SPEECH OF J. T. GUMEDE, PRESIDENT OF THE AFRICAN 1927

Came across this. It’s quite hard hitting, it might be the start of a discussion, but I have posted it because it relates to the British in S/A and what in meant to the Zulu.

NATIONAL CONGRESS, AT THE INTERNATIONAL CONGRESS AGAINST IMPERIALISM, BRUSSELS, 10-15 FEBRUARY 1927

I am glad to be here as I am one of the representatives of South Africa which has been painted white on the map as if imperialism does not operate there. As one who comes from there, I have to relate a very sad story to you of what is happening to the proletariat of South Africa, white and black. I will take the trade unions of Europeans in South Africa. They do not work together with us. Race prejudice in Africa is even more violent than in America. There is a fear in South Africa that if the natives increase and are not taken in hand they will lift themselves up and very soon claim the government of the country and rule their country because of their numbers. Therefore they have got to be kept down to be "hewers of wood and drawers of water" only, and I can assure you it is done properly too.

South Africa is my country in which I was born, the country of my forefathers. I regret to tell you this evening that we have no place to lay our heads. All theland was taken from us in the name of the Crown of Great Britain and the people were driven away from their ancestral homes which were turned into farms. That is where it is painted white on the map; that is where imperialism does exist. During the days of the opening of Kimberley mines when they wanted labour very badly, they induced the natives, because they had no money and did not value it, to go and work for them for rifles. This they did, and they went to Kimberley in large numbers. They got guns - and afterwards they were disarmed and no compensation was given to them.

One of the powerful chiefs did not understand the position at all. He did not know how it was possible that the guns should be handed to the government after the people had worked for them and had them given to them. He did not go when called by the messenger of the Government, and so a force was sent after him. He ran away and was brought back. His land was taken away and cut up into farms. He was sent to Robben Island, near Cape Town and then to Pietermaritzburg. He was kept there in misery until he died. That is imperialism.

You will remember the Zulu war. I am a Zulu, and it is a very painful story to relate. There was no occasion for that war. It was only because Zulu power was considered by the Europeans a menace to the colonies, so all sorts of stories were sent to GreatBritain to make the British people turn against the Zulus. The result was that a big imperial force went to South Africa and crushed them down. Was it really war? See a little boy with his stick in the street and then you go with guns and rifles to war with him. We never went to war with anybody. We were murdered. Where we are we need your assistance. We live in hopeless suppression. We have been robbed of our lands, and we are miserable. We could relate pitiful stories every night when we think how we are slaves in our own country. You say you destroyed slavery. No, you did not - we want an emancipator. We do not know where he is. We are driven from pillar to post. On the farms the squatters are working for a piece of land where they could plant and graze their few cattle. What exploitation! Cattle diseases were introduced into South Africa which wiped out our cattle. We think this was done deliberately to force us to go down the mines. These people on the farmswork from four in the morning till seven at night for next to nothing. Some are paid as much as five shillings a month, some ten shillings. This is how these people now live on their ancestral lands.

Good Night.

Lord Chelmsford invaded Zululand without the knowledge of the British Government in the hope that he could Capture Cetshwayo, the Zulu King, before London discovered that hostilities had begun.

Old Historian I have sent you a P/M.

There is much of the same feeling today I’m afraid. It will take many more years to put things right.

sas1. I think your right on that one. I don't think their way of thinking will change in our life time. To much damage done..

Quote :

“One of the powerful chiefs did not understand the position at all. He did not know how it was possible that the guns should be handed to the government after the people had worked for them and had them given to them. He did not go when called by the messenger of the Government, and so a force was sent after him. He ran away and was brought back. His land was taken away and cut up into farms. He was sent to Robben Island, near Cape Town and then to Pietermaritzburg. He was kept there in misery until he died. That is imperialism.”

Is he refering to Cetshwayo.

hi littlehand.

i dont think it is cetswayo, as after he was captured in the nome forest, he was taken i think to capetown , then possibly to durban ?, where he boarded a ship and went to england i think at the request of queen victoria , after sitting with the queen and pleading his case , he went back to sth africa and was installed as king. but not completely in charge , there was an uprising with the new order, taking on the old order, many of the old order were killed in the subsiquent battles, cetswayo barely escaping with his life, i think wounded in the thigh, i think he died in 1881, some suspected poisoning. this is all by memory, if any one can elaborate, or correct any errors, thank you in advance.

cheers 90th.

He is taking about chief, LANGALIBALELE. Durnford met him at Bushman’s pass, where Durnford received the injury to his arm.

THE REBELLION OF LANGALIBALELE 1873

Langalibalele (his name means the sun is boiling hot) was chief of the amaHlubi, numbering some 9 400, who settled peacefully in the upper reaches of the Bushmans River, in the Drakensberg mountains near Giant's Castle.

Many of the men of the tribe worked in Griqualand West, and were given firearms in lieu of cash payment. The colonial government required these firearms to be registered; the amaHlubi refused, and were declared to be in open rebellion.
Colonial forces were mobilized to prevent Langalibalele and his people fleeing over the Bushman's Pass into Lesotho. Difficulties in navigating the mountain terrain and the ill-defined passes led to the military under Major Anthony Durnford arriving at the head of Bushman's Pass after many of the amaHlubi and their cattle had already reached the top. General confusion and unease within the pursuers led to indiscriminate shooting by both sides, and the having lost five men in the engagement, the government forces retreated. After subsequent pursuits by a considerable force of colonial and regular troops, Langalibalele surrended on 11 December 1873. He was sentenced to life imprisonment on Robben Island, but British Government intervention saw him released in 1875.


S.D