Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela - Durban Local History …...Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela After 67 years in...

UMLANDO 20131

ISSUE 4 | DECEMBER 2013DURBAN LOCAL HISTORY MUSEUMS Conserving Our Heritage • Caring For Our Future

Nelson Rolihlahla

Mandela

UMLANDO 20132

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Local History Museums - Durban 3

regulars05 Editorial

06 Local History Museums: Director

38 Book Reviews

historic moments07 1913 Natives Land Act Centenary

events10 1913 Land Act Speech Contest

11 International Museums Day

13 Human Rights Day Seminar

14 Youth Day Dialogue

17 Inaugural Victoria Mxenge Lecture

18 Umkhumbane

exhibitions20 International Library of African Music

22 1913 Natives Land Act

24 Nat Nakasa: A Native of Nowhere

heritage month 27 eThekwini Living Legends

29 Cultural Diversity Festival

30 LHM Passbook Competition

commemorations 32 Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela

35 Freedom & Workers’ Day

36 Heritage Month

37 Reconciliation Day

features 45 LHM Trust

47 SANS

48 Interview with Professor Jeff Guy

Nelson Rolihlahla MandelaAfter 67 years in public service, Nelson Mandela assumed the role of a revered elder statesman, a familiar fi gure of love and respect for South Africans. Vanishing from public view for the last three years, the image of a frail, grey-haired old gentleman became the lasting impression of Madiba. Our commemorative cover shows another view of him, depicting the traditional Xhosa tribal dress he wore on the fi rst day of the Rivonia Treason Trial, 15 October 1962. The radical statement he made with his clothing was that the apartheid state had no legal jurisdiction over him as an African; he had made no choice in “white” laws.

contributorsDirector: LHMSinothi Thabethe

Editor Steven Kotze

[email protected]: 031 311 2239

Editorial ContributionAnthee Ramlucken

Bheki MchunuBonginkosi ‘Rock’ Zuma

Hlengiwe Mzolo Ian Smith

Jenny CatinKhanya NdlovuRebecca Naidoo

Maypher MngomezuluMohau Qalaza

Nhlanhla Nkobi Rob Luyt

Stacie Gibson Thevan Harry

Photographer Mlungisi Shangase

Designer Zimana Bashe

UMLANDO issue 4First Published 2011 by the

Local History Museums - DurbanISBN: 978-0-620-59557

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All material is copyright protected.

All rights reserved. Queries should be

directed to the Editor. However, the

views and opinions expressed in this

publication do not necessarily refl ect

those of the Publisher or Editor. While

every care has been taken to ensure

accuracy of information, the Publisher

and Editor cannot be held responsible

for any errors or views expressed.

© Copyright 2013

CONTENTS

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From the Editor’s DeskThe various heritage sites within eThekwini are truly representative of the thriving diversity of cultures to be found in this “jungle port city” of ours.

As a new member of staff at Local History Museums, I considered it an honour to be given responsibility for the 2013 edition of our journal

Umlando. One of the privileges that came with the assignment of putting the articles together was an opportunity to learn more about the fascinating programmes conducted by my colleagues. The various heritage sites within eThekwini are truly representative of the thriving diversity of cultures found in this “jungle port city” of ours. The articles that the museums’ team have assembled provide an enriching snapshot of the variety that can be found among the interests and research projects encouraged by museum staff. Thanks to Zimana Bashe, the designer who laid out the magazine and Mlungisi Shangase who took the pics.

Although not directly related to the Durban-based focus of Umlando, November 2013 marks a signifi cant milestone in the history of South Africa’s government with the centenary of the Union Buildings in Tshwane. One of the pre-eminent architects of Britain’s empire, Sir Herbert Baker, used the design of the buildings’ two wings to symbolise unity among the Boers and British after the recently concluded South African War in 1902. One hundred years later that symbolism remains relevant as we celebrate 20 years of freedom and the unifi cation of all South Africans under one non-racist, non-sexist and democratic government.

On behalf of all of us who work at the seven different sites of the Local History Museums, the Umlando editorial team would also like to take this opportunity to extend a public welcome to our new-ish director Mr Sinothi Thabethe. Coming down the coast from his former position at the Luthuli

Museum in Groutville, Mr Thabethe joined the museums’ staff when he took up his post at KwaMuhle in August 2013. Those of us based at that museum with him have grown accustomed to his habit of popping into our offi ces for a quick chat to discuss projects or ask an opinion on some matter relating to local heritage. In addition to a very smart dress sense, he is fond of making a joke whenever he can, like a sharp-suited comedian. Thank you for all your assistance in bringing together this publication sir, siyakwamukela Thabethe.

In sad contrast with a happy welcome, is of course the painful farewell we made to our beloved former president in December. After a long illness that should have prepared us better for the news when it fi nally came, the entire country was still driven into tearful shock on Thursday 5 December when the announcement of his death was made. A mark of his distinction in the world is the fact that every single front page of any newspaper in the world carried the notice of his passing the next day. While the world stood still briefl y to honour a life lived to the top of any expectation, our nation held a great personal grief close to our own hearts – as if a family of 40 million had lost their grandfather. Mourning together for that tragic week, Madiba gave us one fi nal, amazing gift. His death reminded us all, once again, of what it truly feels like to be a nation.

have prepared us better for the news when have prepared us better for the news when

EDITORIAL

UMLANDO 20136

Message from the Director

The year 2013 would go down in history as a most memorable year, not only for South Africa, but the

world. It was the year of various commemorations marking the 100 years of the passing of the infamous Land Act of 1913, which restricted the right of the majority of South African black people to own land. This year also marks the 17th anniversary of the most significant constitution of our country, which is a blueprint for our human rights and values and serves as a cornerstone for our democracy. In pursuance of its vision, mission and objectives, Local History Museums continued to stage various interactive public and educational programmes throughout the year. This serves our aim of enlightening, commemorating and teaching South Africans about the rich tapestry of our history and heritage. Among the many programmes staged

were the Land Act exhibition launch; International Museums Day; JT Gumede dialogue; Passbook competition; Freedom Day and Workers Day seminar; and a cultural diversity festival.

Furthermore, the year also marked the passing of the father of our nation, the first democratically elected president of our country, Dr Nelson Rholihlahla Mandela. He has been hailed as the stalwart of the South African struggle for liberation and the founder of a united, non-sexist, non-racial and democratic South Africa in which all persons live together in harmony, with equal opportunities. As the towering giant of the world has fallen, the burden is now left with all of us to pick up the spear and soldier on in preserving the memory of the great man. This can best be achieved if we further develop and enhance his vision and philosophy of a non-racial, peaceful and democratic

order in South Africa and the world.There is no doubt that Madiba

touched many and made an indelible imprint in our memories and hearts. He had taught us lessons of ubuntu, peace, forgiveness, compassion, love and reconciliation. As we bid farewell to our hero and gradually march towards the 20 years of our ‘embryonic’ democracy, it is incumbent upon us to ensure that his legacy does not vanish but continues to be upheld and realised. We need not forget that the struggle for a better life continues. Through its interactive programmes, LHM will continue to ensure that the legacy, teachings, human values and principles that Nelson Mandela lived for and espoused throughout his life are realised and advanced.

Sinothi ThabetheDirector: Local History Museums

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LOCAL HISTORY MUSEUMS: DIRECTOR


The year 2013 marks 100 years since the enactment of the 1913 Natives Land Act (hereafter, the Land Act). This was the law that

was testimony to the harsh realities in our history. Different commentators have found themselves in the trap of word play while trying to describe what the Land Act really was. Words and phrases used include: notorious, perpetuating suffering to Africans, merciless, atrocious, mischievous, a pitiless yoke, a cruel operation, antagonising the native feeling, causing untold hardships, vicious, iniquitous, a poison, the most cruel, and a constant, caustic irritant1. In his State of the Nation Address in 2013, President Jacob Zuma described the Land Act as one which turned black people into wanderers, labourers and pariahs in their own land.

For many commentators it appears trivial to delve into the “nitty-gritty’s” of the Act, as long as people get the gist, which appears to cement the mind-set that the Land Act was downright ruthless and inhumane, specifically to Africans. But should the centenary of this law be about that? Should it be about describing the ruthlessness of the Land Act? I think there is a need to move past that and engage

Centenary of the 1913 Land Act

HISTORIC MOMENTS

It is definitely not a time for white South Africans to look back and feel guilty, nor for black South Africans to look back and feel like victims.

NHANHLA NKOBI

with the intimate details of the Land Act, for the benefit of South Africa. This article will provide a glimpse into the Land Act, its short and long term impacts and how South Africa has responded to its after effects.

The 1913 Land ActThe Natives Land Act, No. 27 of 1913,

was promulgated to law and commenced on 19 June 1913. The Land Act was a response to, inter alia, the complaints put forward by the Members of Parliament about African tenant farmers who lived and farmed on white-owned land, and thus did not provide labour for white farmers.

Although referred to as squatters, the black farmers rented the land from white farmers or gained access to land as share croppers by giving white farmers half of their produce as rent. Alternatively, labour tenants subjected some of their family members to working for white farmers in return for using the white farmers land. The fact that black farmers therefore had access to land they used for keeping cattle and for the cultivation of crops meant they were self sufficient and did not need to work for white farmers to survive. In a nutshell, even without

UMLANDO 20138

owning it, for an African land meant self sufficiency. It was an almost impossible mission to force these accomplished farmers to end their way of life and demand they provide labour for a white man instead. The promulgation of the Land Act was a step towards solving this problem that white farmers faced.

The Land Act apportioned 7% of all the land in South Africa as reserves for the Africans and excluded them from ownership in the rest of the country, which was made available to white people who consisted of less that 20% of the South African population2. This was done through prohibiting Africans from buying land outside the so-called ‘scheduled areas’. The ‘scheduled areas’ consisted of reserves and a few farms that were owned by blacks outside the reserves, and were mostly situated in infertile areas of the country. The Land Act also prevented ‘non-natives’ buying land in the ‘scheduled areas’. Furthermore, an anti-squatting provision in the Land Act saw an exodus of black farmers who were renting white farms. The Land Act further stipulated that black people could live outside their ‘scheduled areas’ only if they could prove that they were in white employment.

