[4][5] It is derived from the cattle of the Khoikhoi (Hottentot) people which were already present in the area of modern South Africa when the Dutch East India Company established the Cape Colony in 1652.

[6] Anecdotal evidence from Portuguese sailors suggests that herds of Afrikaner-like cattle had been kept by the Khoikhoi since at least the fifteenth century.

[5] The breed almost became extinct at the time of the Second Boer War (1899–1902) as a result both of wartime destruction and of a rinderpest outbreak of that halved the total cattle population of the country.

[10] In 1929, a bull and two cows (one a calf) were gifted to the King George V by the Africander Cattle Breeders' Society of South Africa.

[12][13] During the first half of the twentieth century, Afrikaners were being bred to reduce the size of their hump, as this was unsightly to farmers used to the taurine cattle shape.

[5] There is a medium to high degree of genetic variation within this breed with a low inbreeding coefficient, despite the historic decline in numbers.

[11] They were also used as dairy cows, though less commonly, producing higher butterfat contents than other cattle breeds, without the need for supplementary feed.

[18] The Bonsmara was developed during the 1960s by crossing Afrikaners with Herefords and Shorthorns,[6] while the Belmont Red results of similar crossbreeding by CSIRO in Rockhampton, Queensland, in an effort to improve beef production in hot, dry areas.