Both the Dutch and the British settlers realized that they would have to eliminate the very way of life that sustained the Xhosa people. The destruction of the Xhosa way of life was accomplished through the Kaffir Wars of 1835-1879(Browett, 1982). In which the land and cattle owned by the Xhosa people were taken from them, as a means of forcing them into a system of exploitation by becoming a " source of cheap labour to further the economic development of white farm owners" (Browett,1982). This was the creation of what we know now as the migrant labor force. This strategy of building the labor force did not just occur in the Cape but in every region through out that in South Africa. This was not to be the end of the development of the white capitalist economy, it was just the beginning.

             The further development of the migrant labor reserve occurred with the discovery of "diamonds in Kimberly in 1867"(Browett, 1982) and "gold in Witwaterstand and Transvall in 1886" (Browett, 1982). Another call was made to increase the numbers within the labor reserves for this new mine of wealth. To meet this need the final destruction of the "indigenous economy"(Browett, 1982) occurred in order to achieve the cheap black laborers that were needed in the diamond and gold mines. To ensure that these laborers would not go back to their previous economic base. Levies to the poll tax and extensions to hut taxes were enforced by the white ruling class, as a strategic way of ensuring that the natives would stay within the ever growing wage labor economy(Browett,1982).

             "Decreased production of the mines and the pre-capitalist mode of production"(Smith,1982), created a problem within the labor reserve. Which had now progressed to having three primary functions. One function of the reserve was a means of cheaply producing a black labor force. Secondly it was a dumping ground for surplus blacks no longer required by the white economy, in urban areas and thirdly as a means of keeping segregation policies between whites and blacks a live and well.