Based on the above, it is easy to tell that the substance of the Land Act was to ensure that white people, especially farmers, had more than enough land to work. Furthermore, the Land Act broke the cycle of self-sufficiency for black people. After the promulgation of the Land Act, Africans became dependent on white farmers for employment and economic survival. Finally, the implementation of the ‘scheduled areas’ fostered segregation of Africans from white areas. Thus, whether aware of it or not, the Union government, through the Land Act, ensured the overpopulation and impoverishment of Africans in the reserves when their economic spine, the land, was taken away from them.

Before and after 1994Although the immediate aftermath

of the land act was dire poverty and the paralysis of economic development for black people in their ‘scheduled areas’, vestiges of its impact are still felt today, 19 years into the democratic dispensation of South Africa. This is despite the struggle for liberation from colonial and apartheid domination being based on the objective of regaining land. The hope of black people was that post-apartheid, tables would be turned, and they would finally

regain their land or access to enough land for their needs. Even the Freedom Charter is crafted around these principles. However, the problem of equitable distribution of land still persists in the democratic South Africa.

For African people land is closely tied to their spiritual beliefs; it is their cultural heritage. This is the reason why, in his speech at the adoption of the Republic of South Africa Constitution Bill, entitled ‘I am an African’, Thabo Mbeki stated that he owes his identity ‘to the hills and the valleys, the mountains and the glades, the rivers, the deserts, the trees, the flowers, the seas and the ever-changing seasons that define the face of our native land’. Based on this, it is justifiable to argue that stripping Africans of this valuable cultural heritage is tantamount to stripping them of their identity. Thus, regaining land can lead to the rejuvenation of black identity.

RestitutionPost apartheid, the South African

government has tried to address the issue of land. I will not dwell on each and every attempt but I will focus on two, one which has been declared a failure and another one which has been proposed.

The Reconstruction and Development Programme of 1996 (RDP) was an attempt to rectify that land issue in which the ruling government set itself the target of transferring ownership of 30% of all agricultural land within five years. The RDP informed the drafting of a White Paper which stated that the ‘redistributive

land reform will be largely based on willing buyer, willing seller arrangements’. It further stated that ‘expropriation will be used as an instrument of last resort where urgent land needs cannot be met, for various reasons, through voluntary market transactions’. The concept of willing buyer, willing seller principle hinged on a voluntary transaction, based on the market value of the land. Regardless of these problems, however, the government set itself a target of redistributing 30% of land by the year 2001.

In June 2001, the period over which transfer of the targeted 30% of agricultural land was to be completed, was extended to 15 years. The government has subsequently blamed the willing buyer, willing seller approach as a hindrance to the acceleration of land reform. Upon this basis, the government has come up with the National Development Plan Vision 2030 which is crafted around the principle of alleviating poverty and exclusion, and at the same time, nurturing economic growth.

HISTORIC MOMENTS

In a nutshell, even without owning it, for an African land meant self sufficiency


HISTORIC MOMENTS

The NDP acknowledged the staggering poverty rate of rural communities in South Africa. A solution proposed by the NDP is to create a million jobs through agricultural development based on effective land reform and expansion of irrigated agriculture. This sector is one of the few remaining areas of goods production that can establish strong direct and indirect economic employment for the rural poor. The NDP is based on the framework that land reform is not only about taking land from a white person and giving it to a black person but to do so within the socio-economic realities of South Africa. In other words, that distributive land should be given to black beneficiaries who will play a role in bridging youth unemployment, the alleviation of poverty and in ensuring food security for South Africa.

For land reform to work, NDP principles demand two major points be addressed. Firstly, establish institutional arrangements to monitor land markets against undue opportunism, corruption and speculation. This will enable a more rapid transfer of agricultural land to

black beneficiaries without distorting land markets or business confidence in the agribusiness sector. Secondly, offer white commercial farmers and organised industry bodies the opportunity to contribute to the success of black farmers through mentorships, chain integration, preferential procurement and meaningful skills transfer. This ensures sustainable production on transferred land by making sure that human capabilities precede land transfer.

ConclusionThe Land Act centenary is a complex

historic event. White South Africans cannot look back and applaud their forefathers for engineering the Land Act, while blacks obviously cannot celebrate either. It is not a time for mourning, though. It is definitely not a time for white South Africans to look back and feel guilty, nor for black South Africans to look back and feel like victims. The problem of land is not a white or black problem, it is a South African problem and the failure to address it only reflects badly on South

Africa’s ability to solve its problems. The Land Act centenary ultimately warrants South Africans to measure our capacity to solve the controversial obstacles that history bestowed on us.

The government thus has a challenge. This is the time to take stock of its policies on land. There is a burning need to understand why its attempts at land reform have failed so far, and what must be done to redress the legacy of the past while taking cognisance of the socio-economic realities of South Africa. The NDP seems to be the answer, but its implementation is critical as it can only be done the right way.

(Footnotes)1 Feinberg, M. H. 2006. Protest in South Africa:

Prominent Black Leaders’ Commentary on the Natives Land Act, 1913-1936. Historia 52 (2): 119-144.

2 It should be pointed out that 7% of the total land surface was equal to approximately 25% of agricultural land in South Africa, allowing white farmers the remaining 75% of farm land – Editor.

3 The document can be accessed from: http://www.npconline.co.za/medialib/downloads/

home/NPC%20National%20Development%20 Plan%20Vision%202030%20-lo-res.pdf

UMLANDO 201310

To commemorate one hundred years of the Native Land Act being passed into law in 1913, the Local History Museum hosted a speech contest

with learners who are incarcerated at Westville Correctional Services. It was decided that this year the museum would reach out to these learners as not enough has been done to accommodate them in our past programmes, despite the fact that they are part of the community we serve.

To remember the devastating effect of this law that forced many Africans to become wage labourers for the first time, the museum felt that learners at Westville prison would benefit the most from a speech contest. The event was arranged to take place in March 2013, and participants were given an opened-ended topic to discuss, namely: The 1913 Native Land Act and its aftermath. Volunteers then took their turn at the podium in front of the audience to talk about their personal views of the Land Act and what its effects have been on South Africa.

A speech contest consists of two main elements, the content of what a speaker says and their ability to convey this accurately and clearly. Unless the person is already a confident speaker, competing in this way can be a challenge for any learner, so it is impressive that 10 people took to the stage to speak on the topic. The learner who won the contest was Eager Phahla, and he had the following to say, ‘This Act which was implemented in June 19, 1913 brought a lot of pain and shame on the black people. This Act which was passed by the government focused mainly on oppressing black farmers. As a result land was taken away from these farmers and they were forced into poverty and an unstable lifestyle.

Most black farmers moved out of their land and whilst they were on the road Sol Plaatjie went to them and tried to gather evidence so he could write a book about these farmers which were evicted. The title of the book was Native Life in South Africa. Some farmers had to move to the cities because they were not well off and this forced them to become wage labourers. Black farmers were having trouble because they were moving from province to province trying to find a permanent place to stay.

Nelson Mandela passed the Restitution of Land Rights in 1994. This law allowed all land which had been confiscated to be returned to the black farmers. Taking land away from the black farmers had been very easy, but when it was time to give it back it was difficult. Some people didn’t get it back, but at least with the assistance of our great Nelson Mandela we were able to get our freedom back from the Europeans. Land is still largely in the hands of the minority whites, but with time we do hope that justice will be done and our land will truly be returned to its rightful owners!’

Clearly from these passionate words Mr Phahla has recognised the great burden that the 1913 Land Act placed on the development of South Africa. Providing equitable restitution for the injustice has not yet been achieved. For this reason the issue of land in South Africa still remains an area for debate, and has become one of the issues over which politicians attempt to surpass one another. How the land issue will be resolved in our country, and at what point, remains to be seen, but learners at Westville prison benefited from this debate.

1913 Native Land Act

In honour of the devastating effect of this law that forced many Africans to become wage labourers for the first time, museum staff felt that learners at Westville prison would benefit the most from a speech contest.

HLENGIWE MZOLO

Speech Competition

EVENTS

LHM Curator, Khanya Ndlovu, handing over a certificate to the winning participant, Eager Phahla, at Westville Prison during the 1913 Land Act Speech Contest.


One of the joys of a museum is its ability to make a visitor feel as if this is a place that spent centuries accumulating

layers of history, patiently waiting just for them to pay a visit. Visitors can find refuge in exhibitions, education programmes and workshops as fascinating and rewarding as any other amusement or attraction. Museums provide a calm, unhurried way to take in the city’s history, conveying an account of the times gone by, filled with oddity and charm as well as providing details of suffering or success, and thus build awareness and understanding.

Durban’s Local History Museums

celebrated International Museum Day on 18 May 2013 by presenting an education programme with drama students from the Chesterville High School. This was held in conjunction with a Lecture and Dialogue event hosted by the Museum’s Education Department. The theme of

Museums (memory + creativity) = social change was aimed at increasing awareness of museums as agents of social change. The respective programmes kicked off with a visual presentation of the seven different sites that form our Local History Museums: Old Court House Museum, KwaMuhle Museum, Maritime Museum, Old House Museum, Cato Manor Heritage Centre, Bergtheil Museum and Pinetown Museum.

The Chesterville students were then introduced to play, acting concepts for educational, informative and entertainment purposes. They picked a theme related to time travel into history in order to develop a concept, while a storyboard led to the building of characters, and ultimately to the production of a play by the students. Introducing creative techniques to these students initiated a lot of energy in the room. Some very intense conversations and great ideas evolved. The result was a fun-filled morning of entertainment and stimulation.

Meanwhile, at the Lecture and Dialogue event, another element of social change was the focal point of discussion, namely the role of civil society organisations. A diverse audience ranged from members of the Centre for Civil Society at UKZN to civil society organisations for workers and students’ representatives, as well as educators, political organisations and members of

International Museums Day: 18 May 2013

Durban’s Local History Museums celebrated International Museum Day on 18 May 2013 by presenting an education programme with drama students from the Chesterville High School.

LEFT: A poster design for IMD 2013 by ICOM

themed: Museums (Memory + Creativity) =

Social Change.

