The Bambatha Rebellion - Part 2
< Continued from page 1
Although he may have sympathised with Bambatha, Dinuzulu could not countenance rebellion, but he did give Bambatha permission to bring his family across into Zululand and leave them at his homestead. Taking Dinuzulu's protection of his family as tacit approval, Bambatha headed back to Natal only to discover that the British authorities had deposed him from the chieftaincy and installed his uncle instead.
On the night of 4 April Bambatha gathered together his warriors and attacked a police patrol, killing four white men. Natal authorities claimed that Bambatha's inyanga (war-doctor) had violated one of the bodies for muti. Bambatha and his warriors then fled across the Tugela and made for the Cube district and its chief Sigananda.
Sigananda was in his nineties and had served in Shaka's army as an udubi (mat-carrier). He was loyal to the Zulu royal house and asked Dinuzulu if he should join the rebels. Dinuzulu was evasive, and Sigananda threw his lot in with Bambatha.
In Natal a state of emergency was declared and the militia called out again. A force was put together under the command of Colonel Duncan McKenzie and in late April they headed south from their gathering point at Eshowe into the bush choked, steep sided valleys of the Cube district. The rebels, each identified by wearing the uboshkobezi (a stiff piece of cowhide or cow-tail worn upright in a headdress) made the Nkandla forest, where King Cetshwayo was buried, their rallying point.
Apart from a few outdated guns they were armed with traditional short spear and shield.
On 5 May the colonial forces were descending a steep ridge, Bope, when over 1000 rebels burst forth form the bush and charged them. Despite this initial success, the tide turned against the rebel forces. On 10 June a final battle was held at Mome George. Bambatha and Sigananda led two separate divisions, and caught too far apart were easily defeated. Bambatha was killed in the battle, Sigananda and his forces surrendered, only to die whilst held for execution.
A second rebellion erupted briefly in the Mapumelo district early in 1907. Several sub-chiefs attacked colonial troops stationed in the area but they were quickly put down.
Between 3000 and 4000 Zulus were killed during the rebellion (some fighting on the British side), in addition over 7000 were gaoled and 4000 sentenced to a flogging. The rebellion was only truly put down when Dinuzulu was arrested and sentenced by a specially convened court to four years imprisonment. Amongst the colonial troops only 25 whites were killed during the entire conflict.
It is estimated that prior to the rebellion about 59% of the Zulu workforce had worked in the Witwatersrand mines. By 1909 80% were employed as migrant workers. The rebellion also increased tensions between European and Africans in South Africa, and helped push through the creation of a Union with its strict, racist policies towards the indigenous population.
A curious aspect of the rebellion was the involvement, and death, of Mehlokazulu kaSihayo at the battle of Mome George. Mehlokazulu, the son of Chief Sihayo who controlled the area of Zululand near Rorke's Drift, had pursued two of his father's wives into Natal when they fled traditional justice for the crime of adultery. The two women were brought back by Mehlokazulu and executed in sight of the mission station. The British used this as justification for the 1978 Ultimatum to King Cetshwayo and the subsequent invasion of Zululand in 1879.
Although he may have sympathised with Bambatha, Dinuzulu could not countenance rebellion, but he did give Bambatha permission to bring his family across into Zululand and leave them at his homestead. Taking Dinuzulu's protection of his family as tacit approval, Bambatha headed back to Natal only to discover that the British authorities had deposed him from the chieftaincy and installed his uncle instead.
On the night of 4 April Bambatha gathered together his warriors and attacked a police patrol, killing four white men. Natal authorities claimed that Bambatha's inyanga (war-doctor) had violated one of the bodies for muti. Bambatha and his warriors then fled across the Tugela and made for the Cube district and its chief Sigananda.
Sigananda was in his nineties and had served in Shaka's army as an udubi (mat-carrier). He was loyal to the Zulu royal house and asked Dinuzulu if he should join the rebels. Dinuzulu was evasive, and Sigananda threw his lot in with Bambatha.
In Natal a state of emergency was declared and the militia called out again. A force was put together under the command of Colonel Duncan McKenzie and in late April they headed south from their gathering point at Eshowe into the bush choked, steep sided valleys of the Cube district. The rebels, each identified by wearing the uboshkobezi (a stiff piece of cowhide or cow-tail worn upright in a headdress) made the Nkandla forest, where King Cetshwayo was buried, their rallying point.
Apart from a few outdated guns they were armed with traditional short spear and shield.
On 5 May the colonial forces were descending a steep ridge, Bope, when over 1000 rebels burst forth form the bush and charged them. Despite this initial success, the tide turned against the rebel forces. On 10 June a final battle was held at Mome George. Bambatha and Sigananda led two separate divisions, and caught too far apart were easily defeated. Bambatha was killed in the battle, Sigananda and his forces surrendered, only to die whilst held for execution.
A second rebellion erupted briefly in the Mapumelo district early in 1907. Several sub-chiefs attacked colonial troops stationed in the area but they were quickly put down.
Between 3000 and 4000 Zulus were killed during the rebellion (some fighting on the British side), in addition over 7000 were gaoled and 4000 sentenced to a flogging. The rebellion was only truly put down when Dinuzulu was arrested and sentenced by a specially convened court to four years imprisonment. Amongst the colonial troops only 25 whites were killed during the entire conflict.
It is estimated that prior to the rebellion about 59% of the Zulu workforce had worked in the Witwatersrand mines. By 1909 80% were employed as migrant workers. The rebellion also increased tensions between European and Africans in South Africa, and helped push through the creation of a Union with its strict, racist policies towards the indigenous population.
A curious aspect of the rebellion was the involvement, and death, of Mehlokazulu kaSihayo at the battle of Mome George. Mehlokazulu, the son of Chief Sihayo who controlled the area of Zululand near Rorke's Drift, had pursued two of his father's wives into Natal when they fled traditional justice for the crime of adultery. The two women were brought back by Mehlokazulu and executed in sight of the mission station. The British used this as justification for the 1978 Ultimatum to King Cetshwayo and the subsequent invasion of Zululand in 1879.
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