Natalia 35 (2005) Complete

THE NATAL SOCIETY FOUNDATION
TRUSTEES M.J.C. Daly (Chairman) P. Croeser Dr. C.E. Merrett S.N. Roberts Ms. P.A. Stabbins Mrs. S.S. Wallis P.C.G. McKenzie (Secretary) Miss J. Farrer ( Honorary Curator of the Special Collections) EDITORIAL COMMITTEE OF NATALIA Dr W.H. Bizley M.H. Cornrie J.M. Deane T.B. Frost Professor W.R. Guest Frofessor A. Koopman M.M. Marwick Mrs. S.P.M. SPencer M.H. Steele Dr. S. Vietzen
Natalia 35 (2005) Copyright Natal Society Foundation 2010
Natalia
Journal of The Natal Society
No. 35 (December 2005)
Published by Natal Society Foundation Trust P.O. Box 11093, Dorpspruit 3206, South Africa
SA ISSN 0085-3674
Cover Picture Chief Meseni kaMusi Qwabe of eMthandeni on the Mvoti River, jailed for failing to hand over 300 alleged protesters to Sir George Leuchars during the Bhambatha Uprising. His death sentence was commuted to exile on St Helena. Photo: Pietermaritzburg Archives Repository.
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Editorial
While the editorial for the previous edition of Natalia was written by Mark Steele, in fact he occupied the editorial chair of the journal for a few brief months only during 2005 before returning to full-time involvement in local government as a Msunduzi municipal councillor. Since then, in the absence of any obvious successor, the editorial committee, with no fewer than three ex-editors in its ranks, has operated on a collegial basis of shared leadership or, perhaps more accurately, as a headless chicken. This issue, therefore, is the product of a collective effort and, we trust, to change the metaphor, will prove not more camel-like than the metaphorical horse designed by a committee. The year 2006 has seen the centenary of the Bhambatha Uprising. It has been marked not only by commemorative ceremonies but also a 12-part series of supplements in The Witness, written by Professor Jeff Guy. Natalias small contribution to the occasion is in the form of two previously unpublished pieces. One is an account by R.C. Samuelson of the doings of a force of Christian Africans which he raised and which was described by James Stuart in his History of the Zulu rebellion, 1906, as thoroughly reliable and serviceable. The other is the unofcial report of Benjamin Colenbrander, magistrate of the Nkandhla Division in Zululand, which gives an interesting view from the perspective of an ofcial at the centre of the area involved in the troubles of that year. Among the articles in this issue, Mark Coghlan, Natal Carbineers historian, offers William Harte, Natal Carbineers, 1906: A centennial appraisal of the life and times of a Natal Militia soldier and his photographic and literary record. We also publish brief histories of Verulam and of Greys Hospital and an article by Professor Adrian Koopman marking the centenary of the birth of the major Zulu literary gure, Benedict Vilakazi, revered as the father of Zulu poetry. Proposals to change the names of some of the streets in Pietermaritzburg generated ercer and more lengthy correspondence in the letters columns of The Witness than any other issue in the past decade. Despite resistance to change, however, new names have been given to a number of streets and places. John Deane and Adrian Koopman record the changes both verbally and photographically.
v While the notes and queries section is noticeably thinner than in former issues, the year 2005 has not reduced the number of distinguished local citizens whose demise needs to be commemorated in the obituary section. For the rest, the mix of book reviews and list of recent publications is much as usual. With steadily rising production costs, Natalia relies for its continued existence not only on generous funding by the Natal Society Trust but on the labours, without pecuniary reward, of many. To our main authors, the contributors of secondary items and members of the editorial committee, our readers owe a debt of gratitude. We trust that their combined efforts have provided yet another edition of abiding interest and value. JACK FROST on behalf of the Editorial Committee
History of the Natal Native Horse

Introduction At the time of the Bhambatha Rebellion R.C. Samuelson1, the writer of this document, expressed to the Natal Prime Minister, C.J. Smythe, his opinion that most Africans were loyal, and that he could raise a force of 2 000 from among the Christian Africans. Accordingly he was empowered to do so. He undertook the task on condition that the men would be treated with the same consideration as white soldiers, that they would be armed with ries and that their remuneration would be agreed on before they enlisted. As the men he recruited were from communities which had supplied scouts for the Imperial Forces in the Anglo-Boer War (1899 1902), it was brought to his attention by his potential recruits that they had always been willing to assist the government, but had never received the rewards promised for their services in that war. They wished to make it clear that they would go solely on condition that Samuelson took charge of them and went with them. Horses were a serious problem as only about half the recruits had their own, and even when mounts were hired from African chiefs, there was a shortfall. When Samuelson returned from recruiting he was informed by Col. H.T. Bru de Wold, the Commandant of Volunteers, that he had decided that the men should not be armed. Thereupon Samuelson refused to accompany them and Bru de Wold reported him to the Government. The two were called before a government Minister, J.G. Maydon and two others, neither of whom Samuelson knew, and he had to defend his stand. He stated he positively refused to go unless the men were properly armed and equipped. Maydon supported him and ordered Bru de Wold to see that the best was done for the men. A few days later Samuelson was told to call on Bru de Wold, who informed him that Captain (later Major) Moe2 was to be the OC, and that he would be Adjutant and second-in-command. Samuelson, in his memoirs, writes that this was a surprise, but attributed it to his clash with Bru de Wold. Some fellow Carbineer ofcers expressed the opinion that had they been treated thus they would have refused the assignment. However, Samuelson realised that, had he done so, his recruits would not have turned out, and could possibly have been punished by the government. Also, had the refusal become publicly known it would have strengthened the rebel cause.
Natalia 35 (2005), R.C. Samuelson pp. 1 9
Samuelson maintains that the loyalty and good behaviour of the NNH converted Bru de Wold, and he later tried to get the government to honour the promise of Col. J.R. Royston3 to the scouts at the time of the relief of Ladysmith (some of whom had afterwards enrolled in the NNH) to make them the nucleus of a Native Corps which could be used by the government should similar circumstances arise in the future. But, according to Samuelson, the then ministry had only weakling members who feared their own shadows, so nothing eventuated. James Stuart in his History of the Zulu Rebellion 1906, describes the NNHs conduct as exemplary and deems them thoroughly reliable and serviceable. He also saw the value of such a corps on a permanent basis, rueing the fact that, had their training been of longer standing (i.e. in existence before the crisis), they would have been more valuable. An accolade for the NNH from an essentially civilian source comes from the American missionary Dr James McCord4, who was prevailed upon to enlist as the NNHs medical ofcer. Because of bureaucratic blundering on the part of the Medical Corps, McCord had not received his orders to proceed with his regiment up to the time when the last of them left Dundee on active service. Temporarily, therefore, as needed, he assisted with medical duties in other regiments. His observation was that those regiments which contained a large proportion of youthful Colonial rowdies, made him realise that by comparison the NNH were essentially gentle and kindly men. From McCords memoirs one also gets an opinion of the calibre of the white ofcers. He considered that, with the exception of Moe and Samuelson (who were trained soldiers), they were chosen more for their knowledge of Zulu and the African people than their military expertise. He deemed Samuelson a good soldier, both with his military experience and his civilian viewpoint, making him an invaluable ofcer for such a regiment as ours. He drove his three white lieutenants unmercifully until the men could drill, ride and shoot with at least passable skill. He also ensured that supplies never ran short and that the troops basic needs were met. Samuelsons account of the NNH follows. SHELAGH SPENCER History of the Natal Native Horse On the 14th February 1906 the Minister for Defence commissioned Robert C.A. Samuelson to enrol 1,000 men from the Native Communities of Edendale, Driefontein5 and other Communities, who were known to him to be loyal beyond question, for the purpose of having them trained in arms and drill and holding themselves in readiness for certain eventualities which might arise. The enrolling proceeded and at the end of March 1906 nearly 1,000 men had been enrolled and on the 2nd April 1906 Mr Samuelson reported to the Government and asked for arms and ammunition so that training of the said men might take place. Towards the end of April 1906 the Government instructed Mr R.C. Samuelson to inform the enrolled Natives to hold themselves in readiness and he did so. No arms were, however, supplied and no training took place till the men were actually called out. On the 26th April 1906 George Moe, Captain U.M.R. was appointed O.C. and Robert C.A. Samuelson, a Lieutenant of the Militia Supernumerary List, was appointed Adjutant with the rank of Captain. The Corps was named by Lieut Colonel Wales6 the Natal Na-
tive Horse and the Government decided that it should be only 300 strong, but later on permission was obtained from the Government for 26 more men to be taken on, which made the N.N.H. 326 strong. Under Government orders these men were called in to Camp for equipment and training and on the 26th April 1906 the Edendale men took to Canvas in a Camp arranged at Edendale. A central Camp was then arranged on the old Bisley at Mountain Rise for the receiving, equipping and training of this Corps and the Edendale Camp was removed to the old Bisley ground aforesaid where Natives from Bulwer, from Chief Isaac Mkizes tribe of Cedara7, from Acting Chief Thabanes tribe, the Amangwane, from Chief Timothy Gules8 tribe, Newcastle Division, and three men from Driefontein came to join to make up the number required; but recruiting was completed at Dundee. P.A. Comrie of the B.M.R., G.F. Kirby of the Natal Carbineers, and W.J.H. Muller of the Natal Carbineers were appointed Lieutenants, being one Lieutenant for each 100 men; H. Pope was appointed Regimental Sergeant Major, W.Oliver Quarter Master, with Carlyle Aneld as Q.M. Sergeant: the Non-Coms were also appointed and from the respective Communities to which they belonged, care being taken to appoint men of known experience from each Community. The following were appointed Squadron Sergeants Major viz: Stephen Molife, the eldest son of the famous Scout, Jabez Molife of Edendale, who served against the Bushmen in 1866, Langalibalele in 1873, Zulu War 1879, Boer War in 1899 and right through, highly distinguished himself in all: this Stephen Molife was Scout all through the Boer War of 1899 and at one time was in sole charge of the Edendale Scouts under Marquis Tullibardine; Walker Sopela, whose father was killed at Isandhlwana serving the Government; this man was one of the rst Scouts used in the late Boer War, was through the siege of Ladysmith and subsequently served right through the Boer Campaign: Naphthali Gule, the son of the late Chief Gule of Nyanyadu, who is now Chief of the Nyanyadu people in place of his father, the said Chief who died in August 1906. Among the sergeants were viz: Q.M. Sergeant Enoch Msimang9, one of the Edendale men, who was under Colonel Durnford at Isandhlwana with the Edendale Horse in 1879; Petros Malinga one of the leading men of Chief Timothy Gules Tribe, and Hleletwa Hlongwana one of the brothers of the late Chief Ncwadi of the Amangwane tribe. Among the Sergeants were as follows:James L. Molife another son of Jabez Molife abovenamed who was also a Scout in the late Boer War. A.A. Kumalo, the son of Luke Kumalo a Zulu War medal holder, who was the special attendant on and Interpreter of General Buller and also served as guide for General Buller: Charlie Dhlamini of Edendale; Mkize Hlongwana and Sidwedwe Hlongwana, sons of the late Chief Ncwadi; Charlie Hlatshwako [sic] of the Amangwane tribe: Ngidi Hlongwana one of the late Chief Ncwadis brothers; Dili Hlongwana relative of late Chief Ncwadi; Isaac Mkize the only son and heir of Isaac Mkize, the Chief of Cedara; W.G. Mini, the third son of the late Stephanus Mini10 of Edendale, own brother of the present Chief of Edendale: this man was one of the 1st Scouts and Intelligence men engaged in the early stages of the late Boer War, served right through the Siege of Ladysmith and through the Boer War after the Siege, in Natal, Zululand and Transvaal. Abraham Kunene the Assistant Chief of Edendale, a man who served through the Zulu War and holds the medal for the same, and right through the late Boer War including the Siege of Ladysmith where he was in special charge of a small body of Scouts: he
behaved with distinction all through these Campaigns. Adam Amsterdam of near Bulwer, who was also a Scout in the late Boer War. Robert Mtembu of Driefontein, who had some exciting adventures during the late Boer War in which he acted as Scout. Michael Cele of Chief T, Gules tribe who also served as a Scout in the late Boer War through Natal, Zululand and Transvaal. Among the Troopers who were satised to do their work as such were:Hezekiah Kumalo, the eldest son and heir of that noted and loyal Chief Johannes Kumalo11 of Driefontein, this man went as father and adviser of the men who were detailed as guides and Scouts for Colonel Dick12 and his Rangers under Lieutenant W.J.H. Muller, and who served in that capacity with the distinction to end of the rebellion, being ably assisted by Sergeant Michael Cele aforementioned, and Ebenezer Gule another son of the late Chief Gule; as to the service of these particular men see the report of Colonel Dick hereunto annexed13: this Kumalo holds a Zulu War medal, and also served as Scout in the late Boer War. Simon Kumalo third son of Chief Johannes Kumalo, and one of the leading men of Edendale, who died from a cold contracted while he was on duty at Nazareth14 during October 1906. James Molife the brother of Jabez Molife abovementioned, that famous Scout who during the late Boer War performed such daring feats of scouting by passing so frequently through the Boer lines during the late Boer War carrying information between the besieged in Ladysmith and General Buller, that he was mentioned in the papers of those days and photographed in those papers. Stephen Mini15 and Thabane, the Chiefs respectively of the Edendale and Amanqwane tribes went out with their men but would not take any rank as the highest available rank for the Natives was Sergeant, as they felt they would do themselves harm with their people by taking rank equal to that given to their men: these Chiefs had great inuence with their people and contributed materially to the success of the Regiment. These two Chiefs were, as many others of their men, out as Scouts in the late Boer War and did excellent service. I may add that all of the Communities abovementioned who provided men for the N.N.H., sent out their Chiefs, Chiefs sons and the best of their men, and would have sent out more and better had they not been rushed. After receiving and equipping these men and giving them such training in drill and arms as possible under the very limited time at the disposal of the Ofcers the N.N.H., the Regiment was ordered up to Dundee, and it entrained for Dundee on the 14th May 1906. At Dundee the Regiment was brought up to its full strength from recruits from the Amangwane and Chief T. Gules tribes, and completing equipment, getting remounts, and training was proceeded with. The question of getting remounts was the most troublesome, so much so that a few men had eventually to go to the Front as dismounted men. Many more good men desired to join the Corps but could not get horses. When the men were beginning to learn how to move together in a body, skirmish successfully, and handle the Carbine, and on the 27th May 1906 Major Moe was ordered to take part of the Regiment and proceed with it to Ginginghlovu, and from there take and convey to the troops at Inkandhla certain 200 remounts for the said troops. Major Moe consequently warned A Squadron consisting of Edendale men to hold themselves in readiness to go with him on this business, and left instructions with Captain Samuelson as regard the balance of the Regiment at Dundee. When the Regiment heard that they were to be broken up in sections they respectfully protested on the grounds that they were just beginning to know one another and felt if they moved together in one body
they would be able to cope with any body of the enemy, but they soon ceased protesting when they were reminded it was the wish of the Government. Major Moe left with A Squadron, consisting of 85 men on the 29th May 1906 and successfully carried out the business of transferring the remounts. The day after his arrival at Inkandhla a general advance through the Inkandhla Forest was ordered by the O.C. Troops in which Major Moe with A Squadron took part; during which they bivouacked one night near Cetywayos grave. During the drive a few of the N.N.H. were detailed to look after the horses, and one of them Henrick Mkabela, single handed, deprived some rebels of 21 head of cattle and brought them to Lt. Colonel Shepstone, Provost Marshal16. In the meantime the balance of the Regiment left at Dundee was subdivided and sent to other parts. On the 29th May 1906, one Micah Mkwananzi, also one of the N.N.H. Sergeants, a man of sterling qualities, a born Scout, and also one who had been in charge of the Nqutu Scouts during the Boer War of 1899, and his eldest son were detailed to go with, and went with a portion of the Rangers, and they acted as Scouts and guides to these Rangers till late in July after which they rejoined their Regiment at Nazareth. On the same date the 29th May 1906, Lieutenant Muller was commissioned to take charge of 36 men mostly of Nyanyadu, and accompany Colonel Dick to do scouting and guide work. These men under Lieutenant Muller served in the said capacities right through the Campaign and most successfully. On the 31st May 1906 Captain Samuelson, acting on instructions from Colonel Wales, sent off under Lieutenant P.A. Comrie assisted by Acting Chief Tabhane [sic] and his brothers and nephews, who were holding responsible Non-Coms positions, 100 men of the Amangwane tribe to proceed to Emangeni and work with the Rangers under Captain Forsbrook17: annexed is the report of Captain Forsbrook about Lieutenant Comrie and the men under him18. About the 3rd June 1906, acting under instructions from Colonel Wales, Captain Samuelson sent off under the charge of Regimental S.M. Pope, 82 Non-Coms and men to Helpmekaar to O.C.H.F.F.19 and he was then left with 16 men in charge of the N.N.H. base at Dundee. On the 11th June 1906, obeying orders from Major Moe, the Dundee camp was struck and Captain Samuelson proceeded to join Major Moe at Nqutu on the 13th June. On the 14th June Major Moe with the balance of the men from Dundee and the A Squadron left Nqutu to join Colonel McKays20 column at Qudeni, with the view of taking part in a driving move against the rebels in and about the Qudeni, and on the way thither C Squadron, under Lieutenant Comrie, joined A Squadron and the whole pushed on to the said objective. On the Qudeni, the N.N.H. which were now for the rst time in a body of 200 men, since the N.N.H. began to be subdivided at Dundee, encamped for a few days on the Qudeni awaiting orders to drive the Qudeni Forest and while there encamped, the Regiment had the satisfaction of being reviewed by Colonel McKay who kindly expressed his high satisfaction with the movements and appearance of the Regiment; the said Ofcer will be able to say what he thought of the Regiment. After being on the Qudeni a few days the N.N.H. were ordered to retrace their steps and operate in the Msinga Division. The Regiment subsequently reached Helpmekaar and on orders from O.C.H.F.F. operated in the Waschbank Valley, Nahlaba and at various places in the Msinga Division, capturing rebels and their stock and handing over to the proper authorities and on many occasions sending bodies of men in charge of surrendered rebels from Pomeroy to Dundee, and also guarding the Border against the introduction of tickfever infected cattle.
The B Squadron under R.M.S.M. Pope and afterwards under Lieutenant Carlyle Aneld, had in the meantime, about 7th June 1906 been sent down to Rorkes Drift to erect a fortied place, garrison it and guard against cattle crossing into Natal and deal with rebels and any rebellious move in that locality, until the 21st August 1906 when they were ordered to rejoin the main part of the Regiment under Major Moe, at Pomeroy, on their way home for disbandment. On returning to Natal from the Qudeni the 200 men were divided into three parts:- 10 men to assist Colonel Wales at Helpmekaar; 35 Non-Coms and men under R.S.M. Pope to garrison Pomeroy, relieving the N.R.R21. under Captain Mackenzie22: these were sent in at the end of July 1906. The larger part of the said 200 men were located at Nazareth three miles from the Buffalo River thence to scour the country, capture rebels and their stock, which they did most successfully. On the 18th August the N.N.H. at Nazareth under Captain Samuelson was ordered by Major Moe, who was then O.C. Msinga, since Colonel Wales left, to join him for the purpose of going to P Mburg for disbandment. On August 27th 1906 the main part of the Regiment left Pomeroy for Disbandment, and were reviewed by the Commandant, Militia, and the Honourable the Colonial Treasurer before disbandment: these gentlemen will be able to say what they thought of the N.N.H. Regiment. Thirty-one Non-Coms and men were detailed by Major Moe to remain until further order as a garrison at Pomeroy, and were left under RSM Pope who was then promoted to the rank of Lieutenant. After disbanding the main body Major Moe returned to the men left at Pomeroy, accompanied by Lieut. P.A. Comrie, and on the 16th September 1906 the balance, with the exception of Major Moe, Lieut. Comrie and two Natives, were disbanded. The behaviour of the Regiment was from start to nish exemplary in every way. Out of the whole Regiment only 15 men committed slight misdemeanors. The anxiety of the whole Regiment was to have a chance of meeting the enemy and proving what it was made of. To show the care with which these men handled their Carbines there was not a single instance of anyone ring off by accident or anyone being damaged by a Carbine. Their zeal for improving was most marked, so much so that their shooting at the end of their service could compare very favourably with the shooting of most volunteer Corps. On their disbandment at P MBurg these men gave a very successful Concert and their special song The Path of Duty, The Natal Native Horse Refrain the words of which are hereto annexed represents the yearnings of most Natives but more especially these men and their relatives who have since 1866 gone out to assist the Government in the troubles of the Colony, but have not yet, in spite of repeated prayers, been formed into a standing portion of the defence forces of Natal. These people have once and for all refuted the slanders against them that they are not worthy of trust: they have been once more out against their own esh and blood. It may be interesting to some to know that the Communities from which the N.N.H. were recruited have supplied men to assist the Government in most Native and other troubles of the Colony, and more especially against the Bushmen in 1866, Langalibalele in 1873, the Zulus in 1879, the Boers in 1899, the Natives in the Rebellion of 1906. At Sandlwana there were 100 men called theEdendale Horse which also served through the Zulu War. When the Duke and Duchess of Cornwall and York visited the Colony in 1902, 150 men drawn from these Communities were equipped and drilled by R.C. Samuelson under orders from General Dartnell, and took part with other Volunteers in doing honour to the Royal party for which they received high praise together with the
other Volunteers who took part. When the Duke of Connaught visited this Colony, 50 of these men were equipped, drilled and presented to the Duke who, among other things he said to these men, praised them for their appearance. N.B. Omitted from the Sergeants Revd Elijah Mdolomba23 a Native educated in the Cape Colony was the Chaplain of the N N H with rank of Sergeant. [Added in ink now in Cape Colony refer to Stephen Mini who is his father-in-law] This man proved himself of sterling qualities, and so far as Character was concerned certainly came out as the best of the N N H. His preaching was of the highest order and he also acted as a soldier. [signed] R. C. Samuelson Capt. Adjt to N N H
The Path of Duty Natal Native Horse Refrain The path of duty we have followed, A true citizens pride and goal, Our bodies and blood we have given For our King and country always With pure hearts loyally we served, Shoulder to shoulder we stood, Side by side our bodies sleep Together with our English Braves For ever and aye we are prepared, For old England and our King, To battle against every foe Opposed to our Sovereign and country. As the ower to heaven upturned, For life-giving dews descending, So to our rulers we hopefully look For a true and loyal citizens reward. Oh what more can be done, To earn the recognition of our King, Than to give our life for King and country; Oh may we receive loyaltys fair reward The faith and condence of our rulers.
NOTES 1. Robert Charles Azariah Samuelson (1858 1934) [Natal Carbineers]. Son of Revd S.M. Samuelsen (1828 1916) who came to Natal in 1851 as a Norwegian Lutheran missionary, but by 1858 had joined the Anglican Church and was missionary at the Umlazi Mission Station, and later at St Pauls Mission Station in Zululand. Robert was an attorney in Pietermaritzburg, and in 1908 9 was Chief Dinuzulus solicitor during his trial after the Rebellion. As could be expected, coming from missionary stock, Robert had a good understanding of and rapport with African people. With the climate of the time being what it was, Samuelsons legal practice suffered serious damage because of his advocacy for justice for Africans. Roberts elder brother Samuel Olaf was the Permanent Under-Secretary for Native Affairs at the time of the

Rebellion, and as such, constitutionally had no power to intervene on behalf of the Africans. Apparently, taking into account his upbringing, Africans found this difcult to understand.From Meintjes thesis it appears that Robert and Samuel had divergent views on amaKholwa (Christian African) aspirations. His Zulu name was Vuma Zonke, i.e. agree to everything. Major George B.O. Moe [Umvoti Mounted Ries]. Son of Norwegian-born Revd Johannes Moe and Auguste Johanne Adelheid Schreiber (1827 1891). Revd Moe arrived in Natal in Dec.1859 as a missionary for the Hermannsburg Mission Society and remained with the mission until about the late 1870s. Thereafter he worked as a private missionary. By 1895 Revd Moe and George Moe were farming at Wilge Spruit near New Hanover. George was a farmer of Moes Rest, New Hanover, at time of the Rebellion. John Robinson Galloping Jack Royston (1862 1942) joined the Border Mounted Ries in 1894, initially serving with them in the Anglo-Boer War, before joining the Volunteer Composite Regiment and then the 2nd Imperial Light Horse. He raised Roystons Horse during the 1906 Rebellion. Royston and his troop are said to have been more ruthless in suppressing rebellion than even Duncan McKenzie. McCord, founder of Durbans McCord Hospital, struggled with the idea of a missionary being involved in military service, but when he heard that captured rebels were being inhumanely treated, he decided to go in the hopes of alleviating their plight. Driefontein (7 436 acres) in Klip River County was bought by the Edendale community, negotiations commencing in 1867. This was a time of depression in Natal and elsewhere, and the Edendale people were, to quote the words of Johannes Kumalo who became the headman, in a state of poverty. A company was formed and initially forty families moved on to the farm. The deed of trust stipulated that only heirs of the original purchasers could inherit the right to live there, and should an heir be polygynous, the right of inheritance would be forfeited. Also, shareholders could sell their shares only with the approval of the committee of management. The 1877 valuation roll of the Colony shows the land as worth 1 500, with buildings worth 120. In the 1870s when conditions improved, the syndicate bought other land in the area, viz. Kleinfontein in 1871 and Doornhoek (transferred 1879). With Driefontein, these three were known as the Trust farms as their trust deeds were identical. Neighbouring properties were bought later, but as individual tenure was permitted in these cases, they lacked the same cohesiveness. From Samuelsons report one learns that only three Driefontein men were recruited in 1906. Reasons included drought, poor economic conditions, and disillusionment at the Governments reneging on its earlier promises to raise a permanent volunteer force from among the amaKholwa. Lt.-Col. Archibald Templer Gordon Wales [Natal Militia Force] was one of the three District Commandants of the above in 1906. He was the son of Capt. Douglas Wales (c.1809 1874), Port Captain of Port Louis, Mauritius, and Barbre Amelia Laure de Volpliere (c.1823 1876). In 1868 Douglas Wales bought Klein Waterval in Klip River County, and in 1882 Archibald and his brother Douglas William bought out the interest of their siblings in this farm. In 1888 he was a lieutenant in the Durban Mounted Ries. In 1895 Wales was resident in Durbans Brickhill Road and was a clerk. He was District Adjutant for Volunteers during the Anglo-Boer War. Cedara (apparently originally Ncedaha) Mission Station developed in the 1860s as one of Edendales rst offshoots. It was on the farm Riet Spruit, which was hired from an absent landlord. Adjoining it was Riet Vallei, then owned by Dr W.H. Addison. Addison had let this for mission purposes to Revd James Allison on behalf of the Free Church of Scotland. The two communities were separate but shared the same school (held in the Cedara chapel). Timothy Innyewe Gule (died 1906) was one of Revd James Allisons Swazi converts. He was headman at Edendale from 1873 to 1882. Thereafter he moved to the farm Nyanyadu which he and other syndicate members had purchased near Dundee. He was elected headman of this settlement. Enoch Msimang was of the Hlubi clan which had its origins in Natals Klip river area, but was scattered by King Shaka. His grandfather sought refuge with Chief Sekonyela of the Tlokwa at Mparane in the eastern part of todays Free State, and became one of the rst converts to Christianity at the mission station there. Enochs father Daniel (born c.1828 29) began his education under Revd Allison at Mparane in about 1842. He accompanied Allison to Swaziland in 1845, was one of his right-hand men at Edendale in the early 1850s, and by 1878 was one of the three senior men heading Edendales management. Later he became one of the rst African Wesleyan ministers, and in the 1880s returned to Swaziland as a missionary. Enoch was the only one of Daniels nine children to remain at Edendale when the rest of the family moved to Driefontein in the 1870s. Although not one of the headmen of Edendale or its offshoots, in 1891 he was nominated as headman in place of Stephanus Mini (who had resigned, but later changed his mind), and in 1892 was appointed one of Edendales trustees. He was a wheelwright, carpenter and farmer, and one of the wealthier Edendale landlords. Two of Enochs nephews, sons of his brother Joel, viz. Richard and Henry Selby, were founder members of the South African National Congress in 1906.
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7.
8. 9.
10. Stephanus Mzolo Mini, headman at Edendale, 1882 1893. He was born at Fongozi, Zululand in 1825 He is said to have been an escaped Boer slave who landed up at Mparane, where he was converted by Revd James Allison. He was a catechist and local preacher by the time Allison went to Swaziland. From there he followed Allison to Indaleni, and later Edendale where he became one of the inner core of the Church and village elders. He was one of Edendales busiest traders until the 1880s, but by 1891 was on the point of losing all his property. His son Stephen saved him by purchasing it. During his period of ofce the headship evolved to that of chief, due to the changes in economic circumstances in the 1880s and his assumption of chiey powers. He considered that his family, part of the Mzolo clan, held a certain importance in society which should be recognised. Also by Law 19/1891 Kholwa (i.e. Christian) headmen were given the status of chiefs. His assumption of the status of a chief met with opposition among a number of Edendale residents. 11. Johannes Hlabati Kumalo (born c.1809) had been in King Dinganes Dhlambedhlu Regiment. In 1854, when Bishop Colenso visited Edendale he met with the twelve chief men of the station. From his writings it appears that Johannes was then the headman. Revd Allison described Johannes to Colenso as a very wise man. Whenever he spoke every mouth was closed, and his judgment which was never given hastily, was sure to guide the rest. Johannes was succeeded at Driefontein by his grandson Joseph. 12. Major James Dick [Durban Light Infantry]. Appears as a Brevet Lt.-Col. in the 1906 Natal Almanac Military list. Seconded during the Rebellion to the Natal Rangers and commanded a special service battalion of 800, 300 recruited from Natal (mainly Durban) and 500 from the Transvaal. Commanded the DLI, 1914 15. 13. Not copied. 14. Nazareth Mission Station west of Helpmekaar. 15. Stephen Mini, described by Dr McCord as a tall and serious native who spoke English with the utmost precision, succeeded his father as chief in 1893. He was the second largest landowner in Edendale. In 1883 he bought Eden on the western border of the Mpendle Location, renaming it Kwa Tunzi. Complaints against him as chief arose from his frequent absences at Kwa Tunzi and elsewhere, his high-handedness and lack of respect in dealing with his council, his assumption of power over the exempted Africans as well as the unexempted, and his acting as middle man between the locals and white moneylenders (to his own advantage). 16. Walter Scott Shepstone (1857 1935) [Natal Carbineers]. Brevet Lt.-Col. and son of Sir Theophilus Shepstone (1817 1893). ). Had served as a captain in his brother Theophilus jun.s Shepstones Basuto Horse in the Anglo-Zulu War. Land surveyor. Zulu name uKhanda (man with brains). 17. Capt. Charles M.S. Forsbrook 18. Not copied. 19. Ofcer Commanding Helpmekaar Field Force. 20. Lt.-Colonel David Watt Mackay [Natal Carbineers]. Had served in the Matabele War (1896). Farmer, Dalton, Estcourt in 1906. Commander of the regiments left wing during the uprising. Commanding ofcer 1911 20. 21. Natal Royal Regiment. 22. Capt. A. McKenzie, 23. Revd Elijah Modlamba was Edendales Methodist minister in 1906. REFERENCES Colenso, J.W., Ten weeks in Natal (London: Macmillan, 1855) Hulme, J.J., John Robinson Royston Dictionary of South African Biography, vol. 3 (Pretoria: HSRC, 1977) vol. 3 Martin, A.C., The Durban Light Infantry. (Durban: the Regiment, 1969) 2 vols. Meintjes, Sheila M., Edendale, 1851 1930,(John Laband and Robert Haswell (Eds.), Pietermaritzburg, 1838 1988 (Pietermaritzburg: University of Natal Press, 1988) Meintjes, Sheila M., Edendale 1850 1906: a case study of rural transformation (Thesis, University of London, 1988) Samuelson, R.C., Long, long ago (Durban, Knox, 1929) Stalker, John, The Natal Carbineers (Pietermaritzburg: Peter Davis, 1912) Stuart, James, A history of the Zulu Rebellion 1906 (London: Macmillan, 1913) Personal communication: Prof. P.S. Thompson Personal communication: Eckhard von Fintel
R.C. SAMUELSON
10
An Account of the Zulu Rebellion of 1906

