic.
Its chronology is, at best, very vague. Most of the dates, up to June or even July of 1847, are uncertain and debatable. It is difficult to establish when the whole affair started, or when the consecutive missions of the Boers to Mpande took place.
The statements and testimonies of the persons connected with the Republic/affair place its beginning as early as 1843, when Andries Theodorus Spies settled in the Biggarsberg. In April he was supposedly attacked by a Zulu detachment sent by Mpande. Andries Spies built a direct connection between the incident in April 1843 and the crisis of 1847, as proof of a lack of British interest in and support for the residents of the Klip River area, but the representatives of the Volksraad of the Republic of Natal had only accepted Sir George Napier’s proclamation of Natal as a British Colony in August 1843, nearly four months after the described incident which, therefore, could hardly be blamed on the British.
There is also no evidence between October 1843 and 1846 of any conflicts between Mpande and the British authorities concerning the borders, or that the Klip River Boers showed any inclination to declare themselves independent of the Colony of Natal.
In January 1847 the Boer residents of the Klip River district at a meeting which nearly all of them attended, elected Andries Spies as commandant, Abraham Spies as the person responsible for the registration of land, Lodewyk de Jager as field-cornet and a board consisting of Andries Spies, Marthinus Scheepers and Hermanus Forie (sic) to act as marriage officers. Pietermaritzburg’s attitude was that the assumption of such authority by British subjects living in British territory was contrary to the law and their allegiance as British subjects. An agreement was reached between the Boers and Mpande in February 1847, according to which the Klip River Republic between the Tugela and Buffalo rivers was acquired for a price of 1,000 Rijksdaalders. At the time there were perhaps 40 Voortrekker families still living in the area. The first confirmed news of the situation in the Klip River area appeared between April and June 1847. Only then did the British take more interest in the affairs of that region.
Mpande, when approached by an official delegation from Pietermaritzburg under Captain HD Kyle of the 45th Regiment, in July 1847 denied having ceded the territory to the Boers (although admitting to an advance from them), acknowledged that the territory was British, and assured the British of his friendship towards them.
According to a statement by Andries Spies, he heard that “Panda intended himself to move over on this side of Buffalo River with his cattle” only after the arrival of the Lieutenant-Governor Martin West in 1845. When exactly Mpande informed the Boers of his intention to take over the Klip River area is unknown, but probably sometime towards the end of 1846. Mpande would have been well aware that his claims to the territory between the Tugela and Buffalo rivers would irritate the British, and he had no reason to do that (and firmly denied to the British any intention of so doing).
The Boer delegation of AT Spies, Lodewyk de Jager, Gert and Isaac van Niekerk and an interpreter visited Mpande for the first time in February 1847. No formal treaty was signed, but a verbal understanding was reached that Mpande would tolerate Boer settlement between the Buffalo and Tugela rivers, but the exact borderline could not be agreed on. While the Boers wanted the whole area between the two rivers, Mpande proposed the Biggarsberg as the northern border. Mpande promised to send his indunas to check the situation and finally settle the question of the boundary. When exactly this visit occurred is unknown, but as Johannes de Lange stated, “Seven of Panda’s captains came to my place in the absence of Mr Spies, and stated that they came by order of Panda to fix the boundary line as promised.”
During the negotiations, which took place at the beginning of April 1847, the Zulu envoys accepted, in the name of Mpande, the Buffalo (Mzinyathi) River as the north-eastern boundary of the Klip River settlement. At this stage, the British authorities in Pietermaritzburg still considered the Klip River Boers as loyal, if somewhat misguided, subjects. The second delegation of the Klip River Boers (AT Spies, JH de Lange and Pieter Lafras Uys) went to Mpande to sign a treaty, and although the treaty was backdated to 7 January, it was probably signed sometime between 1 and 4 May 1847. Knowledge of the treaty reached the British on about 26 May, although there may have earlier rumours of some kind of co-operation between the Zulus and the Klip River Boers. So, the fact that the British acted early in June would seem to indicate that the territory and any collusion between the Boers and the Zulus were matters of concern.
On 4 June 1847, Lt-Governor Martin West informed the Governor of the Cape, Sir Henry Pottinger of the situation, and that he intended to take some action to indicate the determination of the British authorities to maintain control over the area, though he was not yet ready to use military force.
