# Sand River Convention (17 January 1852)

URL: https://allhistories.com/botswana/timeline/1852-sand-river-convention
Location: Sand River, South Africa
Themes: main-event

The Sand River Convention was signed on 17 January 1852 at the farm of P. A. Venter near Ventersburg. Andries Pretorius signed for the farmers north of the Vaal, and two British officials signed for the government. Britain recognised the farmers' right to govern themselves free of British interference. The convention required a certificate from a British magistrate for arms and ammunition crossing the Vaal River from the south, and barred both sides from supplying arms to 'the natives'. It does not mention the Tswana directly. The Dimawe article notes that Boers later claimed Livingstone's gun-repair workshop at Kolobeng breached the convention. In 1853 the Transvaal authorities accused Livingstone of supplying and repairing arms for African peoples, and commandant Scholtz's men seized equipment from his house. The British replied that the Boers were keeping slaves. For the Tswana the convention meant that Britain would not act against Transvaal pressure, and Britain declined the Batswana appeal after Dimawe. At this point in the timeline (1852), no ruler of the whole territory existed (1800 – 1884); it was divided among independent Tswana chiefdoms, with the Ndebele and Makololo kingdoms and the Boers of the Transvaal pressing on its borders.

## Why it matters
The convention left the Tswana chiefs without British support against the Transvaal and fed the arms disputes behind Dimawe.

Ruler at the Time: [Tswana chiefdoms, Ndebele and Makololo (no territory-wide ruler)](https://allhistories.com/botswana/rulers/tswana-chiefdoms-ndebele-and-makololo-no-1800)

## Sources
- [Wikipedia — Sand River Convention](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sand_River_Convention)
- [Wikipedia — Battle of Dimawe](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Dimawe)
- [Wikipedia — Sechele I](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sechele_I)