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A Reassessment of the 1958 Sekhukhuneland Peasant Revolt

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A Reassessment of the 1958 Sekhukhuneland Peasant Revolt CHAPTER 1 HISTORICAL OVERVIEW. 1.1. Introduction. The aim of this study is to explain how internal division in Sekhukhuneland contributed to the outbreak of the 1958 peasant revolt. It acknowledges that there are other causes of the revolt such as, climatic factors, the agricultural reforms, the role of migrant workers, but this mini-dissertation is limited only to internal division of the Pedi society. This study will investigate aspects of internal division from the fall of the Pedi Kingdom in the 1880 to the time of the 1958 revolt. The revolt itself falls outside the scope of this research work. The 1958 Sekhukhuneland peasant revolt, known as “motshabo”, is a central theme in the history of the then Northern Transvaal. It was a manifestation of rural resistance against European values and government policy of rural restructuring, undertaken by the Union government and later developed by the National Party government. Resentment and support of the said values and government policies fuelled internal division of the Pedi society. The mini-dissertation is organised around three broad themes of analysis: The first concerns the role of the Native Affairs Department regarding division of the Pedi kingdom, appointment of chiefs, livestock restrictions and betterment land schemes. Though the said actions were not exclusively targeted at Sekhukhuneland but were national functions of the Native Affairs Department , it will be shown how they impacted on the traditional practices of the Pedi and perpetuated internal division. The second theme concerns the theoretical analysis of ethnicity. The study will investigate aspects pertaining to Sekhukhuneland such as the nature of ethnic politics and leadership, population dynamics, religion and access to land. This research will show how those aspects fermented ethnic division of the various ethnic groups in the area of Sekhukhuneland. The third and last theme relates to those developments which accelerated factional tension and had considerable impact on the revolt. They included the activities of the Rangers, migrant workers, and deportation of the Pedi paramount chief and the arrest of the Batau 1 chief. Those developments brought factional tension to a head which ultimately, though coupled with other factors, sparked the 1958 Sekhukhuneland peasant revolt. The study aims to reflect on how internal division of the Pedi society, built up and resulted in a situation of conflict in 1958. The aim of the study will be achieved by an in-depth analysis of the subsequent research problem. 1.2. Problem Statement. This dissertation will reflect on the following question :- - What were the multitude of factors that caused internal division of the Pedi society, which ultimately led to the outbreak of the 1958 peasant revolt in Sekhukhuneland? In trying to unravel the research problem, one needs to focus on the following questions :- - What were the roles of the various Native Commissioners, stationed in Sekhukhuneland? - How has government policy on rural restructuring affected the Pedi? - Why did the Pedi differ in their response to government policy? - What was the impact of internal division on the conflict of 1958? 1.3. Justification. This study aims at reconsidering the view in the existing literature by considering how internal division of the Pedi caused the 1958 revolt. In the existing literature emphasis was put on the contribution of migrant workers whereas other factors internally contributed towards the outbreak of the revolt. Internal division is one of the causal factors. Therefore, this study will provide a new understanding and knowledge of the social, economic and political aspects of inequality that fermented division. The study will trace aspects that are considered to be the root causes of internal division within Pedi society in the period between 2 1880s and 1950s. This study supplements previous studies by tracing some aspects of internal division that caused the uprising. It will offer a comprehensive explanation of internal division which serves as justification for this research. The topic has received insufficient analysis in the current literature. The current view is put forward in the work of Peter Delius in A Lion Amongst the Cattle: Reconstruction and Resistance in the Northern Transvaal. Pertaining to the 1958 uprising, he placed more emphasis on the role played by migrant workers. Yet there were other underlying factors that caused the revolt, which require investigation. The exploration of other factors, in conjunction with the contribution of migrant workers, offer a balanced view of the actual causes of the uprising. Secondly, the current literature limited internal division of the Pedi society as a phenomenon manifested between rangers (those who supported government policy) and Makhuduthamaga (those who resisted government policy) .1 That relationship is regarded as the cause of the revolt, as reflected in the current literature, yet there is insufficient explanation of what actually motivated the two groups to take divergent decisions. Therefore, this study will explore what caused this harderning attitudes and motives of the two groups in terms of either ethnic affiliation or education. Lastly, Sekhukhuneland has been chosen for this research on the premonition that this particular event was the centerpiece of the struggle against British colonisation and Voortrekker enchroachment of their kingdom in the 19th century.2 Memories of past victories and sufferings endured at the collapse of the Pedi kingdom in 1880, resurfaced at the time of the National Party government’s enforcement of apartheid laws after 1948. 