‘Bushbuck Ridge‘. The name refers to the large herds or this antelope, which made the ridge and surrounding countryside their home. The local black people call the place Maviljan.
The first trading store was opened in 1884. After the Anglo-Boer War Col. Ludwig von Steinaecker, founder and commanding officer of an irregular anti-Boer force of 600 men, Steinaecker’s horse, lived and worked on the farm Orinoco, 1 Okm north of Bosbokrand where he built a fort and named it Mpisane for the local chief.
