ZULU PERCEPTIONS AND REACTIONS TO mE BRITISH OCCUPATION OF LAND IN NATAL COLONY AND ZULULAND, 1850 - 1887: A RECAPITULATION BASED ON SURVIVING ORAL AND WRITTEN SOURCES. BY EDWARD MUNTU MASINA A thesis submitted to the Faculty ofArts, University of Zululand in fulfilment for the degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY In the Department ofHistory Promoter: Prof. J de VilIiers KWA-DLANGEZWA January 2006 CONTENTS CHAPTER PAGE SUMMARY ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS LIST OF MAPS INTRODUCTION 1 1. EARLY ZULU ENCOUNTERS WITH WHITE PEOPLE 1.1 Pioneer hunter-traders 30 1.2 Republic ofNatalia 53 2. ZULU RELATIONS WITH THE BRITISH AUTHORITIES AFTER 1843 2.1 The new administration and the Shepstone system 86 2.2 The destruction ofthe homestead economy and the Zulu peasantry's responses 114 3. ZULU OBSERVATIONS AND EXPERIENCES OF MISSIONARY ENTERPRISES 3.1 The early days 134 3.2 The work ofthe Christian missionaries 150 3.3 The Kholwa: land issues and political expectations 176 4. ZULU PERCEPTIONS OF BRITISH IMPERIALISM BEFORE 1879 4.1 Shepstone and British imperialism 186 4.2 The rise ofCetshwayo and the resulting tension in Natal Colony 207 5. CETSHWAYO'S DILEMMA AND DIVISION WITHIN ZULU SOCIETY 5.1 The fall ofCetshwayo and the land demarcation and placement of chiefs in Zululand, 1879 - 1882 237 5.2 The return ofCetshwayo and further unrest in Zululand 256 6. ZULU RELATIONS WITH THE BOERS, 1848 -1887 6.1 The Klip River and Utrecht Republics 272 6.2 Dinuzulu and the Boers 285 6.3 The annexation ofZululand 299 6.4 The demise ofthe Zulu Kingdom, 1880 - 1887 311 7. OVERVIEW AND ASSSESSMENT OF ZULU PERCEPTIONS AND REACTIONS 319 8. SOURCES 332 SUMMARY This thesis seeks to close some lacunae that exists in the historiography of Natal and Zululand. Whereas the activities ofthe colonials are well documented and widely read, the actions and responses ofthe Zulu people to colonial expansion in Natal and Zululand have been neglected or only given a cursory glance. The impact ofcolonialism that resulted in the loss ofland and a livelihood among the Zulu, could only be articulated with the necessary sensitivity by the Zulu people themselves. This, therefore, is an attempt to give audience to the Zulu voice. The study focuses on the period 1850 - 1887 which was characterized by a steady immigration, infiltration and penetration ofthe British into the traditional, social and political life ofthe Zulu people in Natal and Zululand. The elephant trails charted the way ofthe traders and hunters into the heart ofZululand and missionaries followed in their footsteps. The initial attempts at evangelization met with fervent resistance from the Zulu, simply because it contrasted with Zulu custom and was too alien to be readily comprehended and accepted by the Zulu, who still owed sole allegiance to their king. Nevertheless, colonial land policies and the establishment ofChristian mission reserves led to the rise ofan African peasantry which adapted to the white man's ways and flourished. The colonials introduced the "Shepstone system" which crammed the Zulu into barren reserves and restricted their ownership ofland in Natal Colony. This resulted in the steady decline ofthe peasantry as a recognizable social class. The dominant forces ofcapitalism and the promulgation oflaws prohibiting Zulu freedom ofmovement eventually destroyed the African peasantry. The destruction ofthe homestead economy and the loss ofland and cattle gave rise to a new class of poor people among the Zulu ofNatal Colony. Meanwhile, in Zululand, signs ofunderdevelopment were already evident during the 1870's. Federation schemes pursued by the British, with the desire to dominate the southern African region, coupled the suspicions that King Cetshwayo was planning to attack Natal, culminated in the Anglo­ Zulu War of1879. Despite Cetshwayo's plea for peace, the British invaded Zululand with the sole purpose ofdestroying the Zulu dynasty, which they viewed as an obstacle to British overlordship. British victory in the war led to Wolseley's clumsy settlement which unleashed a terribly bloody civil war that left Zululand devastated and the Zulu dynasty permanently weakened. Then came, rather too late, the annexation ofZululand by Britain in 1887. