Lynn MacLeod informs Web Site readers of ...

The Waikato Immigration Scheme

The Waikato Immigration Scheme took place in late 1864 when about 1200 settlers from SA were recruited from Cape Town and Port Elizabeth. They were given free passage and on arrival they were given land grants from land which was confiscated from the Maoris after the wars.

There were five ship loads from SA:
Steinwaerder : 17/8/1864 - 14/10/1864
Alfred : 27/9/1864 - 18/11/1864
Maori : 8/11/1864 - 23/12/1864
Reiherstieg : 26/10/1864 - 24/12/1864
Eveline : Dec 1864 - 22/1/1865 (35 day voyage)
The balance of 8 boats originated from 3 Scotland, 3 London and 2 Irish - making 13 ships

There was also a newspaper cutting:
Auckland Herald 18/7/1960 - Repetition of History
"With the arrival in NZ of 113 immigrants from SA and indications that hundreds more are anxious to come here, history is repeating itself after nearly a hundred years. Early in 1865 about a thousand people from the Cape helped to found Pukekohe, Tuakau, Waiuku and other South Auckland districts. The Waikato War had resulted in all the land between Auckland and the Waikato River, 40 miles to the south, being cleared of its Maori owners.

No time was lost in bringing in settlers from Britain and South Africa to fill the vacuum. Under the NZ Settlements Act of 1863, large areas had been set aside for immigrants. It took time to survey the land and to work out details of settlement. Meanwhile the new arrivals were housed in a corrugated iron building on North Shore. They remained there for four months before being sent to Drury. They lived there in tents, but there was a shortage of these and heads of families had to build temporary whares (Maori shelters), some of nikau fronds, to provide shelter until they could hew timber and build more substantial homes. Immediate prospects were bleak. Their first job - apart from clearing sufficient land of trees and tangled undergrowth to grow food - was to make roads and bridge creeks and swamps. Roads were essential to link the scattered settlements with each other and with Auckland by way of the Great South Road which had been driven through the forest by British troops before the war. The newcomers had been promised rations for 12 months and employment on 'public works' but the finances of the colony were shaky and these very necessary sources of help soon dried up. Some of the men turned to gum digging, others to the goldfields. By the end of 1865 two-thirds of them had left for the Thomes goldfields. The few who were lucky sent enough money back to their wives and families - who had been struggling on in their absence - to buy cows and pigs. Three years after some of the South Africans from the 'Maori' and 'Eveline' had settled at Pukekohe, the place possessed one weatherboard house. It measured 20 feet by 12 and contained four rooms, one of which was used as the village store".

For shipping lists there are these posted and some of the names sound very 'ex SA 1820 Settler' names
Alfred at http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~ourstuff/Alfred1864.htm
Eveline at http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~ourstuff/Eveline.htm
Reiherstieg at http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~ourstuff/Reiherstieg1864.htm
Sir George Grey at http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~ourstuff/SirGeorgeGrey1864.htm
Steinwaerder at http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~ourstuff/Steinwarder1864.htm

There were three other shiploads:
Pfeil (Capt. Buschman) arrived Auckland 19/8/1864 ex CT
Susanne (Cpt Moller) arrived Auckland 26/12/1862 and again 17/6/1863
I have not been able to find passenger lists for these yet.