The unofcial report of Benjamin Colenbrander, Resident Magistrate of the Nkandhla Division, Province of Zululand
Benjamin Colenbrander was the Magistrate of the Nkandlhla Division, in Zululand, during the Zulu rebellion of 1906. Except for a three-week period in June, when he was on sick leave, he was very much involved in it, as his report makes clear. There are several copies (handwritten and typed) of the report in the Killie Campbell Africana Library. How they came to be there is not known. The report is marked Draft and is incomplete. It does not have the character of an ofcial report, although it may well be based on the magistracys ofce diary. In preparing the manuscript for publication I have tried to be as sparing as possible with emendations. Obvious misspellings have been corrected, certain abbreviations have been spelt out, and consistency has replaced variation. Also, there has been some (minimal) re-punctuation. I have tried to keep the corrected report as close to the original as possible. The correct spelling of Zulu names in 1906 has been kept. There is more explanatory information in brackets, but no notes to weigh down the narrative, chiey because I have assumed the typical reader is a local one who needs no explanation of historical customs and institutions.
P S Thompson
In order to write a brief history of the 1906 Native Rebellion in so far as this Division is concerned, I think it advisable to touch on a few observations made previous to the commencement of actual hostilities. Duties as Magistrate of the of the Nkandhla Division were assumed by me in January 1905. Throughout the rst eight months of that year there was no noticeable difference in the demeanour of the natives at all events towards the ofcials although complaints to the contrary by the public were frequent. The hut and dog tax was exceedingly well and cheerfully paid during April, 1905, the latter being inaugurated in Zululand that year for the rst time. The Chief Sigananda himself appearing personally at my tax collecting camp pitched on the now historical Bobe Ridge, remaining at my camp for four days and exhibiting the utmost respect and hospitality towards the ofcials collecting hut and dog tax.
Natalia 35 (2005), Benjamin Colenbrander pp. 10 28
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The rst alteration in the demeanour of the natives in so far as my own observations went commenced to be noticeable on the promulgation of the Poll Tax Act, which under instructions from the Native Affairs Department was promulgated by all Magistrates to the chiefs and headmen specially assembled for that purpose during the month of September 1905. The announcement was received in anything but a reassuring manner, the attitude of the natives at once became sullen, mutterings against the measure, even by those who never once wavered in their loyalty during the subsequent rebellions, were universal and conversations overheard at beer drinks between young men indicated that the young bloods would sooner ght than submit to the measure. Loyal chiefs who had freely and openly declared that they personally would obey the Law condentially informed me that veiled threats were indirectly being levelled at them. Moreover responsible kraal heads openly stated that the Poll tax would alienate the sons from their parents and that the Government were driving away from them the means by which they obtained money to pay their annual Hut tax. Rumours became frequent at the end of 1905 that chiefs throughout Natal and Zululand were communicating with Dinuzulu regarding the Poll tax. Almost simultaneously the [illegible] and then inexplicable indiscriminate killing of pigs and white cattle crept into Chiefs Mbuzos and Mpumelas wards along the Tugela river in this Division. Measures were at once taken, the chiefs of these tribes were sent for together with their inuential men and some of the persons who were said to have killed off their pigs. The matter was enquired into at a meeting held with these people when the chiefs denied any knowledge of the matter, the only information obtained was that superstition had become general amongst the natives that kraals containing pigs or white cattle were liable to be struck by lightning. The people assembled were warned and it was generally made known throughout the Division that measures would be taken to punish individuals who continued the practice which as subsequently transpired almost immediately ceased. I myself, at the time, did not attach any great signicance to the incident owing to a previous experience of a similar case which it would not be out of place to mention here. During the year 1898 in the Ingwavuma Division a deformed and shrivelled native doctor, a Tonga, suddenly sprang into prominence by spreading a report amongst the natives that unless they killed off their goats calamities of a dire nature would overtake them and their crops would rot in the ground. This report was rapidly circulated and gained such ground that hundreds of goats had been indiscriminately killed before the matter reached the ears of the authorities, when the delusion was almost instantly dispelled by deportation of the Tonga doctor and a general warning being issued that any further needless slaughtering of goats would meet with punishment. Such was then the situation at the close of the year 1905 which forms the opening chapter of subsequent events during the year 1906 for which purpose this report is being written. The dawn of the 1st January 1906 heralded a year full of such important and stirring events as will live and survive always in the minds of the youngest and oldest inhabitant of the Division. On the 22nd January the collection of the Poll tax was commenced in the Nkhandhla Division. In view of the marked opposition to the tax it was thought advisable to order in every chief to appear on that date and this was done accordingly. Ten of the sixteen
12
chiefs in this division obeyed the order, the remaining six viz. Sigananda, Mbuzo, Mpumela, Ndobe, Tulwana and Matshana ka Sitshakuza merely sending in an evasive message by a messenger. The nervousness of those who obeyed the order and paid their tax even amongst the chiefs present was most noticeable and marked on that day. Throughout the morning, although Sigananda had sent a message to the effect that his tribe had no money to pay the tax, young men of his tribe continued to arrive at the Magistracy until at midday fully 200 of them had assembled, armed with their usual sticks only. The attitude and demeanour of these young men, who kept aloof from anyone else, clearly showed that they had come for some purpose other than paying the poll tax; they behaved in a morose and sullen manner throughout the day so much so that the loyal Native Police showed nervousness and some expressed the fear that these young men might become violent. On the completion of the days work very late in the afternoon instructions were issued for all natives who had not yet paid their Poll tax to return the following morning. Immediately the order was issued the young men of Siganandas tribe arose in one body shouting out at the top of their voices their tribal war cry and rushing off gesticulating with their sticks midst ejaculations Pinde si tele (We will never pay) and reassembling again a few hundred yards away in the twilight commenced gwiyaing [leaping about in a warlike manner] and dancing after which they dispersed. The action of these young men was distinctly hostile and apparently intended as a threat or intimidation. The loyal natives at the Magistracy became anxious and scared and had the ofcials shown anxiety there would doubtless have been a panic. The incident was at once reported with the result that 54 of the young men, who had been identied, were placed on their trial charged with Public Violence. The case was tried by Mr A.J.S Maritz, Magistrate Entonjaneni Division, who, in view of my being required as a witness was specially appointed to hear the case. The trial took place on the 4th and 5th of April 1906 only three days previous to the actual commencement of the Rebellion, viz. Bambata[]s arrival on the 7th April. The facts were clear and the shouting of the tribal war cry admitted, but the Magistrate who dealt with the case took a lenient view of the matter and acquitted all the accused, who although when being discharged by the Magistrate were specially warned not to repeat their disorderly behaviour, again made an unseemly noise so much so that they were recalled and warned a second time. Another incident, which would not be out of place to mention here was the noncompliance of Sigananda with an order from the Supreme Chief to furnish labourers for the Government Road Party during the month previous to the Rebellion. Although only 8 men were requisitioned for from him he failed to produce them, repeated messages were sent to him, and evasive answers were returned, an order for him to appear personally and give an explanation of his conduct, was overcome by the excuse that he was too old and ill to appear personally, but that his son and heir Ndabaningi would do so on his behalf. Ndabaningi himself treated a written summons with contempt and was ned in consequence, on the 27th March 1906. The contempt with which my orders had been treated were reported by me to the Commissioner for Native Affairs who himself personally came to Nkandhla and on the 2nd April 1906 held a meeting with the Indunas of Siganandas tribe including the
13
latter[]s sons, for the purpose of enquiring into the cause of the mismanagement and misrule in this tribe. Sigananda again excused himself from attending on the score of his great age and illness. At the meeting it was universally admitted both by the sons and Indunas that Sigananda was too old and inrm to continue the chieftainship. Sigananda himself they stated desired that his son and heir Ndabaningi should relieve him of these duties, and it was decided that a general meeting of the tribe should take place at an early date to nally decide as to who should be recommended to the Government to assume the chieftainship, a meeting which never took place owing to the arrival a few days subsequently of Bambata and his hordes and the commencement of the actual rebellion. These facts are particularly mentioned so as to show the spirit and temper Sigananda and his tribe were in on the eve of the rebellion. On the 5th of April whilst the trial of Siganandas people already related, was still in progress, an ofcial telegram reached me announcing the engagement between the Natal Police and Bambata at the Impanza. Nothing transpired on the 6th but on Saturday 7th April during the afternoon the distant booming of 15 pounders could be heard in the
14
direction of Greytown and at 8 p.m. an ofcial telegram reached me announcing that Bambata and his followers were eeing through Krantzkop Division and apparently making for the Tugela river with a view of crossing into this Division. Messages were dispatched at 10 p.m. to the Chiefs Ndube, Mpumela and Mbuzo whose wards lie along the Tugela River, to at once arm their people and resist Bambatas entry into their wards. At 4 a.m. on Sunday 8th April, I was awakened by Mlogotwa the Chief Mpumelas son and heir who had travelled throughout the night to report that at 5 p.m. on the previous day Saturday 7th April 06 Bambata had crossed the Tugela with his band of followers and when he left was staying at the kraal of one Ntshelele from whom he had seized and slaughtered a beast and at 1 p.m. Sigananda sent in a messenger named Muntumuni who arrived breathless with excitement to report that Bambata and his followers that morning had crossed over Macala hill into Siganandas ward, and were making for the Mhome stronghold in the Nkandhla Forest. Muntumunis excitement and eagerness appeared perfectly genuine. He related very clearly how he that morning quite unexpectedly had suddenly come across Bambata and his followers descending Macala Hill, how he conversed, relating the conversation with Bambata, whom he identied having made his acquaintance when serving as a Policeman at Greytown, that as soon as an opportunity offered he Muntumuni had unseen gone to Sigananda to the latter[]s Enhlweni kraal, and that Sigananda had forthwith ordered him to go direct to the Magistrate and report all the circumstances. Muntumunis genuineness was apparently all that could be desired. He asked to be provided with assegais as he had left his home unarmed that morning and said that Bambata could now no longer escape and that he Muntumuni would return the following morning and report where Bambata had made for and what he was doing. An urgent message was sent Sigananda to arm his people and either capture or kill Bambata. In view of the proximity of the Nkandhla forest and especially the Mhome stronghold which is only six miles on a direct line from the Magistracy, it was decided to take the precaution to place ourselves in a state of defense. The ladies and children on the night of the 8th occupied the court buildings whilst all the European men available numbering 12, including myself, together with about 10 loyal Native Police stood to arms. An anxious night necessarily ensued as owing to our small numbers there would have been some difculty in repelling a determined attack on the Courtyard. The men however cheerfully took their turn on sentry duty throughout the night. During the early hours of Monday 9th batches of Z.M.R. [Zululand Mounted Ries] militiamen continued to arrive and that evening Major Vanderplank with the Eshowe contingent of the Z.M.R. arrived and needless to say were heartily welcomed. At 1 p.m. on Monday the 9th of April the Commissioner for Native Affairs (Sir Charles Saunders) arrived per mule cart. An urgent message was sent to Sigananda to arm his people and capture Bambata and at 5 p.m. Sigananda sent his previous messenger Muntumuni to report that no trace of Bambata and his impi could be found. The alteration in Muntumunis manner compared with his eagerness on the previous day was most marked, he appeared to be in a dejected mood as if suppressing information and could give no explanation as to how a large impi numbering about 100 men, some of whom were mounted, could disappear without leaving any trace. The report was most unsatisfactory and a strongly worded message was sent back by him to Siginanda pointing out the seriousness of the situation.
15
Messages were on this day sent to all chiefs in the Division ordering them to place their tribes in readiness to resist and capture Bambata in case he attempted to escape through any of their respective wards, and that they would personally be held responsible if an escape was effected through their wards. On the 9th April the Krantzkop Reserve Militia numbering about 60 men under Chief Leader van Rooyen arrived from Ntingwe where they had slept the night previous, returning the following day 10th April. Throughout the day of the 10th April Siganandas people could be seen proceeding armed to the forest ostensibly for the purpose of capturing Bambata. Rumours of a native uprising became rife on this day at 5 p.m. a son of Siganandas named Mayikayika came to the Magistracy and volunteered the statement that Bambata was hiding in the Mhome stronghold. An hour later Linda and others sent by Sigananda came to report that Bambatas impis spoor had become imperceptible just before reaching the forest and that he, Sigananda therefore had no knowledge of Bambatas whereabouts. These men were thereupon confronted by Mayikayika in regard to the latters positive statement of Bambatas presence in the Mhome stronghold. No satisfactory solution of the contradictory statements was arrived at and Siganandas messengers with Mayikayika were allowed to return to Sigananda with an order to him to supply one or two of his Indunas who were to remain at the Magistracy and assist in sifting reports and obtaining information. It subsequently transpired that Mayikayika, for having voluntarily given information regarding Bambatas whereabouts, was kept handcuffed and in close connement by his father Sigananda, in addition to having his cattle conscated. Mayikayika eventually managed to escape and surrendered voluntarily on the 4th June 1906. Abundance of evidence was forthcoming of the harsh treatment he had received, which was corroborated by his emaciated condition when he surrendered. On the 11th April as all information through spies etc., pointed to the fact that Bambata was actually in hiding in the Forest, the Commissioner for Native Affairs therefore decided to send his own trusted Induna Mgqibelo together with the Magistrates Induna Nkonywa with a message so strongly worded as to leave no loophole for Sigananda in case it could subsequently be proved that he was knowingly assisting or harbouring Bambata. The dire result of such action on his part i.e. the ruination by conscation of property and the practical extermination of the tribe was pointed out and every conceivable pressure, as far as reasoning powers went were brought to bear on him. He was also again reminded of the order to supply a reliable man or men of position to remain at the Magistracy and assist the authorities, an order which was never obeyed. This message was delivered by Mgqibelo and Nkonywa personally to Sigananda at his Enhlweni kraal, where most of his important sons and Indunas were assembled and in their presence, on the afternoon of the 11th April, and they returned the following morning and reported having delivered the message and added that while they themselves were not molested nor subjected to any indignities, the attitude and manners of Sigananda and all his people during the meeting were distinctly hostile and disloyal. Colonel Mansel C.M.G. Chief Commt of Police arrived at Nkandhla at 9 p.m. on the 12th April in command of the Natal Police Field Force numbering 170 men and 75 native Nongqai [Zululand Native Police].
16
On the 13th April through the agencies of spies there was no further room for doubt that Bambata was being concealed by Sigananda and as subsequently transpired at rebel trials after the rebellion was over it was on the afternoon of this day that Bambata left the forest and came out into the open with his followers and started to erect war huts alongside the late King Cetywayos grave alongside the Kraal of Lomyana the caretaker of the grave. On this date (13th) the last messengers sent in by Sigananda viz. Simoyi, Mangwana, Linda and Muntumuni, arrived in compliance with an order previously made to relate to the Commr. N. Affairs the circumstances etc., under which they had personally seen Bambata on the date of his arrival in Siganandas ward on the Sunday previous (8th April). Muntumuni was subsequently (about 3rd June,1906) killed in a small skirmish near the mouth of the Mhome ghting bravely armed with a muzzle loader, and Linda in the Mhome battle. These four men appeared to be nervous as if fearing arrest, and gave evasive answers to all questions put to them. Advantage was taken to send a message by these men to Sigananda to the effect that it was known to the authorities that he was harbouring Bambata and that the only manner by which he could now free himself from complicity was by forthwith capturing him and handing him over or killing him in the event of resistance. On the 14th April there was a total absence of information from the Nkandhla Forest but rumours of a general Native rising were so persistent that loyal chiefs became alarmed and the utmost precautions were taken against an attack on the Magistracy. On Sunday the 15th April a nal message was sent to Sigananda by Native Constable Mbili and Sikota. These men returned the following morning, 16th April and reported that they had been threatened and barely escaped with their lives and furthermore the rebels had warned them never again to attempt to set foot in their neighbourhood. There is no question that these men escaped with their lives because they were members of Siganandas tribe, and it was owing to this fact that they were selected for the hazardous mission, which they loyally and faithfully carried out. The treatment offered Mbili and Sikota, the accredited agents and messengers of the Govt. was tantamount to a declaration of war on Siganandas part and all negotiations thereafter ceased, as it was, apart from other considerations, unsafe to attempt to do so. These are the circumstances under which a whole week was wasted in abortive attempts to persuade and bring every pressure to bear on Sigananda and his rebellious tribe to either capture or hand over Bambata. On the 16th April reports obtained from spies indicated that an attack by Sigananda and Bambata was contemplated that night on the Magistracy, a report which was subsequently veried by rebel prisoners who stated that the idea emanated from Sigananda who desired to capture and occupy the Magistracy before reinforcements arrived and that the rebel companies actually received orders and moved to the top of Nomance ridge on the Northern outskirts of the forest that afternoon with the purpose of attacking but that the project was subsequently abandoned owing to Bambata being averse to any attack on a fortied laager. A report was also received on this day which was subsequently veried, that Mr C.H. Domvilles store situated at the Sibudeni on the South Eastern outskirts of the Nkandhla forest had been looted and stock seized there taken to Sigananda.
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The situation had now reached a most serious and critical stage. There was no question that the majority of Ndubis tribe had joined the rebels and also a large proportion of Mpumelas and Mbuzos tribes and most of the other loyal chiefs in the Division reported that malcontents from their tribes were openly joining the Rebels in the Nkandhla forest. Mr P.E. Titlestads dwelling house at Ensingabantu was looted on the 17th April and a native spy returned from the rebel area and reported that he personally had seen Sigananda and Bambata together at the Kings grave. Reports now came in daily from nearly all the loyal chiefs of messages sent to them by Sigananda inviting them to arm their respective tribes and come to his and Bambatas assistance, as the rebellion had been ordered by Dinuzulu whose supposed emissary Cakijana ka Gezindaka had accompanied Bambata from Natal. Cakijana, resident at his father Gezindakas kraal near the Inhazatshe in the Vryheid Division, played an important part in the rebellion inasmuch as it was solely due to him as representing himself as Dinuzulus emissary that so much credence was placed by the natives in the general supposition that Dinuzulu was engineering the Rebellion. Messages at this period were also being sent to Chiefs in Natal and elsewhere in the Province inciting them to join the rebellion. The rebel hordes were daily being doctored (Celad) for war by Bambatas witch doctors and sprinkled with a decoction which would render them impervious to the white mens bullets, that the bullets on impact with the body would immediately be turned into water. As a proof of the effectiveness of this medicine the Impanza ght was illustrated in which Bambata bragged that all his people had escaped without a scratch while he had actually slain the white people, portions of whose bodies were exhibited and used in manufacturing the decoction which was to render them impervious to bullets. That the effectiveness of this medicine was thoroughly believed in by the rebels was amply proved at their subsequent trials and only proves how simple it is to delude the superstitious Zulu in so far as the supernatural is concerned. Bambata now built himself temporary huts immediately alongside Cetewayos grave, numbering about 100, and daily drilling of his mixed crew of warriors took place. Beer and food were constantly brought to this martial camp from all quarters by the wives and sweethearts of local rebels. His shrewdness in erecting the camp alongside Cetewayos grave was obvious as it would at once appeal [sic] to any Zulu that no one but a person authorised by Dinuzulu would have dared to interfere with the sacredness of his fathers grave. Natives known to be loyal were dubbed as amambugas [traitors or deserters]. They were shouted at from the hill tops and told to plait a long rope with which to climb up to the heavens if they did not join the cause. The challenge Uilipi and password Nsumansumana (riddle) was adopted by the Rebels. In view of Dinuzulus name being so freely used by the rebels, his services were enlisted. Owing to the wretched state of his health rendering it impossible for Dinuzulu to come himself his Chief and best known Induna Mankulumana left Nongoma on the 19th April for Nkandhla and arrived there on the 23rd proceeding the same day to the Forest in order to remonstrate with Sigananda in regard to his actions and to dispel the idea that Bambata and Cakijana were agents of Dinuzulu. Mankulumana returned on the 27th and reported that his efforts to obtain an interview with Sigananda had been unsuccessful. Ndabaningi (Siganandas son and heir) atly
18
refused to allow him to do so. That he had failed in any way to impress his mission on the people he had met who were all clearly in open rebellion against the Government. On the 23rd April, Col. Mansel with the majority of the forces available at Nkandhla owing to a reliable report that Bambata had moved to Manyana stream in the neighbourhood of Ntingwe, endeavoured, by making a night march to that place, to effect a capture, but returned with all his forces the following day, reporting that the wily bird had own. Capt. J. Stuart, N.F.A. Intelligence Ofcer accompanied by Funizwe, Bambatas full brother, and some other loyal natives for the purposes of identication arrived on the afternoon of the 23rd April after a somewhat hazardous and plucky ride across country from Greytown to Nkandhla. A convoy of 50 wagons escorted by 400 Natal Carbineers under command of Col. Mackay with two 15 pounders arrived on 25th April. The Chief Siswana ka Mtiywaqa on this date came in personally to report that his messenger to Dinuzulu, sent by him with the concurrence of the authorities[,] had returned with a message from Dinuzulu, to Siswana disclaiming any complicity on his Dinuzulus part with the actions of Bambata and Sigananda and exhorting Siswana to desist from implicating himself with the rebels. An incident worthy of note on the 26th April was the clever capture by two Native Constables named Bayekana and Mteni of thirteen rebels all armed in full war paint wearing the rebel badge white [Tshokabezi] cowtail. These two men effected the capture in broad daylight near the Insuzi and considering they were only armed with antiquated Snider ries the capture was cleverly planned and executed and was most plucky and creditable. The capture of the rst rebels in the rebellion caused some little excitement amongst both the Europeans and Natives at Nkandhla and the captured rebels themselves gave much valuable information regarding the enemy. On the 28th April, Col. Mansel C.M.G. in command of the N.P Field Force and Native Nongqai left Nkandhla for Fort Yolland to establish a camp at that place and on the same date Major Vanderplank in command of the Zululand Mounted Ries left for Ntingwe to establish a camp there, whilst Col. Mackay with the 400 N.C. remained at Nkandhla. These movements were necessary in order to envelop the area of the rebellion and there is little doubt that it aided materially in conning such area to the locality which more or less laid [sic] between these three points in this Division. The rst actual shot red in the Rebellion in Zululand was by a patrol of Natal Carbineers at about 5.50 p.m. on the 28th April close to the site of the old magistracy on the main road leading to the forest. About 30 shots were red just at dusk at a small body of Rebels who had emerged from the Forest and were doubtlessly making for their kraals in the neighbourhood of the Ofeni Gorge. On the 29th April the Chief Matshana ka Mondisa sent in to report that ve of his own sons had joined the rebels and the Chief Mbuzo likewise reported two of his sons, also that one Yena ka Nomanqonqoto a paternal full cousin of Cakijana had come to him (Mbuzo) armed with a revolver obtained from the Police at Mpanza with a message from Sigananda to Mbuzo instructing him, purporting to be by Dinuzulus orders, to arm and join the rebellion. On the 30th April, the Northern District Mounted Ries arrived in the Division from Babanango and proceeded direct to join the Zululand Mounted Ries en route to Ntin-
19
gwe. Colonel Mackay with 4 squadrons N.C. and two 15 pounders reconnoitered the Ndindindi ridge portions of which were shelled by the 15 pounders. A carefully arranged plan by Sigananda and his son Ndabaningi was plotted to intercept the Z.M. Ries and attack them when passing the Ekombe forest near that mission station on the Qudeni. On the night of the 30th April the majority of the Rebels from the Nkandhla forest proceeded en route to carry out the plans. On arrival at the Dhlolwane Hill just below the Qudeni, an urgent message was sent by Sigananda recalling them for the reason that he feared an attack from the Fort Yolland camp on the 1st May. Siganandas and Ndubes people at once returned but Mbuzos and Mpumelas people remained on Macala Hill. A patrol of 5 Z.M.R. came into contact with some rebels near the Ekombe forest on the Qudeni on the 1st May. After an exchange of a few shots the enemy ed into the forest leaving 6 horses which were captured. A patrol of Natal Carbineers on Ndindindi ridge quite unexpectedly walked into a batch of Rebels about midday on the 2nd May. These rebels consisted of a small company placed by Sigananda there as an outpost to warn him of the approach of any troops from the direction of the Magistracy. From subsequent accounts[,] the affair was an unexpected surprise for both sides. A few sticks and assegais were ung at the advance guard accompanied by the usual war cry adopted by the Rebels of Usutu, and the rebels hastily retired with the loss of one man killed named Mahlule ka Ngome and one man Malubange ka Nomtshwadi wounded as a result of rie re from the Carbineers who formed the advance guard. The 3rd, 4th and 5th of May were occupied by Col. Mackay with the assistance of mounted Native Levies recruited from Chief Sitshitshili, Mjantshi and Mtshinana, in clearing the country lying between the Magistracy and [the] Insuzi river and rounding up rebel stock. At midnight on the 3rd May telephonic information was received of the murder of H.M. Stainbank, Esq., Magistrate of Mahlabatini Division when tax collecting at the White Umfolozi River at about 9 oclock that evening when in the act of speaking by a eld telephone which he had attached to the wire in the veldt. News of the tragedy, needless to say caused a [great] deal of consternation. On Saturday afternoon the 5th Col. Mansels column met with a most determined attack from the Rebels on the Bobe Ridge on the Southern outskirts of the Nkandhla Forest. The names of 33 rebels, principally of Ndubes tribe, who were actually identied as having been killed on the battle eld were subsequently obtained by me, but this by no means represents the total of the killed and wounded in this ght, which was computed to be about 70 or 80 at the very least. There is not the slightest question that a reverse of even a minor sort at this critical period would have resulted in the Rebellion being a more or less general one throughout the country. Thousands of waverers who were sitting on the fence, so to speak, would at once have accepted the protection afforded them by Bambatas medicines and joined the Rebels. As it was the fallacy propounded by Bambata and his witch doctors exploded on that date, which marked the commencement of many desertions from the ranks of the rebels gathered by Sigananda and Bambata around them.
20
As the result of information obtained by me during the trials of Rebels and from conversations with important chiefs even as far removed as the Paulpietersburg Division, there is not the slightest doubt that the result of the Bobe ridge ght was the blow which practically broke the back of the rebellion and shattered the hopes of Sigananda and Bambata who were then leaving no stone unturned in instigating a general rebellion. A great number of rebels who took part in this determined attack when subsequently being tried by me admitted their thorough belief that the white mens bullets would not harm them in any way owing to the efciency of Bambatas medicines, Bambata himself having shewn them small scratches on his body where he alleged the bullets at Mpanza had endeavoured, but failed to enter. These were, mostly young fellows, invariably proved [sic] that after the Bobe ridge ght on realising how they had been duped deserted and took no further part in the ghting, remaining in hiding as far away from any troops as it was possible for them to do thereafter. It was just about this time that a section of Lukulwenis people under the Induna Magwaimana adopted the Rebel badge and with a following all armed [and] together with their wives, families and stock suddenly deserted their chief and crossed over Sitekus ward in the Melmoth Division into an area known to contain rebellious natives. Their action was viewed with much alarm by the loyalists, and it clearly indicated the belief amongst the rebels that a general rising throughout the country was about to take place. On the 8th May Colonel Duncan McKenzie, Ofcer Commanding all the forces in Natal and Zululand, arrived at Nkandlha via Dundee accompanied by 1 100 men and a convoy of 110 wagons, exactly a month after Bambatas entry into the Mhome stronghold at Nkandhla Forest (8th April 06). Needless to say after a whole month of weary waiting with a rebellion daily gaining ground practically under our very noses, as it must be remembered that the Mhome is only about 6 miles in a direct line to the Magistracy, Colonel McKenzies arrival was hailed with delight by every section of the community. The forces accompanying Colonel McKenzie consisted of 500 Johannesburg Mounted Ries under Colonel Barker, 500 Roystons Horse under Colonel Royston C.M.G. and 100 details of Natal Militia. Steps were at once taken to arrange for a general move on the Rebels in the Nkandhla Forest. All loyal chiefs were ordered to supply native levies to accompany the troops. On the 10th May the J.M. Ries [sic] under Colonel Barker left for Ntingwe accompanied by mule transport at which post he took over command from Major Vanderplank of the Z.M.R. The Chiefs Mbuzo and Mpumela with a section of their respective tribes together with their families and stock now ed for safety to Krantzkop [in] Natal and reported themselves to the Magistrate, viz. Mbuzo the 13th and Mpumela on the 14th May. Colonel Mackay with the Natal Carbineers numbering 400 left Nkandhla en route for Dundee on the 11th May On the 14th May Col. McKenzie moved out of Nkandhla accompanied by Roystons Horse, sections of the D.L. Infantry and N.F. Artillery, together with two 15 pounders, two pompoms and Maxims. I accompanied Colonel McKenzie, being attached to the Staff, as Political Agent and also to assist in the working of the Native Levies which at that time were distributed as follows: 600 accompanying Colonel McKenzies Column, 1 000 accompanying
21
Colonel Mansels column at Fort Yolland and 200 accompanying Col. Barkers column at Ntingwe. On the 14th May Col. McKenzies Column proceeded to a point overlooking the Mhome which was shelled including Siganandas Enhlweni Kraal. The Native Levies on this day were employed in clearing the country north of the troops and seizing cattle. The enemy frequently sniped at us from the edge of the forest. On the 15th May the column proceeded to the highest point of the Nomance range from which both the Fort Yolland and Ntingwe camps were visible. Communication by Heliograph was established with both places and it was arranged for a general simultaneous move to be made by all three columns, who were to concentrate at Cetywayos grave on the 17th May. A few groups of rebels appearing in some open glades in the forest were shelled and a large cluster of their temporary war huts were visible in an open space in the forest below the Sibudeni peak out of reach of the 15 pounders. On the night of the 16th May, Sub Overseer Walters P.W.D. [Public Works Department] in charge of a Road party was brutally murdered in his tent near the Mbiza stream. Suspicion rested on a native named Maqomankulu ka Mhayi whose kraal was close to the road party camp [who] was arrested and eventually tried by Court martial on the 21st June 06 and found guilty. He was sentenced to death but the sentence eventually was converted to imprisonment for life. On the 17th May an early start was made in a heavy mist for Cetywayos grave. No transport accompanied the troops, who carried as much food as it was possible to do on their saddles in anticipation of being placed on scanty rations for some days. Colonel Mansels column travelled by the wagon road from Fort Yolland and Mfaneles store to the grave, Colonel Barkers column by the road from Ntingwe down the Manyane stream and along the Insuzi river and Colonel McKenzie down a fearfully precipitous open ridge known as Gcongco. The movement appears to have been a complete surprise to the rebels especially the column proceeding down Gcongco ridge as a large quantity of their stock cattle, goats and sheep were captured unherded, which the owners had deserted and left in the veldt, whilst they ed into the forest and red an occasional shot at us. Colonel Barkers column had a small rearguard action, the enemy attacking the extreme rearguard in which about 12 rebels were killed and Lieut. Wilkins of the N.D.M.R. was wounded by an assegai which fractured the bone of his arm above the elbow. Colonel Mansels column did not encounter any of the enemy, but seized some stock and destroyed a number of rebel kraals. The Krantzkop Reserves also operated on this day, having crossed the Tugela [and] swept the country along that river up to the Macala hill, from which they returned back to Krantzkop after killing a few rebels and capturing some stock. It was on this day that Cakijana ka Gezindaka was wounded by the Krantzkop militia in the neighbourhood of Macala Hill. The wound was through the calf of his leg from which he is said to have recovered very rapidly. The columns all met on that afternoon in the neighbourhood of Cetywayos grave and camped on a suitable ridge at the junction of the Nkunzana stream with the Insuzi river.
22
During the operations on the 17th May when burning Bambatas temporary war huts erected by him close to Cetywayos grave which consists of a plantation oval in shape of Indigenous trees, about of an acre in extent. The re created by the burning of these huts and favoured by a strong wind accidentally crept through the re break around the grave and burnt the long rank grass on the outskirts of the plantation surrounding the grave but did not reach the actual grave which is situated in the centre in a very thickly planted bush. The accident was unfortunate as strict instructions had been issued that no desecration of the grave was to take place. It was anticipated that the Rebels would make the most of the incident and Dinuzulu was therefore acquainted with the true facts by telephone through the Magistrate [at] Nongoma. As anticipated, it subsequently transpired that Sigananda had sent ve messengers named Ntshingwayo (Caretaker of the grave), Njinjini, Magandeyana, Sangani and Miso to report to Dinuzulu that his fathers grave had been purposely burnt by the troops. The Native Levies which accompanied these three columns were distributed as follows: COLONEL McKENZIES COLUMN. 1. Chief Sitshitshili 51. 2. Chief Mjantshi 130. 3. Chief Mtshimane 90. 4. Chief Uzinyongo 151. 5. Chief Matshana ka Sitshakuza 50. 6. Chief Siswana 58. 7. Chief Loyal Induna Tayiza Chief Sigananda 40. COLONEL MANSELS COLUMN. 1. Chief Mfungelwa (Eshowe Division) about 1 000. 2. Chief Lukulweni (Nkandhla) 168. 3. Chief Hashi " 76. 4. Chief Ndube " 79. 5. Chief Makubalo " 51. COLONEL BARKERS COLUMN. 1. Chief Mbuzo 175. 2. Chief Mpumela 16. 3. Chief Matshana ka Mondisa 37. 4. Chief Nongamulana 27. 5. Chief Tulwana 3. Total 2202 men. The following day 18th May was occupied in clearing the rebel area lying south of Cetywayos grave including a portion of Ndubes ward. Five rebels were killed and some stock seized. On the 19th May the whole force including native levies left camp for the purpose of making a combined attack and to storm the hitherto invulnerable Mhome stronghold. The native Levies were placed under my charge. Whilst dispositions for the attack were actually being made a Native Loyalist who was in the employ of the Intelligence Department as a spy came from the direction of the stronghold carrying a white ag
23
and was taken to Colonel McKenzie who subsequently informed me that Sigananda had sent two messengers to him making overtures for a surrender. An armistice until 9 a.m. the following day was therefore arranged to enable Sigananda to surrender and the troops retired to camp. A large number of women and children from the rebels in the forest continued to emerge from the forest carrying white ags seeking permission to surrender but were all sent back and told that their surrender without their husbands and relations whom they had left in the bush could not be accepted. Information obtained from these women was to the effect that Bambata and Mangati with their followers were on Macala Mountain and that Sigananda was in the Mhome. On the 20th May at about 1 p.m. two messengers Mbemi ka Lubiyela and Nogiya ka Nongoza were sent in under a white ag by Ndabaningi, Siganandas Chief son and heir, to say that he did not wish to disobey the order to surrender that day but it was impossible for them to do so as he could not nd Sigananda and therefore he requested an extension of two more days to nd his father and talk the matter over with him. The application was granted and the time limit was xed at 9 a.m. 22nd May. On the 21st May all the mounted forces accompanied by Native Levies moved to Macala Hill, only to nd on reaching there that the rebels who occupied the small forest on that hill had moved further inland to the Qudeni Forests. A most tiring day was experienced and the forces only returning to camp late that night. At about midday on the 22nd May ve men named Mbene, Gwaza, Maqigana, Nomabu and Menzi arrived from the forest with a message to say that Sigananda had been found at the top (Southern) edge of the Forest. That Sigananda had not the strength to ght the Government and was therefore willing to surrender, but that he had not then courage to surrender to such a large armed force and therefore desired to surrender to the Magistrate at the Magistracy and have his case dealt with there, further that he Sigananda was an old man and could not climb down the mountain and it would, therefore, be more convenient for him and his tribe to surrender at the Magistracy. It was further asked that the women and children might accompany the people surrendering. Colonel McKenzie after considering the matter informed the deputation that he would be prepared to accept the surrender at the Nkandlha Magistracy at 9 a.m. on the 24th May and that the women and children could come in provided their husbands and relations came with them. On the 23rd May Colonel McKenzie accompanied by Roystons Horse, the Zululand Mounted Ries and D.L. Infantry and Native Levies attached to his Column returned to the Nkandhla Magistracy. The route taken was by Gcongco Ridge, the ascent of which was accompanied by many narrow escapes owing to the steepness, in fact some horses were actually lost, breaking their necks in rolling down the hill in their struggle to negotiate the steepest portions. The remainder of the Forces under Colonels Mansel and Barker remained at Cetywayos Grave. The anticipated surrender of Sigananda did not take place on the 24th as arranged and as subsequently transpired, the object of the overtures made by the Old Rebel was merely to gain time as he hoped that Bambata, Mangati and Cakijana who were then away from the Nkandhla Forest with their band of followers would soon return with reinforcements from Dinizulu. On the 25th May owing to reports that rebels were at the Ensingabantu Store looting that place, Colonel McKenzie left at 6 p.m. in order to make an early morning attack
24
the following day. The plan was well executed but on surrounding the bush at dawn on the 26th it was found that the rebels had left the day previous for the larger forests on the Qudeni. General [F.S.] Stephenson [Commander of Transvaal District] from Pretoria arrived at Nkandhla on the 25th May, accompanied by his A.D.C. Colonel McKenzie again left Nkandhla Magistracy with all available forces excepting those required to guard the Magistracy on the 28th May and encamped on the Dhlabe ridge immediately overlooking the Mhome stronghold. Genl. Stephenson accompanied him. On the 26th May Mbebeni one of Siganandas sons surrendered and on the 28th May Mpiwa an Induna of this tribe surrendered, both at the Magistracy. On the latter date, two Kraal heads, important and well to do men named Nsingisi and Fokoti of Siganandas tribe who throughout had personally remained loyal brought in six of their rebel sons who had returned from the forest the night previous in order to surrender, one of whom named Mavukele had a bullet wound through his hand received by him in the Bobe ridge attack. Their fathers pleaded for mercy to be shown to their sons whom they represented had been misled into rebellion by the older men. They stated if govt. so desired they, the fathers, would themselves take charge of them and serve with the Levies and would be responsible for them in future actions and loyalty of their sons and their own lives and property. It was decided as an experiment to accept the offer which resulted satisfactorily. These six young men that very same day were sent out to the native Levies, the following day actively taking part in the Tate ght. Their actions were strictly watched and from that day to the end of the rebellion these same men were foremost amongst the levies in any engagement and in the Mhome ght were conspicuous in slaying their late comrades. Needless to say these man on the conclusion of the rebellion were pardoned. This incident which I vouch for as being correct is one affording room for reection as to the native character. On the 29th May the column under Colonel McKenzie drove to the Tate Gorge, a most rugged and inaccessible gorge at the junction of the Tate stream with the Insuzi, which lies immediately north of the Mhome stronghold. About 40 Rebels were killed and 400 head of cattle captured. Trooper Malone of Roystons Horse was the only casualty sustained by the troops; he was shot by a rebel through the head and killed instantaneously. The operations in this gorge were continued the following day 30th when 21 more rebels were killed. On the 29th May a dry canteen wagon belonging to two white traders with Colonel McKenzies column lagged behind the column, following the wrong road with the result that they fell into the hands of the rebels on Nomance ridge. The two traders ed leaving their wagon which contained mixed goods and also two ries. The rebels took possession of the wagon and oxen which they drove along the road into the forest and then looted it. The wagon together with some of the oxen were subsequently recovered. The news of the successful engagement by Colonel Leuchars at Mpukinyoni hill in Nqutu Division in which he killed 70 rebels on the 28th May was received by special mounted messengers sent by the Chief Matshana ka Mondisa, who stated that he himself had warned Col. Leuchars of the impending attack the night previous to its actually taking place.
25
On the 30th May a combined attack by all forces including the columns under Cols. Mansel and Barker was made on the Mhome stronghold which was rst shelled and then thoroughly searched by the troops and Levies. Only 3 Rebels were killed and it was apparent the Rebels had deserted the stronghold for the main forest known as Dukuza with their Chief Sigananda. Reports of a reliable nature were received this day that Bambata accompanied by Mehlokazulu, Lubudhlungu ka Faku, both from the Nqutu Division and Mtele and Mavugutu ka Sotondose from Natal were on the Qudeni Mountain with a large force of Rebels. On the 1st June a large number of rebels of Siganandas tribe surrendered. They were brought in by Mpikwa who himself had surrendered on the 28th and had offered to go and fetch these people. On the 2nd June Simoyi an important Induna under Sigananda and mentioned previously in this report, was sent in by Col. McKenzie to whom he had surrendered with a large number of followers. On 3rd June 800 Natal Rangers under Colonel Dick D.L.I. arrived at Nkandhla from Dundee, also 100 Natal Native Horse under Major Moe, the latter from Gingindhlovu via Eshowe and Melmoth. On the 3rd June extensive operations were held by Colonel McKenzie with all his forces in the main Nkandhla Forest, the headquarters camp having been shifted to the top of Nomance Ridge. During the operations in the Forest a most determined but short attack was made on a small detachment of Roystons Horse in a section of the forest known as Manzimpambana. Five of Roystons Horse were killed and six wounded. The enemy suffered considerably. Over 50 bodies were found in the locality, 20 of whom were identied by the Levies and their names have been recorded by me. On the 4th June the killed and wounded were brought in to Nkhandhla from the previous days ght and the former were buried in the little cemetery at the Magistracy. On the 4th June reports that the rebel women and children were eeing from the Nkandhla Forest as the result of the operations in that forest were made by loyalists to whose kraals these women ed, and such loyalists were authorised by the O.C. Troops to harbour and feed such women and hold them in ransom until claimed by their husbands or guardians. Skimizolo, a full younger brother of Sigananda, reported himself on the 4th June. Being a very aged man known to have taken no part in the rebellion he was placed at a Kraal near the Magistracy until further orders. On the 5th June, the trial of rank and le surrendered and captured rebels was commenced by the Magistrate. The Gaol Yard in which was also stored all the Militias stores, ammunition and provisions was becoming congested with the large number of prisoners and with every prospect of their numbers increasing every day it was most necessary to dispose of prisoners as quickly as possible. On the 6th June the Natal Rebels accompanying Mehlokazulu and Lubudhlungu ka Faku, Mtele, Mavugutu alias Nondubela and Bambata on the Qudeni made a most determined raid down the mountain amongst the loyalists in the ward of Chief Mjantshi, nding most of the kraals only in charge of women, the men being absent with the native Levies the rebels met with very little opposition, raiding a large number of native stock and killing one loyalist of this tribe named Sipeku ka Njengaisilwana.
26
It was about this time that these rebels on the Qudeni also raided stock from loyalists in Mbuzos ward and killed two loyalists named [two blanks]. These two raids were undoubtedly purposely organised to terrorize the loyalists serving with the Government Levies who were termed as Amambukas [traitors or deserters] and their wives were told to tell their husbands to plait a long rope with which to climb up to the heavens as otherwise there would be no escape for them. A shell red one morning early from Nomance camp about the 6th June at a group of 3 natives who had ventured to an open glade was successful in killing two of them. It appears they one morning early, owing to the cold in the Forest went to an open glade in the Forest to sun themselves thinking that they were out of reach of the 15 pounders. Their presence was detected by the aid of glasses and the rst and only shell burst immediately over them killing a woman named [blank] and a man named [blank]. This narrative was obtained by me from the womans husband Mahlaya Ka Zwebu who was present when they were killed. On the 8th June 1906 the Commissioner for Native Affairs, Sir Charles Saunders, left Nkandhla for Eshowe having completed two whole months stay at Nkandhla under most trying circumstances. It was on this date that a most determined attack was made by the rebels on two of the most prominent loyalists in this Division whose services in the rebellion were most invaluable and were fully recognized after the rebellion. These men are brothers named Zineke and Bayekana, sons of an ex Chief named Mnikina. The former for years past has been the Chief Induna of the Natal Government Native Representative in Johannesburg and the latter is undoubtedly one of the smartest native constables at this Magistracy. Both of them at that time had already captured and killed a large number of rebels, as well as obtaining and supplying most reliable information for the Intelligence Dept. Their actions were so resented by the rebels that the threatened reprisals at last took place and a large body of them, about 60 men, proceeded down the Qudeni mountain in Tulwanas ward where Zineke and Bayekana kraals are situated to carry out the threat. The two brothers fortunately were out on patrol this particular day and being armed with magazine Ries and well mounted on their own ponies on hearing of the invasion proceeded with all haste to their kraals at which they arrived when the rebels were in the very act of commencing to loot and burn the kraals. Hostilities commenced without delay and quite a little battle ensued between the loyalist and rebel natives far removed from any control of the white man on that day. The rebels eventually retreated back to the Qudeni sustaining a loss of two killed and two wounded leaving the two brave defenders unscathed and victors as the partial damage to their kraals before their arrival was the only injury sustained by them. The incident was a sidelight of which there are many unrecorded in the late rebellion is most interesting and at that time was most reassuring. Here were two men armed with modern ries brave and with every condence in themselves, pitted against a horde of about 60 men of their own kind armed with all kinds and descriptions of obsolete muzzle loading guns and assegais. Both these men in giving subsequent descriptions of the adventure to me asserted that it was entirely due to their being able to maintain a rapid re with the magazine ries that the enemy were misled into the belief they were opposed by a larger number than only two men.
27
On the 9th June, reports came in through the agency of Bayekana above that the rebels concentrated on the Qudeni under Bambata, Mehlokazulu, Lubudhlungu, Mtele and Mavukutu (alias Nondubela) had moved that day and were proceeding to the Nkandhla Forest. This information was at once heliographed to Colonel McKenzie late that afternoon the report was also corroborated by Militia Intelligence and resulted in the formulation and execution of such perfect plans that at dawn on Sunday the 10th of June 1906 the whole of the Militia forces accompanied by the Native Levies had accomplished the feat of successfully having surrounded the active rebels in Zululand in the entrance to the Mhome gorge. It is not intended to give a description of what took place throughout that day, abler pens than mine and those who were eye witnesses will no doubt be in a better position to do so. The rebel army which, according to the most authentic information obtained from Rebels who were in the Mhome ght themselves, moved from Qudeni on the 9th June to the top of the Macala hill and consisted of 19 companies of men on foot and one company on horse back approximately 1 000 men. After resting on Macala hill they at sunset started for the Mhome Gorge which they reached, tired and worn out by about 11 p.m. and not taking any precautions in the way of outposts camped in the open alongside the Mhome stream on the Kraal site of one Mpiyomdeni whose kraal had been burnt by the Militia some time previous. The search light at the Militia camp on Nomance was plainly visible to them in the sky some miles away on the mountain and it was not anticipated for a moment that they were in any danger of an attack. Almost before the rst indications of dawn the unexpected attack took place and resulted so satisfactorily that Bambata, Mehlokazulu, Mtele, Mavukutu (alias Nondubela) were killed together with at the very least 500 of the rebel army who accompanied them. Prominent men viz. Lubudhlungu ka Faku, Cakijana ka Gezindaka and Mangati ka Godite however managed to escape and up to the present have not yet been accounted for. The blow delivered by Colonel McKenzie on this day completely crushed the active rebellion in the Division and from that date all hostility on the part of the rebels in this Division ceased. The Militia forces were immediately split up and distributed in the Division as follows, viz. Colonel McKenzie proceeded to Ntingwe, Colonel Barker to Cetywayos grave, Major Boyd Wilson to the Qudeni whilst Col. Royston remained at Nomance Camp. On the 13th Sigananda with his son Hlazo surrendered to Colonel Royston at Nomance Camp and were sent in to the Nkandhla Magistracy as Prisoners on the 14th June. Ndabaningi and Makahleleka, both sons of Sigananda, the latter wounded through the leg, surrendered on the 16th June. Colonel McKenzie and staff returned from Ntingwe to the Magistracy on the 16th June and it was on this date that the announcement was made throughout the Division that three days grace would be granted to all rebels in which to surrender. During the ensuing 3 days rebels from all quarters kept coming in to surrender and up to and including the 20th June 654 of them had surrendered to the troops in the Division, which afforded absolute proof of the termination of the rebellion in this Division. On the 19th June news of the outbreak of the Rebellion in the Mapumulo Division, Natal, was received with the result that Colonel McKenzie and Staff left for Krantzkop, Natal, on the 25th June to take command of the operations in Natal.
28
The last shot actually red in the rebellion in Zululand happened on the 15th July (?). A native scout named Bebe, a son of Gawu an Induna of the Chief Matshana ka Mondisas tribe who throughout the rebellion served both in Zululand and Natal as a mounted Scout, having heard that his own full brother named Sopela, who rebelled had returned and was hiding in the neighbourhood of his home, was sent out to capture his rebel brother. This he succeeded in doing but when escorting Sopela to the Magistracy the latter made a desperate attempt to escape and also to deprive Bebe of the rearm he had been armed with by the Militia. Bebe without a second thought immediately he succeeded in freeing himself from his brothers grasp deliberately shot him and killed him on the spot. The trial of the rebels both by Court Martials [sic] and the Magistrate now commenced in real earnest; the Court Martials [sic] dealt with prominent ringleaders and chiefs whilst the magistrate dealt with the rank and le. A return is attached [not found] shewing the number of rebels dealt with both by the Court Martials [sic] and Magistrate. Throughout July, August and September, rebels continued to surrender at the Magistracy in small batches [in] ones and twos, involving an enormous amount of work taxing to the utmost the resources of the small staff at this Magistracy who worked practically night and day in order to cope with the work. The aged Chief Sigananda whose health had gradually been failing from the date of his connement in gaol died an ignominious death in the Nkandhla gaol at midnight on the 22 July 1906, where he was awaiting the promulgation of the sentence passed on him by the Court Martial, a sentence which had not yet received conrmation by His Excellency the Governor of Natal and the conrmation of which was rendered unnecessary by Siganandas death. In the death of Sigananda the country was relieved of one of the most cunning, treacherous and rebellious of savages, a link connected with the early days of Zulu history when his tribe acquired their pandering [sic] treacherous and crafty reputation. On the 21st August, Colonel Royston with Roystons Horse crossed into this Division from Krantzkop, visiting most of the areas occupied by the Rebels, i.e. the Tugela Valley, accompanied by Capt. Stuart N.F.A. and after remaining for about a week in the Division returned via Krantzkop to Pietermaritzburg. The Nkandhla Magistracy was garrisoned with a section of the Natal Rangers and subsequently by a troop of the Z.M.R. under Capt. Flindt until the completion of the rebel trials, leaving the Magistracy on the 23rd September with the last batch of convicted rebels 42 in number. The Chiefs Tulwana and Matshana ka Mondisa were both placed on their [sic] trial before the Commissioner for Native Affairs Zululand for Rebellion, etc., the result of charges of complicity made against them by other sentenced rebels arising principally out of statements made by them about these chiefs during their trials. The cases dealt with by the C.N Affairs at [There should be a few more pages or at least one more as the above sentence is not completed.]
The record of a racist killer?
29

