sentences:  These VOC officials soon started a corrupt trading monopoly with the VOC which seriously hampered the free burghers' ability to make a living.By 1705, a third of all the farms in the colony belonged to just 20 officials.Tas and Hüsing drafted a petition, accusing local VOC officials of abusing the company's trading monopoly, and managed to persuade 63 of the 550 Cape free burghers to sign it.