At the time of Smellekamp's arrival, the British under Captain Thomas Charlton Smith were several days marching away from Port Natal, ready to occupy the town.
The Volksraad gave some promises about trade in the future and put in a request for immigrants to strengthen the Boer state.
[1][3] The deteriorating political situation brought the Volksraad to offer Natal as a colonial possession to William II of the Netherlands (resolution 25 April 1842) in case Britain were to annex the Voortrekker territory.
[4] King William II rejected the proposed connection between the Netherlands and the Voortrekkers of Natal and before the year was out he apologised to White Hall for the affray caused by Smellekamp and his activities.
In the Winter of 1844 Hendrik Potgieter, the leader of the Potchefstroom-Winburg Republic, which had declared independence on 9 April 1844, visited Delagoa Bay looking for a free passage to the sea.
He negotiated with Smellekamp, who advised him to move his people north of the 26th degree of latitude, outside of the British sphere of influence, and with an opportunity to trade freely with Dutch traders.
The discussions resulted in Potgieter and a group of Voortrekkers from the former Natalia Republic to move to the North-East Transvaal where they established Andries-Ohrigstad.
Dirk van der Hoff of Potchefstroom, also a Dutchman, at the general synod of the Dutch Reformed church in Rustenburg.
Equally quickly, Smellekamp's volatile character triggered a conflict with State President Boshoff, and a short but venomous correspondence between the two men.
Tha controversy was about the mission of the Dutchman Cornelis Hiddingh, who came to Bloemfontein in January 1856, as official Dutch envoy to present a flag and coat of arms of the Orange Free State to the government, as a gift from King William III of the Netherlands.
Without him, the Dutch interest in the Voortrekker movement and the fate of the 'Boer kinsmen', resulting in a migration drive as well as long-standing cultural connections, would most likely not have emerged in the way it did.
[9] Despite his volatile character, Smellekamp had a good feeling for the necessity to build up a national consciousness in the new republics, necessary for their survival in the face of many internal and external challenges.