9/2/423/0004

"The grave of Adam Kok Ill is testament to the determination of the Griqua Nation's resilience to colonial expansion. His reign, as leader of the Griquanation, faced an increasing Boer presence in the territory under his control. He made several efforts to confront the rising threat to his rule including appealing to the Governor of the Cape Colony, leasing land, and entering into numerous treaties. When the Boer incursion became untenable, Adam Kok Ill migrated southeast across the Drakensberg Mountains, to an area that was mainly populated by Xhosa speakers, where he formed a small politically dominant minority and established the territory of  Griqualand  East with Kokstad (named in honour of Adam Kok Ill} as its capital. Once settled, Adam Kok Ill succeeded in establishing a self-governing territory with a Griqua government that raised its own revenue through taxes, traded licenses, and fines; and in 1867 print edits own currency, backed by livestock and grain. Adam Kok Ill was a well-loved Griqua leader who defended his dynasty against colonial encroachment in the central western regions of South Africa.1 In the 1980s sections of Griqualand East were incorporated into the "homelands" of Transkei and in 1994, after South Africa' s first democratic election it became part of the Sisonke District Municipality (now the Harry Gwala District Municipality) of KwaZulu Natal"