In the story of colonial settlements in Africa and America, only the Spanish and German rivals wallowed in blood, while the English overcame challenges of nature and man. Even in the story of the slave trade, the English, with their antislavery legal enactments, emerged as the heroes of the abolition movement and not the villains of its earlier expansion.

The wealth built in Kimberley set many white people on a trajectory to prosperity. It was a springboard that created a base for further investments and enrichment when more gold deposits were found on the Witwatersrand. The glittering stones buried under the soil created individuals with long-lasting legacies. After 150 years, their surnames are deeply engraved in South Africa, appearing in names of universities, scholarships, towns and a collection of artifacts related to literature, arts and culture. Unfortunately, the generations of those ancestors deprived of mining licenses more than a century ago, had not much to show their labour.

Before the turn of the eighteenth century, the status of a Free Black in society was often influenced by the abilities of the individual rather than purely the colour of their skin. There is the story of the two formerly enslaved men, Anthony and Manuel from Angola, who had a white worker as their employee. Despite the upward mobility of a select few Free Black people, the vast majority were not in the same position. By the eighteenth century, poverty was a common feature for Free Blacks.

The most fascinating black female entrepreneur in the early colonial era in the Cape was arguably Maria Everts, known as ‘Swarte Maria’. She was the daughter of an enslaved couple from Guinea, Evert and Hoena (Anna). Born in 1662, Maria grew up enslaved and in her life rose to become enormously wealthy. Among her assets was the farm that became what is now known as the affluent Camps Bay in Cape Town. Maria Everts also owned De Mosselbank farm in Klipheuwel, Kalwervlei in Darling, and grazing and hunting rights in the Sonquasfonteyn field and in the Drooge Valley next to Groen Cloof.

Bundy’s research notes that the suppression of the black commercial agriculture went beyond the raid on the land. Custom duties were stacked against black farmers, thus reducing the margin on their earnings. Purchase of land by black people was also made to be very difficult. But did these black commercial farmers have names and who were they? The rest of this chapter selects some individuals to provide visibility to those who prospered during changing socio-economic circumstances.