Voortrekkers

The Voortrekkers (Afrikaans and Dutch for pioneers, literally "fore-pullers", "those in front who pull", "fore-trekkers") mainly consisted of Trekboer pastoralists and Cape Dutch citizens from the Eastern frontier of the Cape Colony who during the 1830s and 1840s left the British controlled Cape; moving into the interior of what is now South Africa in what is known as the Great Trek. The Great Trek consisted of a number of mass movements under a number of different leaders. The Voortrekkers (and the Cape Dutch are the direct ancestors of the Afrikaners of modern day South Africa.