To defend the sovereignty of the Conquered Territory along the eastern frontier of the Boer
Republic of the Orange Free State (OFS) and Basutoland (Lesotho), the government of the former
passed the Occupation Act, 1866, which provided for the establishment of three parallel rows of
farms and, during the next year, three border towns. In both cases, applicants had to covenant to
militia service and building within a stipulated time. As the towns were of strategic importance,
unlike the Boer tradition of church-founded towns with parishioners settling around the place
of worship, the brief given the surveyors was to lay out the towns to specific allotment criteria
without any spatial provision for religious practices. This article aims to show that even under these
circumstances the towns came to feature the familiar diagnostic characteristics of Boer-founded
towns with the repertoire of inherited townscape traditions. To bed the argument, the morphology
of Boer-founded towns as developed in history is briefly investigated with the implication that the
amendments made to the border towns of the OFS were culturally driven. Until now, these planned
towns and urban entities have received scant attention within the family of Boer-founded towns.
Die regering van die Oranjevrijstaat (OVS) het die Occupatiewet (Ordinansie 2 van 1866) aanvaar
om hulle soewereiniteit oor die Verowerde Gebied langs die oosgrens met Basotholand (Lesotho)
te verdedig. Die Occupatiewet het die vestiging van drie paralelle rye plase bepaal en ook drie
grensdorpe die daaropvolgende jaar. In beide gevalle moes die aansoekers hulself verbind tot militêre
diens en ook die oprig van ’n permanente struktuur binne ’n bepaalde tydperk. Die grensdorpe was
van strategiese belang en daarom het die landmeters die opdrag gekry om die dorpe uit te lê volgens ‘n
bepaalde blok-uitleg, maar sonder enige riglyne vir die ruimtelike akkommodering van godsdienstige
praktyke. Dit was bepaald anders as die boeretradisie van kerkdorpe waar ‘n nedersetting rondom ‘n
plek van aanbidding ontstaan het. Die doelwit van hierdie artikel is om aan te toon dat selfs onder
hierdie buitengewone omstandighede het die grensdorpe mettertyd die bekende tipiese karaktertrekke
van boeredorpe begin vertoon met die volle repertoire van oorgeërfde dorpsbeeldtradisies. Om
die argument te versterk sal die ontwikkeling van die morfologie van boeredorpe vlugtig beskou
word. Die implikasie daarvan is dat die veranderings wat aan die grensdorpe aangebring was,
kultuurgedrewe was. Tot op hede het hierdie beplande dorpe en geboude eenhede min aandag gekry
binne die groepering van boeredorpe.