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I wish to acknowledge with gratitude the assistance and encouragement that I received from a number ofpeople-freely. Nompumelelo Mbongo, for many years to come, it will be hard to forget the kindness and understanding that she showed towards my effort to complete this work. I am deeply indebted to her in many ways. My gratitude is due to my promoter, Professor J de Villiers, who helped to panel-beat the topic ofthe thesis into shape, and then allowed me to take the challenge ofresearching and writing it. For the completion ofthe work, I am indebted to the historians ofthe history ofNataI and Zululand whose work helped to chart the way ofmy research. Thanks also to the custodians ofthe Zulu heritage at Killie Carnpbell Africana Library, the Achives in Pietermaritzburg and the Uzulu Collection at the University. Their co­ operation and assistance helped greatly. I wish to add the staffofthe local libraries at Bethal, Ermelo, Secunda and Leandra who played their part. Many thanks to Mrs. Hajee who, while still in town, did the computer writing, and Deon van Zyl who took over and completed that task. To my colleagues Arnos Nhlanhla (with his young son Basbi) and Jerry Mapbumulo who never got tired ofbeing "called" to help, I say thanks. Thanks also to Zweli Mkhaliphi, he knows why. To everyone in my family, I wish to say a hearty thank you for the confidence they have always had in me. LIST OF MAPS King Shaka's empire by 1828 (Between pages 29 and 30) Zululand and the Colony ofNatal 1845 - 1878 (Between pages 85 and 86) The Thirteen Zulu chiefdoms established by Wolse!ey, 1879 (Between pages 255 and 256) The six Magisterial districts ofZululand, 1887 (Between pages 298 and 299) 1 INTRODUCTION When "'TIting the history ofthe region between the Phongola and Mzimkhulu rivers before the arrival of the whites in South Africa, historians have depended on archaeological fmdings and recorded African oral tradition. The most important collections of oral tradition, still widely and reliably used today, are those of Alfred Bryant and lames Stuart. Even though recent scholars have discovered numerous flaws in Bryant's Olden Times in Zululand and Natal, which fIrst appeared in 1929, it continues to be a flag-bearer in l charting the way to a better understanding oflife in south east Africa from about 1500 AD. Stuarts' records have recently been put together by Webb and Wright as the lames Stuart Archive, and were published in five vollnnes. Scholars of the history of Natal and Zululand, who have discovered the value oforal tradition, use Webb and Wright's research publications very extensively. Historians have, however, also warned that even these should be used with caution. Historiographically, therefore, this part remains a rather shadowy landscape in need offirmer grounding. Again, many would argue against conclusions that were drav,n on the basis oforal traditions collected in the early twentieth century which had already been influenced by the advanced literature of the British. In that case, one would admit that the resultant inconsistencies and glaring contradictions in oral evidence, do reflect the influences of traditional Zulu upbringing, mission education, and settler neighbourliness as well as a mixture of these. The inconsistencies and contradictions can better be rectified with wider consultation and verification. Although, the story-teller's narrative may not necessarily be hundred percent factually accurate, it nevertheless makes up a "historical record replete I 1 Wright & C Hamilton, "Traditions and transformations: the Phongola-Ivlzimkhulu region in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries." in A Duminy & B Guest (eds) Natal and Zululand from earliest times to 1910; a new history (pietennaritzburg, Shuter & Shooter, 1989), pp 49-50. 2 with symboFlO truths". 2 The information that is contained in the narrative is simply too valuable to be rejected. On these grounds, this writer, has drawn heavily on Webb and Wright's re",riting ofthe Stuart collection from the Killie Campbell Africana Library manuscript series, essentially in orderto present the Zulu side ofthe story. The story is told that the Nguni groups that peopled the region were made up ofclans. From archaeological evidence and European mariners' records it is possible to discern that by the seventeenth-eentury, a patchwork ofhundreds ofclans were living under chiefs in the land that was to be known as Zululand. 3 All these people spoke variations ofthe same language and observed the same customs and common traditions. Each ofthem "descended from a progenitor and all together from a single more ancient ancestor".4 These Isi-Zulu-speaking "Nguni" people were herders and cultivators as well as hunters. Shula Marks has warned that the otherwise widespreati use ofthe term "Nguni" by historians trying to avoid the anachronistic term "Zulu" for the people who lived in the region before the Mfecane may itself do much to distort their history.5 But that they lived as clans in little chiefdoms and that they had a common history, is undeniable. Also, that they had migrated from the north is every historian's contention. The migration may have taken many forms and different directions but the "Nguni" came to settle inthis region and laid the foundation from which the story ofthe Zulu began. 2 I Hofmeyr, We spend our years as a tale that is told: oral historical narrative in a South African chiefdom (Johannesburg. Witwatersrand University Press, 1993), p 133. 3 Stephen Taylor, Shaka's children: a history ofthe Zulu people (London, Harper-Collins, 1994), p 274. 4 EA Ritter, Shaka Zulu: the rise ofthe Zulu empire (London, Longman Green, 1995), p 3.