The Zulus and Matabele: Warrior Nations

by Glen Lyndon Dodds

  In November 1857, Mpande and Cetshwayo reached a formal reconciliation, though relations were to continue strained. Mpande pledged to allow the young Cetshwayo to play a prominent part in ruling the nation on condition that he maintained the peace and that Mpande remained the ultimate authority.

  It was in 1857 that Cetshwayo engaged the services of Dunn, who set up a homestead near Gingindlovu (an umuzi the prince had recently established in southeast Zululand) after being offered land by Cetshwayo in return for his services as a diplomat. Furthermore, Dunn, who was to go native and among other things acquire a bevy of Zulu wives, was to prove adept at supplying the prince with much-prized firearms.

  In due course, Mpande began to favour another of his sons, a lad named Mthonga, whose mother Nomantshali was one of the king’s youngest wives, a goodlooking woman with whom Mpande was besotted. Once again, Cetshwayo responded. In March 1861, warriors loyal to him were sent to kill the 14-year-old. But their quarry escaped, although the boy’s mother was killed and Mpande himself gravely insulted. Mthonga and a younger brother fled to Utrecht which, since 1859, had been a district of the South African Republic. Also known as the Transvaal, the republic had been established by Voortrekkers who had crossed the Vaal River years before and whose independence had been acknowledged by Britain in 1852.

  The Boers saw Mthonga as a bargaining tool. In recent years they had been encroaching on to land east of the Ncome River, and hard on the heels of the princes’ arrival, they opened negotiations with Cetshwayo who had marched towards the Utrecht district at the head of a large force. Cetshwayo was told that the Afrikaners were prepared to hand over Mthonga and his brother if the safety of the two princes was assured and if Cetshwayo would recognise Boer land claims east of the Ncome. Satisfied that their conditions had been met—Cetshwayo subsequently strongly denied conceding land—Mthonga and his brother were handed over to Cetshwayo, whom the Boers had publicly recognised as Mpande’s heir during the negotiations.

  A Zulu chief and his izinduna in the 1860s. ©Museum Africa

  May 1861 witnessed the arrival at Nodwengu of Shepstone, who had travelled from Natal to see Mpande, accompanied by a small escort. The visit was no mere courtesy call. Shepstone had been alarmed by Cetshwayo’s recent alliance with the Boers and feared that it was prejudicial to British interests. He was therefore eager to strengthen Mpande’s hand and in so doing reassert British influence, thereby weakening that of Cetshwayo and the Afrikaners. Upon arrival, Shepstone immediately declared that Mpande enjoyed his full support. Cetshwayo was not among the Zulu notables present for he had disobeyed his father’s instruction to attend. Nonetheless, he soon made his way to Nodwengu, escorted by the uThulwana regiment after Shepstone threatened that the Natal authorities would recognise Mkhungo as Mpande’s heir.

  Cetshwayo’s meeting with Shepstone proved far from tranquil. For one thing, Cetshwayo unsuccessfully demanded that Natal should surrender up Mkhungo. Indeed, the atmosphere became so tense that Mpande and other senior figures, such as Masiphula kaMamba, had to intervene in order to quieten the listening regiments whose attitude to Shepstone had become menacing. Shepstone rose to the occasion with a cool dignity that won him the begrudging respect of many onlookers, Cetshwayo included. Calm was restored and, at Shepstone’s bidding, Mpande formally recognised Cetshwayo as his heir.

  As the 1860s passed, Mpande’s bulk increased and he became more and more sedentary. He seldom stirred but was occasionally transported around Nodwengu on a cart made as a gift for him by a white trader. Increasingly he left affairs in the hands of others, although he continued to officiate annually at the first-fruits festival. His permission was still required for new regiments to be formed or for others to disband and marry. One such was Cetshwayo’s own ibutho, the uThulwana, which Mpande allowed to marry in 1867 and Cetshwayo became a father the following year.

