 This area was part of the so-called Swartland, the chief wheat-growing area of the Cape Colony.1870 found Bovenplaats under the care of Jacobus Abraham Smuts and his wife Catharina Petronella.Jacobus Smuts lived in much the same manner as his forefathers — a hard-working farmer, a pillar of the Church, and one who took a leading part in the social and political affairs of the neighbourhood.