REBECCA NAIDOO & ANTHEE RAMLUCKEN

EVENTS

UMLANDO 201312

the public. The topic under consideration was, ‘The role of civil society organisations as represented by SANCO in the context of the Tripartite Alliance’, with the objective of identifying NGOs or NPOs that uplift and transform our society by inculcating self-sufficiency and service delivery and donating services and time to nation building.

With the JT Gumede exhibition at KwaMuhle Museum as the backdrop, a lively argument proceeded between the various members of the audience. Why was the Josiah Tshangana Gumede exhibition a fitting location? He was a forerunner in the fight to free working class people from exploitation. In his capacity as President of the ANC he gave a powerful speech at the ‘International Congress Against Imperialism’, in Brussels on 10 February 1927. This inspired a resolution to be passed, which included the following statement:

‘Realizing that the unity of all workers irrespective of race, colour or creed is essential to the successful issue of the fight against exploitation and imperialism, this Congress calls upon the workers of South Africa, both white and black, to strive for that mutual understanding that will bring about working class unity and solidarity in their own interests and those of all other workers and oppressed peoples of the world.’

Central to our discussion was an issue of whether unions should encourage their membership to effectively contribute in our political, economic and social system beyond their union-based activities. Questions were raised over the need for a culture of participation and involvement in addressing the country’s challenges as part of social responsibility by workers, especially to help decrease the socio-economic and political challenges the country is facing. What ensued was an inspiring discussion that engaged the audience in a sound argument relating to poverty, crime, workers’ issues and the government’s success or failure to address these issues.

Heated disputes extended over the role of civil society organisations, and whether or not they simply duplicated the services of the Tripartite Alliance. Similarly, can the SACP or Cosatu really work independently of government to fulfil their social visions, or where do they draw the line in terms of participation? Creative methods were used by the museums to transfer knowledge among audience members, and to encourage new ways to

EVENTS

PHOTOS, FROM TOP DOWN: Students from Chesterville High School completing a worksheet based on the Anton Lembede Exhibition in the Old Court House museum.

Students from Chesterville High School play acting, using a theme of ‘time travel into the past’.

engage with diverse audiences. Thought-provoking and refreshing ideas were put forward, encouraging and inspiring both young students and seasoned adults to use museums as an important tool in culture and heritage education.

Ultimately our discussions could not resolve how civil society organisations and the workers’ movement can best build stronger partnerships between society and government, but it was not intended to. Rather, the debate hosted by the Local History Museum was intended

to open new channels of communication between different sectors of society. The important role museums can play in society by nurturing students cannot be underestimated. International Museums Day made it stimulating to engage in, and question the right and wrong beliefs of the past, as they reflect on the present. Critical thinking and lateral and creative ways were engaged in both programmes to generate thought processes and encourage dialogue between different sectors of our community.


EVENTS

Local History Museums of eThekwini Municipality, alongside Government Communications (GCIS), Community Participation (CPASU), Community

Safety and Liaison and Intergovernmental Relations (IGR) hosted a seminar in honour of Victoria and Griffiths Mxenge, a couple who dedicated their lives to the fight for human rights. On 20 March the museum hosted a dialogue to observe 2013 Human Rights Day with an open platform on challenges posed to the rule of law by mob justice; questioning whether or not ‘mob justice’ or ‘mob injustice’ is a denial of basic human rights.

After successfully hosting 2012 Human Rights Day, the Local History Museum decided to provide more information about the rule of law and mob justice to ensure that this social illness is eliminated. For a deeper understanding of the root causes of the problem, political parties and affiliates were encouraged to use this debate in campaigns and consider them in their political policy implementation for the future. Similarly, schools and other educational institutions should use discussions of this nature to sensitise learners about this malady. Participating newspapers and radio stations are able to reach a broad audience and were asked to feature issues concerning human rights and mob justice.

The objective of our 2013 Human Rights seminar was to conclude the process started the previous year, ensuring that basic rights are never violated as they were under apartheid. The seminar reinforced human rights as inherent rights for everyone, irrespective of political affiliation or religious denomination. The theme ‘Mob Justice: ‘Crime Committed, Wrongly Accused, Social Disorder’; Human Rights and the Rule of Law’ encouraged the community to avoid blaming ‘our justice system or law enforcement agencies, but rather to look inwards and find their own remedies for this terrible violence’. Healing society requires a joint effort by all community members and engagement with difficult issues to come up with solutions.

Lindelani Township in Ntuzuma was once engulfed with political tensions and intolerance, an image which fortunately has been transformed over the years. Among other incidents, in 2011 an elderly couple was accused of witchcraft and burnt to death in their home by members of the community. One of the reasons our Mob Justice / Injustice Seminar was taken to the township was this history of political intolerance, and gross human rights violation in the past, linked to criminal activity.

The dialogue was designed to exchange views with Lindelani residents, with the aim of assisting them to resolve their own social issues, rather than dictating or prescribing to them on challenges they face. The community is keen to receive any constructive advice, and willingly co-operates to advance development and alleviate poverty. According to statistics supplied by Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (CoGTA), Lindelani is a place plagued by a high unemployment rate of over 80% of residents unemployed.

A panel of experienced professionals from diverse fields was invited to offer guidance on the subject of ‘Mob Justice’. Panelists included Holson Mbhele from Community Safety and Liaison, Mpume Thusi from KZN Social Development, Brigadier Mngonyana from eThekwini Law Enforcement, Sibongile Mkhize from the Justice Department to advise the audience on prosecuting processes, and Rev S P Msomi who provided a spiritual perspective of the topic.

Crucial facts highlighted at Lindelani were that crowds seeking ‘mob justice’ don’t always have all the facts and the possibility

exists of a false witness. Fights often stem from religion or over accusations of witchcraft, although conflicts concerning tradition and politics are also common. Emotions are raised for the wrong reasons, sometimes to avenge another person’s vendetta. People who take the law into their own hands end up becoming criminals themselves and in some cases they kill breadwinners too.

One of the members of the community raised the issue that ‘rape and crime are prevalent in the area’ and that structures in place to deal with offences do not work to the community’s satisfaction. As a result children tend to be aggressive; schoolwork suffers and they behave badly at home. Victims are affected psychologically and it affects their performance at work, which will eventually affect our economy. The panel pleaded for people to report crime to SAPS, especially drug dealing. The community must also report police who don’t do their work.

It was recommended that continued dialogue would decrease mob killings by having structures in place to alleviate this problem. Various agencies and departments need to work together and create programmes to assist communities, and in particular Community Policing Forums should be revisited and restarted. Parents were advised to report an incident of rape to SAPS immediately, and thereafter visit the doctor and a psychologist. The Department of Social Development offers assistance to traumatised individuals through counselling.

In conclusion, the team returned to assist the community in the formation of structures to take these resolutions further. The onus was, however, left with the community to ensure the reputation and image of Lindelani was enhanced. As Local History Museums we leave it in the community’s hands to continue the dialogue. We would like to acknowledge and convey our sincere gratitude to the community of Lindelani for their cooperation and assistance, which permitted this successful and meaningful commemoration of Human Rights Day.

Human Rights Day SeminarMob Justice: ‘Crime Committed, Wrongly Accused, Social Disorder’ - Human Rights and the Rule of Law.’

MAYPHER MNGOMEZULU

Among other incidents, in 2011 an elderly couple was accused of witchcraft and burnt to death in their home by members of the community.

UMLANDO 201314

Whatever minor causes there may have been for the many Bantu-European wars, the

desire for land was the fundamental cause

(Lewin, 1944).

This year on the 18th of June, the Local History Museums (LHM) joined the rest of South Africa commemorating the June 16 Youth

Day, through a Youth Day Dialogue hosted at Port Natal Maritime Museum. June 16 is a day when South Africa remembers and respects the youth of 1976 for their activism and contribution in the struggle against apartheid. The day, however, also investigates the role of today’s youth in shaping South Africa’s future. June 16 1976 is remembered as the day when numbers of peacefully demonstrating students were shot dead in Soweto by police officers. The day, also known as the ‘Soweto uprising’, was precipitated by the requirement that black students be taught in Afrikaans, the language of their oppressors1. The ideological role of Afrikaans as a medium of instruction at selected black schools was merely the catalyst of the uprising; the real causes are the long-term political questions considered below2.

The commemoration of Youth Day by the Local History Museums also relates to the centenary of the 1913 Land Act, a law that served as a long-term cause of the June 16 uprising. This Act was the basis of the ‘Bantustan’ policy that reserved 87% of South Africa’s land exclusively for white

ownership, consequentially dispossessing black South Africans of the land they once owned. At that point, white people made up less than 20% of the South African population. The act further prohibited black people from ever acquiring land in so-called ‘white’ South Africa, thereby robbing black South Africans of their citizenship. The dispossession, which was coupled with dire poverty of black South Africans, was exacerbated by the 1936 Native Trust and Land Act that cemented the grip of the white government on land.

The 1913 Land Act was immediately challenged by the South African Native National Congress (SANNC, which later became the ANC). In 1914, the SANNC submitted a petition to members of the British Parliament and Imperial Government asking in vain for intervention to stop the Act. Land was to be the major cause of all clashes between black and white in South Africa during the 20th century3 as this notorious Act penetrated and negatively affected every sphere of black South African life. The dichotomous handling of blacks and whites perpetuated by the 1913 Land Act, in which blacks acquired less security and resources than whites, spiraled into schools. This law was, in schools, complemented by the Bantu Education Act (1953) which saw a large

EVENTS

Youth Day Dialogue

June 16 Youth Day Dialogue: Attacking the blight of the 1913 Natives Land ActNHLANHLA NKOBI

MAIN PHOTO, STANDING – LEFT TO

RIGHT: Sabelo Ntuli (NYDA), Sarah Downs

(ACDP), Ntokozo Zama (ACDP), Nhlanhla

Nkobi (LHM), Xolani Ngwezi (IFP), Njabulo

Mlaba (NFP), Siphokuhle Dludla (ANCYL),

Bheka Ntuli (DA).


number of black students cramped in very few, under-resourced schools while white counterparts enjoyed a better education in their well resourced, under-populated schools. There was a dire shortage of classrooms and teachers for black children, and many of the teachers were under-qualified.

