The coming into existence of towns in the interior, such as Graaff-Reinet, Grahams Town, Bathurst, King William’s Town and later Pietermaritzburg, Bloemfontein and Winburg, introduced a new factor – the need of a regular source of supply from the coast.  This was the birth of the transport rider.  The expansion of the country was demanding more and more from the transport rider who found the oxwagon, which carried only some 1 800 kg, too small for his requirements.  In 1860 a new transport wagon came into production.  It was far bigger than the ox-wagon, with side rails and a half tent.  The braking system was also changed completely.  No longer could the driver rely on the old brake shoe to slow down or stop the huge wagon with its load; instead brake blocks were fitted to the rear wheels operated by means of a screw.  This new transport wagon could carry loads up to 4 500kg and was far more versatile than the ox-wagon.  The new span of oxen was between 16 and 20 per wagon.

 It was usual to travel in only two shifts a day – the morning shift from 2 am to an hour after sunrise; and the evening shift from 4 pm till 10 pm.  This allowed for day-grazing and the driver could chase the cattle well into the veld and away from the road, thereby ensuring their good condition.  The living quarters were beneath the half-tent at the rear end of the wagon, where simple furniture, clothes, food, and cooking utensils were stored.

 The blossoming of the diamond fields at Kimberley in the 1870’s gave the impetus for railway development as soon railway lines began reaching out towards it from Cape Town, Port Elizabeth and East London.  The transport wagons monopolized t he carriage of goods because railway construction was slow.  It has been estimated that some 18 500 transport wagons traveled the roads to Kimberley before the railway reached there in 1885, by which time was another route attracting a tremendous number of transport riders – the eastern route into the Transvaal.

 The most dangerous plague of the pastoralist, rinderpest, struck ruthlessly at the cornerstone of its existence – the transport rider’s  cattle.  It reached the Cape Colony in 1897.  Over 
500 000 oxen died.  This was the end of the ox-drawn wagon -  after the rinderpest the transport riders switched to mules.  Even so their trading life was nearly at the end, for the railways now ran from one side of the country to the other.  The Anglo-Boer War (1899-1902) finally finished their careers, since wagons and oxen were conscripted for use by the military forces and the day of the independent transport rider was past.

Above excerpts from " Towards the far Horizon - The story of the ox-wagon in South Africa" by Jose Burman