Whelan, Deborah (2011) Trading lives: the commercial, social and political communities of the Zululand trading store. PhD thesis, SOAS (School of Oriental and African Studies). http://eprints.soas.ac.uk/12772/ Copyright © and Moral Rights for this thesis are retained by the author and/or other copyright owners. A copy can be downloaded for personal non‐commercial research or study, without prior permission or charge. This thesis cannot be reproduced or quoted extensively from without first obtaining permission in writing from the copyright holder/s. The content must not be changed in any way or sold commercially in any format or medium without the formal permission of the copyright holders. When referring to this thesis, full bibliographic details including the author, title, awarding institution and date of the thesis must be given e.g. AUTHOR (year of submission) "Full thesis title", name of the School or Department, PhD Thesis, pagination. Trading Lives: the commercial, social and political communities of the Zululand trading store Deborah Whelan Thesis submitted for the degree of PhD in Anthropology 2011 Department of Anthropology School of Oriental and African Studies University of London I have read and understood regulation 17.9 of the Regulations for students of the School of Oriental and African Studies concerning plagiarism. I undertake that all the material presented for examination is my own work and has not been written for me, in whole or in part, by any other person. I also undertake that any quotation or paraphrase from the published or unpublished work of another person has been duly acknowledged in the work which I present for examination. Signed: ____________________________ Date: _________________ Abstract There are few trading stores in Zululand which are still run by white traders, and operate as they did in the past. Thus history and anthropology merge in telling their story. Today, many old traders live their lives inherently affected by their inheritance of trading, practicing a social and commercial legacy that has been instilled in them through the generations. Their ascendants, early and mid-20th century traders in Zululand, were „pioneers‟ in a physical African wilderness. Whilst tied into practical lease agreements with authorities, they had to survive. This depended on their relationships and reciprocity with customers and their ability to negotiate the complex social and cultural space of rural people. These men and women were intimately connected to the communities that they served, who were dependant on the store for social and material needs. Simultaneously, despite their distance and isolation, the traders were part of greater supralocal ties which placed them within a vast lattice connecting them to other traders, as well as towns and cities. The reciprocal interface with the societies that they served was reflected in their material culture, in which the architecture of the store buildings and their notional positions as “anamnestic repositories” has endured in the rural landscapes of KwaZulu-Natal. The buildings have endured in other memories, being replicated in contemporary times as Post-Modern spaza shops owned and run by black traders. Memory is the key to the construction of identity as „trader‟, a perception which has endured long after trading ceased. A discrete number of Zululand trading families were studied, working within the boundaries of Zululand as determined by the 1905 „Delimitation of Zululand Lands‟ Commission, until the mid- 1970‟s when large parts of Zululand fell under the self-governing „homeland‟ of KwaZulu. 2 From the outset, this work has been dedicated to the memory of Dieter Reusch who was murdered in Msinga. He was shot working amongst people with whom he had been carrying out anthropological research for some 15 years Acknowledgements I am deeply indebted to many people who supported me in this research. Firstly to the traders who let me invade their lives and memories, stimulating ideas and connections which were strengthened by their ever-widening network of friends, family and associates, this tolerance is sincerely appreciated. Secondly, my ever patient supervisor, Dr. Trevor Marchand, thank you too for your immense capacity for reining in the eclectic, yet prompting the invisible and appropriate in the most gentle of fashions. My husband Alan has been invaluable for his company, support, encouragement and avid discussions which have been real and grounding contributions. Thanks to my family Tim and Jo who supported me whilst in London, and my father Peter, providing enduring perspective. Gratitude is noted to my mother Janet, for her painstaking reading, re-reading and correction. Then, the community of Pietermaritzburg who attended my talks and offered ideas and comments, thank you, and my friends Andrea, Andrew, Birgit, Debby, Gina, Heather, Maureen and Nancy for their support, and faith in me and my completion of this work. Thanks are due to Dylan Veldman for digitizing the diagram in Figure 6.3. It is the function of creative men to perceive the relations between thoughts, or things, or forms of expression that may seem utterly different, and to be able to combine them into some new forms -- the power to connect the seemingly unconnected.