By 1976, there were 257 505 African pupils enrolled in Form 1 at high schools, which had a capacity for only 38 000. These conditions led to the 1976 Soweto uprising, a sign that black youth were fed up by injustices such as the 1913 Land Act, which cost black people their land and forced them to work for whites. The Bantu Education Act was crafted to reinforce the social and economic class structure of the apartheid system, where black students were prepared for a life of labour for white people. Within this framework, it can be argued that the 1976 uprisings were a struggle for, inter alia, a better education, land and decent jobs.

Post apartheid, and 19 years into democracy, black South Africans are yet to get a fair share of land; youth unemployment is yet to be addressed and education is still in shambles4. One of the numerous attempts to address the problem of land in South Africa was through the Reconstruction and Development Programme of 1996 (RDP). In June 2001, the period for completing the goal of redistributing 30% of agricultural land was extended to 15 years. Subsequently, the government has blamed the so-called ‘willing buyer, willing seller’ approach for delaying land reform. Now the National Development Plan Vision 2030 has been devised by government to alleviate poverty and exclusion, while

nurturing economic growth.The 2013 Youth Day Dialogue was

envisioned within the context of these issues. The gist of the dialogue was three-fold; to investigate the role of the youth in South Africa today, find out what the youth thinks about land reformation and unravel their views on the proposed policies of NDP land reform.

Discussion – Youth Day Dialogue: Role of Youth in a Democratic South Africa

On this topic, the discussion suggested that government is best positioned to help the youth realise their potential to have a role in shaping South Africa. Njabulo Mlaba of the National Freedom Party (NFP) argued that the South African education system needs modification to empower youth to be productive citizens and participate in the mainstream economy. He argued that ‘the unemployment rate in South Africa is directly proportional to the education system in the country.The curriculum needs to change. SA is producing graduates that are not relevant to the South African job market’. This assertion found agreement with a number of youth present who underlined the need for quality education, relevant to market demands.

While investigating the role of youth in participatory democracy, Professor

Kwandiwe Kondlo5 has argued that South Africa lacks what he calls ‘deserving youth’

– the youth that is conscious of its dignity and destiny; it is a youth that has gotten right the essentials of life’s philosophical strategy and is therefore able to both discover and fulfill its mission; it is a youth that has gotten to know the spiritual value embedded in emancipatory praxis and that freedom consists of discipline and selfless service to others, the kind of youth that embraces the ‘absurd’. By this I refer to the ethic of compassion and the ethic of respect. The kind of youth instilled with the

aforesaid values, according to Prof. Kondlo, will have something positive to contribute to our participatory democracy. A question was posed to the youth present on the sentiments of Prof. Kondlo. Sipho Dlula of the African National Congress Youth League (ANCYL) responded,

The professor was over-generalising. The vast majority of youth has potential to grow, we need an enabling environment for young people to create employment for them and not rely on the state. Our education too must be able to produce competent youth. Ntokozo Zama of the African Christian

Democratic Party (ACDP) argued that youth need to come together from all parties to raise issues with one voice. He emphasised the need for people to acquire skills without waiting for the government to do something for them. But is the environment conducive? Sarah Pies from the ACDP argued that

our government has played with education changing from policy to policy. Who is choosing for us [youth] when these policies are changed? We as the youth have one of the biggest roles to play. We need to start now rather than when we are older. Start campaigns, make submissions to government. In the same vein, Bheka Ntuli of the

Democratic Alliance (DA) argued that ‘the current youth are despondent about politics and do not participate in the formation of policies. The youth will never develop through the policies developed from the apartheid system’. The overall discussion revealed that the youth do not

EVENTS

Post apartheid, and 19 years into democracy, black South Africans are yet to get a fair share of land; youth unemployment is yet to be addressed and education is still in shambles.

UMLANDO 201316

feel they can influence policy, which can prompt one to argue that youth related policies are implemented in a top-down manner without youth themselves really taking part.

This raised the question of whether the National Youth Development Agency (NYDA) was the best platform or vehicle the youth can use to become entrepreneurs and address some of their problems without leaning on government. Most arguments about the NYDA were damning, as it was accused of failing the youth (Ayanda Khumalo) and assisting only ANCYL affiliated people (Mjabulelwa Mngadi). According to the NYDA Branch manager in Durban, Sabelo Ntuli, some of the problems faced by his agency are as follows:

“We should understand that the purpose of the NYDA is to link people with opportunities, we don’t employ anyone but point you to the right direction. Our budget is being cut on annual basis and our impact will never be the same in relation to the number of people unemployed. It is not NYDA that has failed the youth, but the government has. We are a conduit, we don’t have factories. As youth formations, you have to come up with ways on how you can advise the government to assist the NYDA. Since 16 June 2009 we have dispersed R97 million in loans. Not everyone in this room will benefit but people do benefit on a regular basis”.Not everyone present was convinced

that the NYDA is the solution in addressing the problems faced by the youth of South Africa, though.

Xolani Ngwezi of the Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP) echoed the Youth Brigade of the IFP as a member who will be serving in the NYDA KZN board, but they have elaborated countless times to the government that South Africa needs a Youth Ministry. Such a ministry, he explained, will ensure that problems faced by the youth are tackled and the youth are given a voice.

We must not run away from the fact that NYDA is not a solution to the problems facing the young people in South Africa. A Youth Ministry that deals with the issues of young people in South Africa needs to be created. This assertion was welcomed by the

youth present. Young South Africans appreciate that education is a tool they can use to become productive citizens, and play an active role in South Africa. As it is, this tool is not working, it needs to be improved. Youth feel they should play a role in crafting policies for their sector, while not holding much hope for the NYDA as an institution.

Youth and Land ReformAn objective of the discussion was

to investigate what South African youths think about land reform. It is not common to find the views of youth on the land question in many media sources, unlike the airspace given the ANCYL about a year ago. Their former president Julius Malema maintained that expropriation without compensation simply means white farmers with more than one farm need to keep one and give away the rest to the people who previously lost their land. This provoked reactions from different corners, with some commentators arguing that land reform is not merely about grabbing the land from a white person and giving to black people, but in so doing taking cognisance of the socio-economic realities of South Africa6. Nevertheless, is ‘expropriation of land without compensation’ the general perspective of South African youth?

Bheka Ntuli (DA) mentioned the aforesaid ‘willing seller, willing buyer’ strategy the government employed in distributing land, and argued that, by its nature, the policy excluded the youth. He elaborated further that he is not against the ‘willing buyer, willing seller’ policy, but added ‘people should be allowed to buy shares in productive land so that they can acquire skills from the people who already have experience, so that when they have their own land, their land can be productive’. By the same token, he argued, the NYDA needs to assist youth to buy shares from productive land too. Lastly, if only 3% of land contributes to the GDP of South Africa, it should not be taken from people who work on it as giving it to people with no skills. This is why 90% of the 5.9 million hectares allocated to emerging farmers is no longer productive. The lack of skills to work the land was the major concern among the youth, and was perceived as a ticking time bomb for both food security and unemployment.

Richard Chawanikwa from Zimbabwe argued that expropriation without compensation could be detrimental

as land is the economy of Africa, and youth unemployment can be the thing of the past if land is reformed to addresses the economic challenges that South Africa faces. Still on this topic, Sipho Dlula mentioned that the ANCYL formerly adopted an extreme policy of expropriation of land without compensation, but this policy changed at the 53rd ANC National Conference at Mangaung, and is not policy of the ANCYL any longer.

There is no doubt, in concluding, that the views of South African youth need to be taken into consideration when government policies are being implemented. South Africa needs to put youth at the forefront of the land issue and its reform. Youth need to be empowered through skills to work the land, and be given a chance to work with people whose land is productive.

National Development Plan, Vision 2030 and Land Reform

The dialogue focused only on the sections of the NDP that specifically concern land and land reform. The NDP was created around poverty alleviation and economic exclusion, while nurturing economic growth at the same time. The NDP acknowledges the staggering poverty rate mostly in the rural communities of South Africa.

The economic and social legacy of colonialism and apartheid mean South Africa’s rural areas are characterised by unusually high levels of poverty and joblessness, with very limited employment in agriculture. The apartheid system forced much of the African population into rural reserves. The result was an advanced and diversified commercial arming sector relying on poorly paid farm labour, and impoverished, densely populated communities with limited economic opportunities and minimal government services.One of the solutions the NDP proposes

is the creation of a million jobs through agricultural development based on effective

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continued on page 34...

There is no doubt, in concluding, that the views of South African youth need to be taken into consideration when government policies are being implemented. South Africa needs to put youth at the forefront of the land issue and its reform.


Durban has produced a number of struggle heroes whose contribution led to the birth of freedom and democracy in South Africa. One

such hero is Victoria Nonyamezelo Mxenge, most notable in that she paid the ultimate price for the freedom of others. She was a woman many people described as fearless. Indeed Victoria Mxenge was a fearless freedom fighter and has been immortalised as a struggle icon. According to a confession by one of her murderers at the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, after the assassins first fired five bullets into her body she remained standing; stubbornly unshaken and fearless even when death was staring her in the face.

According to the murderer, this is what forced them to finally kill her with an axe in front of her young children. Less than five years earlier this brave woman had been widowed by the Vlakplaas hit squad led by Dirk Coetzee, Butana Nofomela and others. When apartheid propaganda spread misinformation that her husband, Griffiths Mxenge, was murdered by her own organisation, the African National Congress, Victoria brushed aside those false rumours as propaganda and vowed to continue from where her husband had left off. She was the embodiment of a stalwart in the struggle against oppression, segregation and human rights abuse.

To celebrate her role in the struggle, both as a woman and as a fearless fighter, the Local History Museum initiated a series of annual lectures which will be held during Women’s Month in different parts of our Metro. The inaugural Victoria Mxenge lecture was held on 16 August 2013 at a

venue named in her honour, the Victoria Mxenge Indoor Sport Centre in Umlazi. Victoria Mxenge owned a house in Umlazi where she practised as a nurse and later a lawyer, and she mentored lawyers such as Linda Zama, Advocate Bulelani Ngcuka and several others. The lecture was well attended and included representatives from various churches, community organisation and the principals, educators and young women from Umlazi high schools. Among political organisations present were the ANC Women’s League, ANC Veterans, and ward councillors from Umlazi.