William Harte, Natal Carbineers, 1906: A centennial appraisal of the life and times of a Natal Militia soldier and his photographic and literary record
Service Record: WHF (William Herrod Fraser) Harte, Natal Carbineers Regimental number: 742 Squadron: A Enrolment: 6 October 1899 Previous service with Natal Royal Ries (NRR): 21 February 1889 to 1 December 1896 Address and occupation: 101 Victoria Road, Pietermaritzburg, clerk Promotion: Squadron Quartermaster-Sergeant 1 March 1904; Lieutenant 29 November 1910 Resignation: 7 December 1914 (to 2 NC) Service details: Anglo-Boer War 6 October 1899 to 28 March 1900 and 18 September to 16 October 1901 (Queens South Africa Medal and two clasps); Natal Uprising 9 February to 31 March, 18 April to 14 May, and 4 July to 2 August 1906 (Medal and clasp) Long Service Medal: April 1913
Introduction: The 1906 Natal (Bhambatha) Uprising The disturbances in the former colony of Natal during 1906 has gone by various names, including the Natal or Bhambatha Uprising (Rebellion), the 1906 Protest, the War of the Heads (impi yamakhanda), and even the Poll Tax War. The crisis was precipitated by the Natal governments introduction in 1905 of a poll (or head) tax, hence War of the Heads, that impacted heavily on black economic and social systems. Protest by black communities, alarmed at this new burden imposed by their white settler overlords, that became payable in January 1906, was interpreted by the settler government as a precursor to an uprising against white rule. Alarm at this prospect prompted the concerted, and as this article will show, often ruthless, military campaign to crush those amakhosi and their followers who embarked on an enthusiastic but disjointed insurgency, primarily in the Nkandla, Lower Thukela and Maphumulo regions.2
Natalia 35 (2005), Mark Coghlan pp. 29 56

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Generally, the insurgents avoided direct confrontation, using the remote and broken terrain to maximum advantage. Several major clashes occurred, such as at Bobe Ridge on 5 May, Mpukunyoni (25 May) and Mome Gorge (10 June) where ries, machine-guns and artillery inicted heavy casualties at little cost to the Natal Police and Militia forces. On a purely military level the discrepancy in weaponry and organisation dictated that the insurgency was doomed, and by the end of July resistance had been crushed. However, beyond the regular focus of military historians on strategy, tactics, logistics and so on, lay a further crucial plane, that of punitive pacication in the course of numerous search-and-destroy drives by composite military columns. In addition to the lopsided battleeld scenario, it is this sub-text of pacication, marked by widespread killing, destruction of homesteads and crops, as well as conscation of livestock, that has aroused potent criticism of the role of colonial military forces. Enter William Herrod Fraser Harte, Natal Carbineers.
Top: Colonial military a formal studio portrait of W.N.F. (Bill) Harte (reclined) with his brothers R. (Robert) Harte (seated) and A.E. (Alf) Harte (standing). Date unknown. Above: William Harte (right) and a companion enjoy breakfast at Thrings Post, 11 July 1906
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Colonial looters and vicious racists The inspiration for Jeff Guys The Maphumulo Uprising: War, Law and Ritual in the Zulu Rebellion (2005) was a photograph lodged in the Pietermaritzburg Archives Repository and captioned A starving Zulu.4 He proceeded correctly to identify the subject of the photograph as Mbombo kaSibindi Nxumalo, an inyanga implicated in the nal (Lower Thukela and Maphumulo) phase of the Uprising. The present article, too, is inspired by a photograph, one that also appears in The Maphumulo Uprising. The picture in question, also in the Pietermaritzburg Archives Repository, is of a festive group of colonial troops bedecked in an assortment of obviously looted Zulu weaponry and regalia. The caption reads: Looters after the massacre at Izinsimba.5 The scene is used to illustrate a critical interpretation of the role of the Natal Militia and Police in the determined colonial search-and-destroy operations during late June and July 1906 intended to suppress a resurgence of protest following the ostensible crushing of insurgent forces at Mome Gorge on 10 June. The same picture is also cited, with the caption: Natal Carbineers with rebel trophies from Nkandla battles, mid-June 1906, in Benedict Cartons Blood from Your Children, an assessment of settler rule in Natal in terms of the dislocation of black social structures.6 Carton, interestingly, also included the starving Zulu picture, erroneously labelled as A victim of hunger, c1900.7 This writer recognized the looters picture as one recorded by Squadron Quartermaster-Sergeant William Harte in an extensive series chronicling the observations of one of the colonial soldiers who campaigned against the poll tax insurgency. The Pietermaritzburg Archives/Guy picture in fact is one of a series, described by Harte himself as a tableau vivant, depicting this event.
A selection from William Hartes colonial looters tableaux vivants. These scenes at the Militia camp at Thrings Post, are variously captioned as Men of Natal Carbineers adorned with beads, trophies etc, and Men of A Squadron NC who took part in bush operations on Sunday 8/7/06 when Chief Matshiveli [inKosi Mashwili kaMngoye] and 574 men of the tribe killed. He includes several further images that appear to have been photographed by Harte.
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The charge sheet against the Natal colonial forces (Natal Police and Militia) is a daunting one. The perceived general over-reaction of the colony of Natal towards the poll tax protests, containing a litany of alleged atrocities amidst the ruthless scorchedearth campaign entailing several bloody and one-sided clashes and concomitant arrest of hundreds of suspected rebels, as well as deposing of amakhosi, conscation of livestock and destruction of homesteads, cannot be denied, but needs to be explained and qualied. Guys most damning comment on the component troops of the Natal Militia regiments, such as the UMR and the Natal Carbineers, who participated in the military operations to suppress the Uprising, was that they were little more than armed racists and terrorists eager to loot and kill.8 He states furthermore: Even the historian continually exposed to the racial violence of the South African past has to be surprised by the degree of racial hostility and cruelty in the actions of the colonial militia in 1906 at the uncompromising severity with which authority was enforced, and at the arbitrary punishments inicted on those who crossed the militias path.9 Shula Marks, in her landmark work, Reluctant Rebellion, published in 1970, also comments on the supposed penchant in the settler mentality for terrorization and legalised brutality that in the opinion of several commentators, goaded the black populace into protest and sometimes rebellion and laid waste their lands.10 Ironically, in Leuchars Field Force Brigade Orders at Maphumulo for 28 February 1906, men were warned against interfering with natives or their property, and native kraals were placed out of bounds, unless under direct orders to the contrary. Looting was, ofcially at least, forbidden. In Orders of 8 March emphasised the necessity of all ranks behaving properly in the treatment of the natives with whom they may be brought in contact.11 The major engagements of the Uprising, such as Mpukunyoni and Mome, and the associated pacication operations, have often been categorised as massacres on account of the vast disparity in casualties, with less attention than the military historian would wish devoted to the inevitably grim realities of punitive warfare, and such considerations as disparate weaponry and tactics.12 When Colonel Duncan McKenzie forwarded a report from one of his column commanders, Lieutenant-Colonel G.M. Mansel, on a clash with protesters in the vicinity of the Nkandla Forest on 5 May 1906, in which the phrase pitiless rie re opened upon them caused the enemy to break and ee is used, is this wholly, or partly, a reasonable summation of a military situation, or evidence of malicious intent?13 The same could be said of McKenzies report on the lopsided action in the Insuzi valley in the rst week of July: Matters looked serious for a time, the enemy charging up to within ve yards of the ries. They were however, repulsed by a steady re, and broke. Three Squadrons were sent in pursuit, and about 600 rebels were killed.14 His assessment of Mome Gorge, too, focuses closely on its military strategic signicance.15 Squadron Quartermaster-Sergeant William Harte, Natal Carbineers, played a small part in the Natal governments determined military response to the unrest of 1906. Before presenting a sampling of specic instances of excesses or atrocities, and attempting a defence, or at least explanation, of his role, as evidenced in his photographic record, letters, and personal papers, it must be stated that most regimental histories have to date blandly reected the settler perspective on the justication for military action, as
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well as the nature and severity of Militia operations during the Uprising, with much of their content drawn from James Stuarts History of the Zulu Rebellion published in 1913.16 Thus, in A.C. Martins history of the Durban Light Infantry (1969), the outrageous conduct of inKosi Ngobizembes followers in defying Magistrate R.E. Dunn at Maphumulo on 22 January, could not go unpunished.17 In similar vein, in operations against Ngobizembes homestead on 5 March, the shooting was good and soon all the huts were burning.18 In the words of A.J. du Plessis, in his history of the Umvoti Mounted Ries, the challenges to settler authority called for stern measures.19 In his account of the climactic and bloody clash at Mome, du Plessis quotes dispassionately from C.T. Binnss biography of Dinuzulu: Then commenced a merciless slaughter which lasted for sixteen hours. Shells and shot rained down into the Gorge from every side and as this re ceased the troops came in mowing down everyone in sight. No opportunity was given to surrender, for no prisoners were taken. Those who ed into the forests and tried to take shelter by climbing the trees were ruthlessly shot down: dum-dum bullets were extensively used.20 The most detailed of the contemporary regimental records, which introduced an added thread of adventure pursued in later regimental histories, was that of the Natal Carbineers penned by Captain Hubert Walton and incorporated into John Stalkers 1912 book. This chronicle, is, by way of illustration, presented as a plain narrative of the part played by the Regiment in the eld.21 Goetzsches 1971 history of the Natal Mounted Ries comments as follows on the deadly colonial actions against inKosi Mashwilis followers in the Izinsimba valley during the nal phase of military operations: The drives were successfulthere were several minor engagements, but the enemy was unable to withstand the deadly, persistent re of the troops surrounding them.22 Stalker and Hattersley, in the case of the Carbineers and A.J. du Plessis for the Umvoti Mounted Ries (UMR), were not at all perturbed by the ruthless reputations, discussed below, of the respective commanding ofcers, Colonels Duncan McKenzie and George Leuchars. Academic history has understandably been more critical, although the higher echelons of command, personalities such as Colonel McKenzie (Natal-born and vicious)23 and Sir George Leuchars, have usually borne the brunt of criticism, rather than the rankand-le. McKenzies nickname among the people of Zululand, Chaka (sic) reects the awe and fear with which he was regarded.24 The present author, in a recently completed manuscript history of the UMR, has sought to bridge the divide between regimental and academic history by fashioning a more critical political and socio-economic context to the involvement of that colonial unit, similar in most respects to that of Hartes Carbineers. There are several claims to be considered in regard to alleged atrocities, apart from the above extract by Binns quoted in Du Plessis, and from what Carton records as gutted homesteads and charred elds.25 However, it is apparent from Waltons account in Stalkers The Natal Carbineers of the drumhead court-martial and shooting of two of the poll tax protestors sought in connection with the incident at Trewirgie, that commentary such as that of doomed men acknowledging their guilt before all was over for them, was considered unexceptional in terms of acceptable military conduct.26 Details in the context of skirmishes, ambushes and drives are treated in similarly adventurous but
34
uncritical fashion. A.C. Martin, in his 1969 history of the Durban Light Infantry (DLI) launches his coverage of the Uprising with a sort of blanket amnesty application: There is little doubt that had the campaign not been conducted with relentless vigour by Brigadier-General Duncan McKenzie [He was actually still a colonel at the time], the conagration might have spread throughout Natal, Zululand, and far beyond. This, and the fact that a different handling of the situation would have been misunderstood by the rebels, is offered as justication for the methods employed.27 One allegation (apart from the decapitation of Bhambatha himself for the purposes of identication an issue that is not considered further in this article) suggesting that certain actions by colonial troops, who appeared to show little mercy, constituted atrocities, asserts that at Mome colonial forces offered amnesty to wounded warriors and others who had gone into hiding if they surrendered, only to kill them in cold blood when they complied. Several colonial participants in the debauch of blood were reportedly sickened at the extent of the killing.28 A medical ofcer with one of the colonial columns recorded isolated instances of savagery.29 Then there is the assertion that shortly after Mome troops set re to the Qwababana Forest in order to kill insurgents taking refuge within. Oswald Smythe, son of the Natal prime minister Charles Smythe, was reportedly sickened by events at Mome.30 Smythe may have been referring to such incidents as that of a Zulu woman mistakenly shot by colonial forces, and left for a day in agony, with only water and a biscuit to sustain her. It would appear that this particular accident took place on 7 July in Mashwilis domain.31 The author of the above story, J.T. Sutherland, displayed a macabre detachment when he wrote as follows on the hundreds of casualties at Mome: Strange, one has no feeling in these times. One looks on a dead... the same as he was a dog.32 Was William Harte a man with detachment such as this? In a letter of 11 July, and possibly in reference to the aforementioned incident, or at least to another on the same day, Smythe wrote these damning words: I am sure the man who did it must have known they were women but he could not curb his lust for blood. However, in a signicant assertion that such extreme sentiment was not necessarily reective of the majority of soldiers, he adds that his companions took strong exception to his action and he was very nearly thrashed.33 Later, in early July, during the search-and-destroy operations that have attracted Guys specic attention, Oswald Smythe wrote to his father of a further incident that calls into question the conduct of Hartes compatriots: I must say, they [the protesters] are wonderfully callous in the face of death we came on most of them hiding in the thick grasswhen they were discovered, instead of jumping up and making affright, they generally covered their heads with their arms and were shot like sheep.34 Bosman, in a possibly unintentional defence against such charges, asserted that in clearing operations (where columns of smoke announced the presence of columns) such as that at Mome, many instances occurred of rebels playing possum, i.e. pretending to be dead only to snatch a weapon when the opportunity presented itself.35 A certain jumpiness, at least, could therefore possibly be offered by way of explanation. Bosman also suggests that the colonial forces, extended physically and psychologically by the demands of the often futile sweeps and drives in demanding terrain and climate,
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were often disappointed in the absence of any decided result.36 Further extenuating circumstances? There were also, no doubt, instances of colonial troops in fact extending clemency to the helpless, such as that which occurred during the driving of the Dobo Forest, cited by Ken Gillings.37 What of the widespread use by the Natal Militia and Police of expanding or dum-dum bullets, designated Mark V and VI ammunition, in actions such as Mome? This issue had been a source of heated debate during the Anglo-Boer War, where accusations of its use were laced with revulsion at the use of such projectiles between white combatants.38 Was it acceptable that colonial forces used this ammunition against black rebels, where stopping power was considered essential when few ries faced vast numbers of determined attackers? How does one then assess the use of expanding bullets in the execution on 2 April of the protesters sentenced to death in March in connection with the Trewirgie incident, the so-called Richmond 12, to ensure instant death in other words for humanitarian reasons.39 A disputed case specically involving the conduct of the UMR emerged in April 1906 while a contingent of the unit was stationed at Maphumulo. The local magistrate received reports that soldiers had ogged several residents. Captain George Moe reported to the commandant of militia: The natives in question were punished for insolent behaviour and for not showing the required respect for the Kings uniform. Strong measures had to be resorted to to teach the natives who had utterly got out of handto pay their respects to the white man.40 In July 1906 a court of inquiry exonerated Roystons Horse of a charge of shooting ve prisoners in cold blood.41 In his introduction to Bosmans 1907 book, Colonel McKenzie, ofcer commanding the colonial troops, placed on record his very emphatic denial of the alleged atrocities imputed to the colonial troops under my command.42 The Natal government itself responded vigorously to charges of alleged atrocities and barbarities practised by the troops in Natal upon the natives during the conduct of operations. The minister of justice and defence, Thomas Watt, while acknowledging that in isolated cases men of a brutal disposition might have committed acts of barbarity, asserted that every care had been taken to ensure humane treatment, and that lapses could be explained by anger at killings and mutilations such as that of Oliver Veal on 1 July, as well as the aforementioned occasional duplicity on the part of rebels in the act of surrender. Walton, chronicler of Carbineer activities, wrote: That day [3 July] the mutilated body of Mr Veal was discovered by the Carbineers, and the horrible condition of the ill-fated mans body caused a feeling of horror to run through every Carbineer.43 J.T. Sutherland wrote in November in connection with this incident that every man swore they would never spare a after seeing the way they dealt with that white man at Messinis kraal.44 Guy devoted considerable attention to the details and ramications of this incident that inamed settler opinion in the Colony. Several Harte photographs depict Colonel Duncan McKenzie, the overall commander of the Militia, interrogating an alleged witness of the attack. McKenzie himself treats the contentious drumhead court martial near Richmond of the two accused from the Trewirgie incident and their subsequent execution as routine necessities, along with the associated destruction of homesteads and crops of those implicated in that particular manifestation of protest.45 Stuart, who served as an intel-
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ligence ofcer in the eld, perhaps summed up the general settler perspective on this contentious issue: The most humane method in dealing with savages is one which has for its object cessation of hostilities at the earliest possible date. To achieve this end, much must necessarily take place which appears offensive to civilised people at a distance, but which not less civilised persons on the spot know to be imperative.46 Was Stuart also reecting the all-or-nothing approach of the settler mind-set when he wrote: Two peoples are at war; one must defeat the other, and the best way is to do so in a thorough-going way. Nothingis so effective as wholesale slaughter?.47
A negative envelope, a contact print from the original panoramic negatives, and a page from Hartes supplementary Uprising album.
William Harte, photographer extraordinaire, and letter writer William Hartes 1906 photographic record comprised a rich main selection of approximately 102 images in negative format (most of a wide-screen panoramic variety), supplemented by a further small album of 78 contact prints, mostly duplicates of the main selection but with several additional scenes. Apart from the historical value of the image selection, summarised below, Hartes technical skill as an amateur photographer is evident in the fact that it was possible to print directly from the negatives of this period and earlier with a clarity unsurpassed with todays technology and materials. The collection has escaped the fate of many photographs of this vintage fading that renders them useless for reproduction. The enduring quality of Hartes photographs could be attributed to a combination of his apparently careful processing and the fact that most of the images were stored in negative format. In addition to his undoubted technical expertise, Harte boasted a prodigious output that went far beyond the 1906 Uprising. This further collection is headlined by a large album covering the rst year of the Anglo-Boer War, focusing closely on the siege of Ladysmith and its aftermath. In addition there are numerous envelopes of negatives, as well as several mini-albums, covering a wide array of Anglo-Boer War and general military topics, as well as travel and topics of general Natal settler interest. These topics
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range from Natal Carbineers service in the Kranskop district in September and October 1901, and an encampment at Taylors Halt in the Zwaartkop Location in 1905, to the visit by Lord Roberts to Pietermaritzburg in December 1900, and views of the city in March 1902. The Uprising photographic record is supplemented by a collection of incisive and hardhitting letters, modest in quantity compared to his prodigious photographic output, dating from the period of Colonel Duncan McKenzies Field Force expedition through southern Natal in February-March 1906. This episode extends from the incident at Trewirgie itself on 8 February, through subsequent operations in the vicinity of Richmond from 12 to 16 February, followed by the path of McKenzies Field Force through southern Natal, departing Richmond on 19 February and demobilised at the end of March.48 This expedition was typical of the zealous manner in which the settler Government forces sought to smother what they perceived as simmering revolt. Guy writes that this force swept through the southern districts of Natal, ogging, ning and torching homesteads.49 Hubert Waltons account of this episode, in Stalkers The Natal Carbineers, scarcely even hints at excesses of any description, further evidence of the settler justication of the action taken during this phase of operations and those to come.50 The letters, commencing on 11 February with a letter written from a campsite at the Mlazi River near Nels Rust (todays Bayneseld) and concluding with one written on 26 March, were addressed to his mother at Fairhope, 101 Victoria Road, Pietermaritzburg. Harte in this correspondence articulates his personal war and uncompromising attitude towards this phase of the evolving insurgency and the poll tax protestors, more overtly and forcefully than is the case with his camera lens. This correspondence consequently comes closest to Harte identifying himself with the murderous original sin that critical historiography has placed on him and his settler compatriots.
In his opening letter of 11 February Harte recorded that the previous night we slept in a square with xed bayonets and magazine charged with dum-dums! He continues his correspondence in the heated context of the immediate post-Trewirgie hunt through
On His Majestys Service. An envelope containing one of William Hartes bulletins from the eld, March 1906.
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the Richmond district (most notably the Enon Forest) by colonial forces for, in his words of 15 February, the native murderers. It is immediately evident that, along with the majority of settlers, he would have had little time for considerations such as the confused and erroneous conduct at Trewirgie of Sub-Inspector Sydney Hunt of the Natal Police, or of the intent of the men who had earlier in the Edendale valley protested against payment of the poll tax. Juxtaposed, also in the same letter and others, is a request, typical of any soldier writing home, for necessities such as socks and underwear, as well as the customary litany of woes that constituted service in the eld, plus news and views from home and family! Later, while his column was engaged in subduing the inhabitants of that district, he wrote: I hope we are going to shoot thosethat have been caught.51 In an extract from another letter, written at Richmond and dated 16 February, Harte made another reference to the controversial modied dum-dum ammunition: Weare quite prepared to entertain 2 000 or 3 000 black skins to dum-dum bullets if they look for the sensation. Once more he juxtaposes these words of grim deance and determination with comment on various settler families among the Byrne refugees seeking refuge in Richmond from the anticipated protest. On the 17th he announced: I want to be among the next ring party! [referring to the drumhead court martial and execution on 13 February of two poll tax protestors near Richmond] I feel very bloodthirsty! Ironically, Harte was at the same time concerned with such basic personal matters as the loose bowel (an afiction he politely termed Little Mary in his letters) that had plagued him since a severe bout of enteric during the siege of Ladysmith. On 14 April 1900, some six weeks after the relief of Ladysmith, he had been granted leave of absence for the remainder of that campaign52 By 22 February the McKenzie Field Force had reached Ixopo (or Stuartstown as it was previously known), absolutely in the centre of the scare. Memories of Trewirgie resurfaced. There was, recorded Harte, nearly a Hunt episode a short while ago, only the trooper of Police had the discretion not to re a revolver that he had to draw in face of an assegai that was drawn on him. On the 23rd he wrote that the native question here, from all one hears from good local sources, is a very serious thing. A few days later, on the 26th, Harte announced condently that Umskofeli [sic] brought in 8 of the men who were known to have gone about the country armed [and] about 500 of his men came in and paid their Poll Tax, so that the native unrest is practically over here and as soon as the armed natives have been court-martialed we shall probably go back to Richmond.53 On 7 March he commented enviously on colonial operations against inKosi Ngobizembe and his people, also poll tax protesters, in the Maphumulo district: We heard about the shelling operations at Mapumula [sic] by yesterdays post, sorry we havent [sic] had a similar experience here. The closest that Harte appears to have in fact come to active participation in pacication operations at this juncture was at the Magistrates Court in Ixopo on 12 March, when he witnessed the corporal punishment, allowed for in terms of Martial Law, meted out to several of Msikofelis followers: Close to us was a triangle on which a number of the prisoners were subsequently tied to in turn and thrashed with a cat-of-nine-tails!! I saw ve go through the processAll the natives witnessed the punishment. The cat was ably applied on their backs and in a number of cases drew blood.54
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Magistrates in colonial Natal had a penchant for the lash, so much so that its excessive application at this time became another disputatious issue in the settler handling of the disturbances.55 Harte had witnessed some of the estimated 4 700 oggings carried out during the course of crushing the protest.56 In an enclosure in a communication from Governor McCallum to the Secretary of State, dated 11 April, the colonial Minister of Justice, Thomas Watt, lists in ofcial detail such punishments meted out at a court martial at Mtwalume.57 On 13 March McKenzies Field Force departed Ixopo for Umzinto via Highats, and thence to Ifafa and Mtwalume. The purpose of this mission was to cower the potentially restive Black population in those districts, and appeared to succeed in this aim. Harte wrote from Ifafa on the 16th: The natives about here are supposed to be a bad lot, but all along the line of march today they were all respectful bayete. On Sunday morning the 18th, at Mtwalume, protest and unrest seemed the proverbial thousand miles away when Harte described his situation: sitting on an ammunition box under a ne spreading beach tree, on my right is a peep of the ocean, a steamer is passing at the present moment, there is a beautiful breeze from the sea, so that everything in the garden is beautiful.58 False optimism, as it turned out! Then, later in the same letter, he returns to the grim intent and hostility of some of his earlier missives: Wish we could shoot a few black skins here, but they are a lot of curs and wont show ght, an [in?] spite of as much as they were inclined to do a short while ago. In his nal letter of signicance, on 26 March, Harte returns, with a curious air of detachment, to events surrounding the Trewirgie incident: Walter [probably Walter Peel Gibson, married to Susannah, one of his four sisters]and I rode over to Enon Bush to the spot where we shot the two natives. Some animals seem to have tried to unearth the bodies, the large stones covering them must have thwarted them. The view from that spot was charming, we could see right away to East Griqualand in the west and toward Greytown in the east.59 Hartes 1906 collection of photographs is so rich in theme and context, as well in specic detail, as to be overwhelming. In the proverbial nutshell, this collection encompasses four major themes in the vivid and evocative description of the events witnessed by his camera lens. As is the case with most archival records of this nature, this specic subject matter was not created with the historian of 100 years in the future in mind. Harte was in all likelihood simply indulging in a passion and in the process recording the events as he witnessed them during his three periods of service: 9 February to 31 March, 18 April to 14 May, and 4 July to 2 August. Too often the historian encounters photographs of outstanding technical detail that are sadly without information as to place, event, dates and identities, often rendering them more or less useless. This was not the case with William Harte. In addition to the detailed captions on the envelopes containing the negatives (and a full index list in the case of the supplementary album), he used a camera that permitted a brief caption to be written on the negative itself at the time of exposure. Cameras of this type were known as autographic cameras, and were popularized by Kodak from 1914 to 1934. 60 Hartes collection has remained largely hidden for much of the century after it was recorded. Apart from the images that have turned up unbilled in the Pietermaritzburg Archives Repository and subsequently used by historians such as Guy and Carton, there
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is a suggestion that a selection was printed in contemporary newspapers. In 1906 the Natal Mercury Weekly Edition, for example, published spreads on 9 March (Native Disturbances at Ixopo) and 18 May (Operations around Inkandla) that bear the stamp of Hartes work.61 Much more recently, in 1995, one picture, of a captured insurgent wounded in the face, was published in Ian Knights The Anatomy of the Zulu Army.62 Following Hartes death in 1915 his collection of photographs, letters, memorabilia and records was in all likelihood held by his widow, Frances, before passing to his children, Vere and Olive. In January 1940 Vere followed his father into the (1st Royal) Natal Carbineers and proceeded to present posterity with an equally impressive and meticulous record of his military service, from numerous photographs (albums and negatives) to letters and documents. In December 1992 this entire father-and-son collection was lodged with the Natal Carbineers Archive, located in an annexe of the KwaZulu-Natal Provincial Museum Service premises in Prince Alfred Street, Pietermaritzburg. Nic Ruddiman, the Museum Service photographer, printed the negatives as contact sheets that were placed in an album and provide the primary point of reference. William Harte on active service The major thematic groups into which the letters and the photograph collection can be conveniently divided is as follows: Natal Militia individuals, groups, camp scenes and convoy movement, including images of soldiers engaged in recreational pursuits (predominantly Natal Carbineers, Natal Police, Durban Light Infantry and Zululand Mounted Ries); associated events involving insurgent prisoners; and landscapes and vistas of the operational area covered by the Militia columns that Harte was attached to. Scenes that would become associated with the scorched-earth operations, such as the remains of torched homesteads, are not in evidence.
Thrings Post Hospital. Native rebel with his mouth blown away by a piece of shell.
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As far as time frames and locations are concerned, Hartes collection obviously mirrors his periods of mobilisation and the movement of his squadron of Natal Carbineers within the context of the division of colonial forces into several detached columns. Six major episodes in his story can be identied. The rst is the introductory trio of Trewirgie pictures in the supplementary album, associated with the opening phase of the Uprising in the Richmond area and southern Natal in February and March, and considered in this article in conjunction with the photographers letters from that theatre. Then, following a brief hiatus for Harte during early April when the Natal government thought they had nipped the unrest in the bud, Harte found himself in the saddle once again and his initial major series of photographs was taken during his march to Nkandla and operations in that district, covering the month from 21 April to 11 May. This period included the concentration of insurgent and government forces in Zululand following the action at Mpanza on 4 April. This period was one of containment and included the defeat by government forces of a major insurgent attack at Bobe Ridge on 5 May.63 Hartes record then appears to be suspended between mid-May and early July (possibly a few weeks leave), followed by a few days at Thrings Post, at the time McKenzies headquarters for his campaign against the renewed insurgency (from about 8 to 13 July), followed by a concluding two weeks at Maphumulo and Otimati Spruit during the latter two weeks of July. Harte, therefore, through his various absences, omits several of the climactic military episodes in the Uprising, including the battle at Mpukunyoni on 28 May, and the extensive series of drives in the vicinity of Nkandla (29 May to 7 June), culminating in the entrapment and slaughter of insurgent impis at Mome Gorge on 10 June. Once again, as was the case following the severe action taken against the Trewirgie tax resisters, the government considered that it had crushed the rebels at Mome and that the Uprising was effectively at an end. The colonial military commander, McKenzie, himself held this view.64 They had not completely crushed the protest and this disillusionment possibly contributed to the severity of its renewed response over the next few months. Harte also appears to have missed the upsurge of protest in Maphumulo in June and July, including the clash at Otimati on the 19th, and instead resumes his photography in time to record the impact of the concentration of government forces against amaKhosi Meseni kaMusi and Ndlovu kaThimuni. It was government actions during this phase of the conict that elicited the charges of brutality and excessive force directed against the colonial troops in Maphumulo Uprising.65 It is therefore pertinent that among the most poignant images observed through his viewnder were those of Meseni and Ndlovu in jail at Maphumulo and under armed escort to their court-martial at the same location. Harte was also witness to the aftermath of another contentious Uprising episode, the killing in the Mvoti valley on 1 July of Oliver Veal, civil servant and cyclist, by followers of inKosi Meseni kaMusi.66 Once the Militia and Natal Police columns had dealt successfully with Mesenis resistance, in a series of drives and sweeps in early July, attention was shifted from 7 to 12 July to the pacication of the above-mentioned Ndlovu as well as inKosi Mashwili. It was during this period, on Sunday the 8th, that the grim events took place that netted the loot that in turn inspired the title photograph of this paper when Mashwili kaMngoye and a large number of his followers were killed. In Stalkers The Natal Carbineers, this
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colonial drive was summarised as follows: By afternoon many rebels were left dead in that valley the grave of the Rebellion in Natal.67
Natal Carbineer horsemen with Colonel D.W. MacKays column, crossing the Mzinyathi (Buffalo) River into Zululand at Vants Drift, 21 April 1906.
Taking time out from killing and pillage? Colonial troops at play: the high jump at an undated sports day at Maphumulo.
Native rebel prisoner, witness of Veals murder, being questioned by Colonel McKenzie.
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(Top) Chiefs Ndlovu and Meseni en route to court martial, escorted by DLI [Durban Light Infantry]. The picture probably dates from 16 July 1906, the date on which this court martial opened in the Residency at Maphumulo. Meseni and Ndlovu are correctly known as inKosi Meseni kaMusi Qwabe and inKosi Ndlovu kaThimuni Zulu. (Above)Surrendered rebels in concentration camp at Mapumula. This stark image of subjugation is dated 21 July 1906.
Harte does not record individual operations such as those that comprised the numerous drives to apprehend the insurgents, as well as the skirmishes, killing, destruction of homesteads, and conscation of stock that is at the heart of Maphumulo Uprising. The closest he comes to this level of detail is his inclusion of groups of captured amakhosi and their followers, as well as loyal or collaborationist levies. There are two likely reasons for this. Firstly, as a squadron quartermaster-sergeant his duties would probably have been conned largely to camp/base duties rather than search-and-destroy missions with columns in the eld. Then, too, his photographic equipment was probably not yet sufciently advanced to effectively record battle action. Seeking answers. Hartes social context: Natal settler society and the Uprising Guy relates the several brutal murders of unarmed white people during the course of the disturbances with a forthright candour and in gruesome detail, but without the same degree of judgmental baggage heaped on the Militia and its leadership. In fact, atrocities such as mutilation are explained, in part, in terms of traditional cultural practices.68 The colonial Militia deserves similar consideration. The context of the involvement of Natal colonial military forces in the events of 1906 and 1907 is particularly contentious, especially with regard to the legitimacy of white rule, and the debate that has emerged as to whether the settler response to black protest, represented by the poll tax saga, was exaggerated in concept and excessively ruthless in application.
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The reader should bear in mind that throughout this contentious episode in South African history, militia regiments such as the Natal Carbineers and UMR were inevitably infused with the convictions, mores, racial attitudes and fears of the settler ruling class in which they were, on the whole, rmly embedded. Few individuals from that community questioned the legality and justice of white rule. In fact, Walter Bosman, aide-de-camp to Colonel Duncan McKenzie during the military operations of 1906, in the preface to his 1907 book, The Natal Rebellion of 1906, lauds the settler callto-arms as the vindication of their title to rule in the land of their adoption.69 Even James Stuart, who was to leave to posterity his unrivalled collection of interviews with numerous black contemporaries, was in no doubt that this was a conict between a race of savages on the one hand, and representatives of Western Civilisation on the other.70 This social mixture was, according to Shula Marks, one of paternalism, fear, and contempt, a blend that made, in her words, for a blend of paternal despotism, or in the words of Guy, overbearing attitudes and racist brutality.71 The white politicians, magistrates, shopkeepers, farmers, soldiers, and as in the case of Harte, civil servants, were all a part of this inherited mix in which, in the words of Marks, innate distrust of the stranger of different colour, social values, and culture, made the African a threat.72 She continues, citing Brookes and Webbs A History of Natal, that fear of a black uprising in Natal was strong, enduring, and at times almost pathological from the beginning of its colonial history.73 This anxious and defensive settler community saw the seeds of sedition in any hint of protest against its rule, such as opposition to payment of the poll tax, and considered that any backing down on its part would have jeopardised white rule.74 It is not surprising that Stuart should refer to terrorisation in the context of protesters forcing loyalist inhabitants into rebellion, rather than in a description of settler colonial troops.75 The story of the inception, growth, and vicissitudes of settler life in Natal, which gave rise to men such as those who comprised the Natal Carbineers and Umvoti Mounted Ries, has been thoroughly documented, for example, in the works of Alan Hattersley. These factors were particularly evident in the rural frontier regions, including the stock farming regions, where settler pastoralists had long competed with their black counterparts, and provided many of the ruling hierarchy, men such as McKenzie and Leuchars, and men such as William Harte. The settler farmer in particular, and the settler community in general, had a strong vested interest in maintaining and strengthening its grip over the black inhabitants. Harte was himself somewhat removed from the ruling farming clique, being one of the majority of settlers who by 1906 resided in the urban centres such as Pietermaritzburg, although he did boast two farmer brothers-in-law, suggesting it was difcult to completely avoid some association with this dominant settler community. Sisters Bessie and Susannah had married respectively William Otto of Riet Vlei and Walter Peel Gibson of Howard Hill, Richmond district. A third sister, Maude, had been married to Edward Lucas, a lawyer, and Carbineer captain who succumbed to enteric (one of the siege of Ladysmith afictions that William Harte was familiar with) during the Anglo-Boer War. These matrimonial alliances were evidence of what Shelagh Spencer has termed social connections in local society.76 Among the convictions held by most members of this society was that equality between white and black could not be considered. The settler society and economy had endured a difcult inception and growth during the early colonial period, and considered black
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people, whether in the form of the homestead economy or in the context of physical security, as a potential threat. Walter Bosman perhaps captures best the contemporary settler mood. The black population, he wrote, were prepared to take up arms; to loot and destroy the scattered homesteads which had taken years of patient labour to establish; to perpetrate upon gentle women and tender children nameless barbarities which the savage mind can conceive; and to drive the white man into the sea.77 Bosmans words were echoed by his superior, McKenzie, in several telling extracts from his ofcial report on the measures taken, mostly under his command, to suppress the poll tax-inspired resistance. In the rst he states that it must be admitted that at one time the state of affairs was extremely serious, and there is no denying the fact that the colony passed through a crisis, the seriousness of which is realised by very few. Furthermore, he asserts, had the rebels met with any success, and any of our forces with disaster, however slight, the ame of rebellion which was then smouldering, would have at once been fanned into a conagration. Bosman probably reected the prevailing colonial sentiment when he wrote: Had our enemy [the protesters] met with any success, one trembles to think of what might have befallen our brothers and sisters living on the isolated farms in the Colony.78 McKenzie, his own convictions notwithstanding, was also in no doubt as to the primary motive driving the protest: The real fact of the matter, in my opinion, is that the natives are tired of the white mans rule, and consider that the country is theirs.79 Colonel Leuchars, the Natal Secretary for Native Affairs from 1904 to 1905, and ofcer commanding the UMR from 1898 to 1907, was one high-prole advocate, along with the governor, Sir Henry McCallum, of a hard-line position towards black people. Colonial military commanders were labelled in an article in the Zulu language newspaper, Ilanga lase Natal, as cruel in the extreme, and the actions of Leuchars in particular was described as harshand remorseless.80 The settler newspapers, it should be noted, such as The Natal Witness and The Natal Mercury, were subject to censorship for much of the military campaign, in terms of Martial Law, and that did nothing to ameliorate the views of their readers. The sentiment of the St James Anglican Parish in Greytown, possibly reecting the position of Canon G.E. Pennington, its long-time vicar was very rm, asserting in reference to the rebels, that we are dealing with a people who cannot realise the value of defeat unless it is real and personal. Commenting on prospective and decisive military action, the prevailing St James opinion was that it be as hard as we can hit.81 [original emphasis] The Natal government, in the context of the responsibilities and expectations of the Responsible Government granted it in 1893, especially its increased responsibility for defence, as well as the intrusive imperial control of political policy and military strategy during the Anglo-Boer War, was determined to crush this insurgency with minimal involvement from London and was very sensitive to criticism of its actions towards this end. Relations between the colonial and British governments consequently became strained when London criticised as excessively severe the settler response to the perceived threat to its hegemony. The imperial garrison had been almost completely withdrawn by that date, although British troops could have been called in from the Orange River Colony and the Transvaal. The militia regiments of the Colony, among them the UMR, as well as
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the Natal Police, and assisted by some similarly constituted units from the Cape Colony and the Transvaal, as well as white levies (the Militia Reserves) and black levies, bore the brunt of military operations, and enabled the Responsible Government ministry to assert that it had maintained order in the Colony and weathered the crisis. In the above context the lack of enthusiasm in Natal towards ghting Boers in 1899-1902, compared to what can be described as an over-enthusiastic response to tackling the Colonys black subjects in 1906, is relevant to Hartes own statements and record, and, signicantly, generated similarly strained relations between settler Natal and Britain.82 William Hartes soldiering should also be considered in the context of the predominant military ethos that is considered by some historians to have prevailed to a greater or lesser extent in settler political and social circles.83 Into this mix comes the aforementioned blend of settler fear, condence, restraint and self-fullling prophecy that marked the inception, conduct and aftermath of the Uprising.84 Also, in the same way that a certain dichotomy prevails in terms of Hartes own position on the poll tax protest and the action taken against it, there were several prominent settlers who questioned aspects of the colonial response, and its severity. Joseph Baynes and Sir James Hulett were two cases in point.85 Finally, judgment of the position adopted by Harte and his associates towards their participation in the campaign of military pacication in 1906, has inevitably been coloured by hindsight, a cushion and relative detachment of 100 years. Imperialism, colonialism, the presumption of white rule over black Africans, have all been challenged in a manner seldom evident in Hartes day. Then there is the question of the disputed over-reaction by the Natal government and its military forces to the disturbances and protest. It is unlikely, for example, that Harte and his associates differentiated between the dynamics within chiefdoms in the region, conicting interests, and uctuating patterns of participation in terms of protest, neutrality, or collusion with the State, all factors that diluted the effectiveness of resistance to settler authority.86 Instead, it is evident that settler society inculcated in the not atypical Harte all its prejudices and fears. Seeking answers: The man himself, duty as civil servant and soldier A tentative glimpse at the extensive records of William Hartes life, family and civilian career held in the Natal Carbineers Archive will hopefully reveal the extent to which he tted the broad settler scenario that investigations into the Uprising have thrown into sharp contrast. Harte was born on 29 June 1874 at Mossborough House, Kilkenny, Ireland. He was an accountant by profession, employed in the Town Treasurers Ofce, Pietermaritzburg. At the time of the Uprising he was not yet married, hence his letters to his mother rather than his wife. He married Frances Mary Butler on 16 September 1909 in St Saviours Cathedral in Commercial Road, Pietermaritzburg. The extensive list of wedding presents, including a silver tea and coffee service from his regiment, and a diamond and ruby bracelet from the parliamentary staff and their wives (Frances father, Captain P.J.H. Butler, had been the Sergeant-at-Arms in the Natal Legislative Assembly), is indicative of the high regard in which this ofcial was held.87 He appears to have resided at 101 Victoria Road both before and after his marriage. He was a member of the Church of the Province of South Africa. In July 1889, at the youthful age of 14 years, he was appointed as a junior clerk in the Town Ofce at a princely 36 per annum, and worked his way up to clerk in
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the Borough Engineers Ofce (and 150) by 1896. In May 1898 he was transferred from the Borough Engineers Ofce to the position of cashier in the Town Ofce with a much-improved salary of 175 per annum. The referral written for him in July 1898 by the Borough Engineer probably sums up his character: He has been most attentive and painstaking in his work, is perfectly steady and reliable.88 Through the period of the Anglo-Boer War, following his enteric-assisted relief from active service after the siege of Ladysmith, he again worked his way up the salary grades, 12.10.0 at a time, in that post before landing the post of accountant in May 1902 at 300 per annum.89 Interestingly, G.J. Macfarlane, the incumbent mayor and a major in Hartes regiment, the Carbineers, signed his certicate of appointment to the last-named post.90 In all he served the Corporation of Pietermaritzburg for 27 years. During this period Harte also found time to serve as an electoral ofcer (described in correspondence as a eld cornet) for the Natal colonial government for Pietermaritzburg.91 This additional duty for the indefatigable yet ailing Harte continued into the propitious Union era, and the new Union of South Africas rst general election of 1910, when the post of eld cornet appears to have been upgraded to a justice of the peace. He was responsible for the preparation of ve voters rolls: two for the Union Assembly (Pietermaritzburg North and South) and three for the Provincial Council (Chase Valley, Umsundusi, and Swartkop Valley), a considerable task. He also served as presiding ofcer at the Foresters Hall polling station in the electoral division of Pietermaritzburg North. Once again he had to nag for his pay (80), an unfortunate pattern, it would appear, of his industrious life. He continued this work, and pleas for improved remuneration, into 1913.92 A further, associated task was a signicant contribution towards the preparation of the rst Union period census for the City. In his own words, he was well suited to the job: During my service with the Municipality, extending over 22 years, I have acquired a valuable knowledge of the geography, population and suburbs of Pietermaritzburg. In this same memorandum, of 15 May 1911, he concludes: I have often complied with requests of the government to assist in duties of the Crown. His fee in this instance was 15.15.0.93 In 1907 Harte ambitiously applied for the position of deputy Town Clerk of Johannesburg, and in this instance no less personages than C. Bird, Principal Under-Secretary in the Colonial Secretarys Ofce, Natal, the Mayor, A.W. Kershaw (of Kershaw Park fame), and S. Stranack, the Town Clerk for 22 years to 1905, among several others, lent their weight to the application.94 The application for this post was probably connected to the general economic recession in the Colony of Natal from 1904 to 1909 in the wake of the Anglo-Boer War, one repercussion of which, the imposition of the poll tax in 1905, contributed signicantly to the discontent that sparked the protest of 1906.95 The impact on the conscientious and periodically sickly Harte was that he fell victim to a wave of retrenchments in the Town Treasurers Ofce that saw him dismissed from his 300 post and re-engaged at a lower salary. In May 1911 he was still striving, successfully it would appear, to restore his former position. My services with the Corporation [he implored in a letter to the Town Treasurer on 1 May] extends over 22 years, and I have always endeavoured to be conscientious in my work the nature of which requires a skilled knowledge.96 Details of Hartes position as a humble cashier in the employ of the City of Pietermaritzburg are important to establish a portrait of the person behind the photographs and
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letters described above, beyond the broader parameters of the settler military response to the Uprising. As far as military service was concerned, prior to his enlistment in the Natal Carbineers on 6 October 1899, Harte had seen service in the Natal Royal Ries (later the Natal Royal Regiment from 1910 until its disbandment in 1913) from 30 January 1890 to mid-1896. The Natal Royal Ries, as fate would have it, garrisoned Richmond for several weeks during the Trewirgie phase of the Uprising.97 His Natal Militia Force Form of Voluntary Enrolment for 1910 describes him as a little under two metres tall, dark complexioned, and with brown eyes and hair. William Hartes record of his previous wartime service in the Anglo-Boer War, most notably in the siege of Ladysmith, offers few clues as to his personal attitude to ghting white people, as against the very different category of opponent encountered in 1906. His death in 1915 at a relatively young age was a consequence of long-term complications of the privations and bout of enteric fever suffered during the siege. Apart from the usual campaign medal, the Queens South Africa Medal (QSA) for his Anglo-Boer War service, Hartes dedication to his martial endeavours was rewarded in April 1913 with the Long Service Decoration. Further evidence of dedication to duty emerged in the form of a stint as secretary and treasurer of the Carbineers Sergeants Mess.98 A greeting card for the 1913-14 Festive Season from the ofcers of his A Squadron, includes a photograph in which Lieutenant W.H.F. Harte, while displaying a delicate appearance, does not appear at deaths door as he entered the nal year of his life. Also, a postcard home on 15 January 1915, at the time of the South African campaign in German South West Africa (successfully concluded by July), reports nothing out of the ordinary. However, his delicate health had precluded active eld service and this was the reason he transferred to the 2nd Carbineers as paymaster, stationed at Ludertizbucht, slotting in perfectly with his job back in City Hall, Pietermaritzburg. Later that same year, in November, Harte, now a captain, was set for further service, once more as paymaster, this time on the staff of Colonel W.H.A Molyneux in connection with the South African forces (one of the regiments of South African Horse) destined for German East Africa.100 However, his sands of time were rapidly running out. He was admitted to hospital in Potchefstroom on 1 December and passed away from gastro-enteritis associated with heart failure in a Johannesburg hospital at 11.30 p.m. on the 13th, at the relatively young age of 41. His enteric had well and truly caught up with him.100 His body was railed from Johannesburg to Pietermaritzburg, and his funeral procession proceeded, in pouring rain, from the Railway Station to St Saviours Cathedral and thence to the Anglican cemetery. The notice of his death, his obituary and extensive coverage of the military funeral accorded him by the Natal Carbineers (despite the evidence of discord mentioned below), were in the Natal Witness of 15 and 16 December 1915. It was front page news despite the worsening crisis and mounting losses of World War I, as was the tribute that the Town Council paid him all further evidence of his solid standing in the settler community, and an afrmation perhaps of the personal-military symbiosis that historians of the Uprising era would associate with his life and career. At the funeral itself civic dignitaries, as well as senior ofcers of his regiment, the Carbineers, who provided a ring party and band escort, were well represented. Harte married comparatively late in life and left two young children, Vere and Olive, mentioned elsewhere in this story, plus his brothers, Alf and Robert, and at least