- William Plomer, Poet 3 Chapter Summary Prologue: welcome to our world 6 Chapter 1: Defining the problem and describing the approach 10 Defining the trading store 10 o The spaza shops 12 o Place in memory 13 o The personalities 14 Aims and objectives 14 1.1 Literature review 16 General theoretical framework 16 The multiple vernaculars 21 Nostalgia and bravado 31 Pioneers and identity formation 33 Landscapes, memory and monument 41 1.2 Methodology 49 Statement of problem 50 Statement of bias 52 Boundaries and limitations 54 Selection of research groups 55 Assessment of variables 56 1.2.1 Methodological approaches 59 Historical anthropology 59 Fieldwork 61 Research assistants 61 Participant observation 62 Interviews 65 Archival work 66 Lecture series 67 Analytical process 68 1.3 Explanation of terms used/disclaimer 72 1.4 Conclusion 74 Chapter 2: Notes on historical and architectural themes 76 2.1 Notes on historical themes 77 The advent of the rural trader 77 The hunter-traders and relations with the Zulu Kings 84 The position of the missionaries 87 The settling of the Locations and Reserves 90 Hut Tax 91 The development of systems of exchange 93 The Rinderpest 94 The role of the magistrate 97 2.2 The context of the vernacular architectural response 99 2.3 Conclusion 106 Chapter 3: The physical effects of the political community 107 Allocation of the store sites 108 Zululand Lands Delimitation Commission (ZLDC) 1905 111 The traders and the Bambatha Rebellion 115 The Declaration of Union and Evolving Legislations 118 The observations of the Tomlinson Commission 127 Apartheid period restrictions on trade 129 The formalization of Zululand in 1977 130 The effects of new laws for the deregulation of trade 132 Contemporary political challenges faced by traders 133 3.1 Conclusion 138 4 Chapter 4: The commercial trading store 141 Defining the commercial space of the trading store 143 o The Spaza shops 146 o The Trading Store 147 o The Supermarket 149 o The Wholesalers 150 The trading store as a commercial enterprise 152 The ritual and daily practice of purchase 155 The crisis of self-service 161 Access to lines of credit 163 Chains of (in) dependence 167 Altered circumstance, closing stores 172 Supplementing the income from trade 175 4.1 Conclusion 179 Chapter 5: The social trading store 180 The trading store as an extension of community space 182 Daily social interactions and responsibilities 190 o Personality 196 o Services 198 5.1 Vehicles of social interaction 205 General social communities 206 The static social community 211 The mobile social community 214 5.2 Conclusion 219 Chapter 6: Evoking memory and creating identity 220 o Odour of raisins 220 o Trading is „in the blood‟ 221 6.1 The buildings and their activation in ‘collected’ memory 223 Constructing an „archetype‟: Replication and re-inscription 223 Activation in memory and the formation of a repository 230 Repositories 230 6.2 Memory 236 Reiteration 237 Palimpsest memories 242 6.3 The construction of identity as ‘trader’ 245 o Nostalgia of bravado 246 o Isolation and the frontier 247 o Origins 250 o Exile and resistance 251 6.4 Conclusion 253 Chapter 7: Concluding Comments 256 8. References 268 Primary Sources and Official Documents 268 Secondary Sources 270 Conference proceedings 281 Appendix: Areas, periods under discussion and cultural background of the Zulu, Tembe/Tsonga and Hlubi 282 5 Illustrations and maps Preface: Map of KwaZulu-Natal showing stores 9 Figure 1.1 Trading store at Elandskraal 11 Figure 1.2 Spaza shop near Appelsbosch 12 Figure 1.3 Umfolozi Store owned by Otto Anderson ca 1914 13 Figure 1.4 19th century Natal and Zululand 54 Figure 1.5 Dlodlwana Store complex 56 Figure 1.6 Zones of trading families researched 57 Figure 2.1 The old homestead at Vumanhlamvu 100 Figure 2.2 One of five different catalogue wood-and-iron and „country‟ store options 102 Figure 2.3 Old store of mixed construction 103 Figure 2.4 Vumanhlamvu Store, near Nkandla 104 Figure 3.1 Connectivity between stores and exercizing the options of choice 110 Figure 3.2 Section of military map (Bambatha Rebellion) 117 Figure 3.3 Nyalazi Store 124 Figure 3.4 Mlambongwenya Store, with RH Rutherfoord in front 126 Figure 4.1 Old „Masojeni Store‟. The new store is behind. 141 Figure 4.2 Relative comparisons between operations on a fluid scale 145 Figure 4.3 Schematic representation of Elandskraal store: primarily counter service 158 Figure 4.4 Schematic representation of Tshongwe store: mixed self- and counter service 158 Figure 4.5 Schematic representation of Masotsheni store: self-service 159 Figure 4.6 iNsuze Store, decorated by Premier Foods 171 Figure 4.7 Continued hardship at Qudeni: January 2010 176 Figure 5.1 Plan of 18 Shepstone Lane, Pietermaritzburg circa 1862 184 Figure 5.2 Plan of No.