  Mpande died at Nodwengu in September or October 1872. He left his successor a land that had enjoyed peace for most of his reign and whose population had grown, despite the exodus of some to Natal and the bloodshed caused by the civil war. Mpande has to share much of the blame for the conflict that erupted in late 1856 and paid a bitter price, both emotionally and politically, for his prestige suffered greatly and his hold on his kingdom was never the same again. Henceforth, senior members of Cetshwayo’s uSuthu faction enjoyed greater autonomy than ever before, apparently paying only nominal allegiance to the king, while other great chiefs similarly exercised a greater measure of power and independence than in the past. On the other hand, Mpande’s achievements should not be ignored. His very survival was partly due to his diplomacy and shrewdness. Moreover, he successfully maintained Zulu sovereignty and independence by wisely avoiding or defusing confrontations with his white neighbours. He deserves to be remembered with a measure of respect.

  4. TWILIGHT OF AN ERA

  ‘To emulate Chaka in shedding blood is as far as I have heard his highest inspiration.’ Sir Bartle Frere

  Cetshwayo was to prove a more dynamic and intelligent ruler than his father. A proud, straightforward man, he revitalised the army, which had become somewhat lax during Mpande’s reign, and was determined to defend Zulu independence and the right to rule his people without foreign dictation. He was reserved, but self-possessed, a man to be reckoned with.

  Like his father, Cetshwayo based his foreign policy on a close relationship with Natal—partly in the hope of countering the threat posed by the Transvaal—and one of his first actions was to invite Theophilus Shepstone, Natal Secretary for Native Affairs, to come to Zululand and acknowledge him as king before his people by ‘crowning’ him. Rumours had been circulating for years that Cetshwayo’s former rival, Mbuyazi, had somehow survived Ndondakusuka and was living in Natal. Cetshwayo’s half-brother, Mkhungo, was certainly in Natal and so, too, was Mthonga who had settled there in 1865. By acceding to Cetshwayo’s wish, Shepstone would demonstrate that he was not planning to supplant him with one or other of his half-brothers. Moreover, Cetshwayo hoped to secure a British commitment to Zulu interests.

  The Secretary for Native Affairs readily complied and began heading towards Zululand. Shepstone believed that by officially installing Cetshwayo he would gain ascendancy over him and further the interests both of Natal and Britain. He and his entourage, which included a number of prominent colonials, therefore arrived in Zululand in August 1873 with an armed escort of 110 officers and men of the Natal Volunteer Corps and about 300 Natal blacks.

  But before the official meeting took place, Cetshwayo, at the urging of senior advisers such as Masiphula kaMamba, went through the coronation ritual at a vast meeting of Zulus in the emaKhosini Valley near the White Mfolozi at a spot overlooked by the Mthonjaneni Heights. Cetshwayo had been anxious whether certain prominent chiefs with their power bases in the north were prepared to accept him as Mpande’s successor, and had consequently armed a substantial number of his followers with firearms supplied by Dunn.

  The installation of Cetshwayo by his own people surprised and angered Shepstone, so much so that he contemplated heading home. However, Cetshwayo sent Dunn to mollify him by stating that only part of the coronation ceremony had been performed. Hence Shepstone proceeded to ‘enthrone’ Cetshwayo on 1 September at a royal homestead on the Mahlabathini plain. A nondescript crown of ostrich feathers and tinsel, which Shepstone had brought for the occasion, was placed on Cetshwayo’s head and the Secretary for Native Affairs then declared: ‘Here is your king. You have recognised him, and I now also do so in the name of the Queen of England.’ Shepstone also proclaimed a number of ‘coronation laws’ agreed upon with Cetshwayo. One such, that no executions should take place without royal assent, was hardly music to the ears of great chiefs for they had begun exercising the right of life and death over their dependents during Mpande’s reign.

  A topic touched on during the visit was the question of missionaries. Shepstone wished to know when Cetshwayo would a
llow more of them to operate in Zululand, but failed to obtain such a concession from the king. Cetshwayo, for his part, was concerned to know what Shepstone would do about Boer encroachment in north-western Zululand east of the Ncome, and received a vague assurance of support for Zulu claims in the area. Shepstone subsequently described the Zulu monarch as a man of ‘great ability and frankness’ ranking ‘in every respect far above any native chief I have had to do with.’

