The Lippert Concession (1889)
The Lippert Concession (1889) preceded the actual occupation of Zimbabwe in 1890 and allowed would-be settlers to acquire land rights from the indigenous people. The act resulted in the British South African Company (BSAC) buying concessions from the British Monarch which were then used as a basis of land expropriation. The revenue accrued was repatriated to the United Kingdom and the indigenous peoples, the owners of the land, got nothing.
Background
King Lobengula granted land and mineral rights to a Johannesburg businessman in an effort to weaken Cecil John Rhodes’ position. However, Rhodes knew about the transaction and bought the concession from Lippert thus strengthening his position.
Lobengula next tried diplomacy. He gave a concession to Edouard Lippert from Johannesburg in the Boer Republic. Lippert was to make an annual payment to Lobengula for a lease which gave him the right to grant, lease, or rent parts of Ndebele land in his name for 100 years. This attempt to play the Boers against the British was Lobengula's undoing. Lippert turned around and sold the concession to the very company Lobengula had expelled. The company cut up Lobengula's land and distributed the promised farms to the pioneers.
