A Time of Trouble and Rapid Transformation

CHAPTER FOUR A time of trouble and rapid transformation The Mfecane For most African societies in South Africa the hallmarks of the nineteenth century were difficulty, conflict, dislocation, reorganisation, and finally subjugation. The ap- pearance of the Griqua north of the Orange River heralded the imminent arrival of European styles of life, war and government. Before the full impact of this was experienced, however, most communities were subjected to the vagaries and hard- ships of the Mfecane, Literal translations of this term show up assumptions about the Mfecane 'con- cept', In older historical works it was a time of 'convulsions', of 'crushing' and of 'wandering hordes', initiated almost solely by Shaka and the Zulu, But new inter- pretations have identified new suspects: Europeans at the Cape and Oelagoa Bay; European surrogates like the Griqua on the hiqhveld, Historians are divided as to the causes, but the events constituting the term Mfecane reshaped the political ABOVE: Before the 1970s historians thought landscape of southern Africa, that the Mfecane, or upheaval, occurred at the end of the eighteenth century and During the last half of the eighteenth century and the first quarter of the nineteenth, dra- derived from the growth of the Zulu kingdom matic developments transformed the nature of African societies, and altered the demo- under Shaka. The Zulu impact has now been graphic shape of South Africa. These have been referred to as the Mfecane (for Nguni questioned, the beginning extended back speakers) and Difaqane (for Sotho-Tswana speakers) on the highveld. Before the 1970s, to the 1750s, the geographic focus widened scholars generally thought that these changes derived from the growth of the Zulu king- to include the interior of the country, and dom under Shaka in southeast Africa, and that the changes had begun to occur at the European trade seen as one of the possible end of the eighteenth century. Since the early 1990s such views have been modified. It causes. This painting by C.D. Bell depicts is now accepted that the Zulu were by no means the only ones responsible for the war- Ndebele warriors during the time of the fare that spread throughout the southeast African coastal areas and the inland regions. Mfecane. Bell accompanied Rev. Andrew Now it is generally recognised that other African chiefdoms responded just as vigor- Smith on his joumey through South Africa ously and innovatively to the changing conditions of the late eighteenth century The geo- during 1834-1835. graphic focus of the process has been expanded to include the interior of South Africa, and the beginning of the Mfecane has been extended backwards from about the 1790s to the mid-eighteenth century Geographically, the sphere of the Mfecane has now been broadened to include communities of the entire western highveld. Nor was the c;nflict exclusively one between Africans. It has been argued that increasing European penetration into South Africa from the Cape and Mozambique destabilised the African communities along the coast and into the interior. Historians are more divided, however, over the degree to which whites are responsible for the corn- motions of the Mfecane. How did the Mfecane begin? To understand this transformation it is necessary to pose three straightforward questions,' which to some extent belie their complexity. How did the Mfecane begin? Why did it occur? And what were its consequences? The discussion begins by tracing developments in the present area of KwaZulu- atal on the southeastern seaboard. From 1780, in the tenitory from Delagoa Bay to the Thukela 124 A TDtE OF THOUBLE AND HAPID TRANSFOHMATION NGWATO KWENA o 100 200 km l;;;lii§ii!I@'_;;;;;._==:::=:J1 (Tugela) River, a number of African chiefdoms began to expand in size and grow in MAP: African groupings at the time power. These included the Mabhudu and Tembe, under Makhasane, near the coast. of the Mfecane. Weaker communities were dominated or expelled from the region. Even the nascent Pedi kingdom some 300 kilometres away in the interior felt the effects of this. Further south, a similar pattern emerged, with the Ndwandwe and Mthethwa chiefdoms increasing their numbers and competing for allies. This led groups some distance away from these expanding chiefdoms to strengthen their military capabilities - includ- ing the Hlubi in the Drakensberg foothills, and the Qwabe below the Thukela River. Some chiefdoms caught up in the conflict between these competing power blocs chose to flee. The Ngwane under Matiwane's leadership moved westwards, attacking the Hlubi and killing their chief, Mthimkhulu. The Hlubi split apart; some abandoned their homeland and others merged with the N gwane. Chief Matiwane settled in the region of THE MFECANE 125 modem Bergville, incorporating smaller groups such as the Zizi and Bhele. He was now the dominant figure in the upper Thukela. After 1810 Dingiswayo of