A fascinating historical snippet came to my attention a couple of weeks ago, and I couldn’t resist sharing it and putting it into perspective.
The story has it that the region which encompasses Malalane and Komatipoort should by rights have belonged to Swaziland but that Abel Erasmus traded the strip from the Crocodile River down to the existing border and as far as the top of the Lebombo Mountains with a Swazi chieftain for a case of gin. The trader’s name does not seem to be recorded, although that great South African travel writer TV Bulpin claims in his magnificent Discovering Southern Africa that Swazi Chief Mbandeni used a gin crate as a throne, so he may turn out to have been the culprit.
The Swazis were not averse to such treaties, but the price varied and, in most cases, it was questionable anyway as to who, if anyone, owned the land in the first place. King Mswati I is said to have taken 100 head of cattle from a group of Ohrigstad Transvaal Voortrekkers in exchange for the area between the Crocodile and Olifants Rivers, a not inconsiderable chunk of Africa which probably didn’t belong to him and which he had probably never even seen.
Either way, nowadays, the 80km-wide strip between the Kruger National Park and the current Swaziland border consists of some of the country’s most valuable agricultural land and is home to some of its most prosperous sugar cane producers.
Twelve bottles of gin now costs about R1 200, but this would, in all likelihood have been the Dutch Square Face gin, popular at the time. An empty Square Face bottle just fetched R380 on eBay and a 100-hectare (one square kilometre) farm near Malalane is currently on the market for R14 million so, for a dozen bottles, we are looking having paid at a maximum of about R5 000 in today’s prices for 12 000 square kilometres of land which, assuming it is all of equal quality, could be valued currently (admittedly with considerable improvements) at R168 billion!
Stay in Swaziland
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In the hills of Mbabane Swaziland, Brackenhill Lodge is set in 400 acres of scenic indigenous gardens with marked trails through the rocky mountains, a trout dam, well equipped gym and steam room, tennis court and swimming pool. Accommodation is offered in comfortable B&B bedrooms with private entrances and verandahs.Guest dining room with a log fire. Delicious home-cooked dinners on request. Ideal for business and leisure travellers. City centre 4 km away. Golf course nearby.
About the blogger
Chris Harvie - in real life - is a Lowveld hotelier of thirty years'' standing. Having cut his tourism teeth in some of South Africa''s finest hotels he founded Rissington Inn, in Hazyview, in 1995. In the parallel universe, however, he is a renowned author, inveterate traveller and freelance travel writer with an insider''s view of the industry he loves. Often amusing, occasionally caustic and always entertaining, Chris can be relied upon to dig up an unusual tale and to spin it with consummate skill.