3 July 1714
VOC establishes the loan-place system
The VOC required settler livestock farmers using interior grazing land to register loan places and pay an annual recognition fee.
On 3 July 1714, the VOC introduced the loan-place system. Settler livestock farmers seeking grazing land in the Cape interior were required to register their use and pay an annual recognition fee.
Loan places were generally neither surveyed nor clearly demarcated. The authorisation permitted grazing but did not initially confer private ownership or an ordinary leasehold right.
Significance
The system gave colonial recognition and greater protection to settler grazing claims without creating equivalent records for the customary land rights of Khoekhoe pastoral communities.
Why it matters
The system gave colonial recognition to settler grazing claims without similarly recording pre-existing Khoekhoe customary rights.
Perspective notes
The plakaat formalised settler access within the colonial legal system while Khoekhoe customary occupation remained unrecorded by that system.