two of four sisters.101 His widow, Frances, subsequently moved to 26 Havelock Road below the Railway Station in Pietermaritzburg and lived out her days there. In 1939, at the age of 63, she too volunteered for war service, in the ranks of the British Empire Service League (BESL) as a nursing sister.102 As suggested above, Harte offers few explicit clues as to his personal state of mind during the tortuous campaign of 1906. Even the meticulous captions to his photographs tend to be concise, factual and unemotional. The closest he appears to come to a strongly held opinion emerges in the aforementioned handful of letters he wrote home from southern Natal. Nevertheless, even in those letters he its between commentary on poll-tax protest and military matters, and queries regarding his civilian pay, along with many personal issues. His letters also suggest an individual of assertive and forthright character, not only on the subject of the place in settler society of the black population, but also in his relations with Carbineers compatriots. He speaks forcefully in his letters, for example, of divisions within his own squadron, A Squadron, over the matter of promotions and other internal matters of an ofce politics nature.103 Perhaps his direct manner in such matters contributed to the inordinate delay, considering his exemplary military record, in his promotion to commissioned rank in November 1910.104 Despite his mundane position during the Uprising as a squadron quartermaster-sergeant, Harte was also one of the expert Carbineer shottists of his day. He therefore certainly possessed the requisite skill in musketry to make good on his direct comments in his letters about taking the ght, as he perceived it, to the poll tax protesters. The Natal Carbineers Museum holds a mounted collection of silver spoons earned at shooting competitions over many years. In September 1994 his daughter, Olive, presented to the then Pietermaritzburg Municipality a trophy fashioned from a medal and several of these spoons. The part-time soldier in a regiment such as the Natal Carbineers has from the colonial era to the present been called upon to juggle employment and personal commitments with military duties and commitments. So it was that Harte periodically found himself in frustrating
(Right) The front-page report of William Hartes demise, from the Natal Witness of Wednesday 15 December 1915.
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50
situations. One facet of this portrait was the ultimately fatal wartime brush with enteric (my health was very much shaken), which evolved into what he described as intestinal catarrh, and which haunted him for the remainder of his 15 years, as his Uprising letters attest. A letter dated 6 April 1900, that Harte received from an associate in the Pietermaritzburg Municipality, enquiring after his health during his recuperation from the rigours of the siege of Ladysmith, suggests that he enjoyed cordial inter-personal relationships with his colleagues.105 However, complications always lurked close to the surface. In April 1902 he applied with adamant determination to the Town Treasurer for a six-month leave of absence to sail for England on the advice of his physician, a Dr W. Russell Strapp, who prescribed a sea voyage. At the time, towards the end of the penultimate month of the Anglo-Boer War, volunteers such as Harte could apply for gratis passage, termed an indulgence passage, on troopships. He was evidently a stickler for regulations, paperwork and correct procedure (an attribute that no doubt promoted his determination and that of his broader family to impart an archival legacy, part of which forms the foundation of this article), and urged on his superior the fact that his ordinary and sick leave over 13 years of service fell within the limits that entitled him to full pay during such an absence. An application along similar lines was made to the adjutant of his regiment, the Carbineers.106 It is unclear whether Harte ever secured his convalescent voyage, but several years later, in late December 1908, following his Natal Uprising exertions, he was still chipping away at the same seam with the military authorities, this time on the recommendation of Dr Robert Buntine, who served as medical ofcer to the Carbineers during the siege of Ladysmith. The preferred destination was now less ambitious Cape Town. He was by this point a man of woes, claiming, inter alia, medical expenses of between 500 and 600, and demanding Government compensation: When I went to the front in 1899 at the age of 25 I enjoyed a robust health, lived an active life, could stand any amount of hard work, and take any kind of diet. I regret to say that I cannot claim any of those qualications now.107 Again, the results of his exertions are not stated, but it is apparent from his record with the Town Treasurers Department that his employers were, in fact, very tolerant with respect to his military diversions. During his Anglo-Boer War service, for example, from 6 October 1899 to 6 May 1900 and again from 19 September to 16 October 1901, he received full pay for the rst six weeks of his initial stint followed by 5 months on half salary, and full pay for the 1901 episode.108 Another facet of his Anglo-Boer War service in which Harte displayed a determined resilience emerged in connection with his efforts to secure from his military superiors the privileges attendant on delegates to the coronation festivities in August 1902 for the new king, Edward VII, who had succeeded his mother, Queen Victoria.109 This determination prevailed despite his siege-related ailments. Having succeeded in securing a place at a late date in the contingent at his own expense, 10 years later, in 1912 he was still grappling with the military bureaucracy to secure the commemorative medal in which the collector/archivist in him seemingly placed considerable value.110 In the end it turned out that the reason for this impasse was that Harte had not been a member of the initial contingent and had proceeded in a private capacity.111 This saga further illustrates the quiet yet dogged determination of this man.
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Considering his chosen profession in the world of accounting, it is also not surprising, on the subject of competing civilianmilitary commitments, that during the course of his active service in 1906 matters of a pecuniary nature should permeate Hartes requests for underwear and bellicose commentary about the poll tax protesters. Leave, and payment thereof, was much on his mind. In fact, illness and issues of nance dominated the dogged Hartes life. The Town Clerk informed him on 9 April, in this regard, that full pay would apply to the initial 12 days of active service (i.e., equivalent to the customary annual encampment), followed by any vacation leave if so desired. Thereafter, or alternatively, it was down to the difference between Militia pay and salary.112 For the period 18 April to 15 May he received the sum of 12.12.0, much of which, according to his letters, customarily went to his mother.113 Conclusion William Hartes photographic record is largely documentary in content and tone, other than the inferences and prejudices occasionally evident in his captions, and is also restricted in coverage of controversial colonial actions by his episodic personal stations during operations, and by technical limitations. Perhaps, therefore, regardless of his own personal involvement and opinions, his photographic legacy should be viewed in a similar light to that of S.B. Bourquin and his record of the activities of the Durban Corporations Bantu Affairs Board, most notably the removal of the Cato Manor shack settlements in late 1950s and early 1960s, and also to the more contemporary archive of interviews and notes compiled by James Stuart, another Natal colonial civil servant, and author of History of the Zulu Rebellion 1906 (1913), the most comprehensive contemporary history of the events covered in Hartes letters and albums.114 The photographic record would appear to dovetail with the outline of Harte as an unexceptional and benign, if fairly typical, representative of his Natal settler community, with notable, if not pretentious connections noted above. If this is so, then the content of his letters, on the other hand, reveals a harsher and more ruthless side to his own personality, and by implication, that same parent settler community whose military and police forces professed to have conducted themselves with the utmost humanity.76 His letters appear to contradict the benign picture of the man sketched above, and bring Harte closer to that predatory image of the colonial militia that saw one of his photographs incorporated into the evidence with which this article began that painted them in such a bloodthirsty light. Outwardly Hartes personal and professional life may have reected the disposition of an intensely dutiful, quietly determined, yet unassuming man, and a lifelong clerical type, such as lled the ofces of many a Government department and business enterprise of the time. He did not in this context appear to exhibit the brutal disposition that would t the harsher judgment of history of the Natal colonial soldier. However, ample and graphic evidence of the harsh measures taken by colonial troops in suppressing the Uprising does not bode well for a comprehensive acquittal in the case of Harte. Although not personally responsible for any atrocity, and therefore in that sense evading the racist killer label, he did appear to absorb and articulate many of the presumptions, prejudices, and fears of the society he lived in. His deep-rooted sense of duty within that system almost necessitated that he adopt its measures to deal with what was perceived at the time, rightly or wrongly in the verdict of history, as a clear and present danger.
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BIBLIOGRAPHY:
Greytown Museum, Greytown: Umvoti Field Force, Diary of Operations, 1906. Original: UMR. Umvoti Field Force and Umvoti Mounted Ries: Regimental Orders, January-June 1906. The Natal Native Rebellion as told in Ofcial Despatches, from January 1st to June 23rd, 1906 with introduction and diary of the day-to-day operations in the eld (Pietermaritzburg: P.Davis, 1906). St James Church, Greytown Parish Record, September 1903 August 1927. Natal Carbineers Archive, Pietermaritzburg: Natal (Bhambatha) Rebellion 1906: Report by Colonel Duncan McKenzie to commandant of Militia, September 1906. William Harte Natal Uprising Photograph Collection. William Harte Natal Uprising Letters. William Harte: Personal Records. Vere Harte Papers. Natal Carbineers Service Register, c1880s c1920s. Natal Rebellion File: Letter/chronicle, Sutherland to Magnus, 11 November 1906. Pietermaritzburg Archives Repository (PAR): Natal Defence Records (NDR): 5/11. Colonial Secretarys Ofce (CSO): 1704. Pietermaritzburg Town Council 3/PMB. Photographs C572, C690 Theses and Manuscripts: Coghlan, M.S., The Natal Volunteers in the Anglo-Boer War, September 1899 to July 1902: Reality and Perception, (PhD thesis, Natal, 2002). Coghlan, M.S., On the Fringes of Bullers Army: the Natal Carbineers and the Colonial Defence of Natal, Second Anglo-Boer War, September 1899 to July 1902, unpublished manuscript. Secondary Sources (journal articles): Gillings, K.G., The Bambata Rebellion of 1906: Nkandla Operations and the Battle of Mome Gorge, 10 June 1906, Military History Journal, 8(1), June 1989. Gillings, K.G., Sighart St I de B Bourquin (1914 2004), Natalia, 34, December 2004, pp.100 2. King, Robert J.H., The Smythe Administration and the Zulu Rebellion of 1906, New Contree, 42, November 1997. Redding, Sean, A Blood-stained Tax: Poll Tax and the Bambatha Rebellion in South Africa, African Studies Review, 43(2), September 2000. Secondary Sources (books): Bosman, Walter, The Natal Rebellion of 1906 (London, 1907). Carton, Benedict, Blood from Your Children: The Colonial Origins of Generational Conict in South Africa (Pietermaritzburg, 2000). Don, Charles Davidson, Memories and Impressions (CNA, 1942). Du Plessis, A. J., The Umvoti Mounted Ries 1864 1975 (Greytown, 1975). Gernsheim, Helmut, The History of Photography (Oxford,1955). Goetzsche, Eric, Rough but Ready: An Ofcial Natal Mounted Ries History (Durban, 1971). Guy, Jeff, The Maphumulo Uprising: War, Law and Ritual in the Zulu Rebellion (Pietermaritzburg, 2005). Hattersley, Alan F., Carbineer: The History of the Royal Natal Carbineers (Aldershot, 1950). Knight, Ian, The Anatomy of the Zulu Army (London, 1995). Marks, Shula, Reluctant Rebellion: The 1906 1908 Disturbances in Natal (Oxford, 1970). Martin, A.C., The Durban Light Infantry, Volume I: 1854 to 1934 (Durban, 1969). Morrell, Robert (ed.), Political Economies and Identities in KwaZulu-Natal (Indicator Press, 1996). Morrell, Robert, From Boys to Gentlemen: Settler Masculinity in Colonial Natal 1880 1920 (Pretoria, 2001). Pearse, R.O., Joseph Baynes: Pioneer (Pietermaritzburg, 1981). Permutt, Cyril, Collecting Old Cameras (London, 1976). Stalker, John, The Natal Carbineers: The History of the Regiment from its Foundation, 15th January 1855, to 30th June 1911 (Pietermaritzburg, 1912). Stuart, J., A History of the Zulu Rebellion 1906 (London, 1913). Thompson, P.S., An Historical Atlas of the Zulu Rebellion of 1906 (Pietermaritzburg, 2001).
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Thompson, P.S., Incident at Trewirgie: First Shots of the Zulu Rebellion 1906 ( Pietermaritzburg, 2005). Tylden, G., The Armed Forces of South Africa (Johannesburg, 1954). Webb, C. deB., and J.B. Wright (eds.), The James Stuart Archive of Recorded Oral Evidence Relating to the History of the Zulu and Neighbouring Peoples, 5 vols. (Pietermaritzburg, 1976 2001 [in progress]). Newspapers: Ilanga Centenary Supplement, 7 April 2003; The Natal Witness, December 1915; October 2005. ENDNOTES 1 Natal Carbineers Archive: Service Register, 1880s to 1920s. 2 The narrative in this segment is drawn primarily from the chapter on the 1906 Uprising in Mark Coghlan, Armoured and Ready in Umvoti: A New History of the Umvoti Mounted Ries, forthcoming. This material was in turn synthesised primarily from the works of Stuart, Bosman and Thompson, as well as UMR campaign orders and narratives, as listed in the bibliography to this paper. The details of a few references, incorporated in the Armoured and Ready manuscript, have regrettably been mislaid. 3 All photographs included in this article were sourced from the Harte Collection in the Natal Carbineers Archive, Pietermaritzburg. 4 Pietermaritzburg Archives Repository (PAR): C690; Guy, Maphumulo Uprising, p. 2. 5 PAR: C572; Guy, Maphumulo Uprising, p. 103. 6 Carton, Blood from Your Children, p. 158, and see p. 157. 7 Ibid. p. 65. 8 Guy, Maphumulo Uprising, p. 88, and see p. 51; Witness, 19 October 2005. 9 Ibid. p. 53 and see pp. 104, 106 and 99 (the last entry in relation to the killing of Oliver Veal). 10 Marks, Reluctant Rebellion, pp. 238 and 239, and see xvii, pp. 184 90 and 233. Also see pp. 241 6 for a trenchant summation of the Natal settler response to the challenge to their authority. Redding, A Blood-stained Tax p. 48, also carries commentary on this point. 11 Greytown Museum, Umvoti Field Force and Umvoti Mounted Ries: Regimental Orders, Leuchars Field Force Orders, 28 February, 6 and 8 March 1906. 12 See Guy, Maphumulo Uprising, p. 62 and pp. 103 4. Stuart, in History of the Zulu Rebellion pp. 522 3, was possibly the earliest commentator, and a serving ofcer, to emphasise this point. 13 Natal Carbineers Archive, Report by Colonel Duncan McKenzie, p. 4. 14 Ibid. p. 43. On pages 50 1, with similar detachment, he covers the devastating action in which inKosi Mashwili was killed. 15 Ibid. p. 55. 16 See, by way of illustration, Stalker, The Natal Carbineers, pp. 172 213; Goetzsche. Rough but Ready, Chapter 9; Martin, The Durban Light Infantry, Volume 1, Part III; Hattersley, Carbineer, pp. 47 9; Du Plessis, The Umvoti Mounted Ries, 1864 1975, Chapter IV. 17 Martin, Durban Light Infantry, Volume 1, p. 95. 18 Ibid. p. 97. 19 Du Plessis, The Umvoti Mounted Ries, 1864 1975, p. 69. 20 Ibid. p. 94, citing CT Binns, Dinizulu, p. 221. Also see Natal Carbineers Archive, Natal Rebellion File: Letter/chronicle, Sutherland to Magnus, 11 November 1906, p. 5. 21 Walton in Stalker, Natal Carbineers, p. 172. 22 Goetzsche. Rough but Ready, p. 119. 23 Guy, Maphumulo Uprising, p. 27, and see Marks, Reluctant Rebellion, p. 189. 24 See Bosman, The Natal Rebellion of 1906, p. 124. 25 Carton, Blood from Your Children, pp. 162 3. 25 Walton in Stalker, Natal Carbineers, p. 177. 27 Martin, Durban Light Infantry, p. 91. 28 Don, Memories and Impressions, p.78. See Gillings, The Bambata Rebellion of 1906, p. 30, for further comment on this topic. 29 Carton, Blood from Your Children, p. 162. 30 King, The Smythe Administration and the Zulu Rebellion of 1906, pp. 105 6; and see Natal Carbineers Archive, Natal Rebellion File, Smythe letters.
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31 Natal Carbineers Archive, Natal Rebellion File: Letter/chronicle, Sutherland to Magnus, 11 November 1906, pp. 2 3. Her fate is unclear, but she appears to have died under mysterious circumstances at the days end. Also see Umvoti Field Force, Diary of Field Operations, Sheet XXXIX. 32 Natal Carbineers Archive, Natal Rebellion File: Letter/chronicle, Sutherland to Magnus, 11 November 1906, p.4. 33 Ibid. Letter, Oswald Smythe to (sister) Efe, 11 July 1906; Stuart, History of the Zulu Rebellion, p. 263, makes oblique reference to such an incident, involving a woman and child, on 14 May; and the Umvoti Field Force Diary of Field Operations, sheet XIII, mentions another one, but possibly the same one, on the 15th. 34 Natal Carbineers Archive, Natal Rebellion File, Letter, Oswald Smythe to father (C J Smythe), 6 July 1906. 35 Bosman, Natal Rebellion,, pp. 102 and 90, and see p. 101. Also see WF Barker, enclosure in Natal Carbineers Archive, Report by Colonel Duncan McKenzie, p. 28; and Stuart, History of the Zulu Rebellion, p. 305. See Gillings, The Bambata Rebellion p. 29, for another incident in this vein. 36 Bosman, Natal Rebellion, p. 67. 37 Gillings, The Bambata Rebellion, p. 29. 38 See Natal Carbineers Archive: William Harte letters, 11 and 16 February 1906, Guy, Maphumulo Uprising, pp. 26 7; Gillings, The Bambata Rebellion, p. 30; and Marks, Reluctant Rebellion, p. 186, for the 1906 context. See Coghlan, The Natal Volunteers in the Anglo-Boer War, p. 267 8, for the Anglo-Boer War dum-dum dispute. 39 Don, Memories and Impressions, p. 75. 40 Marks, Reluctant Rebellion, p. 226. 41 See Marks, Reluctant Rebellion, pp. 235 6. 42 McKenzie in Bosman, Natal Rebellion, xiii xiv. 43 Walton in Stalker, Natal Carbineers, p. 197. See Bosman, Natal Rebellion, pp. 132 3, for similar sentiment. McKenzies bland report on the matter can be seen in Natal Carbineers Archive, Report by Colonel Duncan McKenzie, pp. 46 7. 44 Natal Carbineers Archive, Natal Rebellion File: Letter/chronicle, Sutherland to Magnus, 11 November 1906, p. 11. See Stuart, History of the Zulu Rebellion, pp. 377 9, for detailed comment on Veals demise and sequel. 45 The Natal Native Rebellion as told in Ofcial Despatches, pp. 20 1, McKenzie to Prime Minister, 15 February 1906, enclosure in McCallum to Secretary of State, 16 February 1906. 46 Stuart, History of the Zulu Rebellion, p. 240. 47 Ibid., p. 312. 48 Thompsons An Historical Atlas of the Zulu Rebellion of 1906, p. 11 passim, provides a succinct chronology of the military events of the Uprising. 49 Guy, Maphumulo Uprising, p. 24, and see Marks, Reluctant Rebellion, pp. 192 8; and Redding, A Blood-Stained Tax p. 32. The Natal Native Rebellion as told in Ofcial Despatches, pp. 22 35, 41 3, 60, 80 and 196 presents the Government-McKenzie version of events. 50 Walton in Stalker, Natal Carbineers, pp. 175 181; and see Bosman, Natal Rebellion, Chapter 2. 51 Harte Letters 23 February 1906. 52 See Harte Letters 17, 19, 22 February and 3 March 1906 for the Little Mary references, and the listed dates for several of the lesser specic extracts; William Harte Personal Records, Captain J.W. Weighton to Harte, Buys Farm Camp, 14 April 1900. 53 William Harte Letters, 26 February 1906. 54 Ibid. 12 March 1906. 55 See Marks, Reluctant Rebellion, pp. 238 9; and Don, Memories and Impressions, pp. 79 80. 56 Lambert and Morrell, Domination and Subordination in Natal 1890 1920, in Morrell (ed.), Political and Economic Identities in KwaZulu-Natal, p. 87. 57 The Natal Native Rebellion as told in Ofcial Despatches, Watt in McCallum to Secretary of State, 11 April 1906. 58 Harte Letters, 18 March 1906. 59 Ibid. 26 March 1906. Suggested commentary regarding Walter from Shelagh Spencer, by e-mail, 17 July
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2006. 60 See Permutt, Collecting Old Cameras, pp. 96 9; and see Gernsheim, The History of Photography, pp. 300 04 and 310 13 for further general comment on the evolution of photography during the approximate period that Harte was active. 61 Natal Mercury Weekly Edition, 9 March and 18 May 1906. 62 Knight, The Anatomy of the Zulu Army, between pp. 192 and 209. 63 Thompson, An Historical Atlas, p. 20. 64 See, for example, Natal Carbineers Archive, Report by Colonel Duncan McKenzie, p. 34. 65 See Guy, Maphumulo Uprising, particularly Chapter 4. 66 Ibid. pp. 92 4 and passim; and Witness, 19 October 2005. 67 Walton in Stalker, Natal Carbineers, p. 200. 68 See Guy, Maphumulo Uprising, pp. 57 62, 92 4, 99, as well as Chapters 6 and 7. 69 Bosman, Natal Rebellion, vi. 70 Stuart, History of the Zulu Rebellion, p. 1. 71 Marks, Reluctant Rebellion, pp. 11 and 13; Guy, Maphumulo Uprising, p. 19. The opening chapter of Reluctant Rebellion examines in some detail the contemporary White settler social structure. 72 Marks, Reluctant Rebellion, p. 15. 73 Ibid. p. 144, and see p. 155. 74 Ibid. p. 152 and 174; and see Bosman, Natal Rebellion, p. 1. 75 Stuart, History of the Zulu Rebellion, p. 229. 76 Shelagh Spencer, by e-mail, 17 July 2006; Coghlan, On the Fringes of Bullers Army, Appendix XX. 77 Bosman, The Natal Rebellion of 1906, v vi. 78 Ibid, p.133. 79 Natal Carbineers Archive, Report by Colonel Duncan McKenzie, p.54. 80 Ilanga Lase Natal, 12 October 1906, cited in Carton, Blood from Your Children, p.163; and see Ilanga Centenary Supplement, 7 April 2003, p.6. 81 James Parish, Greytown, Parish Record, No.46, July 1906, and see Marks, Reluctant Rebellion, p.182, for similar sentiment. 82 See Coghlan, The Natal Volunteers in the Anglo-Boer War for the Anglo-Boer War settler military context. Guy and Marks, among others, track the ongoing 1906 1907 dispute between London and Natal over the latters handling of the protest. Also see The Natal Native Rebellion as told in Ofcial Despatches, pp.16 19, Governor McCallum to Secretary of State, 15 and 16 February 1906. 83 See, for example, Guy, Maphumulo Uprising, p.87; and Morrell, From Boys to Gentlemen, Chapter 6 passim. 84 See Marks, Reluctant Rebellion, pp.187 9. 85 See Pearse, Joseph Baynes, pp.201 3, for commentary on Baynes; Guy, Maphumulo Uprising, pp.53 4, and Marks, Reluctant Rebellion, pp.226 7, for Hulett. 86 See, for example, Marks, Reluctant Rebellion, Chapter 12; Carton, Blood from Your Children, Chapter 5. 87 Harte Personal Records, Certicate of Marriage (photocopy); List of wedding presents; Shelagh Spencer, by e-mail, 17 July 2006. 88 Ibid. Referral, Borough Engineer, 28 July 1898. 89 Ibid. Town Treasurers Department service record (photocopy); Certicate of Appointment to clerk, 27 July 1896, and cashier, 9 May 1898; Town Clerk, Pietermaritzburg, to Harte, 23 November 1898. 90 Ibid. Corporation of Pietermaritzburg, Certicate of Appointment as accountant, 13 May 1902. 91 Ibid. See Referral, C. Bird, Principal Under-Secretary, 4 April 1907. 92 Ibid. Harte to Chief Magistrate, Pietermaritzburg, 16 September 1910; Appointment as presiding electoral ofcer, 12 September 1910; Union of South Africa, Department of the Interior, Circular Minute DI 6/30977, 26 April 1913; Harte to Chief Magistrate, Pietermaritzburg, 22 May 1913; Chief Magistrate to Secretary for the Interior, 23 May 1913; Natal Witness, 15 December 1915. 93 Ibid. Supervisor of Census to Harte, 10 May 1911; Memorandum, Harte, 15 May 1911.
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94 Ibid. Referral, C. Bird, Principal Under Secretary, 4 April 1907; Referral, Mayor A.W. Kershaw, 4 April 1907; Referral, Town Clerk, S. Stranack, 4 April 1907. 95 See, for example, Marks, Reluctant Rebellion, pp.129, 130 2, 138, 143 4, 159 and 184; Lambert, Betrayed Trust, Chapter 10. 96 Harte Personal Records, Harte to Town Treasurer, 1 May 1911, and see Harte to Town Clerk, 31 October 1907, and Town Clerk to Harte, n.d. 97 Thompson, Incident at Trewirgie, p.3; Tylden, The Armed Forces of South Africa, pp.127 8. 98 Natal Witness, 15 December 1915. 99 Harte Personal Records, Declaration of Identity, Philip Stride, n.d. (photocopy); Natal Witness, 15 December 1915. 100 See PAR: 3/PMB, 1/1/9, Minutes Special Meeting, PMB Town Council; Natal Carbineers Archive, Harte Personal Records, Christmas Card, 1913 14; Coast Garrison and Active Citizen Forces Transfer Pay Certicate, 29 November 1915 and pencilled notes; Declaration of Medical Attendant, Leonard Erasmus Ellis, 31 December 1915. 101 Natal Witness, 15 December 1915. 102 Harte Personal Records, Voluntary Registration, National Defence, Frances Mary Harte, 4 May 1939. 103 See, for example, William Harte Letters, 17 February and 7 March 1906. 104 PAR: NDR 5/11, 3183/10 (NC790/10), Correspondence September 1910 July 1911; Deed of Commission, dated 17 July 1911. 105 Harte Personal Records, letter (signature uncertain), to Harte, 6 April 1900. 106 Ibid. Harte to Town Treasurer, Pietermaritzburg, 22 April 1902; Harte to Adjutant, Natal Carbineers, 23 April 1902. 107 Ibid. Harte to Adjutant, Natal Carbineers, 21 December 1908. 108 Ibid. Pietermaritzburg Town Treasurers Department service record (photocopy). 109 PAR: CSO/1704, 3680/1902, Harte to Principal Under-Secretary, 15 May 1902; Adjutant, NC, to Harte, 6 May 1902 and enclosure from Strapp. 110 Harte Personal Records, Harte to Adjutant, Natal Carbineers, 25 June 1912; enclosure in above, Molyneux to Harte, 29 July 1902; Staff Ofcer, Citizen Force, to OC Natal Carbineers, 6 August 1912; Harte to Acting Adjutant, Natal Carbineers, 12 August 1912. 111 Ibid. Staff Ofcer, Citizen Force, to OC Natal Carbineers, 22 November 1912. 112 Ibid. Town Clerk, Pietermaritzburg, to Harte, 9 April 1906. 113 Ibid. Natal Carbineers pay-slip, 15 May 1906; Harte Letters, 16 February 1906 and passim. 114 Gillings, Sighart St I de B Bourquin; Wright and Webb (eds.), The James Stuart Archive of Recorded Oral Evidence Relating to the History of the Zulu and Neighbouring Peoples, 5 vols. 115 Marks, Reluctant Rebellion, p.243.
MARK COGHLAN
From Wesleyan origins to modern times: A history of Verulam
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From Wesleyan origins to modern times