During the meeting of the Natal Executive Council on 10 June the question of relations with Mpande and the situation over the Tugela River was the main topic of the discussions. The first reaction of the British authorities in Natal was rather cautious. This was visible in the Martin West messages to Mpande: the Lt-Governor casually and cautiously enquired about the nature of his communications with the Klip River Boers.
On 21 June 1847 a letter was received in Pietermaritzburg from AT Spies, in which it became apparent that Spies and at least some of the Klip River Boers rejected British sovereignty. West then decided to send James Archbell (who was well-known to the Boers) to Klip River to report upon the feelings of the inhabitants of the area. Prior to July 1847 the authorities of the Natal Colony had no exact information concerning the situation in the Klip River area and information reaching Pietermaritzburg in July 1847 suggested that the only real problem the British were facing were the Klip River Boers, as according to the reports, Mpande recognised the Buffalo River as the border of his kingdom and supposedly declared that he did not support the Boer claims.
James Archbell’s report on his trip to the Klip River area strengthened this impression by providing an account of Boer animosity towards the British authorities. But West declared his doubts about the credibility of the Archbell account and decided to see the situation in the Klip River area for himself and to get the information about the Zulu intentions from a more reliable source. Therefore, he decided to send Captain HD Kyle of the 45th Regiment and John Shepstone, the government interpreter, to Mpande, a decision reinforced by the fact that that at the end of July he received a message from Mpande acknowledging that the Buffalo River was the border between Zululand and Natal.
On August 3rd Martin West himself headed off with his entourage to the Tugela River. On 8 August he reached Weenen; two days later he crossed the Tugela River, but he did not stay there long, as by 14 August he was back in Pietermaritzburg, meaning that he had spent just over a day at most in Klip River. This trip was a complete failure. He did not meet with the Klip River Boers, who were clearly much more interested in Captain Kyle’s mission to Mpande, as they knew that the King of the Zulus’ attitude was crucial for the outcome of the whole affair.
Captain HD Kyle was given Mpande’s answer to the Lt-Governor on 13 August 1847: Mpande acknowledged that he had ceded the Klip River area to the British and that the Boers had asked him for this country, but he stressed the fact that he had refused them. This message convinced the British authorities that Mpande was not ready to risk a conflict with them. West decided to act more decisively and to send John Bird, the Government Surveyor, to Klip River to inspect and survey the lands occupied and claimed by the Boers in order that (British) title could be granted to them. On 23 August 1847 John Bird crossed the Tugela River. His mission was to formally inspect the farms in the Klip River area, but in reality, it was to test the intentions of the local Boers. Bird met with Abraham Spies, Frederick de Jager, Johannes Joubert, Jacobus Uys, Joseph Muller and de Jager’s son. They were not co-operative, stating that they could not agree to the inspection nor accept British sovereignty until the matter had been resolved between the British and Mpande. Bird then proceeded to the farm of Andries Spies, the reputed leader of the Klip River Boers, where he met with Spies and about ten other Boers, of whom his interpreter, Field-Cornet Steenkamp, knew by name only Martinus Scheepers, Cornelius Newkirk, Hermanus Vourie, Isaac Newkirk and Ludwig de Jager (spelling as per J Bird’s report). They, too declined to co-operate. Bird reported to West that they “uniformly decline any admission that the tract between the Tugela and the Umsinyati (Buffalo) is indispensably British ground, and abstain from any act that can be construed into an acknowledgement of holding land under (the British) government”. It is not clear if they knew of the outcome of Captain HD Kyle’s mission to Mpande, but Martin West accepted that the Boers could have had no knowledge of the content of Mpande’s answer to Captain Kyle. Bird, however, was sure that their intention was to frustrate his mission and that they did not want to recognize British authority.
Although West had doubts about the sincerity of Mpande’s statements, he was sure that the Zulu king would not risk an open conflict with the British over the Klip River area. On 3 September 1847 he issued an official proclamation in which he reminded the inhabitants of the Klip River area that it was a part of the Natal district of the Cape Colony, and declared that all claims to the land in this area needed to be renewed “by a personal application at the Colonial Office at this place” (Pietermaritzburg). In this way he made clear that the United Kingdom had no intention of forfeiting this territory or accepting the existence of any independent Boer republic there.