The lecture was presented by well known local lawyer, Ms Linda Zama, who was a protégée of Victoria Mxenge. Some of the key points raised by Linda Zama in her moving address were:

I must disclose that to me Victoria Mxenge is not history or a memory. I experienced her. Her philosophy was that “angikwaziukuhlulwa into engakhulumi” (lit. “some thing that cannot speak will never defeat me”). At her office, candidate attorneys understood the importance of researching the law, professional courtesy and reporting progress to clients. Every matter was handled in a professional manner, even matters of indigent clients. The now defunct Black Administration Act was causing pain and suffering as

workers were declared illegal; the Black Jacks at Lamontville were wreaking havoc; the Security Police were arresting political activists and members of the Congress of South African Students Congress and South African Workers Union (SAAWU). Demanding political trials were steadily increasing. However, she held on and went beyond the call of duty as a lawyer to make sure that families of detained clients had food and their children went to school. She comforted and encouraged mothers of political prisoners who were sentenced to long term imprisonment and those whose sons were sentenced to death. Through all these demands she remained a loving mother to Mbasa, Namhla and Viwe, not forgetting her great friends, the dogs including “Ask-Him”, a dog that adored her. Those dogs were poisoned on the eve of Griffiths Mxenge’s assassination. They became casualties of a merciless and brutal regime.

Victoria Nonyamezelo Mxenge was a fearless freedom fighter and has been immortalised as a struggle icon. HLENGIWE MZOLO

The Inaugural Victoria Mxenge Annual Lecture

MAIN PHOTO: Standing – Left to Right

after the lecture: Local History Museums

Director, Sinothi Thabethe, Old Court House

museum Education Officer Hlengiwe Mzolo,

guest of honour and speaker Linda Zama,

along with Mrs Yingwana and Ntombodidi

Makhanya.

continued on page 41...

UMLANDO 201318

The history of uMkhumbane-Cato Manor, with settlement dating from the early Iron Age, offers an important perspective on the history

of Durban and the country’s colonial and apartheid past. uMkhumbane-Cato Manor grew to become the second largest urban African community in South Africa by the mid-twentieth century and was at the centre of struggle and conflict in Durban. Significant upheavals such as the riots of 1949, subsequent forced removals, and the 1959 Cato Manor riots reverberated across the county and beyond. Some have suggested that the killing of nine policemen on 23 January 1960 was tenuously echoed in the Sharpeville massacre of March that year. uMkhumbane was also a place of convergence, boasting a rich cultural, social, political and religious life just a stone’s throw away from the centre of town.

In recognition of its potential as a heritage and educational hub saturated with tourism and commercial potential, eThekwini Municipality embarked on the development of uMkhumbane Freedom Park. The master plan comprises various elements and offers unique and iconic facilities presenting the history of Cato Manor in a way that identifies with the shared experiences of people removed from places throughout South Africa, such as District Six, Sophiatown and Weenen.

The vision for the project was conceived more than 10 years ago when an architectural competition laid the foundation for the project. Central to the design by Choromanski Architects, the master plan incorporated the vision of a heritage facility integrated with commercial concession spaces, but just a stone’s throw away from residential properties. Municipal and Lotto funding offered financial stimulus for the project, which was also supported by the donation of land by the University of KwaZulu-

Umkhumbane Freedom Park

uMkhumbane Freedom Park

The Umkhumbane Freedom Park Project offers the region a unique heritage resource. ROB LUYT

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Natal, under the auspices of the National Department of Education.

This site of the ‘uMkhumbane Freedom Park’ on the banks of the uMkhumbane River gained additional significance, as it was chosen by King Goodwill Zwelithini for the reburial of the remains of his late mother Queen Thomozile Jezangani KaNdwandwe Zulu. The reburial ceremony took place on Saturday 7 May 2011 and was attended by the State President, His Excellency Jacob Zuma; KwaZulu-Natal Premier, Dr Zweli Mkhize; the Mayor of eThekwini Municipality, Cllr Obed Mlaba, as well as other dignitaries and senior members of the provincial legislature.

In his address at the unveiling of the tombstone on 8 May President Zuma said:

It is also fitting that the Queen Mother’s remains be laid to rest here as she also lived in Cato Manor during her last days and this contributes to the historic significance of this location.The government, through the eThekwini Municipality, has undertaken to establish an interactive cultural museum and heritage centre, with the aim of acknowledging and celebrating the role played by the Zulu Monarchy in the country’s liberation struggle. This centre will be linked to associated commercial, retail and other complementary activities under the Cultural Renaissance Programme of the eThekwini Municipality.”In recent months construction on site

has lead to the completion of the Queen Mother’s resting place and the associated landscaping complete with on-site parking.

In describing the Queen Mother’s resting place, Rodney Choromanski emphasised that the structure was never intended to be seen as a tomb or crypt, but rather as a sculptural marker in the landscape. To some its abstract free form resembles a stone, while to others a scalloped womb-like enclosure, characteristic of a traditional homestead or umuzi. According to tradition the Queen Mother rests lying with her feet in the east and head in the west, a free spirit under natural light which falls through the parametric structure of the roof, a metaphor for her love of craft and beadwork.

The uMkhumbane Freedom Park project offers the region a unique heritage resource. Under the leadership of the Head of Parks, Recreation and Culture, Mr Thembinkosi Ngcobo, and with support from Councillors, the City Management and staff of Cato Manor Area Based Management, work on the detailed design

King Goodwill Zwelithini with the Mayor

of Ethekwini Cllr James Nxumalo at the

Annual Queen Thomo Wreath Laying ceremony

on 17 August 2013

of the Heritage Center was completed by the professional team with tenders being called for in late 2013.

Special recognition should be made of the dedicated professional team including: Ian Rout (Project Manager); Rodney Choromanski (Architect); Ian Hayes-Hill (Quantity Surveyor); Sada

Naidu (Structural Engineer); Nirvana Loutan (Civil Engineer); Shepherd Nkosi (Electrical Engineer); Dave Ward (Mechanical Engineer); Dave Knight (Fire Consultant); Joanne Lees (Architectural Department). Their contribution and commitment to the project has been critical to its success.

This site of the uMkhumbane Freedom Park on the banks of the uMkhumbane River gained additional significance, as it was chosen by King Goodwill Zwelithini for the reburial of the remains of his late mother Queen Thomozile Jezangani KaNdwandwe Zulu.


UMLANDO 201320

The sounds and rhythm of Africa reverberated through the courtyard at KwaMuhle museum on 12 September 2013 when a fascinating

travelling exhibition designed by the International Library of African Music (ILAM) at Rhodes University opened to the public.

Titled For Future Generations - Hugh Tracey and the International Library of African Music, the exhibition presents recordings, film, and photographs from material that was captured between 1928 and the early 1970s during excursions made by Tracey as far north as the Belgian Congo, as DRC was then known. It displays a selection of African musical instruments and features exhibits related to Tracey’s field research, films and audio recordings. The exhibition and catalogue published by ILAM to accompany it demonstrate an ethos of respect for the music and culture of the sub-continent by preserving and documenting it with scientific precision, using the best available recording methods of the time.

Before the formal opening of the exhibition by Hugh Tracey’s son Andrew, the audience enjoyed a unique musical performance that combined both traditional and contemporary forms. Dr Patricia Opondo, of the Music Department at the University of KwaZulu-Natal, introduced students currently studying and composing songs for accompaniment by traditional instruments such as the makhwenyana bow. More traditional arrangements concerned topics such as

love or nostalgia, but students have also updated the makhwenyana repertoire by including songs with current political references and allusions to HIV/AIDS.

The student performances were followed by the legendary Umkhumbane Jazz Ensemble, with music by Madoda Mtshali and Nhla and Barney Bophela. The entire audience was swaying in its seats as these veterans of the stage presented their irresistible, magical harmonies. The skill and diversity of talent on display was a fitting reminder of precisely why Hugh Tracey first began to research and document African music more than 90 years ago. His motivations and insights were summarised by the current director of ILAM, Professor Diane Thram, in her opening address. She explained how the work initiated by Hugh, then continued by his son Andrew and the rest of ILAM staff, was bravely undertaken despite ridicule from bigoted critics, as well as some fears that preserving such musical heritage could hinder the progress of African music into the modern era. Both critiques proved unfounded though.

Founded in 1954 by Hugh Tracey, ILAM is the greatest repository of African music in the world. A research institution

devoted to the study of music and oral arts in Africa, it preserves thousands of historical recordings going back to 1929 and is currently digitising its collections. ILAM aims to discover, record, analyse and archive the music of sub-Saharan Africa, with the aim of establishing a theory of musicmaking in Africa while assessing the social, cultural, and artistic values of African music.

Hugh Tracey began studying African music in 1921, when he arrived in Southern Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe) from Devonshire, England, to farm tobacco with his older brother Leonard who had been allotted land as a serviceman wounded in the First World War. He learned the Karanga dialect of the Shona language by working with Karanga-speaking farm workers in the fields. He soon developed a love for their music and was convinced of the enormous value of music in their lives. Almost immediately, however, he became aware of the resistance of the colonial community, in particular those in education, the church and government, to any suggestion that Africans had any culture or music that was worthwhile. He knew from personal experience that this attitude was mistaken, and this was the trigger for his life’s work.

When he wrote the introduction to the catalogue of his major publication from his field recordings, Sound of Africa in 1973, he described the origins of his work in the following way,

The history of this collection of authentic African music, songs, legends and stories is in many ways a personal one. It dates back to the early 1920s when I first sang and wrote down the words of African songs

For Future Generations -Hugh Tracey and the International Library of African Music

Founded in 1954 by Hugh Tracey, ILAM is the greatest repository of African music in the world.

STEVEN KOTZE

The largest obstacle in the project was a pervasive attitude that regardless of how well or thoroughly recordings of African tribal music were made, they could not possibly have any commercial value.

