History

The aboriginal inhabitants of Southern Africa are generally believed to be the Bushman or San. These small groups of a few extended families lived a roving, nomadic life, moving when their food or water supply demanded it in the Drakensberg.  Many of the caves in this area pay homage to their rock art.  Though not the first of the Bantu-speaking people to arrive, the Amazizi were the first to settle in the foothills of the Drakensberg. The Amazizi were pastoralists and herdsmen: the Bushmen were hunters.  There was no clash of interests between these groups. Other tribes had inhabited land north and east of the Drakensberg with very large populations and in 1802 a disastrous famine broke out. Scarcity of grazing for their livestock and little food resources available to the masses resulted in major disputes. In 1818 attacks amongst these tribes forced the Amazizi higher up into the mountains thus clashing with the San. The Amangwane followed the Amahlubii forcing them deeper into the recesses of the ‘berg.  In 1822 Shaka King of the Zulus sent his army to destroy the tribes in this area to gain more power and by 1824 there were only 300-400 souls. Those that escaped war and cannibalism came out of hiding and lived in the valleys.  The first Voortrekkers arrived in 1837, many settling in deserted foothills – these people were named the Boers. The English settlers arrived in 1840 and farmed in well-organized ways alongside the Boers. The inevitable happened when the white men began hunting the naturally occurring wildlife – the game was the Bushman’s livelihood, so in retaliation, the San took the cattle and the farmers took retribution.  By 1900 the Bushmen had been destroyed and few survivors fled into the inaccessible parts of the Kalahari.  So, although the San did raid the cattle, they held the line of the Drakensberg during those critical years when white settlers and black tribes people were invading Natal with their tree felling, ploughing, overgrazing and wars. It is to the Bushmen that we owe the unspoilt beauty of the Drakensberg.  Today the pioneers and San are gone.  The Drakensberg is a holiday resort with many accommodation options nestling in the valleys. Visitors enjoy every modern amenity, every kind of recreation, but few are aware of the drama that played itself out on these hills a little less than two centuries ago! North East of these valleys are rolling hills of battlefield history and towards the East Coast near the Kingdom of the Zulu’s, are the wild animals that once roamed all of this province, it is here in Zululand where some farmers have dedicated their land to nature and established game reserves in which plains game, birds and even the Big five can roam untamed in this beautiful part of Africa!