Thembelihle

The country around Thembelihle lies near the great river known as the Gariep to Khoekhoe speakers. A natural ford crossed the river near the place later called Hopetown. Korana communities lived along the upper Gariep, keeping herds and forming connections across the interior. As the Cape frontier advanced in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, some adopted horses and firearms, becoming formidable mounted raiders as well as pastoralists.