the Mthethwa surrounded himself with allies and forced those who refused to join him into tributary status. One of these confederates was the Zulu. When their chief Senzangakhona died, Dingiswayo intervened and appointed Shaka as leader. By 1818 the rivalry for power in the region between the Mthethwa and the Ndwandwe under Zwide was reach.ing a climax. The dwandwe resided in present-day northern Zulu- land and, like Dingiswayo, Zwide commanded the loyalty of a number of smaller chiefdoms. A difference between them was that the Mthethwa built loyalties around common trade interests in cattle and ivory, while the Ndwandwe seemed to rely on tile support of related communities. In 1818 Dingiswayo was captured by Zwide and killed. This allowed Shaka to step into the power vacuum and take control of the Mthethwa. Zwide then turned his attention to the Zulu, seeing them as the only ones capable of thwarting his control over the former Thought to be Shaka's nephew, Mthethwa confederacy. But Shaka had managed to weld his neighbours into an alliance as depicted by G.F Angas. against tile dwandwe. These included the powerful Qwabe chiefdom, which previously had rivalled tile Zulu for dominance between tile White Mfolozi and Thukela rivers. Zwide's first attack against the Zulu was inconclusive, but in another raid his troops overstretched themselves, driving far into the Thukela River region. Shakas army forced the Ndwandwe into headlong flight. The Ndwandwe, in all likelihood already experiencing internal stress, disintegrated. Soshangane and Zwangendaba of the Jele and Gaza chiefdoms, who were principal allies of Zwide, moved first to tile Delagoa Bay region and then later trekked north. Zwide himself attempted to regroup north of tile Phongolo River. The Zulu then took steps to secure their position in the region across the White Mfo- lozi and southwards along the lower Thukela and Mzinyathi livers. This represented a consolidation of existing territorial gains. Contrary to popular historical conceptions, the Zulu kingdom did not have the capacity to extend its sway to the Delagoa Bay (near present-day Maputo) region. Nor was it immediately secure to its south. Shaka had to manoeuvre client chiefs into positions of power to ensure security along his southern border. These included Magaye of the Cele chiefdom - which had been long dominant along the lower Mvoti - and Zihandlo of the Mkhize chiefdom. The turmoil spreads Mzilikazi, chief of the Khumalo (later known as the Ndebele). To the north, Soshangane eventually established himself along the Nkomati River. He gathered his followers and migrated into southern Mozambique to form the Gaza kingdom. Zwangendaba and Nxaba, leaders of other factions of the Ndwandwe, moved across the Zambezi into what is today eastern Zimbabwe, and from here to present-day eastern and western Zambia, central Malawi and southern Tanzania. Zwide, seeking greater security, moved into what is today central Swaziland, where he managed to attract more followers from weaker chiefdoms. He died in about 1824 and two years later Shaka launched a massive attack on Zwide's son. At a battle north of the Phongolo River the Ndwandwe were heavily defeated. They splintered; some joined Soshangane, others were absorbed into the Zulu kingdom and others joined the other rising power in the region - the debele. The Ndebele, led by Mzilikazi, were from the Khumalo clan, situated between the Zulu and Ndwandwe. To avoid involvement in this growing competition between his neighbours, Mzilikazi chose to move away. The date of this migration is uncertain: by 1825 he was settled along the Vaal River and then moved north to the Apies River. Some accounts suggest he attacked the Pedi, a very powerful polity. A few years later the Nde- bele were to destabilise - and then control- a huge region on tile western highveld. To the southwest, tile conflict spread south and across tile Drakensberg onto the south- I ~~. ern highveld. Mpangazithas Hlubi crossed the Drakensberg and attacked tile Tlokwa .-1:-', A sketch by A. G. Bain of the son of Chief Faku under Manthatisi, causing her and other communities to raid in the vicinity of the Vaal of the Mpondo. Faku strengthened his kingdom and Sand rivers. Both groups settled in the Caledon valley, where the Ngwane under Mati- during the Mfecane by absorbing rifugees. He wane joined them. Tensions between these three chiefdoms simmered on until in 1825 survived Zulu.invasions in 1824 and 1828, losing the Hlubi were soundly defeated by tile Tlokwa and were either incorporated into their many cattle, but emerging politically stronger: ranks or fled into Xhosaland to join Matiwane's army or to become part of the so-called 126 A TIME OF TROUBLE AND RAPID TRANSFORMATION Mfengu (the hungry ones) - refugees who later were called the Fingo and settled in the "l'IfEM,(TH QFTHEi' Butterworth district of the Eastern Cape.

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