  In accordance with Zulu royal tradition, Cetshwayo built a new capital following Shepstone’s visit (the site had already been chosen and preliminary work undertaken beforehand) and the homestead was called oNdini. It was located on a gentle slope in the Mahlabathini plain not far from Nodwengu and contained approximately 1,400 huts, the largest of which, not surprisingly, belonged to Cetshwayo. A second royal dwelling, a brick house of European design, was also soon erected. It was constructed of materials supplied by a Norwegian missionary named Ommund Oftebro, and its wallpapered rooms had glazed windows and contained some European furniture. When resident at oNdini, Cetshwayo normally spent part of the day in the house consulting his councillors and attending to other state affairs. Furthermore the European lifestyle impinged in others ways, for Cetshwayo occasionally wore a coat and trousers. He also listened to stories of colonial Natal and the world beyond, related by Dunn.

  Foreign relations

  For much of the 1870s Cetshwayo viewed the Boers in the Transvaal as the principal external threat to his sovereignty and made a number of requests to Shepstone requesting his intercession over increasing Boer encroachment in the northwest. This gave added cogency to Cetshwayo’s policy of reinvigorating and strengthening the army. A central figure in this respect was John Dunn. From his residence near the Indian Ocean, Dunn operated a gun-running network that resulted in thousands of firearms arriving in Zululand via Durban and Delagoa Bay, thereby adding to the significant quantity of guns Cetshwayo had begun amassing with Dunn’s assistance in the late 1860s.

  In 1876 relations between Cetshwayo and the Transvaal were such that open conflict appeared imminent. In fact, it was only averted when the Boers backed down. Nevertheless, Cetshwayo was shortly to find himself involved in a bitter war, a fight for the very survival of the Zulu kingdom, and not against the Boers but against the British.

  A key player in the events that led to the commencement of hostilities was the British Colonial Secretary, Lord Carnarvon, a staunch imperialist who wished to unite South Africa under the Crown and indeed declared in 1876 that he hoped that Britain would dominate most of the African continent. The British had long viewed the interior of southem Africa as of little significance, but the discovery of diamonds in the late 1860s not far to the south of the Vaal River had changed this. Suddenly, the region was seen as a source of great wealth that could be exploited in Britain’s interest. Jeff Guy states:

  By confederation, it was hoped that a strong, united, white-dominated southern Africa could be created, one that was suited to the demands of expanding capitalistic development and, at the same time, would be able to carry its own administrative and military costs, thereby reducing the direct responsibility of the British Government in the region without harming its interests.

  Initially, Carnarvon hoped that the Transvaal Boers would cooperate with his confederation policy, but this view, encouraged by talks in London with the republic’s president in May 1875, proved mistaken. Carnarvon thus decided upon annexation and entrusted the task to Shepstone, who entered the Transvaal in January 1877 with a small police escort. Cetshwayo had offered the assistance of his warriors, but Shepstone had declined. At Pretoria, the capital of the impoverished state, he caused alarm by declaring that Cetshwayo was assembling his forces, after reaching the end of his tether over Boer encroachment, but declared that his own influence with the king was such that he could avert the imminent invasion. The Transvaalers were bankrupt and demoralised, weakened by factionalism and an unsuccessful war against the Pedi people living in the east of the region. So pliant was the general mood that Shepstone was able to proclaim the Transvaal a British colony on 12 April 1877. He was to be its first Administrator.

  By this date a new figure had just appeared on the South African scene, a man who had had a distinguished career in India. He stepped ashore at Cape Town on 31 March, having been appointed Governor of Cape Colony, High Commissioner for South Africa and Commander-in-Chief of the British forces in the region: his name was Sir Bartle Frere. He was charged with achieving Carnarvon’s federation policy. Not surprisingly, Frere was a staunch imperialist (and a committed evangelical) of whom John Laband comments, he:

  considered that it was Britain’s high mission to spread the civilising influence of Christian government and to eradicate barbarous institutions . By extending British rule over blacks . . . he envisaged putting them to ‘civilised’ labour for wages, so they could spend their earnings on European manufactured goods to the benefit of white colonists, and to their own advantage.