1.4. Methodology. The research undertaken will be presented in English yet with Pedi references used during the revolt. Information on the causes of the revolt was obtained from both the primary and secondary sources. Archival materials consulted were mainly commission reports such as the Native Economic commission, 1930-32 and the Commission for Socio-Economic Development of the Bantu Areas (Tomlinson report) 1955 . 3 Those said Commissions and Reports provide valuable information on the deteriorating natural conditions of the reserve and strategies to revamp the ailing situation. The Tomlinson report of 1955 also recommended the economic improvement of the reserves in order to reduce the high influx rate of rural people into the urban centres. 3 Valuable information was obtained from the archives of the provincial Department of Agriculture and Education. Court Records in the archives were consulted. The evidence by the accused and state witnesses provided essential information on the revolt and one is able to trace the nature of internal division in their presentation. Although not all the evidence of all the accused and the state witnesses were consulted, the evidence of P. Nkadimeng and Kgobalala Sekhukhune provided sufficient information on the topic. The newspapers which were consulted on this topic were The Pretoria News, Rand Daily Mail, and The Star of May, June and July 1958. Though they dealt with the event of the uprising based on police reports, they revealed some information pertaining to the causes of the revolt. Supplementary newspaper information was also traced in the publications from the South African Institute of Race Relations (1958 Classifications and Supplements) and Periodicals such as Contact, issued in 1958. Library material consulted on the topic includes articles and books that dealt with the economic and political life of the Pedi. Those sources revealed the social and economic plight that caused division and subsequently lead to the 1958 uprising. Government legislation contained in statutes such as the Bantu Local Authority Act of 1951 and government departmental records on rural restructuring were consulted. Consultation of records such as The Era of Reclamation by D.L. Smit provided valuable information on the impact of legislation on people in the South African reserves.4 The consultation with eyewitnesses was limited to only those not covered by the current literature. Eyewitnesses provide valuable information yet need critical scrutiny to avoid bias and subjectivity. To avoid methodological problems in terms of the age of the eyewitnesses due to either loss of memory, a rather representative sample was indentified and four people were interviewed. The ethnic groups whose headman was murdered during the uprising was interviewed. The interview with Mmatudu Mohlala, headman of Ba Ga-Mohlala, whose father was murdered in 1958 by Makhuduthamaga, offered valuable information on the economic and social plight of the minor ethnic groups in Sekhukhuneland. 4 1.5. Historiography No definitive work was undertaken on the history of the Sekhukhuneland peasant revolt in 1958. No published work has ever tried to present a detailed account of why the revolt occured. In most history books on rural uprisings in South Africa, the Sekhukhuneland revolt of 1958 is quoted in more or less a paragraph. Examples of such publications are Black Politics in South Africa since 1945 by T. Lodge, South Africa, A Modern History by T.R.H. Davenport and C. Saunders and The Peasant Revolt by G. Mbeki The earliest study on the revolt was cited by Govan Mbeki in The Peasant Revolt. In his study he dealt extensively with peasant revolts that swept the whole of South Africa in the 1950s but gave limited attention to the Sekhukhuneland Peasant revolt. However, his work gives an impression of revolt that could assist in tracing the actual causes of the uprising. His work was mainly based on oral sources and his personal experience as an affected community member of Pondoland where a revolt also took place. He also made use of newspaper reports such as the Rand Daily Mail, The Pretoria News, The Bantu and The Star, that all reported on the Sekhukhune peasant revolt in 1958. Tom Lodge in Black Politics in South Africa since 1945 has also contributed towards the study on peasant revolts. Though he gave a detailed account on the revolts in Witsieshoek, Zeerust, Pondoland and Thembuland, his work on Sekhukhuneland is insufficient. Yet it is a point of departure.
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