Page 157 - The Diary of A. H. W. Behrens

73
1888
The village Makolokwe where Mamogale and Raikane had lived is on the big dry farm Leeuwkop and belonged to a farmer Smit who lived near Johannesburg. For the use of this farm the chief had to send a couple of workers to Smit during the year. I suggested to Jakobus that he should try and buy the farm of 5000 acres. He, David More, Abraham Moroke and
I travelled there in the horse cart of Jakobus and had ₤ 200 with us. We drove through Johannesburg, at the time still only shacks and I stayed over one night with Mr Cook, manager of the small shop of Mr Beckett who had bought these stands at ₤ 230 per block.
Smit listened to us and said he first wanted to think about
it and consult his pillow and give us his answer the next morning. The following morning, he said that the price
was ₤ 2000, payable in one year! Jakobus said that this was impossible for us and wanted to harness the horses. I took him aside and presented him with a plan. He approved of it, we paid ₤ 200, wrote the letter of purchase and drove home. An assembly of the people approved my plan, Jakobus carried it out and in that year still the farm Leeuwkop of 5000 acres was ours and the sending of workers to Smit every year had an end. Jakobus sent 200 young men to the mines near Johannesburg, mines that were still very shallow at the time.