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the basis of a number of financial manipulations. From as early as 1857,
mandaaten (treasury or exchequer bills) were issued for services to the
state, while no legal tenders were secured by government farms 376 . From
1865 onwards, partly in order to recall these mandaaten, a number of
issues of paper currency were made, secured each time by government
land, and each time inadequate to meet the state’s need for revenue or to
redeem the mandaaten 377 . These notes circulated at well below the face
value, and many traders refused to accept them at all 378 . In
consequence, bartering remained the dominant form of exchange in the
ZAR.
In 1867 the Boer state was confronted by a major financial crisis, partly
as a result of the upheavals and campaigns against the powerful Venda
of Khosi Makhado in the Zoutpansberg district. The financial crisis was
further worsened by the defeat of the Boers by the Venda of Makhado
and their retreat from Zoutpanberg. Yet more notes were issued during
this financial crisis. In 1868, the finance commission recommended that
an issue of £45,000 should be made, secured against 1 000 farms or
approximately 3 million morgen of land 379 . The total farm pledge against
376 P. Delius, The Land Belongs To Us, p. 148.
377 Ibid, p. 148.
378 Ibid, p. 149.
379 P. Delius, The Land Belongs To Us, p. 148.
215