A history of Verulam
This article was compiled by Amber Ramdass and members of the Verulam Historical Society. P O Box 275, Verulam. 4340 The town of Verulam, situated some 30 km to the north of Durban, was the third settlement, after Durban and Pietermaritzburg, to be established in the former British Colony of Natal. The following is a history of the town from the time of its founding in 1850 to the year 1996, when it was absorbed into the new local government structures being set up as part of the new democratic order in South Africa, and nally became part of the Ethekwini (Durban) Municipality. Origin of the name Verulam Verulam is derived from Verulamium, the name of an ancient Roman settlement some 30 km north of London. The Roman name Verulamium came from Verlemion, a Celtic Iron Age settlement whose name means the settlement above the marsh. After the Roman conquest of Britain in AD 43 it developed as Verulamium and became one of the largest towns in Roman Britain. About 600 700 AD, Verulamium was attacked and destroyed by the Saxons. Later, the town of St Albans was built upon the ruins of Verulamium. How Natals Verulam got its name The founder of Natals Verulam, William Josiah Irons, was a native of St Albans. and when he set about planning a settlement in Natal for his Christian Emigration and Colonisation Society, he decided that the town would be named Verulam, he having initially gained the patronage of the Earl of Verulam (whose father had at one time been MP for St Albans). When the site of the new town was xed in March 1850, it was on a hill overlooking what in those days was probably a marsh, much like the site of Iron Age Verlemion. John Swales Moreland, the Natal agent for the emigration promoter Joseph Charles Byrne, described this marsh as a beautiful lake abounding in sh. The cotton experiment Britain had annexed Natal as a district of the Cape Colony in 1845, by which time one or two cotton-growing experiments were already under way. It was found that Natal
Natalia 35 (2005), Amber Ramdass pp. 57 62
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cotton was suitable for use in British cotton mills. Various Cape merchants in 1847 formed the Natal Cotton Co. and arranged to buy some 22 500 acres of land from the government for cotton production in and around the future site of Verulam. The company was never able to fulll the conditions of sale, not one ounce of cotton was ever produced, and the grant lapsed. It was, however, proved that cotton would grow well in Natal, but there were the problems of labour, and also of harvesting, as the bolls did not all ripen at the same time. After the failure of cotton, settlers went on to experiment with arrowroot, tobacco, tea, and coffee before sugarcane proved its worth. Founding of the town of Verulam William Irons initiated a co-operative scheme whereby non-conformists (mainly Wesleyans) would emigrate to Natal. In May 1849 Irons sent out his brother Theophilus to act as his agent in Natal and to prepare for the arrival of the settlers. A month or two later, having had difculties in arranging terms with ship-owners, he called a meeting in London of his prospective emigrants. Joseph Charles Byrne, who had already introduced a number of British emigrants to the Colony, attended, and suggested that Irons co-operate with him, using his ships, as well as the services of his Natal agent, J.S. Moreland, in allocating the immigrants their land and settling them on it. Byrne & Co. eventually acquired the 22 500 acres of the defunct Cotton Companys land, and it was on part of this that the Christian Emigration and Colonisation Societys emigrants were settled. On 23 January 1850, the rst ship carrying Ironss settlers, the King William, arrived at Port Natal (Durban) with 275 people on board, of whom 48 were Wesleyans. Irons had selected a committee from among the King William emigrants, with Thomas Champion as leader, to assist Theophilus in inspecting and locating the site. The plan was that, on arrival, the committee was to be augmented with two or three Natal residents with local experience, one being Durbans Wesleyan minister, Revd W.C. Holden. Initially the new immigrants camped near the harbour in tents provided by Irons, and because of the Governments protracted dealings with the Natal Cotton Co. in connection with repossessing their land, it was only on 6 March that the rst inspection of the proposed site was made by Theophilus Irons and committee members. The town site was chosen on the south bank of the Umhloti river. It was all that William Irons could have desired, taking into account his desiderata in a letter to Theophilus dated 25 June 1849 an eligible situation, not far from the sea-port of DUrban, but contiguous to a high road [in this case to Zululand], and near a river with facilities for the construction of dwellings, etc.. A week later, on 13 March 1850, led by Thomas Champion, the rst party arrived at the site in ox-wagons and set up camp. Where the town was to be, Champion raised a dark blue ag (again provided by William Irons), with VERULAM printed in large gold letters across it. This event marked the founding of the town. The Verulam settlement, 12 000 acres in all, was reserved exclusively for the Irons immigrants, thus retaining their identity as a co-operative emigration scheme. Other Byrne & Co. immigrants were also located on the Cotton Lands (as this 22 500-acre block came to be known), their villages being Mount Moreland to the east, and New Glasgow to the north of Verulam. Unlike Verulam, neither developed into a town.
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Verulams growth in the early days Just over a year after the settlers arrived, Verulams rst chapel (wattle-and-daub under thatch) was built*, being the rst erected beyond the bounds of DUrban and Pietermaritzburg. It drew its congregation from the 52 families comprising 152 individuals who occupied 23 houses in the township. Within the rst year, the towns 50 allotments of one acre each had been brought more or less under cultivation. Besides a variety of vegetables and maize, the settlers owned 200 cattle and 80 pigs, all thriving. The rst public school, the Verulam Day School in Chapel Street, was opened in 1853 under the superintendence of Thomas Champion. The following year there were 40 pupils, including 14 or 15 African children belonging to the Verulam Native Christian Society. Only in 1859 did it become a school exclusively for white children, with the founding of a school at the Verulam Native Mission. The Verulam Day School ceased to exist when a Government school was established. William Irons was eager that a library be established in the town, and in during 1850 sent out books to the value of 6. Eventually a library was opened in November 1856, and in 1858 a Lecture and Reading Room was built for what had by then become known as the Verulam Library and Literary Institute. Because there was a heavy ow of trafc through Verulam to and from Durban and areas to the north, Verulam prospered and by 1857 was the third largest town in the Colony. The rst Indians came to Verulam in 1861 and went to work for White farmers. By 1890, the population of Verulam was 451 Whites, 273 Indians and 349 Africans. Local government By 1882 Verulam had ofcially acquired the status of a town with Mr Thomas Groom as the rst chairman of the newly-constituted Town Board, which held its inaugural meeting on 7 September 1882. Verulam was then run by an all-White Town Board until 1967. On 4 December 1964, Verulam was proclaimed an Indian area in terms of the then governments Group Area policies. In preparation for the impending change, a Local Affairs Committee comprising three Indian members was elected in October 1961 to advise theTown Board on matters affecting the Indian residents. In September 1967 the rst all-Indian Town Board was appointed by the Administrator of Natal and in 1969 Town Board members were elected by popular vote, and a Town Clerk, Mr Dick Naicker, was appointed. So phenomenal was the towns growth that in less than ten years it had acquired borough status, and Mr Y.S. Chinsamy was installed as the rst Mayor of Verulam. In the same year, 1976, the rst Borough Council elections were held according to the ward system, and a council of 12 members elected Mr Y.S. Chinsamy as Mayor. A dark period in Verulams history As a result of internal divisions among the councillors and bitter in-ghting, the Natal Provincial Administration dissolved the Council in 1980. The Borough was down-graded to Town Board status, and a caretaker Board of three members was appointed by the Administrator to run Verulams affairs until a new Council was elected. Members of the Development and Services Board were seconded on to this body in a bid to restore good governance to the all-Indian town. The caretaker Board consisted of Mr R.W.Whiteley
*To be replaced in 1855 with a brick-under-slate structure. In 1864 the present church was opened.
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as Chairman, Mr L. Slatter (Deputy Chairman), and Mr E.R. Maasch together with local residents Mr S.R. Joshua, Mr G.M.E. Kajee and Mr R.R. Singh. The new Board was assisted by the following ofcials: Town Clerk Mr Dick Naicker, Deputy Secretary (DSB) Mr H.L. Scheffer, Acting Town Treasurer Mr R.I. Atcheson, Town Engineer Mr V.M. Moodley and Assistant Town Treasurer Mr R.V. Delomoney. Understandably, there was an outcry from Verulams residents prior to the proclamation, but the Provincial Administration was quick to assure them that this was a temporary measure and that the Borough would return to full autonomy as soon as possible. Return to borough status The administration of the town by the caretaker Board lasted only eight months until fresh elections were held in August 1980. The Verulam municipal elections of August 1980 saw several new councillors being elected to the nine-man Council, among them Mr S.G.V. Subban who was elected as Mayor and held this ofce for the next eight years. The weight of responsibility placed upon the new Council to ensure good governance also manifested itself in the generally cordial relationships that existed among the councillors throughout the period 19811988. Local government development in Verulam (19801991) The last twelve years of Verulams existence as a borough saw the Council being headed by three mayors: viz. Cllr L. Palliam (19881990), Cllr R. Munsamy (19901991) and nally Cllr R. Rambaran (19911996). Up to 1988, while Cllr S. G. V. Subban was mayor, several projects had been initiated and completed, among them Verulams rst swimming pool, the new Market Plaza, the development of Orient Park, a new tennis court, a low-cost housing scheme, extensions to and development of the Verulam Sports Grounds, a new library, extensions to the sewerage works, acquisition of border status for Verulams industrialists, conversion of Missionlands for industrial development and the rst phase of the Small Business Development Corporations factory project in the Missionlands Industrial area. The pace of development continued during the mayoralty of Cllr L. Palliam with phase two of the Trenance Park housing scheme and a further R3 million extension of the sewerage works completed. Development slowed down during the period 19901991 as a host of new ofcials took ofce in the Borough Council. There was not only a new mayor in the person of Cllr R Munsamy but also a new Town Clerk (Mr S.R. Naidoo) following upon the retirement of Verulams rst Town Clerk Mr Dick Naicker; and other ofcials appointed to the following positions: Assistant Town Clerk ( Mr J. Soojansingh), Town Treasurer (Mr V. Sewnarain), Assistant Town Treasurer ( Mr Y. Naidoo), Acting Borough Engineer (Mr E. Naidoo) and a Director of Law Enforcement (Mr R.M. Moodley). These changes resulted in a lull in activity during the period 1990 1991 as the new ofcials settled into their new posts. The nal years of the borough period 19911996 The years between 1980 and 1991 saw stability being restored to the Council. There were no changes to its composition in the October 1991 elections, and Cllr R. Rambaran who had served as a councillor from 1988 was elected as mayor, with Cllr V.P. Rattan as Deputy Mayor.
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The stability during Cllr R. Rambarans lengthy term of ofce enabled the pace of development to pick up again, with the construction of Phase Four of the Trenance Park housing scheme being completed during this period. Sixty-four ats were also constructed alongside the Verulam Day Care Centre an old-age facility for senior citizens and the building of a Frail Care facility was commissioned by the Council also adjoining the Day Care Centre. A library and clinic complex was completed at Trenance Park and further development of Verulams sports grounds took place with the provision of change rooms and oodlights. The last couple years of Cllr Rambarans term of ofce were occupied with negotiations for the dissolution of the Borough and its incorporation into the new local government structure for the northern Durban areas. These negotiations resulted in the amalgamation of Umhlanga, Verulam and Tongaat into (initially) the Durban Northern Transitional Local Government sub-structure, and later the North Local Council. With these developments, Verulam lost its borough status and became part of a much larger entity. Growth and development since 1967 Verulams growth and development over the two decades following upon the transfer of the Town Board into Indian hands exceeded all expectations. The new Town Board got down seriously to developing the towns infrastructure and attracting businessmen and industrialists. Roads in the CBD were tarred and a sewerage system installed. A town planning scheme was adopted and residential and industrial areas proclaimed. Several new suburbs mushroomed around the central business area as people from outside Verulam ocked in to establish residences on the many low-priced building plots on offer, some from the Town Board and others from private developers. Packo, Verulams leading industry which produces canned foods for the local and overseas markets, relocated its factory premises to the new industrial area at Lotusville and several new industries were established there. Others were to follow when the industrial area of Missionlands was opened a few years later. Population growth All the activity caused an inux of Indians to Verulam which offered them the tranquility and security necessary for their own personal growth and development. The Indian population increased from 273 in 1890 to 22 801 in 1987. With the abolition of the Group Areas Act, the demographics of the population of Verulam is also changing with many more Black people of the low- and middle-income brackets setting up homes in the suburbs where affordable housing is available. It was predicted that with the opening of the Gateway Shopping Centre at nearby Umhlanga, the demand for housing in Verulam would increase, swelling the population even further. The development of the suburb of Waterloo on the edge of Verulam has added a substantial number of Black people to Verulams existing population. Housing and schools Waterloo is, however, a more recent development. With the initial expansion of the town after the takeover of 1967, the new Town Board saw the need for a Government-funded township for the lower income groups, and the rst phase of Mountview Township consisting of 100 sub-economic and 165 economic homes was built at a cost of R883 000. Phase II of the township was completed in the early 1980s and Oaklands soon after. With the growth in population, more schools had to be built. For many years, the Verulam Government-Aided Indian School at Missionlands and the Umhloti Govern-
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ment-Aided Indian School at Coniston were the only schools serving the pupils of Verulam. In those days the Indian community had to provide its own schools, and almost every school became a community project. The Verulam High School was funded by a community-based organisation which raised 50% of the cost of the school building, and the rest was provided by the Provincial Administration which took control of the school thereafter. In this way other primary schools were built in Verulam before the government decided to take on this responsibility. Verulam today Set in the midst of lush sugarcane elds, Verulam has always been a bustling town, and is even more so today. While it is a commercial centre for the outlying rural areas, its importance lies in its being the centre of the magisterial district of Inanda. The recent addition of a ve-storey complex to the existing magistrates court shows how important the town is considered to be in judicial circles. Verulams other attraction is its morning market. Farming operations around Verulam are not only concentrated on the growing of sugarcane. Many farmers and market gardeners also engage in producing cash crops which are sold at the morning market on market days (Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays) when thousands of people, even from Durban and surrounding areas, ock to the market attracted by the freshness of the produce and low prices. The present Market Plaza built over 20 years ago replaced the old market in Groom Street. After standing empty for several years, the old market was demolished and the land used to extend the adjacent park, which had been developed to commemorate the 150th anniversary of the founding of Verulam. The 150th anniversary celebrations at Verulam The Verulam Historical Society held a commemorative function at the Verulam Day Care Centre on 13 March 2000, exactly 150 years to the day after the town was founded. This was followed by an exhibition of old photographs and a slide show organised by the Society at the Verulam Charity Fair over the Easter weekend. Later in the year (October-November), the Durban North Local Council formed the Verulam Celebrations Committee which organised several events to celebrate this important milestone in the life of the town. The celebration opened with a well-attended street party on Saturday 21 November 2000, followed by an Arts and Crafts Exhibition organised by the Verulam Retired Teachers Society on behalf of the Council over the period 22 November to 29 November 2000. The towns senior citizens were treated to a dinner at the Day Care Centre on Wednesday, 8 November 2000 and on 17 November 2 000 people and institutions which had given outstanding service to the people of Verulam were honoured at a Community Awards function. The Anniversary Park was opened on 23 November 2000, and a oat parade through the streets of the town on Saturday 25 November 2000 rounded off the celebrations. Verulam had in a tting manner celebrated its past, and was looking with optimism to a better future.
BIBLIOGRAPHY 1. Blast from the past, Free News.Com,Vol.4, nos.217, Jan. Sep. 2005. 2. Park, Margaret, The history of early Verulam, 1850-1860, Archives year book for South African history, 16(2), 1953, pp.240306. 3. Borough of Verulam, Verulam: 1850 1987. (Verulam,1987).
AMBER RAMDASS
Benedict Wallet Vilakazi: Poet in exile
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Introduction And now the untimely death, on 26 October 1947, of Dr. Vilakazi, cut off in the midst of further researches and literary activity, has deprived the African people of a brilliant son, one who not only achieved high academic standing, but whose life and personality gained for him a lasting place in their affections. This dictionary of his mother-tongue the language he loved will stand as a monument to a great African. With these words, Professor Clement M. Doke of the Department of African Languages at the University of the Witswatersrand paid tribute to his late colleague, Benedict Wallet Vilakazi, born a hundred years ago. The words appear in the Introduction to the Zulu-English Dictionary co-authored by Doke and Vilakazi, which rst appeared in 1948, barely a year after Vilakazis death. Dokes words ring as true today as when he penned them, for nearly sixty years after his death Vilakazi is revered as the father of modern Zulu poetry, and as the literary giant of the Zulu language of the rst half of the twentieth century. His two volumes of poetry, and his three novels are never missing from the list of required reading in Zulu literature courses, at school level, and at colleges and universities wherever Zulu is studied. His two post-graduate theses on Zulu poetry and Nguni literature are continually quoted. The Doke and Vilakazi dictionary is an essential on the shelf of any serious student of Zulu. Benedict Wallet Vilakazi was born on 6th January 1906 in the little village of Groutville, close to the town of Stanger (ofcially changed to KwaDukuza in the early 1990s), approximately sixty kilometres north of Durban on the Natal coast. The location of this village, close to the coast, and close to the main headquarters of the nineteenth century Zulu king Shaka kaSenzangakhona, provided Vilakazi with geographical and historical images which occur again and again in his poetry. His parents were recent converts of the American Board of Missions (Congregational Church), and Vilakazi grew up in this faith, although later in life he would convert to Roman Catholicism. After attending the Groutville Primary School, Vilakazi was sent to St. Francis College at Mariannhill in Pinetown near Durban, and emerged from there in 1922, aged 16, with a Standard Six qualication and a teachers certicate. He rst stayed on at Mariannhill as a teacher, then moved to a Catholic seminary near eXhobho (Ixopo), came back to
Natalia 35 (2005), Adrian Koopman pp. 63 74
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Mariannhill again for a short spell, and then in 1933 moved to the famous Ohlange School near Inanda, then under the principalship of Dr John Langalibalele Dube. While at Ohlange in 1934 he was awarded his rst degree, a University of South Africa Bachelor of Arts with a distinction in Zulu. A year later, in 1935, his rst volume of poetry Inkondlo kaZulu (The Zulu Song) and his rst novel Noma Nini (No Matter When) were published. A year later he was awarded the degree of BA Honours (in Zulu) by the same university, and the same year he accepted a post as Language Assistant in the Department of African Studies at the University of the Witswatersrand, under Professor Doke. This move from Natal to Johannesburg marked a turning point in his life, and he accepted the post with much misgiving, captured in his poem Wo, Ngitshele Mntanomlungu (Wo, Tell me, son of the white man) (AmaleZulu, page 8), where he details his feelings on arriving in the strange environs of the university in central Johannesburg. In the rst stanza we nd the lines Ungiletheleni lapha? Why have you brought me here? Ngingen amadol angisinde I enter with heavy knees Ngicabang ikhanda lizule I think and my head spins Ngibona kuhlw emini, I see the sun set at midday, Ilanga liphenduk inyanga. The sun turning to moon1. The poem ends with the lines: Lapho ngibona konke lokhu, And when I see all this, Namhla ngikholwa ngempela Today I truly believe Ngilahlekile, ngizogana. I am lost, I will marry. Isizwe sikaSobantu The nation of Sobantu Singibophelinkatha yenkangala Has woven for me a head carrying-ring of open-veld grass Sithi: Thwala, usikhonzele njalo. Saying: Take up the burden, and always be our representative. Vilakazis use of the verb -gana for to marry is signicant. The word is used only of a female marrying2. Vilakazi refers here to the fact that when a woman marries, she leaves the safe secure environment of her own home to join the household of her husband, where rules of etiquette and behavioural norms may differ strikingly from those she was used to, and where she must learn all the personal names and praises of her new male kin in order to avoid using them in speech. It is a tough time for the new umakoti (bride). The reference to Vilakazis own situation in leaving the province of his birth to take a new post in a new city in a new province is obvious. Note also the reference to the Zulu idiom ukuka enkatheni yenkangala, lit. to reach the grass-ring of the open veld, i.e. to get into a difcult or impossible situation. (Doke and Vilakazi, 1953:383) Vilakazi was never very happy in Johannesburg. Ntuli (1984:4) quotes Dhlomo (1952:30) as saying: [Vilakazis reactions to city life] must have been those of a shocked and disillusioned man. He found a sophisticated African society little interested in
This image, of the sun setting at noon, and the sun turning into the moon, is a favourite of Vilakazis when he wishes to express mental confusion and turmoil. 2 Males are ganwa-ed the passive form of the verb is used.
1
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academic degrees as such, but in talent and achievement in all walks of life. A talented jazz band leader or a successful businessman were ranked higher than an unproductive graduate, and were more popular and respected. Vilakazis poem Imfundo Ephakeme (Higher Education) is lled with references to his disillusionment with the status of academics: When I was young and foolish I used to think I would get joy from [education] [but] today I have merely a throbbing head I have wasted much time turning over the pages of books and studying until dawn Today I merely have throbbing eyes Those who have never sat up all night studying.. today are happy in their hearts. When I meet today with my childhood friends they despise me they leave me barefoot in the dust as they drive past in their cars (My translation) Nonetheless, Vilakazi continued with his studies and his literary work. In 1937 he was awarded an MA with distinction for his dissertation The conception and development of poetry in Zulu. Two years later, in 1939, his novel uDingiswayo kaJobe (Dingiswayo, son of Jobe), was published. In 1943 his third novel, Nje Nempela (Just Because), came out. In 1945 his second volume of poetry, Amal ezulu (Zulu Horizons) appeared, while a year later he was awarded a D. Litt. for his thesis entitled The Oral and Written Literature in Nguni. During all this time he was working with Professor Doke on the Zulu-English dictionary, but Vilakazi never lived to see its publication. As we saw in the introductory quotation to this article, he died in 1947, a year before the dictionary appeared. In this article, I consider only Vilakazis poetry, and use his poetry to show how the move from Natal to Johannesburg in 1936 was a turning point in his life. The exile Scholars of Zulu literature in general, and of Vilakazis poetry in particular, are in general agreement that Vilakazis second volume of poetry, the 1945 Amal ezulu, is of a greater literary and poetic standard than its predecessor, the 1935 Inkondlo kaZulu. Ntuli (1984:7) states that critics are unanimous in praising the second volume, Amal ezulu, as an improvement on the rst one, and quotes a number of critics in support of this statement, including Nyembezi (1961:66) who says of the rst volume that I nd the poems in Inkondlo lack sustained balance. They are not of the same standard. and Cope (1974:57) who sees Amal ezulu as a more advanced volume and says of it Here Vilakazi expresses a deeper philosophy and emotional experience, employing the fullness of the Zulu language to do so. It is not the intention of this article to compare the two volumes in order to try to establish which is artistically the superior. Rather I intend comparing the two volumes in order to show that it was only after Vilakazi left Natal that he really started writing about it in his poetry. I want to explore the idea that while he was actually resident in Natal, he felt no need to write about it, and it was only when he had exiled himself to Johannesburg that his deep love for the place of his birth and his home for his rst thirty years of life manifested itself in poetry. In looking at the poems which show this love of Natal, I would like to show that Vilakazis sense of identity as a Natalian realised itself in at least three different ways. There are pure descriptions of the Natal landscapes: memo-
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ries of sight and sound, of smell and taste; images that evoke for the reader vignettes of seaside and mountain, of thorn trees and coastal bush, of birdsong, waterfalls, and the smell of a sea-breeze. There are the use of anthroponyms and toponyms to map the Natal landscape. And there are ancestral references which link Vilakazi both with the past and with the land. Evocation of the Natal landscape Vilakazis poem KwaDedangendlale (The Valley of a Thousand Hills) (Amal ezulu, page 23) is rich with descriptions of the Natal landscape. Like Wordsworths Tintern Abbey, the rst part of the poem is a description of a landscape, while the second half internalises the landscape and it becomes an inner, mental landscape, a landscape of the mind, allowing the poet to escape from the problems of the real world. We will return to KwaDedangendlale later when discussing the role of the ancestral spirits in Vilakazis poetry, and only look here at the rst half of the poem. The rst stanza3 is worth quoting in full: Ngikhumbule kud ekhaya I remember far away at home Laph ilanga liphumela There where the sun comes up Phezu kwezintab ezinde Above the tall hills Lishone libomv enzansi And goes down shining red below Kuze kusondel ukuhlwa Until dusk comes Nokuthul okucwebile, With its pure silence Laph uphuma phandl unuke, There where you go outside and breathe in, Uhogele ngamakhala, Breathe in deeply with full nostrils Uzigqum umzimba wonke And feel your whole body affected by Ngomoya wolwandl omanzi. The moist air of the sea. Stanza 2 introduces us to the country of the Qwabe clan, with its paper-bark acacias, its cliffs, and the steep slopes where huts have been built; stanza 3 describes the babbling streams which run down the valleys between the hills. In stanza 4 the poet imagines himself on top of eMkhambathini (Natals Table Mountain), while the clan elders point out the landmarks in all directions. Stanza 5 introduces the agricultural element, with descriptions of ploughed lands later blooming with maize and sorghum, with the tracks of cattle crisscrossing the hills. In stanzas 6 and 7 Vilakazi watches the young men and women courting, and stanza 8 returns us to the setting sun, the distant haze on the mountains, and the cooling breeze from the sea. At this point, the poet uses his own reection in the waters of the stream below him to turn the external landscape into an inner one. We will return to this poem later under a different heading. Vilakazis thoughts often turned to the sea, as he sat in his ofce in distant Johannesburg. The poem Ukuthula (Quietness) (Amal ezulu, page 15), is a delightful, short (single stanza, seventeen lines) poem which describes how the soothing sound of the waves on the shore can lull a person to sleep without his/her realising it. Indeed, the reader only becomes aware at the end of the poem that the poet is now asleep and dreaming, so smooth is the transition between wakefulness and sleep in the poem. The dream, however, still incorporates seaside images, as the people of Vilakazis childhood are transformed into dolphins:
3
There are 18 stanzas altogether in the poem.
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Kuyona ngizw amazwan abantu bekhuluma, Abant abahamba ngezinyawo nangomoya, Abanye bentanta nangaphezulu kwamanzi. Bayasikhohlisa bathi ngamahlengethwa . Amongst [the noise of the waves] I hear the voices of people speaking, Some going by foot, and others in the air, While yet others oat on the water. They deceive us by saying they are dolphins Sea, waves, and the coastal bush with its green mambas often fuse into composite images in Vilakazis poetry. In the poem Nayaphi (Where did you all go?) (Amal ezulu, page 16), a poem where Vilakazi fruitlessly searches for his recently deceased brother and wife, we nd the lines: Ngisho neTheku phansi I mean even down in Durban Emanzini aluhlaza By the blue-green waters Lapho wazalwa khona. Where you were born Ngihlale phansi kwemithungulu I sat below the green imithungulu4 trees Eluhlaz ecash izimamba Which hide the mambas Ezidl abantu nezinyoni. That conquer both humans and birds Ngiphons amehlo phakathi I cast my eyes below Olwandl olumagagasi. To the sea with its waves. The title Izinsimbi zesonto (The bells of the church) (Amal ezulu, page 20) refers to the bells of St. Pauls Anglican Church in central Durban. In this poem Vilakazi casts doubt on the validity of the teaching of the Christian missionaries. The threat of the mambas in the trees is a metaphor for the threat of Christianity to Zulu culture: Lezizinsimbi zikhala bekundind uZulu ebuka, Ebukana nomtat ucwebile, Uyakazel amanz aluhlaza, Uhlaz olwang imamba yemithi Engiyibone ngaqhaqhazela, Ngathi ngihlomile kanti ngize. These bells called While the Zulu people wandered about aimlessly, looking on, Looking also at the quiet lagoon, Shimmering with blue-green water, Mirroring5 the forest mamba Which when I see it I tremble Thinking myself armed whereas I am defenceless. Part of our memories of the birth-place we have left behind includes familiar sounds, and for Vilakazi this is often the sound of birds calling. In the poem Wo, Ngitshele Mntanomlungu, mentioned in the Introduction above, Vilakazi is struck by the curious sound made by the feral pigeons of urban Johannesburg birds so apparently like
4 5
The Natal Plum, Carissa grandiora Uhlaza olwanga imamba: Literally: the blue-green that kissed the mamba
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the familiar doves of Natal in appearance, but so different in their call (Amal ezulu, page 10): Ngithi lapho ngizibheka I mean that when I look up above Ngizw amajuba kwelenyoni I hear the doves in their roosting places Ekhonyis okwawomalunda. Sounding like the roaring of hump-backed beasts. For Vilakazi, the familiar sounds of the birds of his childhood include the quails: Ngalalela kud ongoqo I listened to the distant quails Benikezelan igama Calling to each other with the song Abalicula ngokuhlwa. Which they sing at dusk. (KwaDedangendlale, Amal ezulu, page 28) In the next stanza it is the turn of the Natal nightjar to evoke memories: Ngabon uzavol engikha I saw the nightjar, which I took a fancy to, Ngasengel abantabakhe. I milked for its children6. In the poem Mamina (a personal name) (Amal ezulu, page 48), we nd a similar reference. Amongst the shadows of the summer dusk, at the conuence of the iziMfolozi rivers, he listens rst to an owl, and then to the nightjar: ngezwa kuvum umabhengwane Phezu kwesiduli ekubukela, ngama. Nami ngayilalel ingoma yakho, Ngayibhanqa nekazavolo Esengel abantabakhe ngokuhlwa. And I heard the owl answering Sitting on top of an antheap, watching you, and I stood still. I too listened to your song, I likened it to that of the nightjar, Milking for its children at dusk. Mapping the Natal landscape with anthroponyms and toponyms In a previous article (Koopman: 2000) I tried to show how Vilakazi maps the location and boundaries of the Valley of a Thousand Hills in his poem Kwadedangendlale by using selected toponyms (place names) and anthroponyms (personal names). Vilakazi marks the broad area of southern Natal by using the following names: the eastern boundary is marked by kwaLulwandle (lit. the home of Mr Sea); the westen boundary is marked by oKhahlamba (the Drakensberg Mountains); the southern boundary is marked by the uMkhomazi River; and the northern boundary is marked by the uThukela River and the Ndondakusuka Flats. In the stanza referred to above when Vilakazi pictures himself standing on top of Natals Table Mountain, his eye stretches to eMgundlovu (abbreviated form of eMgungundlovu, a name for Pietermaritzburg) to the west, to uGundlovana ( eMgungundlovana
6 In Zulu the call of the Natal nightjar is verbalised as Zavolo, zavolo, sengela bantabakho! (Zavolo, zavolo, milk for your children), a reference to the belief that the nightjar comes at night and suckles from the cows. Cf. the American name for this bird goatsucker and the genus name Caprimulgus (goatsucker)
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Greytown) to the north, and to eMhlali to the north-east. A later reference to the uMlazi River to the south completes the closer boundaries of the Valley of a Thousand Hills. In the closing stanzas of the poem, the core of the Valley of a Thousand Hills is established with the toponyms eNtshangwe (Inchanga) and kwaBhota (Bothas Hill). Anthroponyms and ethnonyms (names of clans) are used to reinforce the geographical references. Stanza 29 introduces the names of Shaka (whose headquarters were at kwaDukuza on the eastern boundary of the Valley of a Thousand Hills, and Langalibalele of the Hlubi people, who were located on the western boundaries. In the last stanza these two are joined by Mafukuzela (the praise name of Dr John Dube, principal of the Ohlange Institute located in the Valley of a Thousand Hills). The inclusion of the Qwabe and Qadi clans, both located well within the boundaries of the Valley of a Thousand Hills, further cements the location of kwaDedangendlale. Finally, the listing of three fanciful names for the area establish this place not only within the geographical boundaries of KwaZulu-Natal, but also in the landscape of the mind: KwaBuhlebungayindawo the place of unsurpassable beauty KwaMfulisagcwelamanzi the place of ever-owing rivers and KwaTshanibuseluhlaza the place of eternally-green grass. The poem KwaDedangendlale is certainly Vilakazis most meticulous lesson in onomastic geography, but it is by no means the only one of his poems where Natal place names and personal names of those associated with Natal are found. The poem Imifula Yomhlaba (The Rivers of the Earth) (Amal ezulu, page 30) is packed with names resonant of Natal. The names in stanza 4 are perhaps not so wellknown to Natal residents who are not Zulu speaking: Sengindize ngabon uMvoti Now I have own over7 and seen the uMvoti Oza neHlimbithw eMthandeni, Combining with the Hlimbithwa at eMthandeni, Unqum uQwab eMkhovane And dividing the Qwabe people at eMakhovane Laph uBhambatha kaMancinza Where Bhambatha son of Mancinza Wawuncel amanzi ngobhaqa, Once asked for water by lamplight Washaya wacashashel umLungu, He struck and then hid from the Umlungu Waye wabanjwa phans eNkandla. [But] was eventually caught down at eNkandla The river names in stanza 11 are perhaps slightly better known: Yimiful emikhulu lena, These are the big rivers, UThukela nal uPhongolo, The Thukela and also the Phongolo, NoMzimkhul ufulathelene And the uMzimkhulu turning its back on NeSangqu sigobhozela The Orange River owing NgaseThalant eTshonalanga. Towards the Atlantic in the north. In stanza 33 of Imifula Yomhlaba Vilakazi combines the names of rivers with the names of Shaka and his palaces, together with the cardinal points: Ngikuphuke ngamanz omfula, Ngezwa kusinw eNingizimu, Ngezwa ngoShaka kwaDukuza,
7
In this poem Vilakazi imagines himself an eagle ying over the rivers of Natal, then over the major rivers of southern Africa, and nally over the major rivers of the world.
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Ngezwa ngoShak uMlambongwenya, Ngambukel ekwa Bulawayo, Namanzi oThukela abukela. Ngabhek eNyakath oPhongolo, Lwake lwangiphic ikhanda Ngokugobhoz eNtshonalanga. I ascended by the waters of the river, I heard there was dancing in the south, I heard about Shaka at kwaDukuza I heard about Shaka at uMlambongwenya8, I looked on at him at the Bulawayo palace, And the waters of the Thukela looked on, too. I looked up to the Phongolo in the North, At rst it puzzled my head By owing towards the West. There are many more references to Natal place names and the names of persons and peoples in some of Vilakazis other poems, but nowhere else do they occur in such concentration as they do in KwaDedangendlale and Imifula Yomhlaba. The mention of kwaDukuza the main palace of Shaka which stood on the site of the present town of Stanger leads us to the third way in which Vilakazi establishes a sense of identity as a Natalian: the links with the past. Borne from the earth: land, identity and the ancestral spirits The rst poem in Amal ezulu is entitled Ugqozi (Inspiration). In this poem the poet dreams he is at the gateway of Shakas main palace kwaDukuza. As he waits at the gate, the gure of Shakas aunt Mnkabayi appears and takes him into the palace. But he nds himself tongue-tied and unable to speak. This, he says, is in contrast with his present situation when he is unable to keep silent even in sleep. This refers to Vilakazis belief, often stated in his poetry, that his poetic inspiration comes from his ancestral spirits. This inspiration is often couched in terms of a duty, even as a burden, which he must carry. We recall the poem Wo, Ngitshele Mntanomlungu when his decision to leave Natal and go to Johannesburg was accompanied by the lines The nation of Sobantu Has tied for me a carrying ring of grass Saying, Bear the Burden and always be our ambassador The notion of the burden and inspiration from the ancestors is nowhere more clearly and graphically described than in the poem Mamina (Amal ezulu, page 48) when Mamina (his muse of poetry) comes to him in his sleep: Yebo Mamina, sengiyavuma. Amathong angethwes umthwalo, Ngiwuzwa ngiphapheme nakwabuthongo. Ngithi ngizumekile ngixoxiswe ngawe, Ngivuke ngokhel ubhaqa ngiqoshame, Ngiphenduke ngelul isandla,
8
uMlambongwenya: lit, crocodile river, yet this is not the name of a river, but of one of Shakas military kraals, close to present-day University of Zululand.
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Ngikulolong emagxalabeni. Ngizw ikhambi lingen ekhanda, Lingiphethul ingqondo ngibamb usiba, Kanti sekuyilapho ngihay inkondlo. Yes, Mamina, indeed I do agree, The spirits have laid this burden on me, I feel it even when asleep at night. I mean even when fast asleep I am made to talk by you, I wake, light the lamp and squat down, Turn and stretch out my hand, And mould you between the shoulder blades. I feel the inspiration enter my head, It arouses my mind and I reach for a pen, And it is then that I sing my song In the poem Imfundo ephakeme (Higher Education) (Amal ezulu, page 8) the same reference is made to the spirits inspiring Vilakazi to write at night is made, but whereas the description of this process in Mamina is lyrical, as bets a love poem (and the poem Mamina is quintessentially a poem about Vilakazis love of poetry), the poem Imfundo ephakeme is, as we saw earlier in this article, a bitter poem about Vilakazis disillusionment with education, part of his general disillusionment with life in Johannesburg. In Imfundo ephakeme, the contact between Vilakazi and the spirits at night is expressed thus: Nezint engazibhala ebusuku, Ngingazange ngizisukele ngibhale, Ngibeleselwe yinina mathong ohlanga, Ningixabanis ingqondo ebusuku. Kuleyonkathi ngiyobe sengafa. And the things I have written at night I have never simply of my own accord started to write, I have always been pestered by you, the spirits of the reed, You set my mind in turmoil at night. And so it will always be with me until my death. This negative and bitter version of Vilakazis nightly sessions with the spirits of inspiration is rare in his poetry. Normally the tone is one of simple acceptance, as we see in coming back to the poem Ugqozi. Stanza 5 reads: Namhla kangikwazi ukuthula noma Laphi ngilele ngikwesikaBhadakazi Ngivuswa nguMnkabayi ethi kimi: Vuka wena kaMancinza! Kawuzalelwanga ukulal ubuthongo. Vuk ubong indaba yemikhonto! Nank umthwalo engakwethwesa wona. Today I am unable to be silent even When I lie asleep at midnight,
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I am woken by Mnkabayi who says to me: Wake up son of Mancinza!9 You were not born to lie in sleep. Wake now and give praise to matters of the spear! This is the burden which I lay on you. Inspiration and the power of the spirits becomes linked to the land, especially the land of Natal, in the poem KwaDedangendlale. When we left the poem earlier in this article, Vilakazi had used his own reections in the water of the river to start a process of internalising the beauty of the natural scenery of the Valley of a Thousand Hills. He continues from this point (Stanzas 9 and 10, Amal ezulu, page 27): Uyovakashela khona You should visit there Uzibone lezizinto. And see these things. Ziyokuvul inhliziyo. They will open your heart. . Um unenhliziy egcwele, If your heart is full, Uyohlala phans ubonge You will sit down and thank Amathong oyihlomkhulu The spirits of your grandfathers Akuzalela kwaZulu. For causing you to be born in KwaZulu. The internalising of the landscape continues in the next stanza (stanza 11) when Vilakazi likens himself to the paper-bark acacias of the area: Imikhambathi yakhona The acacias of that place Nasebusik iyathela, Are fruitful even in winter, Kant imith iphundlekile, Whereas other trees are bare of leaves, Kayinamandl okuvuka With no strength to awaken. Yebo, nami ngiyothela Yes, I too will be productive Ngigcwal amajikijolo, Become full of berries, Ngiyethe njengamasundu Be weighed down like the branches of the isundu palm Agcwele izihlekehleke. Full of its own fruits It is a fact that acacia trees bear their pods in the winter months, unlike other trees. Vilakazi likens himself to these trees for he perceives that in the barren landscape of Johannesburg he is in the winter of his poetic life. Only by taking his mind back to the beautiful valleys of KwaDedangendlale can he bear fruit. Earlier in this article I made some small comparison of this poem with Wordsworths Lines written above Tintern Abbey and we remember that in that poem, too, when Wordsworth nds himself in lonely rooms, and mid the din of towns and cities and in hours of weariness he is able to cast his mind back to the banks of the River Wye and nd tranquil restoration. Well might Vilakazi have said, exiled from the soothing landscapes of Natal: These beauteous forms, Through a long absence, have not been to me As is a landscape to a blind mans eye.
9 Wena kaMancinza: Mancinza was the father of Bhambatha. Vilakazis childhood nickname was Bhambatha, as he was born in 1906, the year Bhambatha kaMancinza became famous. Here Vilakazi lays claim to the kinship of Bhambatha of the Zondi clan through his (Vilakazis) pet name.
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Vilakazi further links land, ancestral spirits, and his poetic burden in stanza 16 of KwadeDangendlale: Ngiph indaw enjenga lena Give me a place like that Wena Thongo likababa, You the spirit of my father Lapho ngiyoba namandla, Where I can become strong, Ngiqoq umqondo kaZulu, Collect up the thoughts of the Zulu nation, Ngiwuvalel embizeni. And store them in a large clay pot. To conclude this section on land and history, I take a single phrase from stanza 15 of KwaDedangendlale, the phrase ngibelethwe ngumhlabathi. The verb beletha (bear) is in the passive here, and so the phrase means I am borne by the earth. In the context of the stanza, where Vilakazi pictures himself lying beneath the night sky watching turning of the stars, with grass as his kaross and tussock as pillow, the phrase ngibelethwe ngumhlabathi simply means the earth is my bed or I am lying on the bare ground. But within the context of his poetry, and indeed, within the wider context of African identity, the phrase takes on deeper meaning. Western thinking generally perceives life as starting at birth and ending with death (excluding here adherents to notions of eternal afterlife and re-incarnation). In Zulu thinking ones own life is simply a small chunk in an ongoing process of life that starts as far back as one can remember ones ancestors, and continues almost innitely in the condent belief that ones sons will beget sons who will continue to beget sons. Ancestors are alive in memory as long as their names are remembered, and with Zulu clan izithakazelo (clan praises) still a feature of Zulu life, ancestors may be remembered in this manner for many generations back. When an Mkhize father teaches his son the Mkhize izithakazelo Mkhize! Wena kaKhabazela! Wena kaMavovo! Wena kaZihlandlo kaGcwabe kaSiyingele kaSibiside! (Mkhize! You the son of Khabazela! You the son of Mavovo! You the son of Zihlandlo son of Gcwabe son of Siyingele son of Sibiside!) he is referring to chiefs and heroes of the Mkhize past who go back to the time of Shaka and even further back. These ancestors, as we know, are in the ground, under the earth, which is why they are often referred to as abaphansi (those below). When Vilakazi says I am borne by the earth, he does not just mean he is sleeping on the ground. He is saying that generations of Vilakazi ancestors, all sleeping below the ground, bind him to the earth and the soil of his homeplace as nothing else can. Conclusion When Vilakazi left Natal to move to Johannesburg, he did so in the full knowledge that he was leaving behind the place where he was born and where his ancestors lay buried. He knew he was cutting himself off from those links of time and place. He knew he would only be able to return in his minds eye. And yet he made the move, believing that he had a duty to his own people to serve them as an educator and through his own education. That he was unhappy there we know through many reports. And indeed from many of his poems. That he sought escape from this unhappiness is also often expressed in his poems, never more so than in the nal stanza of his poem Ezinkomponi (in the mines) (Amal ezulu, page 66) kengilal ubuthongo, Ubuthongo bokucimez amehlo, Ngingacabangi ngelakusasa nokusa.
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Ngish ubuthongo bokulala ngivuke kude, Kud ezweni lamathongo nokozela; Ubuthongo bokulala ngingavuki Ngisingethwe yizingalo zawokoko. let me lie in sleep, The sleep that closes the eyes, Not thinking of tomorrow and the next day. I mean the sleep of going to sleep and waking up far away, Far away in the country of the ancestors and drowsiness, The sleep of going to sleep and never waking up Enfolded in the arms of the ancestors. Vilakazi, as we know, died relatively young, at the age of 41. He had been in Johannesburg for only twelve years. Death was his nal escape, but we know through his poetry that at least for those twelve difcult years in Johannesburg, he was able to escape to the province of his birth, if only through his poetry. All the extracts I have quoted in this article have been from his second volume, Amal ezulu, published after his move to Johannesburg. This is not through any deliberate selection process of mine, it is simply that the mentioning of Natal the descriptions, the naming, the locating, the peopling with those alive and dead is found almost exclusively in Amal ezulu. Vilakazi had no need to write nostalgically about Natal while he still lived there. Amal ezulu is a volume of poetry written by an exile.
BIBLIOGRAPHY Cope, A.T. 1974 The Zulu People: A Select Bibliography. University of Natal Dhlomo, H.I.E. 1952 Dr. Vilakazi. Drum. Vol 2(7) Doke, C.M. & Vilakazi, B.W. 1953 Zulu-English Dictionary. Witwatersrand University Press, Johannesburg. Koopman, A. 2000 Move over so that I can unroll my blankets: Mapping the Landscape in BW Vilakazis poem KwaDedangendlale. Nomina Africana. Vol 14(2) pp 33 43. Ntuli, D.B.Z. 1984 The Poetry of B.W. Vilakazi. JL Van Schaik, Pretoria Nyembezi, C.L.S. 1961 A Review of Zulu Literature. University of Natal. Vilakazi, B.W. 1935 Inkondlo KaZulu. Witswatersrand University Press, Johannesburg Vilakazi, B.W. 1945 Amal ezulu. Witswatersrand University Press, Johannesburg
ADRIAN KOOPMAN
The new Greys Hospital in an era of transformation: 1985 2005 75
The new Greys Hospital in an era of transformation: 1985 2005

