Inkosi Sigananda Shezi 1810 - 1906

Inkosi Sigananda was a son of Zulu chief Zokufa. He was recruited as a warrior at a very young age and saw a great deal of military action in his lifetime. He witnessed the death of Piet Retief at Mgungundhlovu in 1838. Sigananda fought on the side of the Usuthu during the great Thukela Battle on 2 December 1856 and also against the British in the Zulu War of 1879. He fled to Natal to seek refuge in the clan of Mancinza, who was the father of Inkosi Bambatha. In 1871 he accepted an invitation by King Cetshwayo to settle in KwaZulu. He fought for King Cetshwayo during the Zulu War, seeing KwaZulu restored in January 1883.

In 1906 he joined Chief Bambatha (also Bambata) and other chiefs in the rebellion against the imposition of the Poll Tax by the colonial government. During the rebellion, Sigananda's kraal was burned and his stronghold attacked by Zululand police. Many people fled their homes in fear. Bambatha was killed, and Sigananda and Mangati became fugitives, successfully evading the government's troops for some time. Yet, knowing the loss would be too great if the fight was to continue, Inkosi Sigananda surrendered and was immediately placed in prison. During his short imprisonment, Inkosi Sigananda seemed in good health and quite communicative. Yet his body was unable to adapt to the changed circumstances of prison and he died in June 1906 in the Inkandla jail.

SPEECH BY THE KWAZULU-NATAL MINISTER FOR ARTS, CULTURE AND TOURISM MS WEZIWE THUSI DURING THE EVENT TO CELEBRATE THELIFE OF INKOSI SIGANANDA SHEZI

Good morning Ladies and Gentlemen and thank you for coming. We have gathered here
to celebrate a real South African giant, an icon whose heroic deeds will reverberate
across the corridors of history, namely Sigananda kaZokufa Shezi. Sigananda Shezi’s
heroism does not only start with the Bhambatha Uprising but dates back to as early as the
reign of King Shaka.
His father, Zokufa, and Shaka were cousins. Nandi, King Shaka's mother, had a sister
who got married Mvakela, Zokufa's father. Zokufa was one of King Cetshwayo's advisors
and an induna at Mlambongwenya kraal and was skilled in iron smelting and the
manufacture of hoes, axes, knives and assegais. Born in the early nineteenth century,
Sigananda was a member of King Dingaan's iNkulutshane Regiment in his youth and had
witnessed the killing of Piet Retief and his party at Mgungundlovu. Inkosi Sigananda was
extremely loyal to King Cetshwayo and fought for him at the famous Battle of
Ndondakusuka.
Inkosi Sigananda’s relationship with Bhambatha went beyond military activities.
Sigananda himself had once been cared for by Mancinza (Bambatha's father) and was a
policeman at the magistrate's office in Grey town about 1871. After more than a decade
of absence from Zululand, he was invited by King Cetshwayo to return as the Inkosi of
amaChube. Sigananda also participated in the Anglo-Zulu War of 1879, and during the
war of 1883 had provided Cetshwayo with refuge at his kraal, Enhlweni, on the edge of
the Nkandla Forest. Sigananda also fought with the Usuthu at the Battle of Thukela on
December 2, 1856. In 1884 Sigananda also participated at the Battle of Khothongweni at
the side of Usuthu.
2
When the Bhambatha Uprising started, Sigananda and his subjects refused to pay the
notorius Poll Tax and this led them to stage an open defiance on 17 April, 1906.
Sigananda never sold his people and when the colonialists wanted his to bertray
Bhambatha, he instead offered the latter refuge and joined him in the Uprising. He further
refused to give evidence to against Bhambatha during the trial and for this he was
detained for 38 days. It is reported that he was already 92 years and very healthy but
because of prison treatment, together with other unexplained incidents, he began to fall
sick and eventually died under mysterious circumstances. Sigananda will always be
remembered for his selflesness and loyalty to the Kings (Shaka, Cetshwayo and
Dinuzulu) and the African people.
The formation of the South African National Native Congress in 1912 therefore was
largely influenced and encouraged by the heroism of people like Sigananda. Sigananda
can be rightly credited with being one of the first people to participate in what has been
referred to as the pioneering guerilla warfare in the world, namely the Bhambatha
Uprising of 1906.
As the people of KwaZulu-Natal, we are proud to be associated with such a great hero
who shared greatnes with the likes of Patrice Lumumba, Mao Tse Tung, Hoh Chih Minh,
Ernesto Che Guevara, Thomas Sankara and many others in advancing the concept of
freedom. We are also proud that it is also here in KwaZulu-Natal that the world peace
movement started with Inkosi Albert Luthuli becoming the first African to win the Nobel
Peace Prize and Gandhi becoming a prophet for peace influencing Nelson Mandela and
Martin Luther King. We are gathered here therefore not to mourn that Sigananda died but
to rejoice that he lived a complete life of selflesness that brought us where we are today.
As we celebrate the life of Sigananda I want to challenge the people of this province,
especially the academics, intellectuals and the youth to devise innovative strategies to
highlight our distorted history. Our history is distorted not only from the cultural and
racial point of view but even in terms of gender. Women, in particular, must rise up
because I refuse to believe that the Bhambatha Uprising was about men only, otherwise
we would not be having the descendants of Sigananda and Bhambatha today. Let us
3
shame those ignorant and mischievous patriarchs who want the world to believe that the
history of KwaZulu-Natal is the history of male military activities. This distortion ignores
the fact that people sometimes call this part of the world, the land of Mthaniya, a woman.
As a woman myself I challenge all women, especially those in universities and other
professional circles to work with older men and women who know and understand facts
of the Bhambatha Uprising.
The other challenge is directed to the communities themselves. The Premier has begun
the process of the establishment of Local Heritage Forums. We expect the people of
KwaZulu-Natal through all the municipalities to come with creative and innovative
strategies to celebrate their local heritages. We are currently planning for 2010 and
beyond and this is a very good opportunity to say to the international visitors ‘we have a
history before, after and beyond a man called Jan van Riebeeck. We have our local
histories too.
In the final analysis, I want to congratulate the Amachube people who gave us Sigananda,
one of history’s supreme heroes. I also want to thank the Premier who has made it his
mission to revive the love of heritage in this province. The fact that we have debates and
discourses on heritage matters is because he made it his task to bring heritage to the radar
screen.
Thank you[/justify]

Chief Sigananda Shezi who lived at Enhlweni on the fringe of the Nkandla Forest, under the topic ‘Zulu Commanders’

The photograph of this remarkable old man’s grave, as well as the site of his umuzi (homestead), Enhlweni (“The poor man’s retreat”). I took the photo of Bhambatha’s and Sigananda’s descendants undergoing a ‘hlonipha’ of the grave (showing their respect) on the 99th anniversary of the Battle of Mome Gorge, which effectively ended the 1906 Poll Tax ‘Bhambatha / Bambata’ Rebellion.
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]
Photo's Supplied By Gen Gillings.