In 1861 Griqua chief Adam Kok and his followers decided to trek over the Drakensberg from Phillipolis in the Southern Free State, and founded Griqualand East. Kok was responsible for external affairs and the building of a new town, which was later to become Kokstad. Disturbances in the area prompted the Cape Colony to annex Griqualand East in 1874. Neither Kok nor his council were consulted about this matter. The Cape Governor deposed Kok and paid him an annual pension. He died a year later in 1875 after falling from a cart . The monument situated next to the Hope Street police station in Kokstad commemorates the leadership of Adam Kok.