The buildings of the New Greys Hospital, overlooking central Pietermaritzburg from the north, were ready for occupation at the end of March 1984, a year behind schedule. When the transfer of services, equipment and patients at last got under way the Old Greys had occupied its original site (on the corner of Commercial Road and Prince Alfred Street) for nearly 130 years far longer than any similar institution in the country.1 Rationalisation Following its opening on 5 June 1985 the many advantages of the Hospitals imposing new premises soon became evident. By April 1986 the problems associated with settling in had been sufciently overcome to disband the Commissioning Committee established to co-ordinate the transfer from the old to the new buildings. Additional facilities and subsequent improvements helped to maintain those levels of excellence which had always been associated with Greys. Even so, increasing budgetary constraints and stafng difculties called for the elimination of any unnecessary duplication of services and pointed to the need for the Greys/Northdale Hospital complex to operate as one unit. By 1986 it was already regarded as a satellite of the University of Natal and a part of its Faculty of Medicine. Greys could not have achieved this status on its own because only 20% of its admissions were state patients and therefore accessible for teaching purposes. Yet satellite status was vital to the maintenance of high medical standards as it attracted consultants and trainee registrars.2 By 1988 the Greys Hospital Board, chaired (since 1984) by Brian Edwards and comprising voluntary community representatives, was campaigning for the institution to be recognised as A Regional Specialist Referral Hospital for all population groups. The Board was convinced that the wider use of Greys facilities would improve its cost-effectiveness, that it was the only hospital in the Natal Midlands with the facilities (including a heliport) to deal with major disasters and that its irreplaceable specialist
Natalia 35 (2005), Bill Guest, pp. 75 84
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services and provision for nurse training should be maintained. Initial concern as to how some white patients might react to multi-racial change was soon forgotten with the steady inux of black patients who had previously only been admitted to Greys for specialised treatment not available elsewhere. By 1993 patient admissions were increasing by 3.5% a year, boosted in part by the presence of HIV/AIDS and TB cases in all wards. Private patients became a far less important source of income following the establishment of two private hospitals in Pietermaritzburg.3 By the mid-1990s, as the strain on the regions public hospital services became critical, the rationalisation of all three local institutions was envisaged Greys, Northdale and Edendale though the process had to await the formulation of a new national constitution and the holding of democratic elections in 1994. In November of that year, Dr Z.L. Mkhize, KwaZulu-Natals Minister of Health, visited Greys and acknowledged that it had already become a totally multi-racial hospital. Broader changes were also taking place following the establishment of a national Transitional Nurses Committee in January 1994 to unite the existing South African Nursing Association with other nursing organisations and transform the South African Nursing Council. In addition, all existing health departments were abolished to make way for a unied health service at both national and provincial levels.4 These dramatic changes made the apparent lack of progress towards the amalgamation of local hospital resources all the more frustrating and had a detrimental effect on staff morale. Two important senior appointments helped to improve the situation. Dr B. M. Nyembezi assumed the post of Director of Region B, including Pietermaritzburg, with responsibility for reviewing all hospitals in that zone. Dr L. Ramiah became Chief Medical Superintendant of Edendale, Greys and Northdale Hospitals and headed a strategic task team to determine the appropriate rationalisation of these institutions and formulate a four-year strategic plan for them. The Provinicial Bargaining Chamber, in collaboration with the Department of Labour Relations and the labour unions and staff associations concerned, drew up guiding principles upon which subsequent decisions were to be taken. These eventually included the identication of Greys as a Provincial Tertiary Hospital, Northdale as a District Hospital and Edendale as a Regional District Hospital. The latter two institutions would continue to operate General Outpatients Departments while this was to be phased out at Greys by the end of January 1999 and replaced by a specialist Outpatients facility. Despite concern to the contrary, it was anticipated that very few employees would have to be redeployed in a process that was expected save R15 million a year.5 Unfortunately, the sense of insecurity felt by some staff members was fuelled by delays which extended the rationalisation process beyond its intended completion in early 1999. Structural alterations and new appointments to enable Greys to perform its tertiary role were postponed due to insufcient funds, the transfer of necessary equipment from Northdale was slow and many patients were inappropriately referred to Greys instead of to district hospitals. In July 1999 a new task team assumed control of the rationalisation process which had made some progress by the end of 2001 despite more demoralising delays. Interns and community service doctors were now expected to rotate among the three hospitals and medical staff was also subject to transfer in order to establish an equitable distribution of expertise. Some unnecessary duplication of services remained, with Greys still performing district level surgery and unable to

close its General Casualty ward as the public took time to grasp that patients would only be accepted there on a referral basis. Greys Hospital gradually changed in accordance with the new restructuring programme from being a one-third Tertiary and two-thirds Regional institution in August 2001 to 53% Tertiary and 47% Regional by mid-2003 and 70% Tertiary and 30% Regional in 2005.6 Finance The nancial implications of this transition were considerable. In 1992 it was estimated that health services accounted for almost 50% of KwaZulu-Natals budget but after the 1994 democratic elections hospitals, among other public institutions, were severely affected by nancial cutbacks in all government departments as part of a broad strategy to restructure the national economy and its administration. Greys budget for 1996/7 was R84.9 million and despite a shortfall of R33 million in that year it remained unchanged for 1997/8. The provincial Department of Healths auditors helped to reduce expenditure by assessing all systems from stock levels and ordering patterns to wastage and security. Greys established its own Professional Technical Committee to make tough decisions about cutting services as well as a Cash Flow Committee to control orders and payments.7 These measures, coupled with gradual budgetary increases, helped to ease the nancial crisis but the fact remained that Greys was expected to maintain its high level of service to the community with insufcient nancial resources. By 2004, for example, the budget had increased to R207 million but only R1.4 million could be allocated towards the estimated R7.8 million which the maintenance division required to effect all necessary repairs. By then the New Greys was nearly twenty years old and, in addition to refurbishing, various items of equipment needed to be replaced. An additional R120 million was requested for the 2004/5 nancial year on the understanding that hospital budgets were henceforth to be based on service needs instead of being provided, as in the past, according to the funds made available by the National Treasury. The provisional budget for 2005/6 was a more impressive R234 million, but this was subsequently reduced to R229.4 million.8 Security A nancial burden which Greys could ill-afford was expenditure on tighter security measures in the interests of patients and staff members. This was necessitated by the ongoing socio-political violence which characterised the 1980s and early 1990s in and around Pietermaritzburg. By June 1992 it was deemed necessary to establish a high security area for patients at risk of attack and in 1994 three hand-held metal detectors were acquired to screen hospital visitors although the much more expensive walkthrough variety was preferred. The signicant decline in violence levels following the 1994 democratic elections reduced but did not eliminate the need for expenditure on security. A new threat to patients, staff and visitors emerged in the form of vehicle theft and hijacking. The Hospital itself lost no less than ve vehicles in December 1998 and a total of eleven by August 2002, necessitating an investment in tracking devices.9 The ongoing loss of doctors and nurses constituted an even greater challenge to Greys effectiveness.
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Medical Staff It was to be expected that there would be periodic losses of experienced staff due to retirement, medical boarding, death and promotional transfers. At the highest level the departure of Dr I.S. du Toit (1982 91) and Dr J. Thompson (1991 1995) from the post of Medical Superintendant was sorely felt, followed in quick succession by Dr L. Ramiah (1995 96), Dr M.L.B. Simelane (1996 2000) and by Deputy Medical Superintendants Dr S.S.S. Buthelezi (1999 2000) and Dr G.D. Nzanira (2000 03).10 The appointment of Dr K. Naidu as Hospital Manager (previously designated Medical Superintendant) in August 2003 offered the prospect of some continuity but there was also a serious shortage of senior medical staff, especially at specialist level, due to the non-availability of funds and/or of applicants to create new posts and ll existing positions. Between 1984 and 1995 Greys establishment increased by only eight medical ofcers and several posts stood vacant for long periods after some staff members left for better paid jobs abroad or moved to Edendale Hospital where working conditions and night duty rosters were considered more favourable. There was increasing concern that, due to an insufciency of local specialists to staff all three of Pietermaritzburgs public hospitals, Greys might be reduced to little more than a clearing station with specialist medical services being based at Edendale Hospital, near the highest concentration of population in the region. As it was, the Department of Surgery was so short-staffed that from October 1993 all major surgical and trauma emergencies, which were increasing due to the violence in the Midlands, had to be diverted to Edendale. In November 1995 Greys Cranio-facial Unit was closed after functioning for twenty-ve years and transferred to Wentworth Hospital in Durban. Meanwhile Out-Patients and Casualty, together with Paediatrics and Obstetrics/Gynaecology, experienced an exponential increase in patients following governments decision to provide free health care for all pregnant women and for children under six years of age. The consequent admission of increasing numbers of children suffering from HIV-related illnesses put all departments under increasing pressure and led, of necessity, to less attention being given to elderly patients.11 It was also feared that the loss of specialists and part-time consultants, who were in increasing demand in their private practices, might deprive Greys of its eligibility to have the interns who had always constituted a signicant part of its medical staff. Those full-time and part-time specialists who continued to make themselves available helped Greys to survive the critical mid-1990s when staff morale sagged in the face of numerous vacancies and spiralling workloads. These, for example, produced delays of up to 16 hours in Casualty. By 1997 Greys had 47 medical ofcer posts of which 18 were ofcially borrowed from Edendale, supported by 13 interns, six part-time medical ofcers and 27 part-time specialist consultants.12 By the end of 1999 the situation had improved with the lling of 50 medical ofcer posts, as well as the appointment of a full-time gynaecologist, urologist, paediatrician, obstetrician and a surgeon, for whom there had been a two-year vacancy. A new crisis emerged with the realisation that 94% of the doctors at Greys were foreigners whose work permits would not be renewed unless they held contracts. The Department of Health was reluctant to offer these because it favoured the appointment of local doctors, few of whom actually applied for posts or occupied them for long periods. Three Cuban doctors eventually absconded from their posts and there were ongoing vacancies in most