Just a day earlier West had met up with Johannes J Uys, who insisted that the Lt-Governor should send his representative to inquire into the situation in the Klip River area. As West himself admitted, he agreed against his better judgement, pressed by the majority of the executive council members. On 9 September West reported to the Governor in Cape Town that he had been informed by a Mr HA Ripsold, a resident of Pietermaritzburg, that he had visited Klip River where he had met Johannes de Lange, who had told him that he had visited Mpande, at the King’s request, subsequent to the visit to Mpande by Capt Kyle, who told him that he had been visited by two Englishmen, sent by the Lt-Governor, to inquire about his claim to the territory beyond the Tugela River, and that he had told them the country was his, and that he would only yield it to force, but if force was employed, he would not fight, but would retire across the Pongola River with his people.
On 10 September Walter Harding, the Crown Prosecutor of Natal (amongst other positions which he held), was requested to proceed to the Klip River area. He left Pietermaritzburg on 14 September and reached his destination (Andries T Spies’ farm) on 20 September 1847. As Andries Spies was absent, Harding had to wait until 24 September, when Spies returned, and after that they agreed that the formal investigation proceedings would start on 27 September. The British authorities hoped that this hearing would convince at least most of the Klip River Boers to stay there. The inquiry, which was attended by 40 of the inhabitants of the district, took five days: 27 September and from the 1 to 4 October 1847. The final report was prepared on 13 October 1847. Between 15 and 20 October there were three consecutive meetings of the Natal Executive Council which debated this report and what further actions the British authorities should undertake, but West decided to disregard Harding’s report and against the advice of other members of the Executive Council decided to act more decisively. He decided to appoint a magistrate to the Klip River district and to give him the support of a military detachment. On 25 October 1847 he also issued a proclamation that all the Boers should take an oath of allegiance before the magistrate within a fortnight after his arrival, and on doing so would receive a full and free pardon for any offences they may have committed in connection with the insurrection. (Such pardon had been Harding’s idea, his opinion being that to do otherwise would result in the immediate flight of the residents of the district over the Drakensberg.) The next day West nominated Jacobus Nicolaus Boshoff as Resident Magistrate of the Klip River Division and gave him detailed instructions concerning his mission there.
Boshoff arrived in the Klip River area on 16 November 1847. He had been delayed in his journey for several days by high water on the Mooi and Tugela rivers. Immediately after his arrival he distributed circulars acquainting the Boers in this area with the objective of his visit and summoned them to Abraham Spies farm to take an oath of allegiance before him, and indicated that 29 November 1847 would be the last day to take this oath. This date might be seen as the final date of the whole incident, as most of the Boers had decided by then to emigrate from the Klip River area. Even the arrival, on the evening of 22 November, of Marthinus Scheepers and Solomon Maritz, who attempted to convince the Klip River Boers to accept British sovereignty, was of no avail. But there was a short period of uncertainty thereafter, which could be seen as a part of the whole affair. There is no single date that can be pinpointed as the end date of the affair/Klip River Republic, but any date after the arrival of Boshoff to the Klip River area could be chosen. The arrival of a small British military attachment on 4 December 1847, however, was certainly the final nail in the Republic’s coffin.
Part 1: The Republic of Natalia was posted on this page on 27 June 2025 https://www.facebook.com/
Part 3 will be posted on this page on 27 August 2025.
Sources:
Leverton, B: Walter Harding: Historia (Journal of the Historical Association of South Africa), Vol 8, No 2, Jun 1963.
Lesniewski, Michal: Chronology of the Klip River Affair of 1847. University of Warsaw, 2014.
Lesniewski, Michal: The Klip River Affair in Zulu Policy, 1846–1847, South African Historical Journal, Vol 75, 2023.
Kruger, Darrell Peter: Colonial Natal, 1838 to 1880: The Making of a South African Settlement system. Doctoral Thesis, Louisiana State University, 1994.
Wikipedia
BPP Vol 9 (British Parliamentary Papers), Pietermaritzburg Archives Repository.
PHOTO CREDIT
Walker, E A: Historical Atlas of South Africa. Humphrey Milford Oxford University Press, 1922.
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