Lecture 4

Territorial expansion

When Jan van Riebeeck arrived at the cape in 1652, he set up a staging post to supply ships en route to and from the other side of the Indian Ocean.

At this time, miscegenation took place between the Europeans, the Khoikhoi and slaves brought to the cape from the far east.

This led to the birth of the Coloured peoples of South Africa.

Some of these people have been called Cape Malays owing to their ethnic origins.

For the Europeans, this period was characterised by territorial expansion eastwards.

Trekboer farmers occupied land to the east of Cape Town and continued to move steadily across the southern tip of South Africa.

By 1702, about fifty years after van Riebeeck's landing, the Trekboers came into contact with Xhosa tribesmen near the Great Fish River, 500 miles to the east of Cape Town.

Black resistance to the eastward expansion of the Trekboers got underway.

However, it was not until 1779 that the first and major confrontation between organised black forces and the Dutch took place.

The nine Xhosa Wars (1779-1878)

The first Xhosa war began in 1779 and was the first in a series of nine Xhosa Wars, the last ending in 1878.

Lasting from 1779 until 1878, the nine Xhosa Wars represent almost 100 years of organised Xhosa resistance against white European expansionism.

During this hundred years, the British colonial forces gradually but relentlessly forced the Xhosa nation back from Great Fish River up to the level of Umtata.

The Fifth Xhosa War (1818)

Some of the most successful Xhosa resistance took place in 1818 during the fifth Xhosa war.

At this time, the Xhosa nation was divided into two factions, one faction under the leadership of Ndlambe and the other faction under the leadership of Ngqika.

Basically, the difference was that while Ngqika’s faction favoured an alliance within the British, Ndlambe’s faction refused to negotiate with the British.

The Fifth Xhosa War was fought between the British forces aided by the Ngqika faction of the Xhosa nation on the one hand and the Xhosa forces under the leadership of Ndlambe, Ngqika's uncle, and the prophet Makana (Makanda or Makhanda), also known as Nxele, on the other.

Professor Philip Mayer sees the two Xhosa factions as representing "two contrasting responses to the new military situation on the frontier." (Mayer. ed. 1980: 7)

Mayer sees the Ngqika alliance with the British as an "accommodation" and Ndlamba's reaction as "resistance."

While Ngqika’s faction favoured accommodation with the colonisers, Ndlambe’s faction favoured resistance to European colonisation.

Mayer recalls how Chief Ngqika's prophet, Ntsikana, "advocated peace in terms of complete submission to the will of God ... Fighting Whites would bring disaster."

On the other hand, Makana, prophet of Ndlamba's faction, "preached that the God of the Black people was mightier than that of the Whites."

The resulting strategies are diametrically opposed - one says, "Fight the Whites" (Makana); the other says, "Don't fight the Whites (Ntsikana).

This rivalry between the two Xhosa factions reflects different mindsets within the Xhosa nation, one supporting accommodation, the other confrontation.

Jeffrey Peires says, "So exactly does the rivalry of the two men, ... foreshadow the struggle for the Xhosa mind in the nineteenth century that the contest between them would surely be taken for a myth if it were not known to be a reality."

This struggle for the Xhosa mind has continued up until the present day and is ongoing. (See Xhosamind - Xhosa mindsets)

Makana, the prophet

Freda Troup describes Makana as "perhaps the first Black South African nationalist."

Makana was the founder of a nationalist religion opposed to Christianity.

Makan taught that the gods would eventually drive the Whites back into the sea.

During the fifth Xhosa war, the prophet Makana led Ndlambe’s Xhosa forces against the British.

His forces suffered an initial defeat.

Twenty-three thousand cattle were lost to the Ngqika faction and the British colonists.

In 1819, Makana and Ndlambe crossed the Fish River into the Colony to retrieve their cattle.

With a 10,000 strong Xhosa army, Makana and Ndlambe went on to attack the British garrison at Grahamstown.

The British successfully defended the garrison and forced them back across the Fish River up as far as the Kei River.

The colonial administration forced the other Xhosa chiefs to accept Ngqika as their Paramount Chief.

The British and the Xhosa reached oral agreement declaring the land between the Fish River and the Keiskamma River Neutral Territory - later called "the Ceded Territory."

In order to bring peace, Makana gave himself up to the British authorities.

Makana was sentenced to life imprisonment and sent to Robben Island - "one of the early political opponents of South African governments."

Soon after the commencement of his prison term, Makana led a mass escape from Robben Island.

On Christmas Day, 1819, Makana and the other prisoners were in a boat between Robben Island and the mainland when it overturned.

The prisoners swam for the shore, "encouraged by the great voice of Makana."

Makana clung to a rock, but was swept off and drowned

The Xhosa refused to accept the fact of his death.

Makana has remained a legend to this day.

(Read: Matshoba. "A Pilgrimage to the Isle of Makana" Call Me Not a Man.