departments to the extent that by November 2003 Greys was functioning with only 57% of its establishment. Yet it continued to be overloaded with patients who should have been treated in other hospitals in view of its status as a Tertiary Regional Hospital. By 2004 the stafng situation was much improved with several new appointments which increased Greys complement to 73 full-time doctors, 27 interns and nine community service doctors. There was still dissatisfaction about inadequate remuneration and some departments continued to be short-staffed. A moratorium on any further non-clinical appointments from April 2005 had adverse affects throughout the Hospital, not least upon its nursing staff.13 Nursing Staff In the mid-1980s Greys nursing complement was considered satisfactory, though a careful rationalisation of staff allocations was necessary to compensate for the reduced hours that student nurses would spend working in the wards as part of the new fouryear training course implemented in January 1986. Salary revisions and the creation of additional nursing posts also helped to improve the situation but at the beginning of 1990, for the rst time, there were as many as 20 vacant posts for professional nurses. Both experienced and newly-qualied sisters were being lost as private hospitals opened in the region and more attractive opportunities lured them overseas. Retirement, medical boarding and transfers to other public hospitals also took their toll on the nursing staff as they did among doctors. The strains of mounting workloads expressed themselves in the need to implement in-house stress management courses, in strikes by general assistants in 1988 and 1991 and in increasing numbers of resignations.14 The standardisation of working hours in June 1990 introduced a 40-hour working week without providing any extra posts to compensate for the consequent loss of wo(man) hours and all departments were adversely affected by the reduced working hours of general assistants and ward housekeepers. Between mid-1990 and mid-1995 three wards, previously occupied by private patients, were closed and additional beds were allocated to ante-natal, post-natal, paediatric and convalescent cases. Despite the redistribution of nursing staff into those departments, by mid-1995 there was a desperate need for more assistance in Casualty, Out-Patients, Theatre and on night-duty. Some wards had to be closed so that those in more urgent demand could be re-opened. During 1994/5 the CCU (Cardiac Catheterisation Unit) had to be closed temporarily for six months due to the loss of experienced ICU (Intensive Care Unit) nurses to the private sector.15 By 1996 Greys nursing staff was stretched beyond its limits. This was reected in a high instance of sick leave which was aggravated in mid-1998 by a u epidemic. The long-awaited salary increases implemented in July 1996 did not improve the situation, raising the basic pay of all nursing categories but making no allowance for previous service or experience in determining the starting salaries of new staff, or the salary notches of in-service staff. By contrast, the transfer of 15 registered nurse and as many enrolled nurse posts on loan to Greys from other hospitals greatly alleviated the staff shortage and helped to boost morale but as many as 30 additional posts were still needed to cope with the increasing patient load. The creation of extra nursing posts in late 1996/early 1997 provided some relief and facilitated the re-opening of a medical ward and the Oncology day ward.16
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There was still a serious shortage of established supervisory posts at Matron and at Ward/Unit Manager level but the long-awaited appointment of Assistant Nursing Manager posts at last got under way in November 2003 with another seven added to the three previously lled. Posts in the nursing management structure at professional nurse and senior professional nurse level continued to remain vacant due to the inability to attract suitable recruits or to the lack of funds with which to employ them. Early in 2000 another 15 nurse posts and 35 nursing assistantships were unfrozen and lled but Greys lost 57 registered nurses that year, 28 of whom emigrated. Meanwhile, the HIV/AIDS pandemic, the closure of district surgeon services, increased referrals from clinics and the general aging of the patient population all added to the workload. The staff shortage in Theatre and ICU became so severe that the nurses asked for a reduction in the number of surgical cases in the interests of patients safety.17 Indeed, it was increasingly difcult to keep all wards fully operational with the Paediatric ICU and Obstetrics High Care Units not functioning properly and the opening of the Midwifery High Care Unit and Neuro-Surgical Services being delayed. The ongoing re-deployment of beds and staff among the various wards simply emphasised that Greys had become a referral hospital in crisis with insufcient staff to operate its specialised units and develop the tertiary services that were expected of it. By 2002 it was estimated that 350 nurses were leaving South Africa each month, imposing further hardship on the diminishing number who remained in local service. In July 2004 an Employee Assistance Programme (EAP) was launched at Greys to provide a condential counselling service for nursing staff with personal or work-related difculties. At national level it was eventually decided that the critical shortage of nurses would have to be met, in part, by henceforth obliging all trainees to complete a period of public service equivalent to their years of training. By the end of 2005 this proposal had not yet been implemented.18 Nurse Training Greys had always been oversubscribed with applications for training but by 1990 these were declining due to adverse publicity relating to the HIV/AIDS pandemic and unattractive salary scales. News of the violence in the Natal Midlands was discouraging potential recruits from further aeld and many successful applicants were withdrawing in favour of other career options. During the early 1990s the number of applicants did increase, producing a waiting list of aspirant trainees as White Affairs hospitals passed into history and recruits could be drawn from all population groups. By 1994 the ethnic transformation of Greys nursing staff was already under way with all population groups represented, including 20 African registered nurses.19 By then the new nurse training regulations implemented in January 1986 were well established. Greys Nursing College was now known as Greys Campus, one of ve former provincial training schools that had become closely associated with the University of Natal through a co-ordinating Natal College of Nursing. The tutorial staff had all become employees of this College instead of Greys and were under the authority of a Campus Principal in place of the Matron. Further rationalisation of nursing education in the province included the amalgamation of the Greys and Northdale campuses with all teaching henceforth to take place at the former. This cost-containment measure, completed by June 1999, was the rst step towards a completely unied structure and a

common core-curriculum for all the Natal College of Nursing Campuses as well as the KwaZulu Colleges. The rst Greys-Northdale joint graduation ceremony took place in October 2002 and, after various options were considered, it was eventually decided that, as from July 2005, all of the provinces Colleges of Nursing were to be merged on the site of the Iris Marwick College at Town Hill Hospital in Pietermaritzburg.20 Despite the many changes taking place in the training of nurses, examination results at Greys were mostly very good to excellent with some exceptional individual performances among them. During the mid-1980s Greys students won the South African Nursing Associations E.C. Lotz Award on three occasions within ve years. In October 1989 and May 1990 they lled four and then three of the top six positions in the Natal College of Nursing examinations. In1986 Antje Maria van Stelten won the Kenneth Gloag Award (the highest honour for student nurses in South Africa) as well as the South African Nursing Council Gold Medal for achieving the highest marks in the 1985 nal examinations for general nurses. In 1995 and again in 1996 Greys could boast four recipients of Provincial Gold Medals.21 In 1997 another Greys student, Lisa Gannon, won the Annual Metropolitan Life Award for the highest average in Fundamental Nursing Science and General Nursing Science. In June the following year she became the rst student in the history of the Natal College of Nursing to pass all four years of her training with honours. Poor examination results in 2002 indicated the need for a remedial English course to overcome the language handicap suffered by some Greys trainees. Other concerns in recent years have been an apparent lack of motivation among trainees who regarded nursing primarily as a means to an income as well as the nancial hardships suffered by those from poor circumstances prior to the receipt of their rst pay cheques.22 Equipment and Facilities The provision of appropriate equipment and facilities was just as vital as an adequate staff complement in ensuring that Greys was able to provide the services demanded of a tertiary referral hospital. In January 1986 the CAT Scanner began operating, greatly reducing the need to transport patients to Durban and the nursing hours spent accompanying them. In the same year the Midwifery Units operating theatre was opened to deal with emergency caesarian sections while by 1987, after functioning for ten years, the Haemodialysis Unit had expanded its capacity to deal with nine patients simultaneously.23 Despite ongoing nancial constraints the Paediatric, Urology, Diabetic, Endocrine and Cerebral Palsy Clinics were all developed in response to growing patient demand. In 2002 the Cardiology Department acquired a state-of-the-art Ultrasound Unit and a Spiral CT Scanner, capable of examining all parts of the body, was also installed. ERCPs (Endoscopic Retrograde Cholangiograms) could now be performed with the use of a new videoscope (duodenoscope), obviating the need for patients to travel to other hospitals or, in many cases, to undergo surgery. Tele-conferencing equipment strengthened the link between Greys and the University of Natals Medical School in Durban. During 2003 the 20-year-old Casualty X-Ray Unit was replaced, an Occupational Health Centre was established, an expanded ICU was created and a new Paediatric ICU and High Care Unit was opened. Before the end of that year an Ear, Nose and Throat Department was established, together with a Cataract Surgery Unit.24
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Greys acquired further important facilities in 2004, including an MRI (Magnetic Resonance Imaging) Scanner with which some 400 patients were examined within the rst few months of installation at the rate of about eight a day, with each scan taking an hour. Two Acuson Ultra-Sound machines were donated from the USA, greatly strengthening the hospitals Ultra-Sound Division. A Cardiac Catherisation Laboratory was commissioned in November, performing its rst Coronary Angiogram in January 2005 which was followed by numerous lower ventriculargrams and pacemaker installations.25 In August 2004 an urgently needed Antiretroviral Clinic was opened and in the same month the roll-out of ARV drugs began at Greys which subsequently became one of the pilot sites for the computerisation of the whole roll-out programme. The Communicable Disease Central Clinic was accommodated in a renovated Family Health Care Centre and a new Oncology Unit was established in its own building in March 2005. In April a new Mammography Unit was added to the Radiology Department, which also acquired a SOMATOM Sensation 64-slice CT Scanner. Indeed, Greys was the rst provincial hospital in South Africa to be equipped with this highly efcient technology which is capable of producing superb image quality in a variety of applications.26 Quality and Accreditation An important indicator of the quality which Greys sought to maintain in all its services was the attainment of Accreditation in December 2001. This involved the attainment of certain predetermined standards of quality-care and was initiated by the KwaZulu-Natal Department of Health in 30 provincial hospitals. Representatives of the Council for Health Service Accreditation of Southern Africa (COHSASA) offered advice and monitored progress from time to time during the two years that Greys was given to prepare for its rst external survey in October 2000. This was conducted by an independent team of health care consultants who awarded the hospital intermediate Pre-Accreditation status on the strength of achieving the required percentage in 29 of the 33 elements surveyed. Only three other hospitals (Ladysmith, R.H. Khan and Eshowe) attained this level at the rst attempt and only one (Murchison) achieved full Accreditation.27 Preparations for the survey served to strengthen inter-departmental links and promote team spirit towards that objective which Greys attained for the rst time in 2001. Full Accreditation was celebrated together with the launch of Greys Batho Pele (People First) campaign in June 2002 with more than 2000 invited guests. In November 2002 this was followed by Quality Day to coincide with National Quality Week and International Quality Day a United Nations Initiative. Staff members took the opportunity to impart knowledge which they had acquired in Quality Assurance, an ongoing programme which had started with Accreditations Quality Improvement standard. Posters and ip les were used to display the 140 Quality Impovement Programmes (QIPs) conducted at Greys and four were featured in oral presentations.28 The Hospital Board developed a Vision Mission and Objectives statement which its Vice-Chairman, Dr Terence Rockey, was instrumental in compiling. Other efforts to maintain service excellence as part of Greys Batho Pele campaign included the implementation of a Code of Conduct For Customer Care a Charter of Patients Rights and a Patients Responsibility Charter. Further attention was given to improving efciency, cost effectiveness and transparent accountability to patients, reducing

the delays in Outpatient Clinics and recognising outstanding effort by staff members. Quality Day was repeated in November 2004, by which stage the Quality Improvement Programme was well established.29 Greys was the rst institution to feature on COHSASAs website and was nominated by the Department of Health as one of six hospitals to participate in a Promotion of Health in Hospitals project which required the constant ongoing monitoring of standards. It was also the rst hospital in the Pietermaritzburg region to be short-listed among the top-ten public service organisations competing in the KwaZulu-Natal Premiers Price Waterhouse-Coopers and Standard Bank Good Governance Awards Scheme. Towards the end of 2004 Greys won the Silver Excellence Award after a six-month assessment process involving all departments and staff members. A year later it won the Gold Excellence Award, a tting crown to Greys 150th Anniversary celebrations in November 2005.30
ENDNOTES 1. Accounts of the earlier history of Greys Hospital can be found in A.F. Hattersley A hospital century; Greys Hospital, Pietermaritzburg 1855 1955 (Cape Town, 1955) and in J. Duckworth (compiler) and A. Rose (editor) Greys Hospital Pietermaritzburg 1855 1985 Commemorative Brochure (Pietermaritzburg 1986). This article is based on research undertaken by the author towards the completion of a revised Brochure to celebrate the Hospitals 150th Anniversary (1855 2005) and is intended to further publicise that milestone. 2. Greys Hospital Board Minutes (GHBM) 1985/6; Greys Hospital Matrons Reports (GHMR) 1985 p.1 and 1986 p.8. 3. GHBM 1988/9/90. 4. GHBM August and October 1993, January 1995, January and April 1996; GHMR 1994 pp.3,11 and 1996 p.14. 5. GHBM January and April 1997, February, April and July 1998; GHMR 1996 p.1 and 1998 p.3. 6. GHBM February, April, July and October 1999, February, May, August and October 2000, August 2001 and September 2002, May and November 2003, August 2004 and May 2005; GHMR 1999 pp.2/3, 2000 p.3 and 2001 p.3; The Greype-Vine (Greys In-House Newsletter) February 2000 p.2, February 2001 p.1, August 2001 pp.12 15, November 2001 p.18, November 2003 p.3 and November 2004 pp.9/10. 7. GHBM July 1997, April 1999; GHMR 1998 p.4 and 1999 p.6. 8. GHBM May 2003, February, May and August 2004, February and May 2005; The Greype-Vine November 2001 p.20, November 2002 pp.10/11, May 2003 pp.12/13, November 2003 pp.10/11 and May 2005 pp. 16/17. 9. GHBM August 1993, April 1994, February 2001, February and August 2002 and May 2005; GHMR 1992 p.6, 1993 pp.2, 7,11 and 1997 p.10. 10. GHMR 1992 p.2, 1995 p.2, 1996 p.1 and 2000 p.1; The Greype-Vine May 2003, p.18. 11. GHBM January 1992, April 1993, August and October 1995, April and July 1996; Memorandum (attached to GHBM August 1995), Dr S. M. Muir, Acting Chief Medical Superintendant, Crisis in Medical Stafng at Greys 27 June 1995; GHMR 1987 p.9, 1993 p.4, 1995 p.2 and 1996 pp.2/3; The Greype-Vine November 2003 pp.4/5. 12. GHBM October 1994, January and April 1995, October 1996 and April 1997; GHMR 1997 p.4. 13. GHBM October 1999, May 2000, August 2001, September and October 2002, May and November 2003, February 2004 and May 2005; The Greype-Vine November 2004 p.32. 14. GHBM October 1986, January 1987, January, July and October 1988, October 1989, January and October 1990; GHMR 1986 p.8, 1987 p.9, 1988 pp.1 3, 1990 pp.2 8, 1991 p.9, 1992 pp.4/5, 1993 p.8 and 1994 pp.4/5. 15. GHBM October 1995; Memorandum (attached to GHBM August 1995) H. Findlay, Chief Matron,Nursing Division 27 June 1995; GHMR 1990 p.8, 1993 pp.3 5, 1994 p.4 and 1995 pp.2/3. 16. GHBM October 1995, January, April and July 1996; GHMR 1996 pp.3 5, 1997 pp.4/5 and 1998 p.4. 17. GHBM April 1997, April 1999, February and August 2000, August 2004; GHMR 1999 pp.3 5, 2000 p.2 and 2001 pp.4 7.
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18. GHBM May and August 2001, February, May, August and October 2002, February, May, August and November 2003, August and November 2004, February and May 2005; The Greype-Vine February 2004 pp.4/5 and August 2004 p.8. 19. GHBM January, July and October 1990, January 1991, January, May, August and October 1992, August 1993 and April 1994; GHMR 1990 pp.3/4 and 1994 p.8. 20. GHMB April and July 1994, April 1998, February and November 2000, August 2001, February and May 2005; GHMR 1985 p.6, 1986 pp.4 6, 1990 p.3 and 2002 p.1. 21. GHBM April 1986, January 1987, July 1991, August 1993, April 1994, April 1995 and January 1996; GHMR 1986 p.4, 1987 pp.4&8, 1988 p.3, 1990 pp.3 5, 1991 pp.7/8, 1992 pp.11/12, 1993 p.13, 1994 p.8, 1995 p.6 and 1996 p.7. 22. GHBM July 1998, August 2001, August and October 2002, November 2003 and August 2004; GHMR 1997 pp.2 and 12, 1988 p.2, 1999 pp.8/9 and 2002 p.1. 23. GHMR 1986 p.9 and 1987 p.6. 24. GHBM October 1999, February and November 2000, August 2001, May 2002, August and November 2003; GHMR 2000 p.2; The Greype-Vine May 2002 p.17, August 2002 p.9, May 2003 p.8, August 2003 pp.19/20, November 2003 p.8 and August 2004 p.24. 25. GHBM May and August 2004, February and May 2005; The Greype-Vine May 2004 p.28, August 2004 p.11, November 2004 pp.13/14 and 28, February 2005 pp.17/18. 26. GHBM August and November 2004, May 2005; The Greype-Vine February 2004 pp.8/9, 24/25, 27 and May 2005 pp.8/9. 27. GHBM October 1998; GHMR 2000 p.3 and 2001 p.5; The Greype-Vine February 2000 p.1, August 2000 pp.1/2 and November 2000 pp.1/4, May 2001 p.1, August 2001 p.6 and November 2001 p.12. 28. GHBM May 2002 and February 2003; The Greype-Vine February 2002 pp.1/10, May 2002 p.2, August 2002 p.2 and November 2002 pp.2,16/17. 29. GHBM August 2004 and May 2005;The Greype-Vine August 2004 p.13 and November 2004 pp.1/2, 26. 30. GHBM August 2004, February and May 2005; The Greype-Vine August 2004 pp.2, 31/32, November 2004 pp.23/24, February 2005 pp.8,15 and May 2005 pp.22 24, 32; Greys Hospital: 150 years of healing in The Witness 10 November 2005 pp.8/9 and Greys hospital turns 150 in UnWele Olude p.6, supplement to The Witness 9 December 2005; Mrs J Dixon (Greys Hospital Board Member) Personal Information 2 March 2006.
BILL GUEST
New names for old
85
New names for old

Transformation in the streets of Pietermaritzburg
Post-apartheid South Africa had to be transformed. The previous social order was characterised by doctrines of racial superiority and separation, by privilege and deprivation, by gross inequalities, by institutional and personal racism, and despite a ne tradition of law and jurisprudence, by a deep and pervading injustice. Change and reform were not the words to describe what needed to happen. Transformation became the watchword and the policy, affecting all aspects of life. Some place names were obviously high on the list of things to be changed. Airports named in the heyday of apartheid after the likes of Malan, Strydom, Verwoerd and P.W. Botha very soon had new names linking them to the cities or towns where they were situated. Nor were Louis Botha and Jan Smuts airports immune, despite those mens different political allegiance. It was not just fty-six years of Afrikaner nationalist apartheid that rankled, but more than three hundred years of discrimination, about which an Afrikaner academic wrote a book.* Any nave white South Africans who thought all the trouble began in 1948 soon had their eyes opened. Place names are only one rather small aspect of transformation, but one which more than many others forces people to recognise that a far-reaching process is under way. It soon became clear that the ANC majority in the Pietermaritzburg-Msunduzi municipal council wished to change some street names in and around the city in order to remember and honour those who had played a notable part in the struggle for liberation. There was to be consultation and discussion, a special committee was set up, intended to be representative of all inhabitants of the city, and the proposals and possibilities canvassed led to some quite heated correspondence in the Witness. There was in fact a widespread feeling that the committee, the discussion and the consultation were more show than substance, and that the preconceived agenda of the local ANC would be carried out as indeed it was.
* Sampie Terreblanche: A History of Inequality in South Africa, 16522002 Natalia 35 (2005), Adrian Koopman and John Deane pp. 85 90
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New names for old
It was decided that no street would be named after a person still living, and no street named after a person would have its name changed. Therefore Boshoff, West, Pietermaritz, Pine, Retief, King Edward, Prince Alfred, Victoria, Alexandra, Greyling, McCallum, Prince Charles, Saint Patrick and all the rest would not be changed. While some applauded this decision, others disliked the idea of losing names inextricably bound up with the Voortrekker and British history of the city. What, they asked, was offensive or unacceptable about the names of Longmarket or Berg streets and those useful directional names like East Street, Greytown Road, Durban Road or Howick Road? There was no great desire to keep a street name reminding them of Governor Sir Benjamin Pine (The Bent Pine as the title of one book dubbed him), or of a visit by 16-year-old Prince Alfred in 1860. Perhaps the most ercely opposed was the renaming of Chapel Street, which clearly tells of the early religious history of the city, and where the original Methodist chapel building still stands. Such objections were noted, but they did not substantially affect the renaming. And so Pietermaritzburg has the following set of nineteen new street names, given here with the old name in brackets. Only in three cases (Murray, Baynes and McKenzie) was there a departure from the general principle of not changing the names of streets or roads already named after persons. The photographs on the following pages show a selection of the new and old street signs, which are intended to exist side by side until people become used to the new names. Alan Paton Ave Archie Gumede Drive Bhambatha Rd Chief Albert Luthuli St Chief Mhlabunzima Rd Chota Motala Rd Gladys Manzi Rd Harriette Colenso Rd Hoosen Haffejee St Jabu Ndlovu St Langalibalele St Masukwana St Mbubu Rd Moses Mabidha Rd Peter Brown Drive Peter Kerchhoff St Reggie Hadebe Rd Selby Msimang Rd Skhumbuzo Ngwenya Rd (Durban Rd) (Newport Drive) (New Greytown Rd) (Commercial Rd) (Baynes Drift Rd) (Old Greytown Rd) (part of Murray Rd) (Bishopstowe Rd) (Berg St) (Loop St) (Longmarket St) (East St) (Sweetwaters Rd) (part of Edendale Rd) (Duncan McKenzie Drive) (Chapel St) (Richmond Rd) (part of Edendale Rd) (Slangspruit Rd)
New names for old

Edendale Road was the obvious name for the road leading to the mainly African settlement of that name in the valley south west of Pietermaritzburg. In 1851 a hundred Christian families of Griqua, Sotho, Rolong, Hlubi, Swazi and Tlokwa origin settled on the farm Welverdiend, and under the guidance of the missionary Revd James Allison laid out a settlement and named it Edendale. Moses Mabhida was born at Thornville near Pietermaritzburg in 1923. In 1942 he joined the ANC and the South African Communist Party (SACP), and went into exile in the 1960s. While in exile he became general secretary of the SACP and a member of the ANC National Executive Committee. He died in exile in Mozambique in 1986.
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Chapel Street and Church Street intersected, reminding us that the early British settlers were mainly Church of England and Methodist adherents. Church Street (Kerkstraat) originally referred to the Voortrekkers (Dutch Reformed) church, but under British rule it easily became associated with the Church of England cathedral, St Peters. Loop Street, another trekker naming, was certainly, like all the other long streets, a walk of more than a mile from end to end loop being the Dutch word for walk. Revd Peter Kerchhoff was the founder of the Pietermaritzburg Agency for Christian Social Awareness (PACSA), and an ardent campaigner for social justice in the 1980s and 90s. Mrs Jabu Ndlovu was a trade unionist whose home was attacked and burnt during the political violence in the city in 1989. She, her husband and their daughter were killed. The repressive nature of the apartheid regime is illustrated by the fact that attendance at her funeral was restricted, and people were turned away by the police, who later assaulted mourners at the cemetery. Longmarket Street was a self-explanatory name until the municipal market was moved from the Market Square to Mkondeni on the edge of the city. It is a traditional Dutch descriptive naming, and Cape Town, for example, has both a Longmarket and a Shortmarket street. Langalibalele was the Hlubi chief who in the 1870s opposed the colonial government on a number of issues, especially the unfair application of gun-registration laws to his people. His trial for treason, now widely seen as a travesty of justice, took place at Government House, which stands at the top end of the street that now bears his name.
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New names for old

Alexandra Road, named after Queen Alexandra, Edward VIIs consort, remains unchanged. Durban Road, not always the main exit route from the capital to the port, becomes Alan Paton Avenue. It seems almost unnecessary to explain the signicance of the new name. Paton, world-renowned author and fearless opponent of apartheid, was born and educated in Pietermaritzburg. Incidentally, in his student days he would sometimes have taken the tram from town to the Natal University College in Scottsville, the route going up New England Road, turning right into King Edward Avenue, and shortly after that crossing the road that now bears his name.
Originally Greytown Road, it became Old Greytown Road when New Greytown Road was created as the exit route. Dr Mahomed Moosa (Chota) Motala was a veteran member of the ANC and the Natal Indian Congress, a medical practitioner devoted to serving the poor, a community leader in the city, and after 1994 South Africas rst ambassador to Morocco. Royston Road (unchanged) was named after a Colonel William Royston, who died during the Second Anglo-Boer War. Commercial Road was originally Nelstraat, named after the Voortrekker who originally surveyed and laid out the towns streets. Then it became Leathern Street, named after William Leathern (180458), a hotelkeeper, builder and mayor of the city in 18578. As more and more shops were built along it, it was renamed Commercial Road, with many examples from British towns and cities in mind. Leatherns son (also William, 18271913) was a carrier and a commission and forwarding agent. His wagons plied between Commercial Road in the capital and Commercial Road in Durban where his depot was situated. Chief Albert Luthuli was president of the African National Congress from 1952 until his death in 1967, and suffered banning, residential restriction and other persecution by the apartheid government. He was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1961.
New names for old

Berg Street, an original Voortrekker naming, may have been so called because it appeared to lead directly towards the summit of the hill dominating the city on the south west. That is not really a berg (mountain), but it isnt a molehill either, and the early residents may be forgiven for their slight exaggeration. Hoosen Haffejee was a young dentist and political activist who in 1977 was detained by the police and later found hanging in his cell in the Brighton Beach police station in Durban, his body bearing numerous injuries. The circumstances were highly suspicious but an inquest found that no one could be blamed for his death. Despite that, it is generally believed that the police were responsible.
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Archie Gumede, born in Pietermaritzburg in 1914, was a lawyer and political activist. His outspoken support of the banned ANC resulted in a lengthy banning order in the late 1970s, and when that was lifted he became chairman of the Release Mandela Committee and later chairman of the United Democratic Front. He worked much of his life in Durban, and died in 1998 at the age of 84.
National road signs awaiting change indicate Newport and Murray roads. The former is now Archie Gumede Drive and part of the latter is Gladys Manzi Drive. Gladys Manzi became an ANC member in the 1950s and was repeatedly held in detention, subjected to torture and nally suffered punitive restriction to the Umlazi Township near Durban. When her banning order expired she once more spoke on public platforms and was a leading gure in the United Democratic Front.
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New names for old
Duncan McKenzie, a major at the time of the Second Anglo-Boer War, was colonel in charge of the operations to quell the Bhambatha Rebellion in 1906, and later served with distinction during the First World War. He ended his military career as Brigadier-General Sir Duncan McKenzie, KCMG, CB, DSO, VD. Peter Brown was one of the founders, and later the national chairman, of the multiracial South African Liberal Party. He was a social and political activist, and as a farmer was especially concerned about the apartheid governments forcible removal of long-established African communities from rural areas declared white the so-called black-spot removals. He suffered a banning order for ten years, from 1964 74, during which time the Liberal Party was forced out of existence by a law forbidding non-racial political activity. After his banning order expired, he was one of the founders of the Association for Rural Advancement (Afra). In 2000 Brown was one of eight people on whom civic honours were conferred by the city of Pietermaritzburg. There is a small irony in the fact that the city, in its wish to be rid of the memory of the man who crushed Bhambatha, renamed Duncan McKenzie Drive after Peter McKenzie Brown, a great-nephew of Sir Duncan. East Street was simply the easternmost street in the original town layout. That part of town came to be largely an Indian residential and commercial area, and so the association of East and Oriental was often made, the point illustrated in this photograph by the minarets of the Islamia mosque. Masukwana is the Zulu name of the Dorp Spruit, a small stream and a tributary of the Umsunduzi, which ows parallel to the street.
ADRIAN KOOPMAN and JOHN DEANE
Notes and Queries
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Notes and Queries

N.U.C. BEGINNINGS REMEMBERED Contributed by John Deane University education began in Natal in 1910 when the Natal University College was founded. For the rst few years lectures were given in a small corrugated-iron building in the grounds of Maritzburg College. Until all the newly-appointed professors arrived, some masters at Maritzburg College acted as temporary lecturers. Edgar Brookes in his History of the University of Natal (1966) says of these beginnings: Thus, under every material disadvantage, and bearing every mark of hurried improvisation, the Natal University College began its history. In 1913 the university moved to its new building on the hill in Scottsville, and its rst home was then used as the drying-room for the school laundry until 1958, when it was demolished to make way for a new classroom block. It had stood near one of the entrances to the school grounds, and on 26 July 2005 Maritzburg College named that entrance N.U.C. Gate and a plaque explaining the signicance of the name was unveiled.
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Obituaries
Obituaries
Peter Brain (19222005)
Dr Peter Brain, who died in February 2005 was one of the fast disappearing band of genuine Renaissance men who excelled in both the sciences and the arts. Peter was born in Pretoria on November 13, 1922. He was taught to read when he was three by his father a scientist and could remember almost everything he had ever read, including poetry. His mother, Zoe ne Findlay, encouraged his love of poetry by reading to the four children regularly from anthologies and Peter soon knew a large amount of Victorian poetry that he had read in Arthur Mees Childrens Encyclopaedia. He possessed a real photographic memory which was lled with Peter Brain poetry and prose in several languages including Latin and Greek, Afrikaans, Italian, French and German. Later he added the Shakespeare Sonnets, the Sermons of John Donne and Sydney Smith and would quote them with considerable accuracy. He began to study Ancient Greek through UNISA when he was in his 50s because he was fascinated by Homer and wanted to read the Iliad and the Odyssey in the original. He went on to complete a Ph.D. at the University of Natal on Claudius Galen, the second century Greek physician who worked in Rome at the time of Marcus Aurelius; this was published by Cambridge University Press. Peter was amazed to nd a detailed description of Anorexia Nervosa in Galens writings. Peter enrolled at the University of Cape Town in 1939 and completed a B.Sc. in Zoology. He then joined the army and was transferred, with other young science graduates, to the Special Signals Corps, then working in secret on RADAR, which was in the pioneering stage. The unit was directed by Professor Basil Schonland and the courses were held at the Bernard Price Institute at the University of the Witwatersrand. When the training was completed he was sent to North Africa and then Italy with the RADAR group attached to the SAAF and remained there until the end of the war in Europe. He later wrote a light-hearted account of the Special Signals Corps that had been left out of the ofcial histories because its secrecy meant that no records had been left behind.
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After his discharge from the army he decided to study medicine and was accepted for the accelerated course at the University of Cape Town. He married Joy in 1948 and, after graduating in 1949, he began an internship as a mine medical ofcer in Shabani, Southern Rhodesia. The mine employed thousands of mineworkers from all parts of Africa and Peter discovered many with the Sickle Cell trait in their blood samples, and undertook an extensive research project in his free time, writing his MD thesis on this topic. He then returned to Cape Town in 1954 and qualied as a specialist pathologist in 1957. He was converted to Catholicism at this time and remained a committed Christian for the rest of his life. In 1958 the family, with four children, emigrated to Perth where Peter was appointed director of the West Australian Blood Transfusion Service. A fth baby was born in Perth The family returned to South Africa seven years later and Peter then joined the Natal Blood Transfusion Service where he later became director, remaining there until his retirement. His research interests were much stronger than his administrative and he had a profound dislike of long meetings and of long-winded speakers. The Natal Institute of Immunology was founded in 1969 as an institute of the University of Natal, housed in a specially designed building at Paradise Valley under the aegis of the Natal Blood Transfusion Service. It was here that Peter developed his interest in immuno-suppressive therapy and transplant immunology. The Institute chalked up a number of rsts including the production of anti-lymphocyte serum and of new reagents for tissue typing. Peter was the haematologist involved with Natals rst heart and kidney transplants in 1969. In 1975 he gave the rst George Campbell lecture on Human Diversity at Howard College. Over the years he received a number of awards including the Alwyn Zoutendyk medal presented by the South African Institute for Medical Research, and the Bristol prize for medical writing. He was a regular contributor to medical journals, here and overseas. In 1979 his published work was accepted for a Doctor of Science degree at UCT. Peter was a popular lecturer and an amusing after-dinner speaker with a style of his own that educational methodologists would not have approved of. He carried no notes, often talked too fast and walked up and down the room as he warmed to his subject. Yet his enthusiasm and depth of knowledge was so obvious that his audience remained attentive and interested. Just before his 80th birthday he was invited to lecture on the Trojan War to the Grade 12 class at a Maritzburg school and so vividly did he relate these events that he reduced many of the girls to tears; next day a number of the parents phoned to ask for copies of the script. After reading a new translation of Dantes Divine Comedy that he disapproved of, Peter decided to make his own translation and spent several years on this, writing and re-writing to obtain what he hoped was perfection. He shared his ideas with numerous friends and everyone enjoyed the discussions about the exact meanings of Italian versus Latin phrases and idioms and how best to express them in English. He became interested in the relationship between science and religion in middle life and in recent years attended Professor Barretts* lectures, together with Archbishop Denis Hurley who was a close friend. He then began to write on the topic and had several letters and short articles published. He enjoyed translating into Latin and with the Archbishop wrote a Latin version of Waltzing Matilda.
*Peter Barrett, author of Science and theology since Copernicus: the search for understanding. (Pretoria: UNISA, 2000)
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Soon after his retirement in 1987 Peter attended a short course on silk-screen printing and found great pleasure in drawing designs and patterns suitable for this craft. Having mastered this, he taught a friend and me to print and this became a Saturday hobby. The next stage was to start a small close corporation called Ibis Images after the noisy hadedas that frequent the garden. This was great fun and gave us an occasion to work together for the rst time, since we had very different career interests. Peter had been an excellent photographer since childhood and he now used these skills to produce his own screens and made all the complicated machinery necessary to stretch them as well as the machinery for curing the nished article. Peters mechanical inventions always worked well in the end but tended to look like Heath Robinson contraptions; he did not think this was important. Screen printing was not a money making enterprise for us but the work has been sent all over the world and Peters eccentric designs and the accompanying stories have been translated into several languages. One of the remarkable results of this experience was that Peter, who had always been shy and retiring, began to enjoy the conversations he had with customers at the craft markets and those who came to the house to view the work. We made many new friends as a result. Peters nal academic enterprise was his work on the Acacia Karroo genus. He had joined the Botany Department at the University of Natal in Pietermaritzburg as an honorary lecturer after his retirement, enjoying the contacts and the lectures he attended and occasionally gave. He then began to work with Dr Richard Barnes and other members of the Oxford Forestry Institute and carried out the leaf peroxidase study on tens of thousands of leaves collected from all over South Africa by Peter and every family member who could be persuaded to drive to semi-desert areas to collect them. They were provided with seed envelopes so that the leaves from individual trees could be separately packed with the exact location and date indicated. The nal report was published in 1994. He and a colleague then continued the study of another variety of Acacia in the West Australian outback. This was published in 1996. Peter managed to carry on with his many interests despite his failing health and attended a U3A course in French conversation until November 2004. He enjoyed Christmas and his 56th wedding anniversary at the end of 2004 with family and friends. His health declined in January and he died peacefully at home on February 13, 2005. He is remembered for his quick wit, strong sense of humour, his phenomenal general knowledge and his love for and loyalty to his family and friends. JOY BRAIN
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The Witness
Mary Ann Ebenezer (19172005)
A pioneering educationist and the rst Indian woman in Pietermaritzburg to get a university degree, Mary Ann Ebenezer died in her home at the end of April. According to her niece, Miranda Ebenezer-Chye, Ebenezer (88) never complained about her health. She would say she had the usual aches and pains that came with old age. On the day she died she got up, pottered around the house, then went to lie down. She died in her sleep. Ebenezer came from a family of educators. Her uncle, Jonas Ebenezer, was the rst Indian teacher at Woodlands Mary Ann Ebenezer High School and her father, Job Ebenezer, was the rst name on the schools admission book. The second of ten children, Ebenezer attended the Methodist Mission School. She started teaching at the age of 15 and went on to study part-time to gain her teaching qualications. She was also only 15 when she contracted to buy the family home at 563 Pietermaritz Street, where she continued to live until her death. Her sister, Dorothy Pechey, said that the late Leslie Smith, the lawyer who was selling the house on behalf of a client, was so impressed by her determination and the deposit that she had saved up for that he [Smith] agreed to sell the house to her. Ebenezer was granted permission to study part-time for a Bachelor of Arts degree at the University of Natal. Ebenezer-Chye recalls her aunt telling them that at university she was considered a rarity as many of her fellow white students had never seen an Indian up close. When she had to teach at schools that were staffed by white teachers, the university had to write to the schools to obtain permission for her to eat her lunch in the staffroom and to use the toilet facilities. Later, Ebenezer, together with two other graduate teachers, Kamala Singh and Mina Naidoo, were the rst Indian teachers to join the all-white staff of the Pietermaritzburg Indian Girls High School. She remained at Girls High until her retirement in 1972. Ebenezer was a keen traveller who visited exotic destinations during her teaching years, including the Amazon, the Far East and other African countries. On retirement she embarked on a six-month world tour before settling down and devoting her spare time to church work. Her family were founder members of the Methodist Indian Mission in Pietermaritzburg and long-standing members of the Methodist Church in Thomas Street, which later moved to Mountain Rise. Ebenezer was a member of several organisations including the Professional and University Womens Association. She is survived by three sisters, Dorothy, Thelma and Mercy, and her nieces and nephews. NALINI NAIDOO
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Roy Baring Hindle (19262005)

