Voortrekker then docked at Granger Bay, where Vice-Admiral Hugo Biermann, Dr Anton Rupert - head of the Rembrandt Group that underwrote the venture and Cape Town mayor, Mr G.E. Ferry along with other dignitaries gave him a hero's welcome.
Spoorbek was on good terms with the Voortrekker leaders Karel Landman, Piet Uys and Gert Rainier, who left the Cape Colony with ox wagons in search for a better life in the mainland.
On 29 June of the same year, the Uys Trek arrived at the combined Voortrekker laager at the Sand River where, unbeknownst to them, Piet Retief had been elected Governor and a constitution drafted.