EXHIBITIONS


I heard in the tobacco fields of Southern Rhodesia. Several years later [1929], I made a number of discs with a visiting recording company [Columbia, London] when I took fourteen young Karanga men with me to record in Johannesburg, five hundred miles south. These were the first items of indigenous Rhodesian music to be recorded and published.Hugh Tracey faced a setback in terms

of complete public apathy by the white population, who could not understand his motives or passion for the ‘social and artistic value of the music for future generations of Africans’. The largest obstacle in the project was a pervasive attitude that regardless of how well or thoroughly recordings of African tribal music were made, they could not possibly have any commercial value. Setting out to prove his critics wrong Tracey first acquired the broadcast and recording skills he needed for this highly technical research subject, and then slowly took every opportunity to introduce the elements of African music to the South African and other radio audiences.

With Dr Winifred Hoernle, in 1948 he established the African Music Society as an anthropological study group. By 1953 it became clear that an independent organisation was necessary for the financial responsibilities the project required. After Hugh Tracey gave a series of lectures in British universities in 1953, including an appearance for the Royal

African Society in London, a grant by the Nuffield Foundation established a non-profit research organisation under the title ‘The International Library of African Music’. The following year ILAM came into being as an independent institute when the South African mining industry generously doubled the Nuffield Grant.

The current exhibition forms part of the outreach and education component of a cataloguing and digitising project funded by the Rand Merchant Bank Expressions Fund. It includes 20 musical instruments from the Tracey instrument collection, with richly illustrated information panels including a time-line covering the scope of Tracey’s work, his field research in South Africa, Zimbabwe, and Mozambique. Each panel is equipped with an audio station offering a wide variety of Hugh Tracey’s field recordings for listening, making this a truly integrated sensory exhibition display.

Finally, four video stations feature footage of South African mine dancing, Chopi xylophone music, Shona story-telling and Andrew Tracey’s film, System of the Mbira, with a brief historical overview of ILAM’s history and current projects. Visitors will also enjoy a 1939 film made during a Zululand recording excursion, projected on big screen, and showing traditional Zulu singing.

EXHIBITIONS

The KwaMuhle Museum recently hosted the opening of an exhibition titled For Future Generations’to

showcase the historic musical recordings made by Hugh Tracey in the Music of Africa series. The exhibit, which is currently on display, is hosted in conjunction with the International Library of African Music (ILAM), based at Rhodes University.

The musical recordings were documented by Hugh Tracey over a period of decades from the 1920s, and include many tracks that have never been heard before. The complete series preserved some of the foremost traditional African musicians of the 20th century. The original LP records were sold publicly from the 1960s and were presented by Hugh Tracey according to the type of instrument and geographic region or, in the case of Princess Magogo, to feature an exceptional musician.

Many of the recordings made by Tracey and his team are now available on CD in the Old Court House museum shop, along with publications about the work of ILAM. These recordings are usually sold at a retail price of R130 each, but are available at the Local History Museum shop for R115 per CD. Titles available include African Dances of the Witwatersrand Gold Mines which includes a book with 2 CDs for R450, although the book is also available without CDs for R250.

Finally, the International Library of African Music also publishes the journal African Music with volumes for sale at R200 per issue. In addition, those who are interested are also able to purchase a Kalimba for R450. Please visit the Old Courthouse Museum at 77 Samora Machel Street for these and other items for sale in the Local History Museum shop.

Local History

Museums Shops

JENNY CATIN

Guests at the opening of For Future Generations exhibition are seen discussing film footage, images

and objects from the International Library of African Music collection.

UMLANDO 201322

To mark the centenary since the 1913 Natives Land Act was passed, the Local History Museums mounted an

exhibition at KwaMuhle Museum, which opened on 8 August 2013. It was officially opened by Councillor Diana Hoorzuk, who represented eThekwini Mayor Councillor James Nxumalo. Councillor Hoorzuk gave the keynote address, which was followed by a speech given by our guest Advocate Bheki Mbili of the KZN Department of Rural Development and Land Reform.

Advocate Mbili shed some light on the history of land dispossession, dating back to before the Land Act was actually passed in 1913, and the repercussions thereof. He alluded to other, subsequent acts of law that were passed, which also aimed at disempowering the African majority who resided within the borders of South Africa. Advocate Mbili described the 1913 Act as a crucial piece of South African law that stood as a cornerstone of government segregation policies and racial discrimination during the 20th century.

It should be remembered that this law did not stop Africans from getting access to their land on its own. Conflict over territory has raged in South Africa for a very long time, so the 1913 Land Act served as a culmination of those wars fought over

the land during the 19th century. It was also, however, a new departure for systematic social classification and injustice based on racist prejudice. A consequence of the Act stipulated that African people could live outside the reserves only if they were in white employment, which reinforced the migrant labour system that disrupted stable African family units in rural areas.

Together with a series of other laws and regulations passed by successive white governments during the first half of the 20th century, the Land Act created the basis for apartheid after 1948. One of the very worst symbols of the racist segregation and discrimination the Land Act allowed was the Group Areas Act of 1950. A great deal of human suffering was caused by this, such as the forced removals of communities like uMkhumbane-Cato Manor and the creation of townships based on racial or ethnic categories. Exclusion of diversity within these urban settings remains part of the South African landscape even two decades after the end of apartheid.

A further injustice inflicted on the poorest communities in our nation is that opportunities for employment were normally located far away from apartheid-era townships. Even today, the people who are least able to afford the cost of transport are forced to

One of the very worst symbols of the racist segregation and discrimination the Land Act allowed was the Group Areas Act of 1950. KHANYA NDLOVU

EXHIBITIONS

Act 27 of 1913

‘To make further provision as to the purchase and leasing of Land by Natives and other Persons in the several parts of the Union and for other purposes in

connection with the ownership and occupation of Land by Natives and other Persons’.

19 June 1913


spend hard earned salaries on travelling to work. Expenses for travel are added to the useless time spent in commuting, and the loss of opportunities to spend quality time with family.

Finding ways to redress such problems has not been easy. Advocate Mbili’s address clearly highlighted measures taken by the democratic government of South African to rectify these imbalances of the past. With the introduction of the land restitution programme, the stated purpose was to provide equitable redress to victims of racially motivated land dispossession. The ultimate result of this process was defined by provisions of the Restitution of Land Rights Acts in 1994 (Act No. 22 of 1994).

The objective of the programme was to resolve restitution claims within the target period through negotiated settlements that restore land rights or award alternative forms of equitable redress. This simply meant that claimants who were disposessed of land rights after 19 June 1913 in terms of racially discriminatory laws and practices are entitled to restitution of that right or equitable redress. In his speech, Mbili did however acknowledge that despite the fact that the government attended to a great number of land claims, there are still outstanding claims. This has resulted from the high cost of acquiring land for land reform purposes, which has rendered the restitution process very expensive for the state.

In addition, there are cases that are still before the courts due to disputes over the merits of those cases. Issues in this respect include conflict about the validity of specific claims and community disputes over various boundaries, which have prolonged the process of settling land claims. Both the comments made at the opening of the exhibition and the content within our displays demonstrated the crucial place of land in South Africa’s continuing development. After 100 years, legacies of the 1913 Natives Land Act remains part of South Africa’s debate on how to foster national reconciliation, social cohesion and stability and yet stimulate economic growth and development at the same time. It is clearly a debate that will feature in our society for some time to come.

EXHIBITIONS

ABOVE: Head of PRC, Thembinkosi Ngcobo, Cllr Diana Hoarzuk of

eThekwinin together with Adv Bheki Mbili of the KZN Dept of Rural

Development and Land Reforem offically opened the exhibition.

Student Intern at LHM, Siyanda Xaba,

next to a painting of Sol Plaatjie he

painted as part of the Land Act Exhibition.

Conflict over territory has raged in South Africa for a very long time, so the 1913 Land Act served as a culmination of those wars fought over the land during the 19th century.

UMLANDO 201324

At an address to the South African National Editors forum in Durban during November 2012, the then Premier of

KwaZulu-Natal, Dr Zweli Mkhize, committed the provincial government to the repatriation of the remains of highly esteemed journalist, Nathaniel Ndazana Nakasa. Nat Nakasa is expected to be reburied at Heroes Acre in Chesterville, Durban, alongside the graves of other renowned citizens and public figures. This is fitting, as Nakasa was born in Chesterville and worked as a local journalist before moving to Johannesburg where his career flourished as part of the celebrated Golden City Post and DRUM magazine teams of yesteryear.

In conjunction with the reburial process, the Local History Museum has prepared an exhibition at the Old Court House museum that celebrates the life and achievements of this prominent literary figure. Though he completed his schooling at Eshowe High School, a Lutheran boarding establishment in Zululand, Nakasa arrived back in Durban in 1955. Aged 18, he became part of a circle of writers and intellectuals in the city. This group of friends saw themselves politically as liberals and fervent supporters of ‘multiracialism’ as they saw it. They also regarded themselves as writers, and took the work of writing and reading seriously.

The career Nakasa sought as a writer thus began in Durban, in 1956 when he joined the staff of the Zulu language newspaper Ilanga lase Natal. At the age of 21, three years after he returned to Durban, he left his former

hometown for good. In 1958 Nakasa joined the staff of DRUM magazine in Johannesburg.

Nat Nakasa had little time for what he regarded as ‘tribalism’ – any attempt he discerned to endow his African identity with essentialism. He craved a world in which history had nothing to do with present attitudes, and everyone was judged by their abilities and contributions to society, regardless of race. The views he once described at a Wits English Academy lecture were regarded at the time as heartbreakingly naive by many of his contemporaries and even by some of his friends.

Consider the story of two young men with a Bohemian bent. The one is white and the other is black. Both wander the streets of Johannesburg, squandering their youth and generally enjoying the business of flouting the city’s social conventions. The black character is a bold, reckless youth with voracious reading habits and a passion for the city’s looks by night. So the two often go out on long walks by night from the suburbs to the city and back. It is during one of these walks that there is trouble. The police catch up with the couple. Largely curious over the combination, the police stop the African and ask him for his pass. It is late and the policeman wants to know why the black man is not in his location among his own people. Dramatically the black man asks: Who are my people?

A Native of Nowhere:Ndazana Nathaniel ‘Nat’ Nakasa

He craved a world in which history had nothing to do with present attitudes, and everyone was judged by their abilities and contributions to society, regardless of race.

