John Moffat

Bechuanaland administrator Sidney Shepherd was told of this diplomacy going on and sent his own emissary off to meet Lobengula.

This is another important character in today's story, John Smith Moffat.

By now, he was 51 and the son of the famous missionaries Robert and Mary Moffat of Kuruman.

John Smith Moffat was fluent in English, Dutch, Tswana, and Ndebele, a perfect emissary, and he was installed as assistant commissioner in Bechuanaland, responsible for securing British rights with Lobengula.

Before Grobler had time to arrive back in Matabeleland, Shepherd rushed a letter to Lobengula asking that the king wait before granting any Boer permission to enter his land until at least he had met Moffat.

A flurry of diplomacy was all about one main thing, who was going to get a concession to operate in Matabeleland.