It’s Mine!, No, It’s Mine! Early Company Squabbles over the Border Areas of the Tati Concession
Author(s)
Burrett, Robert S.
Abstract
King Lobengula (1833-94) of the Ndebele agreed to grant concessions to two European parties in 1888, one for grazing, firewood, and mineral rights in the Tati District, an area also claimed by King Khama III (1835-1923) of the Bamangwato, and the other for mineral rights within the Ndebele kingdom. The Tati Concessions Mining and Exploration Company and its successors came to control the Tati District, which remained outside colonial Rhodesia because it was proclaimed part of the Bechuanaland Protectorate by British officials. Its border with the British South Africa Company’s Rhodesian domain was disputed until 1903, as were rights of the companies to cattle (seized as booty in the 1893 Matabele War), African labor, and hut taxes. When Tati Concessions Ltd. was liquidated in 1914, the protectorate authorities took control of the Tati District.