Former director of the provincial Roads Department and then provincial secretary, sailor, tennis player, birdwatcher and community worker, Roy Hindle (79) died in August 2005. Born in Pietermaritzburg in 1926, Hindle matriculated from Michaelhouse and graduated from the University of Natal with a B.Sc in civil engineering after a nine-month stint in the SA Engineer Corps during World War II. Joining the Natal Roads Department as an assistant engineer in 1947, he worked his way through the ranks to become its director in 1975. In 1985, 38 years after joining the provincial service, he became provincial secretary (later titled director-general), the rst professional to be appointed to a position previously occupied exclusively by members of the administrative Roy Hindle staff. There he headed a staff of 40 000 with a budget of R800 million. Retiring in 1989, he was employed for a further four years as a consultant to the national Department of Transport. Both before and during his retirement, Hindle was involved in a wide variety of activities and worked tirelessly for a number of community organisations. He was a member of the Henley Midmar Yacht Club and sailed a Fireball before graduating to a Soling, an Olympic class. He was chairman of the Pietermaritzburg and District Malnutrition Relief Organisation (Padmro) for more than 15 years until it was wound up. He was a member of Round Table and a long-standing and active Rotarian and the recipient in 1996 of that organisations prestigious Paul Harris Award for service. He was a founder member, deputy chairman and then chairman (until forced to resign through ill health) of the board of governors of St Nicholas Diocesan School. He was an active worker for Hospice. Retired Anglican Bishop of Natal Michael Nuttall, who worked closely with Hindle at St Nicholas, spoke warmly of his extraordinary range of achievement in public service, accompanied by great modesty and courtesy of character. Chairwoman of Hospice Nancy Aucock said: Roy Hindle served on the Board of Msunduzi Hospice as treasurer for many years, serving on the trust as well as the executive committee. A dedicated supporter of the Hospice cause, his nancial acumen and his wise counsel contributed considerably to the development and growth of our organisation. He will be remembered with gratitude and affection by the Hospice community. Hindle leaves his wife Doreen and three children from a previous marriage. His memorial service took place at All Saints United Church, Athlone, of which he was a founder member. JACK FROST (Reprinted from The Witness, with permission).
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Mahomed Moosa (Chota) Motala (1921 2005)

Dr Mahomed Moosa Motala has an arterial road named after him in Pietermaritzburg, the capital city of KwaZulu-Natal. It does not bear his full name nor does it carry the honoric, doctor. It is simply known as Chota Motala Road. Chota means small in Urdu, as in younger brother or uncle, and this was how Motala was affectionately known by his family, friends and political activists. There was a lengthy debate in the City Councils Street Re-naming Committee on what version of his name to use. The simple, unadorned Chota Motala won the day. Motala was one of those rare individuals with no pretensions who truly could be called a man of the people. He did not capitalise on his status as a medical doctor, Dr Chota Motala nor as a veteran of the political struggle. Even when he became democratic South Africas rst Ambassador to Morocco, he told journalist Susan Segar that what he missed most about Pietermaritzburg was its people. Motala was 83 years old when he died, after a long illness, at his Mountain Rise home on Friday, 20 May 2005. Born in Dundee on 14 June 1921, he matriculated at Sastri College in Durban in 1938. He studied medicine in India, after stowing away on a ship at the age of 18 to get there. Motala returned to South Africa in 1948 and immediately became involved in politics. He told Segar, It was inevitable. There could never have been another option. I arrived from India, fresh from the struggle to end British rule. I had been loosely involved as a student activist in the Indian National Congress. It was just never a case of now Im a doctor, Im going to buy a smart car and a beautiful house. He quoted Indian statesman Pandit Nehru, whom he heard in an address to students, tell them that their struggle lay with the majority community, that there is no freedom unless we join the struggle. So our house became a meeting place for all race groups interested in ghting apartheid. We were not just running a family but a house which was a base for the Congress movement. The house was in Boom Street and Motala, the second black doctor to set up a practice in Pietermaritzburg had his rooms in Retief Street. He was soon joined by his partners Dr Vasu Chetty and Dr Omar Essack who he said ran the show whenever he was busy on activist work or when he was on trial. The longest was the famous 1956 treason trial in Johannesburg where Motala was one of the 156 accused. He was rst locked up in the Fort Prison with other treason trialists, including Nelson Mandela and Walter Sisulu who became rm friends. During the duration of the trial, he lived with various activists in Johannesburg and travelled once a month to Pietermaritzburg in his small Volkswagen, loaded with other trialists from Natal. The charges against him were dropped in 1959. He returned to his practice and continued to care for patients in the surrounding coloured, Indian and African townships. He once said it was the
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shocking conditions under which his patients lived that both galvanised and sustained his political activity. Motala revived the Pietermaritzburg branch of the Natal Indian Congress and was elected chairperson in 1953. With other Indian Congress members he began forging close ties with the local branch of the ANC. He was elected joint chairperson with Archie Gumede to lead the campaign to collect the views of people of the Natal Midlands on what should be included in the Freedom Charter. In June 1955 he spoke on behalf of Chief Albert Luthuli at the farewell function for the Durban delegates going to Kliptown where the Freedom Charter was drafted. Motala once described Luthuli as a very important mentor in his life. The year after his release from the treason trial, Motala was charged with incitement for his role in the strike by local leatherworkers. He was also detained during the 1960 State of Emergency and was banned from 1963 to 1968. During this time and through the seventies he continued being involved in community activities and quietly mentored young activists. By the eighties with the revival of the Natal Indian Congress and the United Democratic Front (UDF) he became politically active again, often being seen at the front of political marches and speaking from podiums during the various campaigns for community rights. He was detained again briey during the 1986 State of Emergency. When the ANC was unbanned in 1990 he was elected chairperson of his branch. He told Segar he missed pulling on his old jersey and attending ANC meetings at night. Motala declined nomination to serve as an MP but could not refuse when his old friend Mandela asked him to become ambassador to Morocco. Mandela was a frequent visitor to Motalas Boom Street residence and had had lunch there shortly before he was arrested in Howick in 1962. Motala was tireless in his service to the community; he never gave up on his medical practice. Younger political activists Yusuf Bhamjee and Yunus Carrim who are now both national parliamentarians, recall his treating scores of victims of political violence. They say that, during the Seven Day War of 1990, it is estimated that he and his partners treated over 2 000 victims of violence. In 1997 the Pietermaritzburg Municipality awarded Motala civic honours for improving the quality of life for the sick and the poor in the city and for his role in community affairs and the liberation struggle. The citation of his activities seemed endless including his role in many campaigns from the Freedom Charter, the Potato Boycott, the Group Areas Act, opposition to the Bantu Education Act and the Tri-cameral System. He was also a member of the Indian Centenary Trust and the Gandhi Memorial Committee. Together with Dasrath Bundhoo, he was instrumental in arranging for a statue of Mahatma Gandhi to be erected in the Pietermaritzburg city centre. Of all the tributes paid to Motala on his death, some of the most moving came from young activists, who enjoyed interacting with him. In their tribute Bhamjee and Carrim wrote: Comrade Motala was talkative, lively, engaging. He had a very inquiring mind and was quite young at heart. He was a keen bridge player and an ardent cricket follower. Crucially his contribution cannot be understood without recognising the value of his utterly wonderful wife, Rabia or Auntie Chotie as she is popularly known. Dignied, sociable, perceptive, interested, hers is a story to be told. Their children Shireen and Irshad also contribute valuably to the transformation in their own ways.
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Bhamjee and Carrim go on to say that it is not just an individual who has passed on, but a unique generation is disappearing. Just as this country will never have another Nelson Mandela, Pietermaritzburg will never have another Chota Motala. NALINI NAIDOO
SOURCES: Susan Segar. 1997. Interview in Rabat, Morocco. Published in The Natal Witness, 1 December 1997. Yusuf Bhamjee & Yunus Carrim. 2005. Memorial Brochure: Dr Chota Motala: Elder Statesman.
Joel Robert Reznek (1917 2005)

A man of many parts is an apt description of Joel Robert (better known as Koffie) Reznek who died on the 28th March 2005. (The headline to another obituary, published in the Witness, referred to him as a long-serving doctor, lm maker and war hero.) Kofe who was the youngest of four children (one elder brother also became a doctor) was born in 1917 in Kofefontein in what was then known as the Northern Orange Free State (hence his nickname Kofe). He attended the local school, studying among other things German, which stood him in good stead when he was later required to communicate with German prisoners-of-war captured by the Allied forces Kofe Reznek in the Second World War. After completing his schooling he obtained his medical degree at the University of Cape Town and not only passed his examinations with ying colours but also played rugby for the university rst team which included Louis Babrow who later played centre for South Africa. He retained his interest in the game throughout his life, and often spent his Saturday afternoons watching rugby with his friends. After qualifying as a doctor he joined the South African Medical Corps and elected to go on active service in North Africa. After a spell with the Field Ambulance Division he was appointed as medical ofcer to the Royal Natal Carbineers, joined the regiment in Egypt in September 1943 and remained with it until the end of the war, serving in North Africa and Italy. Throughout his military career he cared for the wounded and sick members of his regiment, and to quote Douglas Alexander who had been a member of that regiment, he took his warm-hearted and kind bedside manner to war with him. He made a point of telling the soldiers as they were going into battle that he wished them good luck, and
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assured them that he would be there to attend to their wounds and injuries. He carried out this undertaking under the most severe conditions, often in the face of enemy re. His dedication to his chosen task was so intense that he not only earned the gratitude of all those men he treated for their wounds and illnesses but he also enjoyed the respect and admiration of all who came into contact with him. His courage and devotion to duty were so strong that he was awarded the Military Cross. The citation which accompanied the award tells the whole story as follows: On the morning of July 22nd 1944, during an attack on the approaches to Monte Fili, Captain Reznek made two separate excursions into a conned locality known to be thickly sown with anti-personnel and anti-tank mines, rst to render medical assistance to the crew of a blown-up scout car and then to aid engineers wounded by shu mines while engaged in sweeping. In the afternoon of the same day a patrol was sent out to probe enemy positions and suffered heavy casualties. With utter disregard for his personal safety, Captain Reznek proceeded under concentrated mortar and shell re to render rst aid and, having no stretchers, himself lifted and carried out one of the wounded. Immediately thereafter, when tanks and infantry moved forward to attack the main enemy position, the road of advance came under intense and accurate shell, anti-tank and mortar re, three tanks were disabled and a number of men killed and wounded. Once again, at the height of the shelling, and at the time when it seemed humanly impossible that he could escape personal injury, he took his ambulance-jeep forward to the tanks, making no fewer than three trips down the exposed road to succour and evacuate the wounded. Subsequently a sister unit, who pressed home the attack, suffered heavy casualties. Captain Reznek unhesitatingly continued with his team throughout the ensuing night and assisted them in the treatment and evacuation of their wounded. Over a difcult period of many hours he displayed courage of the very highest order and set an outstanding example of sustained devotion to duty which was an inspiration to all who were near him. Apart from his medical duties Kofe was also an outstanding photographer. Shortly after he rst went on active service and despite having been forbidden by his superior ofcers to do so, he started taking photographs of war scenes and eventually was able to persuade his Commanding Ofcer to allow him to continue, and was later appointed the ofcial Carbineers photographer. After his return from active service Kofe, with some persuasion from his Carbineer friends, began a medical practice in Pietermaritzburg, the home of the regiment. Conditions were difcult for general practitioners at that time as there were very few specialists practising in the city. This meant that general practitioners had to perform a multitude of functions including surgery, obstetrics, anaesthetics and paediatrics. These he carried out with the same aplomb and efciency as he had done whilst involved in his military duties. Despite the amount of time which he had to devote to his medical practice, Kofe still found time to carry on with his photography, and started making lms with an 8 mm movie camera, and produced no fewer than ten lms. Probably the best known of these was his History of the Natal Carbineers which incorporated the photographs
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he had taken while in the army. He gave a number of showings of this lm, initially to his ex-Carbineer colleagues and subsequently to his other friends. Several of his lms won international awards, including The Last Sacrice which won the gold medal from the Rapallo International Film Festival. The inspiration it came from the death of a young German soldier outside the Convent of Santa Maria delle Grazie, the site at which Leonardo da Vinci painted The Last Supper. Amongst the soldiers possessions was a manual illustrating the use of hands as a means of expression. The theme of the lm was the way in which Jesus Christ and his disciples are depicted using their hands to express their emotions prior to the Crucixion. His other lms included the paintings of Goya and Kokoschka, No Bed of Roses and a lm of topical interest The Dividing Stream based on Rudyard Kiplings poem The Settler. The lm has political undertones and shots of a black and a white man walking hand in hand, which he regarded as being symbolic of what he saw of the future of South Africa. The Censor Board was unhappy about the lm, not only because of these scenes but because it showed close-up shots of Zulu maidens dancing. It wanted to ban the lm, and it was only with great difculty that Kofe was able to dissuade it from doing so. His wife Rose, who died nine years ago, aided and supported him lovingly in all these ventures and wrote the scripts for his lms. Kofe carried on his practice with the same degree of care and consideration with which he had dealt with the sick and wounded in the army. Despite the pressure under which he worked he still maintained a happy disposition and a wonderful sense of humour. He carried on practising, and even at the age of 88 still kept his clinic open for six days a week, until a short time before his death. He showed the same concern not only for his patients but also for his employees and in fact to everyone with whom he came in contact. He could often be seen at restaurants having a meal with members of his medical staff. A clear example of how caring he was is evidenced by the fact that, being concerned about a friend who was recovering from a serious illness, the last words he spoke before undergoing the nal operation from which he did not recover were addressed to his children, urging them to tell his friend to take it easy. Kofe was an exceptionally talented, compassionate and amiable person and is sadly missed by his colleagues, patients, friends and above all by his son Lawrie in Canada, his daughter Rene in London, his daughter Jenny in Cape Town and his seven grandchildren. A life that moves to gracious end, He gave the people of his best. (Tennyson) LESLIE WEINBERG
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Book Reviews and Notices

THE PAUL THOMPSON NATAL (BAMBATHA) UPRISING TRILOGY An Historical Atlas of the Zulu Rebellion of 1906 (Pietermaritzburg, 2001) Bambatha at Mpanza: The Making of a Rebel (Pietermaritzburg, 2004) Incident at Trewirgie: First Shots of the Zulu Rebellion 1906 (Pietermaritzburg, 2005) Paul Thompson, until recently a professor of history on the Pietermaritzburg campus of the University of KwaZulu-Natal, and currently an honorary research associate at the same institution, needs little introduction for anyone interested in regional military history and the genesis of English social and political identity in KwaZulu-Natal. His monographs and books on aspects of the Anglo-Zulu War (such as War Comes to Umvoti: the Natal-Zululand Border 1878 79 and the renowned Illustrated Guide to the AngloZulu War, co-authored with John Laband), as well as such titles as Natalians First: Separatism in South Africa 1909 1961, bear eloquent testimony to his contribution to scholarship. His repeated quests to unravel relatively obscure threads within major elds of study, such as the Anglo-Zulu War that continues to spit out one glossy publication after the next, and his meticulous and dogged investigation of those themes, probably constitutes the most cogent aspect of his legacy as an historian. It is regrettable that, with the exception of Natalians First and the Field Guide, publishers have denied his work the wider audience it deserves. Perhaps his subject matter and measured approach that does not pander to politically expedient conclusions and a racy style, count against him. In recent years Thompson has shifted his attention to an episode in KwaZulu-Natal, and indeed South African, history, that has for long remained relatively obscure the Natal (or Bambatha) Uprising of 1906, when the settler colonial government of Natal suppressed, with unrelenting determination, a protest by Black inhabitants ignited by the now infamous poll tax. Not anymore. Suddenly, it would appear, as the centenary year of the Uprising unwinds, this crucial event has gripped local interest and attracted the attention of politicians and an array of stakeholders and representatives, from descendants of the chiefdoms affected to the latter-day SANDF Reserve Force regiments whose predecessors took the eld a hundred years ago.
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The focus of much of this attention has understandably, in the light of the dramatic changes in the countrys political and social landscape, been on the liberation component of this episode. Politicians in particular, as well as historians such as Jeff Guy (The Maphumulo Uprising: War, Law and Ritual in the Zulu Rebellion), have focused on the socio-economic and political ramications of the causes and conduct of the protest movement within a framework of what is now popularly considered as a core episode in the struggle of Black people in the last years of the colonial period in South Africa. Guys series of supplements in the Witness can be viewed in this context. Public commemorative functions at Mpanza outside Greytown on 8 April, and in Richmond on 22 April, by way of further illustration, gathered this protest and liberation focus into energetic packages of ceremony and song. Thompsons trilogy of titles on the Uprising has, in contrast to the energetic wave of public and political commemoration, passed relatively unnoticed. All three works failed to interest a publisher, even being overlooked by his institutions own publishing house, the University of KwaZulu-Natal Press. Undeterred, Thompson forged ahead to publish his works privately, to the considerable benet of those historians and general readers who have been fortunate to secure copies. This writer has, for example, relied heavily on his exhaustive research in the compilation of exhibition material for Uprising Centenary exhibitions in the Richmond, Byrne & District and Greytown Museums, as well as at Nkandla. The Historical Atlas of the Zulu Rebellion continues the Laband and Thompson Anglo-Zulu War Illustrated Guide tradition, and fulls an essential need for a thorough cartographic guide to the key events, principally military, of the Uprising as it unfolded, accompanied by a concise, abbreviated commentary, with deliberate minimum of social and political entanglement. Thompson in his foreword anticipated that the familiar histories of the event, such as James Stuarts History of the Zulu Rebellion (1913) and Shula Marks Reluctant Rebellion (1970) would be dusted off as the centenary of the Uprising approached, and that new work would emerge. In the end it was his research that would emerge, largely unheralded, to full the latter hopeful prediction. The Natal Uprising is militarily a far more confusing event to grapple with than, say, the AngloZulu or Anglo-Boer Wars with their more prevalent big set-piece engagements, because it was more of a guerrilla war. The military forces of the colony of Natal, divided into several columns, scoured the rugged terrain from Nkandla to Maphumulo with numerous drives in an effort to track and destroy the poll tax protesters or insurgents. Thompson has masterfully unpacked the chronology of these operations, interspersed as they were by numerous one-sided skirmishes, as well as the more familiar major clashes such as Bobe Ridge on 5 May 1906, Mpukunyoni (28 May) and the best known of all Mome Gorge on 10 June. The Atlas was not a hurried effort to cash in on the forthcoming Centenary. In fact, Thompsons thorough research is evident in the fact that an aspect of this project-inprogress was presented at a University of Natal History Workshop as early as October 1993. Draft copies were also distributed for comment. The core of the Atlas is obviously the maps, and Thompson collaborated, as was the case with the Anglo-Zulu War Guide, with the expert cartographic team from the University of KwaZulu-Natal. Considering that concerted research, with a strong emphasis on primary source material, is the hallmark of Thompsons trade, it is a boon to researchers to nd a detailed bibliographical
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essay at the end of the book. This aid to fellow practitioners is continued in Bambatha at Mpanza and Incident at Trewirgie. In the prevailing climate of commemoration that afrms the presentation of the settler regime as villains and the protesters of 1906 as heroes, Thompsons second book, Bambatha at Mpanza: the Making of a Rebel, has not been greeted with acclaim by those who grant the enigmatic Amazondi inkosi heroic status and place him in the pantheon of struggle icons. The background to this considerable popular resistance to Thompsons portrait of Bambatha kaMancinza lies in the popular perception that has emerged over the past century of the larger-than-life military leader who stood at the vanguard of resistance to oppressive White colonial rule, and whose name was indelibly linked to the Uprising. Thompsons typically painstaking research, much of it original material sourced from the historical goldmine that is the Pietermaritzburg Archives Repository, paints a less inspiring picture of a contentious gure whose struggle against the Natal Government was as much a climax to years of dispute with his colonial overlords as it was a campaign against the poll tax, that he, in fact, agreed to pay. Bambathas story is recounted in exhaustive detail, accompanied by meticulous endnotes, focusing closely on his troubled history up to 1906, his efforts to seek support from Dinuzulu, heir apparent to the Zulu throne, the skirmish at Mpanza on 4 April (where Thompsons expertise in unravelling the military threads of a story is showcased), and his eventual ight to Nkandla. While Thompson may be criticised for not emphasising sufciently the position of Bambatha at the receiving end of uncompromising colonial rule, his work provides an essential counterpoint to the populist imagery that is reluctant to appreciate the aws in his motives and the limitations of his own participation and success. However, at the same time the book is too narrow in focus for the historian to depend on it alone for sufcient coverage of the Uprising as a whole. For the general reader, though, Thompson presents an engrossing tale of one of South African historys most colourful personalities. He even offers an abridged version of the story of this unusual and misunderstood man in Natalia 33 of December 2003. Incident at Trewirgie rounds off Thompsons trilogy by travelling back to the genesis of the Uprising, in February 1906, and taking the reader on another meticulously crafted adventure, synthesised from a wealth of recorded evidence, this time through the events surrounding a skirmish on an isolated farm that set in motion the rst phase of the Uprising. Once again, the pattern is repeated of a detailed narrative, beginning and ending with the controversial executions of the 12 protesters convicted by court martial in Richmond of complicity in the skirmish at Trewirgie on 8 February in which two Natal policemen lost their lives. Once again, too, in this work Thompson provides a counterpoint to the often simplistic and emotive rhetoric that commemoration of this event, unrelated directly to Bambatha himself, has prompted. Stephen Coan summed up his approach well when, in a review in the Witness of 5 October 2005, he wrote of a sober (and sobering) view of this unfortunate affair. In all three books considered here Thompson might be accused of failing to empathise sufciently with the broad canvas of White colonial rule in Natal and its deleterious impact on Black traditional society that established the fertile ground for protest. Other historians, such as Marks, Lambert, Carton and Guy, have, however, lled in much of that essential detail. Thompsons strength has been to chronicle, explain and map the sweep of events, large and small, that constituted the protest itself and the Natal
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Governments response to it, and to focus in on an individual (Bambatha) and events (Mpanza and Trewirgie) that have become synonymous with that noteworthy episode in South African history. His work is undoubtedly essential to the specialist, and, allowing for taste and personal bias, engaging to the general reader. The absence of a mainstream publisher has, as mentioned above, hindered the availability of these titles, whose production credentials have also suffered a bit. The lack of indexes, for example, is noticeable. On balance, though, it must be said that it is a great pity that these works have not received the attention they merit, individually or in what would have been an excellent combined package. MARK COGHLAN
LOST CITY OF THE KALAHARI by Alan Paton. Introduced and edited by Hermann Wittenberg. Pietermaritzburg, University of KwaZulu-Natal Press, 2005. 60pp. illus. R145. In 2003, in the course of researching Patons unpublished pre-1948 writings, Hermann Wittenberg travelled from Cape Town to the Alan Paton Centre in Pietermaritzburg. There among the Paton papers he discovered a forgotten account of a 1956 expedition to nd the so-called Lost City of the Kalahari. Paton was persuaded to participate in this venture by the enthusiasm of a young man he had given a lift to on the PietermaritzburgDurban road. Reg Ibbetson, whose belief in the existence of the lost city persisted even when the expedition ended in failure, found six other men, including Alan Paton, who were prepared to go with him on this unusual adventure, which many would have called a wild goose chase. They were joined for a short time by Terry Spencer, a photographer from the American magazine Life. (One wonders if Life would have taken any interest in the expedition if Paton, now a world-famous author, had not been involved.) Paton was always an enthusiastic traveller, especially to parts of the African continent he did not know, and so one might expect him to be attracted by the prospect of a month in the remote Kalahari. Wittenberg in his introduction speculates that Paton, who in 1956 had been elected chairman of the Liberal Party, may also have wanted a temporary escape from the intense work demands and increasingly depressing political scenario in which he was embroiled. It was a time when the Afrikaner Nationalist government of South Africa was getting well and truly into its stride, and its opponents had good reason to feel depressed and disheartened. It seems clear that Paton, like one or two other members of the party, did not really expect they would nd any lost city. His main aim was to see the Kalahari, and especially the fabled Aha Mountains, which in his imagination rose, out of a land of rock and sand and stone, unbelievably austere, waterless, plantless, lifeless. The fact that they turned out to be a number of low hills may have been disappointing, but the whole Kalahari experience lived up to his expectations. Another aspect that Wittenberg discusses is the strange fact that although Paton wrote an account of the expedition, he never published it, nor, apparently, did he ever speak much about the whole episode, or mention it in his autobiography. There is a version of his account that looks as though he was preparing it as a magazine article, but it never appeared anywhere. Lost City of the Kalahari seems to be the only thing
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Paton ever produced in the genre of travel writing, and it now sees the light of day nearly fty years later, and seventeen years after his death. One of the most likely and interesting reasons Wittenberg advances for the silence is one involving Patons friend, contemporary and fellow Kalahari explorer, Laurens van der Post. Lost City of the Kalahari itself is a short piece only twenty-one pages of print and covers the expeditions planning and arrangements, his companions, the discomforts and problems of the journey, including the frequent breakdowns of their very unreliable lorry, and above all the Kalahari itself, its landscapes and its human and animal inhabitants. One detects a certain austerity in Paton responding to that of the arid land they travelled through. Surpisingly he reveals an instinctive aversion he actually uses the word revulsion to the life, and even the appearance, of primitive, wild Bushmen, as compared to other people they encountered the Nama, the Herero, the so-called white coloureds from the Cape and even the tame Bushmen, sleek and clean, who had given up their nomadic ways and worked as cattlemen for the Hereros. As Wittenberg points out, this view changed somewhat over the years, and in his rst autobiographical work Towards the Mountain, though not in the context of the expedition, Paton on p.47 expresses a greater appreciation of the Bushman culture and way of life than he felt in 1956. At a time when bird-watching was far less of an established pastime than it is today, Paton was obviously as keen as any present-day enthusiast, and is careful to record the names of the many species of birds he saw, some for the rst time. The illustrations in the book include a few pages of Patons diary written on the trip, some typed planning documents and lists, sketch maps and photographs. A few of the latter are from Gallo Images where Terry Spencers pictures were eventually lodged, and there are seven pages of colour stills from an 8 mm lm made by Harold Pole, one of the expedition members. Harold Poles son Brian, the youngest member of the party, was interviewed by Wittenberg; and only a few weeks before Patons death in 1988 his grandson Mark Pole had shown Alan Paton the lm, and recorded a few of his comments about this rarely-referred-to episode in his life. While one cannot call Lost City of the Kalahari a major literary discovery, it is an interesting addition to the corpus of Patons published works, and Hermann Wittenberg has found in it some interesting elements that add to what we already know of Patons life and work. JOHN DEANE
Select List of Recent KwaZulu-Natal Publications
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BARKER, Denis W. Zulus at bay: a colonial chronicle. Sezela: the Author, 2005. 314 p. illus., maps. R120,00 BENNUN, Neil. The broken string: the last words of an extinct people. London: Penguin, 2005. 420 p. illus. ISBN: 0-14100823-7 (pbk). R120,00 (pbk) Commemorates the work of Dr W.I. Bleek and his sister-in-law Lucy Lloyd (daughter of Archdeacon W.H.C. Lloyd, Durbans rst Anglican minister). BOPELA, Thula and LUTHULI, Daluxolo, Umkhonto we Sizwe: ghting for a divided people. Alberton: Galago Books, 2005. 272 p. illus. ISBN: 1-919854-16-9. R199,00 BOYLEY, Jocelyn and BATCHELDER, Joanna. Errol Boyley: a life. Hilton: Jocelyn Boyley, 2005. 182 p. illus. ISBN: 0-620-34707-4. R394,00 BRAIN, J. B. A new beginning? The Umzimkulu diocese fty years later. Umzimkulu: Diocese of Umzimkulu, 2004. 166 p. illus., maps. ISBN: 1-875053-47-6. R80,00 Available from the Mariannhill Bookshop or the Archdiocese of Durban, P O Box 47489, Greyville, 4023 DALLAS, David. From Portsmouth to Pinetown: the story of John and Mary Anderson and their descendants. Sorrento (Victoria, Australia): the Author, 2005. 313 p. illus., tables. ISBN: 0975127-4-8. R135,00 ECKSTEIN, Brenda. Networking tactics; a guide to achieving success through personal networking. Pietermaritzburg: Eyes Publishing, 2005. 112 p. diagrs. ISBN: 0-620-35024-5. R180,00 GREEN, Michael. Around and about: memoirs of a South African newspaperman. Cape Town: Davidphilip, 2004. 247 p. ISBN: 0-86486-660-7. R140,00 Green was editor of the Daily News and the Sunday Tribune. GREIG, Robert. Rules of cadence. Pietermaritzburg: University of KwaZulu-Natal Press, 2005. 56 p. ISBN: 186914-075-3. R92,00 A book of poetry. GROV, Leon. The ABC of stress. Pietermaritzburg: Intrepid printers, 2005. 46p. illus., tables. ISBN: 0-620-34079-7. R60,00 GUY, Jeff. The Maphumulo uprising: war, law and ritual in the Zulu rebellion. Pietermaritzburg: University of KwaZulu-Natal Press, 2005. 276 p. illus., maps. ISBN: 1-86914-048-6. R164,00
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HAARHOFF, Dorian and KRUGER, Jill, eds. I got the message: HIV and Aids life stories, ction and poems from KwaZulu-Natal schools. Volume 1. Pietermaritzburg: KwaZulu-Natal Department of Education, 2005. 100 p. ISBN: 0-620-33886-5 HARVEY-WILLIAMS, Cynthia, comp. An illustrated history of Cedara College, 1905-2005. Pietermaritzburg: the College, 2005. 39 p. illus. ISBN: 0-621-35921-1. R30,00 HASSIM, Aziz. The lotus people. Johannesburg: STE Publishers, 2002. 525 p. ISBN: 1-919855-07-6. R160,00 HIGGINSON, Craig. The hill. Bellevue: Jacana, 2005. 287 p. ISBN: 1-77009-051-7. R97,00 A novel. HOLLMANN, Jeremy C., ed. Customs and beliefs of the /Xam Bushman. Johannesburg: Witwatersrand University Press, 2004. 439 p .illus., maps. (Khoisan heritage series). ISBN: 1-86814-399-6. R295,00 Draws on the work of Dr W.I. Bleek and his sister-in-law Lucy Lloyd (daughter of Archdeacon W.H.C. Lloyd, Durbans rst Anglican minister), and their /Xam teachers. HUGHES, Nigel. Views in colonial Natal. Johannesburg: Mertrade, 2005. 144 p. illus. ISBN: 0-620-27556-1. R695,00 A collection of the paintings of Cathcart Methven. HURLEY, Denis E. Vatican II: keeping the dream alive. Pietermaritzburg: Cluster Publications, 2005. 300 p. illus. ISBN: 1-875053-48-4 JOUBERT, Desire. Munster and its pioneers. Priv. print, n.d. 181 p. R135,00 KERCHHOFF, Joan. Three journeys, one life: poems and dreams. 48 p. illus. Pietermaritzburg: PACSA, 2005. R30,00 LABAND, John. The Transvaal rebellion: the First Boer War 1880-1881. Pearson Longmans, 2005. 264 p. illus., maps. ISBN: 0-582-77261-3. R344,00 LOCK, Ron and QUANTRILL, Peter. Zulu vanquished the destruction of the Zulu kingdom. London: Greenhill Books, 2005. 304 p. illus., maps. ISBN: 1-85367-660-8. R300,00 LUTCHMANAN, Mala. Tamil festivals. Chennai: the Author, 2005. 133 p. Available from the Siva Soobramoniar and Marriammen Temples, Pietermaritzburg. LUTCHMANAN, Mala. Why Mariamman: a study of Tamil folk festivals. Chennai: the Author, 2005. 132 p. Available from the Siva Soobramoniar and Marriammen Temples, Pietermaritzburg. MACHI, Nolwazi, et al. Izimbali zesizwe. Pietermaritzburg: Shuter & Shooter, 2005. 84 p. illus. ISBN: 0-7960-2910-5. R48,35 An anthology of poetry. MAGUBANE, Fikile. Son, are you standing or hanging? Pietermaritzburg: Shuter & Shooter, 2005. 62 p. ISBN: 0-7960-2907-5. R67,00 MANGANYI, N. Chabani. Gerard Sekoto I am an African: a biography. Johannesburg: Witwatersrand University Press, 2004. 244 p. illus. ISBN: 1-86814-4000-3. R240,00
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MBATHA, Azariah. Within living memory of the century: an autobiography; ed. by Alan Botha. Pietermaritzburg: University of KwaZulu-Natal Press, 2005. 371 p. illus., map. ISBN: 1-86914-062-1. R284,00 MHLOPE, Gcina and NGWENYA, Thengani, eds. Creative INK anthology for urban renewal. Durban: Izimbongi Zesimanje, 2005. 71 p. ISBN: 0-620-34936-0 INK is an acronym for Inanda, Ntuzuma and KwaMashu NASH, Dick. I remember when. . . a lifetime with a game ranger and his family in the wilds of southern Africa. Pietermaritzburg: the Author, 2005. 323 p. illus., maps. ISBN: 0-620-3466-3 R217,00 NASH, Jack. The birth of Ballito: pearl of the Natal North Coast. ABC Books, 2005. R155,00 NGIDI, Mongezi. Black or white: does it matter? My journey with albinism. [Pietermaritzburg?], Solar Publications, 2005. 84 p. ISBN: 0-620-34865-8. R115,00 NTOZAKHE. One goat is enough: taking a fresh look at womens issues at the dawn of the African renaissance. Pietermaritzburg: Ntozakhe, 2004. 99 p. (Women Stuff series). ISBN: 0-620-29352-7. R135,00 PATON, Alan. Lost city of the Kalahari; ed. and introd. by Hermann Wittenberg. Pietermaritzburg: University of KwaZulu-Natal Press, 2005. 60 p. illus. ISBN: 1-86914-066-4. R149,00 ROOT, Graham. Roots of a game ranger. Vryheid: The Roots, 2005. 216 p. illus., maps. ISBN: 0-620-32773-1. R174,00 SCHLEBUSCH, Lourens. Suicidal behaviour in South Africa. Pietermaritzburg: University of KwaZulu-Natal Press, 2005. 248 p. tables. ISBN: 1-86914-077-X. R170,00 SHANGE, Philisiwe Lawrette (Maphili). Uthando lungumanqoba. Pietermaritzburg: Shuter & Shooter. 2005. 91 p. ISBN: 0-7960-2908-3 R41,40 A novelette. SIBIYA, Nakanjani G., et al. Wathintmbokodo! Pietermaritzburg: Shuter & Shooter, 2005. 169p. illus. ISBN: 07960-2909-1. R64,00 An anthology of short stories. THOMPSON, Paul. Incident at Trewirgie: rst shots of the Zulu Rebellion 1906. Pietermaritzburg: the Author, 2005. 78 p. maps. ISBN: 0-620-34547-0. R40,00 VAN DE RUIT, John. Spud. London: Penguin, 2005. 389 p. ISBN: 0-143-02484-1. R77,00 A novel in which the author draws on his experiences as a pupil at Michaelhouse. WALKER, David. Terror by night hope shining. Pietermaritzburg: Cluster Publications, 2005. 262 p. ISBN: 1-875053-49-2. R 75,00 WILCOX, John. The horns of the buffalo: a Simon Fonthill novel. London: Headline, 2004. 312 p. ISBN: 0-7553-0982-0. R189,00 WILLERS, David. In search of the Waratah: the Titanic of the South. Johannesburg: Highveld, 2005. 298 p. ISBN: 1-620-33217-4. R190,00 YEATS, Charles. Prisoner of conscience: one mans remarkable journey from repression to freedom. London: Rider, 2005. 210 p. ISBN: 1-84604001-9. R179,00 ZULU, William N. Spring will come. Pietermaritzburg: University of KwaZulu-Natal Press, 2005. 334 p. illus. ISBN: 1-86914-070-2. R184,00
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Notes on Contributors
MARK COGHLAN is the historian of the Royal Natal Carbineers, and is a research historian in the KwaZulu-Natal Provincial Museum Service. BILL GUEST is Professor of Historical Studies in the University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, and a member of the Natalia editorial board. ADRIAN KOOPMAN is Professor in the School of Zulu Studies at the University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, editor of Nomina Africana, the journal of the Names Society of Southern Africa, and a member of the Natalia editorial board. AMBER RAMDASS is a retired school principal and teacher of History and Latin, and is Secretary of the Verulam Historical Society SHELAGH SPENCER is a historical researcher, author of the multi-volume British settlers in Natal: A biographical register, and a member of the Natalia editorial board.

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From Wesleyan origins to modern times: A history of Verulam