Lecture 5

Forced migrations #1

On Christmas Day, 1819, the Xhosa resistance leader, the Prophet Makana, drowned off Robben Island while trying to escape from the maximum security prison.

The following year, in 1820, English settlers arrived on the coast of the Eastern Cape.

The 1820 English Settlers, as they are called, comprised several groups of White British immigrants who were settled by the British government and the Cape colonial administration.

The 1820 Settlers

Approximately 4,000 English Settlers arrived in the Cape in around 60 different parties between April and June 1820.

The English Settlers arrived in Port Elizabeth and were granted farms in the Eastern Cape, principally in a territory called “Albany.”

But the English Settlers lacked farming experience and many has to set up home in small towns in the area, like Grahamstown and East London, as well as Port Elizabeth.

There they continued the trades they had worked in in Great Britain.

The arrival of the English settlers placed increasing pressure on the Afrikaner farmers (boers) in the Eastern Cape.

The Afrikaners did not like living under the British colonial administration, and the arrival of the English Settlers forced them to consider migrating northwards.

The Mfecane (1822-1836)

The Mfecane (1822-1836) began just two years after the arrival of the English Settlers in the Eastern Cape.

Mfecane (Zulu) means “the crushing” or “the scattering.”

Mfecane refers to the “ethnic cleansing” carried out by Zulu warriors in the eastern part of South Africa.

The Mfecane produced massive migration of the black populations from the epicentre of the ethnic cleansing, namely Zululand.

The main instigator of the Mfecane was the Zulu king, Shaka Zulu.

Shaka was a skilful military tactician.

His impi regiments were well-trained and well-disciplined.

Shaka used cruel tactics to shape his troops into an effective fighting machine.

Shaka Zulu

Shaka is called “the Black Napoleon.”

He developed the short stabbing spear, the assegai.

He developed the long shield that could be interlocked with other shields to form a protective cover.

He developed the "buffalo-horns" formation by which the enemy became surrounded and attacked from the rear.

The tribal migrations that resulted from the Mfecane:

The Xhosa were forced south towards the front line with the British army in the Eastern Cape.

The Mfengu refugees were forced to take refuge among the Xhosa.

The Thembu and the Pondo were forced south into the area north of the Eastern Cape.

The Sotho were forced westwards into Lesotho and across the Vaal River towards the Great Karoo, the Kalahari Desert and Botswana.

The Shangane and the Ngoni were forced northwards across the Limpopo River into Zimbabawe.

The Makololo were forced westwards and then northwards into northern Botswana and Zimbabwe.

The Ndebele were forced westwards and then norhwards into southern Zimbabwe.

Mzilikazi (1790-1868)

The Ndebele were led by Mzilikazi

He was a general in Shaka’s army.

He deserted in 1823 following a dispute with Shaka.

Mzilikazi led his people, the Ndebele, 800 kms.

He led them through northern South Africa into Zimbabwe.

His Matabele army carried out ethnic cleansing on the way.

As King of the Matabele, he set up his Royal Court in Bulawayo, Southern Zimbabwe.