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British 219 . On his fugitive way, Coenraad interacted with different
communities, and even earned himself many nicknames among those who
met him. For instance, the Batlhaping called him “the king of Bastards”;
while the Bahurutse referred to him as “Moro”; the Bamagwato called him
“Kgowe”; while the Transvaal Sotho referred to him as “Motanapitsi” or
“Kadija” 220 . These various references indicate how extensive did the Buys
people travel until they reached the Makgabeng-Blouberg-Soutpansberg
area in the 1820s.
Although the Buys people were Europeans in origin, they adopted most of
the ways of life of indigenous people, such as polygamy and mixture of
African languages. Coenraad was the only member of his community who
was really literate. The arrival of the Voortrekkers in the Soutpansberg area
in the 1830s led to the Buys people to lean more to them than they have
been with the Black communities earlier on 221 . This also led to the Buys
people to revert to the Christian ways of their European ancestors. The
Buys people had also brought new identities in that region because their
European-Khoikhoi-Black mixture. This kind of non-racial identity was the
main cause of the Buys to be abhorred and disowned by most Europeans
who regarded other races as inferior to them. As a symbol of long years of
rejection and hardships, the Buys gave their settlement in the Soutpansberg
219 T. J. Makhura, The Bagananwa Polity…, p. 69.
220 Ibid, p. 70.
221 T. J. Makhura, The Bagananwa Polity…, p. 70.
133