Introduction to the History of Madikwe Game Reserve *
*by Richard Davies – August 1997
The Madikwe Game Reserve was established in 1991. For decades before that time, the area had been used for cattle farming and some dry land arable agriculture. Largely through mismanagement and inappropriate farming practices, much of the vegetation in the area was degraded. When the land was expropriated from the existing white farmers, there was talk of giving the land to previously disadvantaged up- and- coming cattle farmers.
However, following a land feasibility study, wildlife – based tourism was found to be the most economically efficient and environmentally appropriate form of land use. An intensive development process was subsequently initiated that would turn what was degraded cattle lands into one of the premier game reserves in Africa. In addition to its conservation and tourism objectives, however, the reserve had to deliver economic opportunities to the people resident in the area for whom, up until that time, very few employment and business opportunities existed.
Ancient And Recent Human History Of Madikwe Region
The Madikwe region of the North West Province has been witness to human settlement and struggles for tens and thousands of years. This rich history was noted from an early stage in the development of Madikwe.
Archaeological Survey
To ensure that no sites of archaeological and historical importance were inadvertently destroyed in the development process, a survey was commissioned in the winter of 1996. Winter was chosen to undertake this study because the vegetation was naturally less dense at this time of the year and normal veld burning operations had been carried out. Both meant that the assessment would be easier to make and more ground could be covered. The survey was carried out by a team of consultants headed by professor T. Huffman of the department of Paleontology at the University of Witwatersrand (Huffman et al, 1996). Much of the information given below was extracted from this report.
Stone Age
The survey discovered stone artifacts at a site near the Marico River which will date back to the Early Stone Age, between 250000 and one million years ago. Some Middle Stone Age artifacts, dating back to between 250000 and 25000
years ago were also found at this site. Two other Middle Stone Age sites were found in the reserve. One of the sites, in the Southeastern corner of the reserve below the Dwarsberg, proved particularly interesting and may be investigated in more detail in the future.
Three late Stone Age sites, dating between 25000 and 500 years ago, were found also along the Marico River, whilst a fourth site of similar age was located in the middle of the reserve.
Iron Age
Several Iron Age sites are located in the reserve, especially along the Rant van Tweedepoort and along the Dwarsberg. These are believed to be from the Middle to Late Iron Age, dating from 1044 to 1700 AD. Moloko pottery, typical of this era, was found at these sites. Portions of the huts are still visible in some places and pieces of copper ore and slag together with relics of copper –smelting furnaces are also present. In addition to evidence of Sotho-Tswana homesteads, artifacts from the Koisan people, Bushmen, were also found in the reserve.
The period between 1675 and 1780 AD was characterized by cold, dry conditions and it is probable that people did not live in the reserve during this time. Although people returned to the region in the years following the cold spell, a severe drought around 1810 precipitated conflict between people living in the area. Many of the Sotho-Tswana people moved to the hilltops for defensive reasons and probable evidence of this can be found on the Inselbergs in the reserve.
The 19th Century
In the early 19th century, a large Tswana village was constructed near Tshwene Tshwene in the reserve. This major settlement is believed to have been the capital of the Batlokwa tribe under Chief Gaborone. The survey has suggested that this site be protected and cleared for possible opening to tourism in the future.
The early 19th century was also a period when southern Africa was undergoing major change. From about 1820, Zulu expansionism under Shaka caused a ripple effect of social and economic upheaval throughout central southern Africa as tribes, retreating from Zulu impis and other defeated tribes, attacked weaker tribes in turn. This disruption, which was called the Difaqane, lasted for more than ten years and had a significant negative impact on the future relationships between many tribes for decades to come.
At about this time, missionaries entered the area and began ministering to the local people. These were soon followed by a number of adventurers and traders seeking adventure and ivory and bringing with them guns, and with the guns came the seeds of the great onslaught against the seemingly inexhaustible game populations. The most notable of these visitors were Andrew Smith and William Cornwallis Harris, who passed through the area in the mid – 1830s. Dr David Livingstone visited the Madikwe area several times during the 1840s.
In 1832, the renegade Zulu Chief Mzilikazi moved his headquarters from the Magaliesburg to Gabeni on the Marico River south of Madikwe to escape possible punitive attacks from the Zulu King, Dingane. Mzilikazi continued to be harassed by skirmishes with the Voortrekkers, who had begun to move into the region, and a number of Tswana tribes. Following an initial defeat at Mosega, west of Zeerust, in January 1837, Mzilikazi was attacked and again defeated at Gabeni by a joint Voortrekker, Griqua and Tswana force and driven northwards through Madikwe and across the Limpopo River. Mzilikazi attempted to return a few months later, but was finally defeated at a site in the north-eastern corner of the reserve. He then escaped northwards to establish his new capital at Bulawayo in present day Zimbabwe.
Once Mzilikazi had left the scene, the Voortrekkers settled in the area. Because labour was short in Madikwe, the Voortrekkers brought with them black captives to work on the farms. Many of the white settlers were hunters and a hunter’s road was soon established to link the Transvaal with Botswana, via the border settlement at Derdepoort. This road runs through what is now Madikwe.
Missionaries now began to move into the area in greater numbers. The Lutherans established a mission in Madikwe just east of the reserves present headquarters. Remains of the mission are still visible today.
In 1885, the Society of Jesus established another mission at a site within what is now the reserves headquarters, using springs which were present in the area at the time to provide water for the mission itself and orchards and crops. Nine years later, the mission was sold to the Order of the Oblates of Mary Immaculate. The Order later built the imposing two-storey mission building that still stands in the reserve today. This is presently being renovated to become the park headquarters.
In October 1899, during the second Anglo Boer War, a battle was waged between the British and ZAR armies at a site in the northeastern corner of the reserve. Relics of old fortifications can still be found on the farm Laastepoort, a private farm that was recently incorporated into the reserve.
The 20th Century
Missions that followed the Order included the Marists and the Dominican Sisters. The latter built a nearby school and a number of other buildings. With the coming of Republic and apartheid in 1948, blacks were no longer allowed to live in the area and the mission was sold to a local farmer. In 1976, the mission was bought by the Redemptorists who ran the mission and the school until the reserve was proclaimed in 1991.
The Madikwe area is also well known for the stories written by the famous South African author, Herman Charles Bosman. During 1926, Bosman spent a number of months teaching at a school at Abjaterskop, on the southwestern corner of the reserve. Many of his often-humorous books reflect the personalities living in the area at the time and the features of the land now incorporated into the reserve.
For more information on the area go to: www.tourismnorthwest.co.za