The oxwagon: a symbol of work, endurance and innovation

The oxwagon has become synonymous with the Great Trek, but few people know that the oxen bartered by the Khoikhoi were actually well-trained animals that responded to voice commands. Lucille Davie reports.

- Lucille Davie

When Jan van Riebeeck and his men settled in the Cape to establish a replenishment station for passing ships, the Khoikhoi inhabited the broader area. These nomadic herders had large herds of oxen, which were their principal means of food and transport. Van Riebeeck needed oxen to collect wood from the forest at Rondebosch to establish his settlement.

While the Khoikhoi were first reluctant to barter their oxen as they represented wealth and status, trade between Van Riebeeck and the Khoikhoi eventually ensued, allowing Van Riebeeck to build up his herds of oxen. He also discovered that the Khoikhoi had in fact trained their oxen, and were able to respond to their commands.

In his definitive book Die ossewa en sy spore (available only in Afrikaans), Erik Holm, retired entomologist and oxwagon restorer, says Van Riebeeck's men learnt how to handle the oxen from the Khoikhoi. "The power and endurance of the trek ox are legendary," he writes.

The smartest trek oxen were put in the front to lead the team, which could consist of up to 24 oxen, says Holm. The strongest oxen were placed in the rear. "The oxen knew their position," he writes. They were given names.

"The driver could direct them from the wagon. If one lagged, the driver called his name." The oxen were instructed to go hot (left) or haar (right).

The oxen were disease- and tickresistant, and could eat the sparsest grass. Originally from Nguni stock, the hump on their shoulders was useful for cradling the yoke.

EVOLUTION OF THE WAGON