A change of government in London led to a pro-imperialist lobby headed by Secretary of State, Lord Carnarvon, determined to bring all of southern Africa into the British Empire by enforcing a confederation onto the region.
This "new and impatient imperialism" was resisted by the states of southern Africa, including the Cape colony government, and relations between the Molteno government and the British Colonial Office deteriorated.

Molteno himself argued that "the proposals for confederation should emanate from the communities to be affected, and not be pressed upon them from outside." –
and that the whole scheme was particularly badly timed.
The different states of southern Africa were still simmering after the last bout of British imperial expansion, and he stressed that the forced imposition of a lop-sided confederation would cause immense instability.

Molteno's government also transmitted to London its concern that any federation with the illiberal Boer republics would endanger the rights and franchise of the Cape's Black citizens; if there was to be any form of union, the Cape's non-racialism would need to be imposed on the Boer republics, and could not be compromised.

However, the Colonial Office went ahead and dismissed governor Henry Barkly and appointed Henry Bartle Frere who on 3 February 1878 dissolved the Cape government.
Frere was a formidable administrator of the British Empire but had scant experience of southern Africa and the confederation scheme soon fell apart, leaving a trail of wars across the region as predicted, including long-running conflicts with the Xhosa, Pedi and Basotho nations.
After the disastrous British invasion of Zululand and rising discontent in the Transvaal (that later exploded as the First Boer War), Frere was recalled to London to face charges of misconduct in 1880.
A change of government in London led to a pro-imperialist lobby headed by Secretary of State, Lord Carnarvon, determined to bring all of southern Africa into the British Empire by enforcing a confederation onto the region. This "new and impatient imperialism" was resisted by the states of southern Africa, including the Cape colony government, and relations between the Molteno government and the British Colonial Office deteriorated.
Molteno himself argued that "the proposals for confederation should emanate from the communities to be affected, and not be pressed upon them from outside." – and that the whole scheme was particularly badly timed. The different states of southern Africa were still simmering after the last bout of British imperial expansion, and he stressed that the forced imposition of a lop-sided confederation would cause immense instability.
Molteno's government also transmitted to London its concern that any federation with the illiberal Boer republics would endanger the rights and franchise of the Cape's Black citizens; if there was to be any form of union, the Cape's non-racialism would need to be imposed on the Boer republics, and could not be compromised.
However, the Colonial Office went ahead and dismissed governor Henry Barkly and appointed Henry Bartle Frere who on 3 February 1878 dissolved the Cape government. Frere was a formidable administrator of the British Empire but had scant experience of southern Africa and the confederation scheme soon fell apart, leaving a trail of wars across the region as predicted, including long-running conflicts with the Xhosa, Pedi and Basotho nations. After the disastrous British invasion of Zululand and rising discontent in the Transvaal (that later exploded as the First Boer War), Frere was recalled to London to face charges of misconduct in 1880.
John Charles Molteno