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(Terminalia sericea), Peeling Plane (Ochna pulchra) and Wild Raisin
(Grewia flava). In scanty grass sward species which are characteristically
present are Broom Grass (Eragrostis pallens) and Purple Spike Cat’s-tail
(Perotis patens) 118 . Almost all these grass species are important as they
mostly feed game and livestock.
The rich original vegetation of the Makgabeng area discussed above was to
become negatively affected by the overcrowding and overpopulation and
subsequent overgrazing. Human beings have sometimes been blamed for
the disturbance of nature tranquillity as if they are not part of nature! The
first occupants of the Makgabeng area obviously used trees for their needs
such as shelter. Other plants were cut for food, medicines, and building. As
a result, from the first occupants, the San, the Khoikhoi and the Bantu-
speaking communities, natural vegetation in the Makgabeng area has been
part of the people’s ways of life, defining who they were. Therefore
vegetation itself helps to shape people’s identity as it shapes their life by
providing their needs. People define themselves by the homes they build
out of trees and grass, as well as the food they derive from vegetation. The
size of a home built out of trees and grass, and the amount of food derived
from vegetation, help to define the living standards of families. Resourceful
families would go for meticulously chosen trees and grass types which will
define the higher standards of living they set themselves, while poorer
families (like those of widows) would settle for less quality woods to erect
118 A. B. Low and A. G. Rebelo, Vegetation of South Africa, Lesotho and Swaziland, p. 26.
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