BONGINKOSI ROCK ZUMA

EXHIBITIONS

Aged 18, he became part of a circle of writers and intellectuals in the city. This group of friends saw themselves politically as liberals and fervent supporters of ‘multiracialism’ as they saw it.


EXHIBITIONS

Among all his other activities, Nakasa still managed to fi nd time to found and edit a literary magazine named Classic Quartely. This brought him into frequent contact with the novelist Nadine Gordimer, who became friendly with him and described the young writer in the following way,

The truth is that Nat Nakasa was a new kind of man in South Africa. He accepted without question and with easy dignity and natural pride his Africanness, and he took equally for granted that his identity as a man among men, a human among fellow humans, could not be legislated out of existence, even by all the apartheid laws in

the statute book, or all the racial prejudice in this country. He did not calculate the population as sixteen millions or four millions, but as twenty. He belonged not between two worlds, but to both. And in him one could see the hope of one world. He has left that hope behind; there will be others to take it up.Nat left South Africa in 1964 on a

Nieman Fellowship at Harvard University but, in the process, was forced to relinquish his South African citizenship. Nat died tragically the following year and was buried at Fern Cliff cemetery in the hills of Westchester County, north of

New York City. Until 1994, it is reported, there was nothing to mark the place where Nakasa lay buried, far from home. Lew Clapp, who worked for the Nieman Foundation at Harvard University tracked down the grave and organised a plaque.

The initiative by the South African National Editors Forum (SANEF) in 1998 to name their esteemed Award for Media Integrity after Nat Nakasa had the effect of bringing this humble writer into the public spotlight and conferred on him the status of a media icon. This award was followed in September 2007 by the posthumous award to Nakasa of the State President’s Order of Ikhamanga in Silver, thereby ensuring Nakasa’s inclusion in the post-apartheid pantheon of literary luminaries.

The Old Court House museum exhibition serves as a suitable honour for one of Durban’s less well known heroes, making his long awaited return home.

PHOTO (COURTESY OF BAHA):

Nat Nakasa eating a meal with an unidentifi ed

person. The same photo is used in the exhibition

housed at OCH Museum under the subtitle:

Who are My People?

UMLANDO 201326

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Every year since 2008, during Heritage Month celebrations the Parks, Recreation and Culture unit of eThekwini Municipality has celebrated

the lives of outstanding individuals who have a positive impact in the city. People named as eThekwini Living Legends are recognised by the Municipality through this award for their sterling contribution to Durban – with this prestigious honour presented during their lifetime. Living Legends categories include Arts and Culture, Sport, Hospitality and Tourism, Human Rights, Music and Entertainment, Media, Academic, Environment or Science and Technology fraternity. Award winners for 2013 are:

Joseph Shabalala who was born in Ladysmith, KwaZulu-Natal, 1941, and is well known for his role in the evolution of isicathamiya music. His group, Ladysmith Black Mambazo, has collaborated with international stars such as Paul Simon in their now-famous song, Homeless, and has won two Grammy Awards. Shabalala still sings with the group and has set up a foundation to teach isicathamiya music to young South Africans.

Professor Malegapuru Makgoba received an MBChB degree from the University of Natal Medical School in 1976. In addition to a distinguished medical career, Makgoba

served in numerous executive academic positions, culminating as Vice-Chancellor of UKZN. President Jacob Zuma honoured him with the Order of Mapungubwe for contributions to the field of science and medicine.

Sam Draai, who was born in 1922, has been a member of the Sparks Estate Community Centre management since it was founded in 1958, and has run more than 10 Comrades marathons. His most significant activism, though, is his involvement with the Boys Brigade. ‘Captain’ Sam Draai founded the 1st Durban Brigade of the Boys Brigade 78 years ago and has been leader of this group ever since.

Velisiwe Mary Mkhwanazi, who is 81, began her activism in the 1960s when she was a young domestic worker in Durban. Unhappy with the decrepit mattress provided to her, she demanded

better treatment for herself and other employees. Realising changes in conditions of employment could be negotiated, she challenged racial oppression in the workplace. Mkhwanazi is respected for being a founder member of the South African Domestic Workers Union.

Internationally acclaimed photographer Ranjith Kally spent 15 years working in a shoe factory before his big break into the world of photo journalism. While working as freelance photographer he covered weekend social events for local newspapers. Kally went on to work full time for the foremost publications of the time and was admitted as an Associate of the Royal Photographic Society in 1967.

Reverend Sue Brittion is an Anglican priest who has trained in many fields, including conflict handling, direct non-violent action, reconciliation, peace monitoring and social

eThekwini Municipality celebrates the lives of outstanding individuals who have a positive impact in the city.

NHANHLA NKOBI

HERITAGE MONTH

UMLANDO 201328

action. As a feminist theologian, Brittion was active in the successful Movement for the Ordination of Women (MOW) in the Anglican Church. Brittion is still deeply committed to a life of activism and now concentrates her efforts as a very active environmental activist.

Jackie Branfield is the founder of Operation Bobbi Bear. Branfield first took action against sexual crimes against children in 1992, concerned about treatment very young rape victims were subject to, often without a kind word or professional help. Kits, which Branfield developed, include a marker and a Bobbi Bear, which are used to point out where the child has been hurt.

Mkhuluwe Cele is an expert inyanga (traditional healer), who specialises in paedatric remedies. He has done remarkable work on the conservation of indigenous plants used for medicines, encouraging healers to cultivate their own indigenous gardens and plant nurseries for medical ingredients. The greatest concern in this regard is traditional medicine’s reliance on stocks of wild plants, but these are often slow-growing and are being harvested at an unsustainable rate.

Desmond Makhanya matriculated from Adams College in 1954. He began writing his history of Adams College in 1998, using reference materials from the Killie Campbell Africana Library to substantiate his own experiences and the oral histories he has collected. His unpublished manuscript covers categories of music, health, theology, education, agriculture and sport.

Sizwe Nxasana was born in 1958 at Lamontville in Durban, and is one of the first 10 African Chartered Accountants in South Africa. In 1996 he became the founding partner of NkonkiSizweNtsaluba, the first black-owned national firm of accountants and in 2010 Nxasana was appointed as CEO of the FirstRand Limited, in the process becoming the most senior black executive in the African banking industry.

Tich Smith was born in 1951 and, while playing rugby for Natal, represented Natal and South Africa in cricket until in his retirement in 1983. Since 2007 Tich and his wife Joan have run an organisation called Lungisani Indlela, feeding over 2 000 children in over 30 crèches, and paying for the schooling of 600 orphans through a charitable trust. In January 2009 Smith developed a programme building a much needed residential facility for orphans called the Lungisa Indlela Village. ‘If we are known as a province and as a country that looks after vulnerable children’ he says, ‘the heartbeat of the nation will change. The perception of South Africa in the eyes of the global community will also be altered’.

HERITAGE MONTH

RIGHT: The eThekwini Living Legends Trophy that is

presented to each legend on the night of the Awards Ceremony

BELOW, FROM LEFT TO RIGHT: Appreciation Awards

Recipients for 2013 were Inanda Seminary, received by the

Principal, Judy Tate

BOTTOM RIGHT: Joseph Shabalaba from Ladysmith Black

Mambazo recieved the Appreciation award on behalf of the

group.


Durban is an African city with a rich cultural diversity. Apart from being a home to millions of Zulu-speaking people, and

Africans from all over our nation, Durban is also a home to one of the largest Indian populations found outside India. We have people from all continents, beliefs, creeds and other persuasions living in our city. The biggest mosque in southern Africa is found in Durban. We are a home to people from Nigeria and the Great Lakes, as well as boasting a sizeable Jewish community alongside Chinese ex-patriots. Populations from virtually all parts of the world are found here.

Part of the vision of eThekwini Municipality is that by the year 2030 the eThekwini Municipality will enjoy the reputation of being Africa’s most liveable city, where all citizens live in harmony. In line with this ambition, in 2013 an idea was initiated for an annual Cultural Diversity Festival which would be hosted by the Local History Museum during Heritage Month. The first of these events took place in the Old Court House gardens on 19 September 2013.

The festival was a morning event and was scheduled to start at 10:00am, lasting until 2:30pm. It is estimated that around 1200 people were in attendance, and the crowd was welcomed by Mr Guy Redman, Deputy Head for Libraries and Heritage. In his speech he emphasised the importance of museums as agents of social cohesion, and then welcomed all those who were present to the first of the many Cultural Diversity Festivals to come.

In her capacity as Education Officer at the Old Court House Museum Mrs Hlengiwe Mzolo was programme director for the day. The opening act was rendered by the KZN Burundian Drummers. This was arguably an international showstopper as it attracted even casual bystanders

and drivers on the streets. Among the other activities of the day, performers included praise poems (izibongo), traditional African dancers, izangoma (Zulu diviners), izayoni (Zion Christian Church members), isicathamiya, amahubo, traditional Indian dancers and Afro-gospel groups.

In his closing speech Mr Sinothi Thabethe, Director of the Local History Museums, thanked all those who participated and again emphasised the role museums play in fostering social cohesion. The event was a great success and a good start for the many others yet to come. The aim of future festivals will be to identify the ‘home grown’ artistic talent of Durban, to demonstrate our vibrant cultural diversity.

Cultural Diversity Festival

»

We have people from all continents, beliefs, creeds and other persuasions living in our city.

HLENGIWE MZOLO

The opening act was rendered by the KZN Burundian Drummers.

UMLANDO 201330

Despite outstanding collections in museums that lie beyond established tourist routes of the inner city, sites such as Old House

Museum, Cato Manor Heritage Centre, Bergtheil Museum and Pinetown Museum face challenges such as competition with more well-established museums, limited funding and resources, and the difficulty of building a wider audience. In response to these issues, a ‘Passbook’ competition was launched in 2013 to increase recognition of such sites.

