The
Voortrekkers (
Afrikaans and
Dutch for
pioneers, literally "fore-pullers", "those in front who pull", "fore-trekkers") were
Afrikaner emigrants during the 1830s and 1840s who left the
Cape Colony (British at the time, but founded by the Dutch) moving into the interior of what is now
South Africa in what is known as the Great Trek. The
Great Trek consisted of a number of mass movements under a number of different leaders.