The Afrikaner Bond was a political party in the Cape Colony

Cape Colony

The Cape Colony, part of modern South Africa, was established by the Dutch East India Company in 1652, with the founding of Cape Town. It was subsequently occupied by the British in 1795 when the Netherlands were occupied by revolutionary France, so that the French revolutionaries could not take...

. It was formed by the union in 1881 of the Genootskap vir Regte Afrikaners (Society of True Afrikaner

Afrikaner

Afrikaners are an ethnic group in Southern Africa descended from almost equal numbers of Dutch, French and German settlers whose native tongue is Afrikaans: a Germanic language which derives primarily from 17th century Dutch, and a variety of other languages.-Related ethno-linguistic groups:The...

s) of Rev S.J. du Toit

Rev S.J. du Toit

Reverend Stephanus Jacobus du Toit was a South African who pioneered the recognition of the Afrikaans language. He was the leader and one of the founder members of the Genootskap van Regte Afrikaners which later merged with the Zuidafrikaansche Boeren Beschermings Vereeniging...

, and the Zuidafrikaansche Boeren Beschermings Vereeniging (South African Farmers' Protection Association) of Jan Hendrik Hofmeyr

Jan Hendrik Hofmeyr

Jan Hendrik Hofmeyr , South African politician affectionately known as Onze Jan, "our Jan" in Dutch, was born in Cape Town....

. Instrumental in this union and the resultant founding of the Bond party were a German

Germany

Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...

 man named Borckenhagen who lived in Bloemfontein, and an Afrikaner

Afrikaner

Afrikaners are an ethnic group in Southern Africa descended from almost equal numbers of Dutch, French and German settlers whose native tongue is Afrikaans: a Germanic language which derives primarily from 17th century Dutch, and a variety of other languages.-Related ethno-linguistic groups:The...

 named Reitz, who afterwards became the state secretary of the Transvaal

South African Republic

The South African Republic , often informally known as the Transvaal Republic, was an independent Boer-ruled country in Southern Africa during the second half of the 19th century. Not to be confused with the present-day Republic of South Africa, it occupied the area later known as the South African...

.
The Afrikaner Bond aimed to advanced Afrikaner interests from the Cape to the Limpopo River

Limpopo River

The Limpopo River rises in central southern Africa, and flows generally eastwards to the Indian Ocean. It is around long, with a drainage basin in size. Its mean annual discharge is 170 m³/s at its mouth...

.

Although frequently having a majority in the Cape Parliament, it never governed directly, generally forming coalitions with English speaking politicians. These included the Thomas Scanlen ministry, the administration of Cecil John Rhodes

Cecil John Rhodes

Cecil John Rhodes PC, DCL was an English-born South African businessman, mining magnate, and politician. He was the founder of the diamond company De Beers, which today markets 40% of the world's rough diamonds and at one time marketed 90%...

 with which it split after the Jameson Raid

Jameson Raid

The Jameson Raid was a botched raid on Paul Kruger's Transvaal Republic carried out by a British colonial statesman Leander Starr Jameson and his Rhodesian and Bechuanaland policemen over the New Year weekend of 1895–96...

 and John X. Merriman

John X. Merriman

John Xavier Merriman was the last prime minister of the Cape Colony before the formation of the Union of South Africa in 1910.-Early life:...

, the last Prime Minister of the Cape Colony, 1908–1910, prior to the formation of the Union of South Africa

Union of South Africa

The Union of South Africa is the historic predecessor to the present-day Republic of South Africa. It came into being on 31 May 1910 with the unification of the previously separate colonies of the Cape, Natal, Transvaal and the Orange Free State...

 on May 31, 1910. After Union, it ceased to be an independent party, merging with the South African Party

South African Party

The South African Party was a political party that existed in the Union of South Africa from 1911 to 1934.-History:The outline and foundation for the party was realized after the election of a 'South African party' in the 1910 South African general election under the leadership of Louis Botha...

 in the Union parliament.

In 1882 it was able to have Dutch

Netherlands

The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...

recognised as an official language of the Cape Colony.