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The discovery of diamonds in 1867 near the [[Vaal River]], some {{cvt|550|mi|km}} northeast of [[Cape Town]], ended the isolation of the Boers in the interior and had a significant effect on events. The discovery triggered a [[diamond rush]] that attracted people from all over the world, which turned [[Kimberley, Northern Cape|Kimberley]] into a town of 50,000 within five years and drew the attention of British imperial interests. In the 1870s, the British annexed [[West Griqualand]], site of the Kimberley diamond discoveries.
In 1874 [[Henry Herbert, 4th Earl of Carnarvon|Lord Carnarvon]], [[Secretary of State for the Colonies]], who had brought about federation in Canada in 1867, thought that a similar scheme might work in South Africa, The South African plan called for a ruling white minority over a black majority, which would provide a large pool of cheap labour for the British sugar plantations and mines, {{sfn|Gump|1996|pp=73–93}} Carnarvon, in an attempt to extend British influence in 1875, approached the Boer states of the [[Orange Free State]] and the [[Transvaal Republic]] and tried to organize a federation of the British and Boer territories but the Boer leaders turned him down.
In 1877, Sir [[Bartle Frere]] was made [[High Commissioner]] for [[Southern Africa]] by Lord Carnarvon. Carnarvon appointed Frere to the position on the understanding that he would work to enforce Carnarvon's confederation plan and Frere could then become the first British governor of a federated southern African [[dominion]]. Frere was sent to South Africa as High Commissioner to bring this plan about. One of the obstacles to such a scheme was the presence of the independent Boer states of the [[South African Republic]], informally known as the Transvaal Republic and the Orange Free State, and the Kingdom of [[Zulu Kingdom|Zululand]]. Bartle Frere wasted no time in putting the scheme forward and manufacturing a [[casus belli]] against the Zulu by exaggerating the significance of a number of recent incidents.{{sfn|Gump|1996|p=91}}
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