  Frere thus set himself energetically to bringing about the end of Zulu power and independence. Demonising Cetshwayo was central to the task. ‘The monster Chaka is his model’, he told the Colonial Office, ‘to emulate Chaka in shedding blood is as far as I have heard his highest inspiration.’

  Shepstone worked hand in hand with Frere. In August 1877, for instance, the majority of the missionaries working in Zululand (where most of their seed was still falling on stony ground) fled to Natal on his advice, for Shepstone wished to portray Cetshwayo as the ‘heathen’ persecutor of Christianity.

  Moreover, Shepstone sent a message to oNdini requesting a meeting to discuss the long-running border dispute between the Zulu kingdom and the Transvaal. Cetshwayo responded by sending an impressive delegation to the appointed rendezvous beside the Ncome. It was composed of the most senior men in his kingdom and headed by his principal minister, Mnyamana of the Buthelezi, who had been his prime minister since the commencement of the reign. They arrived on 18 October. To their consternation, Shepstone made it clear that the Zulus could no longer regard him as an ally. Far from backing them up over the border dispute, as he had done previously, he now sang a discordant tune, for as the Administrator of the Transvaal he was eager to gain the favour of the Transvaalers who were growing restive following their annexation. He told the Zulus that they should accept the Boer boundary claims.

  In short, Shepstone was no friend of Cetshwayo. Indeed, in December he wrote to Carnarvon describing the king as:

  the secret hope of every independent chief, hundreds of miles from him, who feels a desire that his colour should prevail, and it will not be until this power [the Zulu state] is destroyed that they will make up their minds to submit to the rule of civilisation. The sooner the root of the evil that I consider to be the Zulu power and military organisation is dealt with, the easier our task will be.

  But Cetshwayo received a glimmer of hope when the Lieutenant-Governor of Natal, Sir Henry Bulwer, eased tension somewhat in the same month by suggesting that Cetshwayo submit the boundary issue to the arbitration of a commission. The king accepted the proposal. So, too, did Frere, who had been convinced by Shepstone that the Boer claim to the disputed territory would be vindicated.

  In March 1878, the boundary commission—which consisted of Natal officials—gathered at an isolated spot called Rorke’s Drift just on the Natal side of the Mzinyathi. Its chairman was an Irishman, Michael Gallwey, Natal’s attomey-general and a man of independent mind.

  The commission reported its findings to Bulwer in June. The Transvaal claim to the land between the Mzinyathi and Ncome Rivers was upheld but its claim to the lands east of the Ncome was judged invalid.

  Bulwer’s reaction to the report was favourable. But when Frere saw it in mid-July he found its partial judgement in favour of Cetshwayo far from welcome. Consequently, instead of sending the report to London promptly, he delayed doing so and pondered how best to act after soliciting the adv
ice of others in South Africa to whom he communicated the commission’s findings. Uppermost in his mind was the effect the report would have on the disgruntled Transvaal Boers and hence on the confederation scheme. Since April, British forces had been engaged in an unsuccessful campaign against the Pedi. To quote Laband, in such

  unsatisfactory circumstances, any award that failed to demonstrate Britain’s determination to guarantee Boer security against the blacks on their borders could well lead to rebellion. Such an uprising . . . might draw in the Boers elsewhere in South Africa, and encourage the Zulu and their fellow members of the ‘black conspiracy’ to fall upon the whites. Frere began to envisage a dreadful scenario in which the choice lay between risking a Zulu war at once, or bringing about a Zulu war a few months later, preceded by a Boer rebellion.

  Furthermore, Frere exploited a number of incidents that occurred on the Natal-Zululand border to soften up Carnarvon’s successor, Sir Michael Hicks Beach, a baronet who had become Colonial Secretary in early 1878 and wished to avoid a war with Cetshwayo. In July, for instance, two wives of a Zulu chief called Sihayo kaXongo (a great favourite of Cetshwayo) absconded into Natal. But as the month drew to a close they were seized by armed parties led by Sihayo’s sons, who hauled them back to Zululand where they were executed. Bulwer reacted to the incursions by requesting the extradition of the raiders for trial in Natal, but Cetshwayo was reluctant to comply. After all, the women had violated Zulu law and had not been put to death in the colony.