A key task of our local museums is to capture the enthusiasm of young people, and the ‘Passbook’ competition was conceived as a strategic catalyst for addressing this concern. Furthermore, this concept included building collaborations with private sector partners to promote less well known Local History Museum sites, along with participating Heritage Sites such as Mariannhill Monastery and Palmiet Nature Reserve. By honouring our duties as heritage practitioners, to increase visitor numbers by building new audience, the sites are made viably functional. This, in turn, will hopefully encourage schools to

use these sites as part of their curriculum.Two decades ago, the Local History

Museums initiated a ‘dompass’ contest, as the Native Administration ‘passbook’ forms a big part of our Local History Museum permanent exhibition housed at KwaMuhle Museum, titled the Durban System. It was thus decided to adapt the original idea into a competition that would be unique to the respective sites, as well as relevant to the content of our museums.

Once a hated symbol of apartheid oppression, in the context of museums ‘passbooks’ were transformed to change the perception that they embodied. Carrying the adapted passbook enabled learners to experience an important aspect of African migrant life during the

turbulent era of segregation. Passbooks controlled the movement of African people as they moved from one place to another in search of work, and learners experienced that process in a positive and educational manner. The competition serves as a yardstick for promoting values of tolerance, empathy and respect, as well as achieving social cohesion and nation building through public institutions.

The possibility of prizes at the end of a competition increases interest among learners, and encourages teachers to come to the museums. By collaborating with partners, the process expanded support for the Turnaround Strategy for these heritage sites. Launched officially in February 2013, the competition primarily targeted schools around the Durban West

Local History Museums Passbook Competition

Once a hated symbol of apartheid oppression, in the context of museums ‘passbooks’ were transformed to change the perception that they embodied.

MOHAU QALAZA


Community, but could be expanded. During the first phase a workshop was conducted for educators, to explain the terms and conditions of the competition and distribute materials such as posters and worksheets.

The second phase was the actual competition, which ran during the second term from March to end of June. Learners were required to visit participating sites, in order to get their individual replica ‘passbooks’ stamped at every site they visited and then write and submit an essay about their experience. Despite some practical complications such as the SADTU strike, the majority of learners who expressed interest in the competition participated and, resolving any obstacles, provided valuable guidance for the future.

The last phase was a prizegiving ceremony which was held at Bergtheil Museum on 18 September 2013. The occasion was attended by the Head of the PRC Unit, Mr Thembinkosi Ngcobo, the Deputy Head for Libraries and Heritage, Mr Guy Redman, partners and principal sponsors of the event, Mr Barry Livsey from the Durban West Community Tourism Organisation, the German Consul-General, Mr Horst Achtzehn and Ms Roshni Pather from Edgewood Campus of UKZN. Related heritage sites at Mariannhill Monastery and Palmiet Nature Reserve were also represented.

As a whole, the event was considered a resounding success. Before the competition, with the exception of Pinetown museum, these sites received as few as 100 visitors a month. Cato Manor was the least visited site, sometimes recording as few as 30 visitors a month. During the competition, over 600 learners visited all participating museums and heritage sites. In total, twelve schools and three children’s homes from different backgrounds were represented in the event.

This ambitious project could not have been possible without the infectious enthusiasm of the Durban West Community Tourism Organisation, and Mr Barry Livsey was eager to partner with Local History Museum from the start. This committed community organisation was also the principal sponsor and presented an IT equipment voucher worth R10 000 to the winning school, namely Christianenburg Primary from Clermont.

Despite a few unexpected challenges encountered during the second phase of the event, the competition succeeded beyond expectations and achieved all its primary goals and objectives. Strategic planning got schools and individual learners into the museums, learning relatable topics to supplement their academic knowledge. Young South Africans were enlightened on a personal level about their heritage and the significance of preserving it. Most importantly, the number of overall visitors to these museums and heritage sites was also increased. Finally, the principal sponsor, Durban West Community Tourism Organisation, has given a commitment to a partnership with Local History Museums again next year, when the second instalment of the competition commences in 2014.

HERITAGE MONTH

MAIN PHOTO (PAGE 30): All the winners with their prizes and certificates together with PRC Head, Thembinkosi Ngcobo, Libraries & Heritage - Deputy Head, Guy Redman and Miss Ethekwini, Zama Xulu.

BELOW: Pages taken out the unique passbook that was designed specifically for the competiton. It includes The History of Passbooks as well as The Durban System. Learners were also encouraged to participate in a writing competiton in the same passbook.

BOTTOM PHOTO: Barry Livsey from DWTCO presented the R10 000 voucher to the winning school, Christianenburg Primary, here accepted by Samkelisiwe Gcumisa.

UMLANDO 201332

Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela

18 July 1918 – 5 December 2013

“During my lifetime, I have dedicated myself to the struggle of the African people.

I have fought against white domination, and I have fought against black domination.

I have cherished the ideal of a democratic and free society in which all persons live

together in harmony and with equal opportunities. It is an ideal which I hope to live

for and to achieve. But if needs be, it is an ideal for which I am prepared to die.”


South Africans who adored Nelson Mandela during his life found it impossible to imagine anyone else could rightfully claim the title of

‘Greatest Living Human’. As a nation we have a hard time being objective about the position he occupies in world history. Now though, as we come to terms with our lives of freedom in his absence, we know that his formidable legacy is shared with all of humanity. The pride of South Africa, however, is to know him better than anyone else ever could, and love him with unrivalled passion. The best claim any of us can make is that we lived in the time of Nelson Mandela.

This is because Madiba embodied what South Africans accomplished in achieving democracy, and his life reflects the unique complexity of our young democracy. South Africa is best understood as a collection of competing contradictions such as urban or rural life, political militancy or moderation and social privilege or suffering. Naturally there are many other examples that describe the range of experiences known, by South Africans. A large number of those ambiguities occurred within Mandela’s own life, which partly explains the singular attraction he holds over his fellow South Africans.

Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela was born on 18 July 1818 in the tiny settlement of Mvezo, a collection of traditional homesteads clustered on a high ridge overlooking the looping Mbashe River valley. The little settlement represents thousands of others precisely like it that are scattered across rural South Africa. The fact that Mandela was born in a place like Mvezo gave him the instinctive ability to understand the type of life he shared

with others who grew up and lived their lives in the countryside.

Although his family lived in this remote location, the circumstances of his birth were unlike those of his neighbours. Mandela was born into the African aristocracy and grew up as a prince of the Thembu royal household. He was a direct descendant of King Ngubengcuka, but is related to that monarch through a minor royal house known as the Ixhiba, whose role was to serve as advisors and political counsellors to the king.

The future political activist experienced intolerance first-hand when the local white magistrate deposed his father as chief after accusing him of insubordination. This event affected Mandela’s life, as his father Gadla Henry Mphakanyiswa not only lost his title as chief, but his fortune in cattle as well. Together with his mother, Nelson Mandela left Mvezo and went to live in the village of Qunu. Although the place he was born in is quite close to Qunu, that short migration also marked the beginning of a very long journey that would take him all the way to the office of President, and into the hearts of the world.

His teacher Miss Mdingane used a mission school convention that students should have an English name too, and gave him one that belonged to a great British naval hero. When Mandela’s father died of tuberculosis, at the age of nine he was

sent to live with the Thembu regent, Chief Jongintaba Dalindyebo. It was the regent who was the first to discern that his young relative possessed all the attributes of a leader and nurtured these talents.

His time at the University of Fort Hare brought about his first political transformation. Until the time he arrived to study there at the age of 21 in 1939, Nelson Mandela’s future was still firmly linked to the old order of African nobility and service to the Thembu throne. Upon embarking on his Bachelors degree at Fort Hare, however, he became friendly with a student named Oliver Tambo. The two men became life-long friends and partners in their shared desire to end the racist South African policies of segregation and discrimination.

The life of a migrant worker is still a very common reality for many South Africans, and so it was fitting that Mandela made his way to the industrial heartland of the country after he was expelled from university. His political career also began in earnest at that time when he joined the African National Congress in 1942. Despite a later reputation for compromise, his reputation at this time was based on confrontation and conflict. In September 1944 a group of these militant revolutionaries led by the firebrand Anton Lembede formed the African National Congress Youth League to pursue their aims without the perceived constraints of the old guard.

Sadly, the decade after 1950 witnessed the steady increase in state-sponsored violence against black South Africans and leaders of the ANC. began to advocate

A Tribute to Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela

The best claim any of us can make is that we lived in the time of Nelson Mandela

STEVEN KOTZE

COMMEMORATIONS

Now though, as we come to terms with our lives of freedom in his absence, we know that his formidable legacy is shared with all of humanity.

UMLANDO 201334

...continued from page 16Youth Day Dialogue

COMMEMORATIONS

land reform, including the growth of irrigated agriculture and land production.

The NDP acknowledges the high unemployment rate of black youth, who account for two-thirds of the unemployed below the age of 35. Unemployment rates are the highest in the 15 to 24 year old group (46.6% in 2008) and second highest among 25 to 34 year olds (26.2%). If youth fail to get a job by 24, they are unlikely to ever gain formal employment. Unresolved, this trend poses the single greatest risk to social stability. The agricultural sector is one of the few remaining goods producers with strong direct and indirect economic links to the rural poor. Land reform is thus not only about taking land from a white person and giving it to a black person, but should play a role in the alleviation of poverty and creating jobs.

Though the NDP is government endorsed policy, even Helen Zille7 of the DA wrote an article in which she stated that the ruling party needs to take the NDP seriously in their bid to deal with land reform. It hasn’t gone unchallenged. At various times NUMSA general secretary Irvin Jim8 has poked holes in the policy, saying it protects interests of white monopoly and imperialist capital. Instead, he called for the implementation of the Freedom Charter as the quickest way of addressing inequalities. In addition, COSATU General Secretary, Zwelinzima Vavi9, said the ‘NDP is

taking us to the service sector economy and we are going to be selling, buying, we are not going to be manufacturing (industrialisation) and that’s the problem’.

Based on these comments above, it can be argued that land reform proposed in the NDP protects the interests of white monopoly and imperialist capital, taking us into a service sector economy. The purpose of the dialogue was to give young South Africans a platform to engage with policies that affect their future, and express their views accordingly.

Bheka Ntuli made it clear that the DA supports the NDP. He argued the document has sound policies but the problem will be in implementation since the ruling government ‘runs the country as a spaza shop chopping and changes everything’. He advised that a strategy was needed to cascade the contents of the document to the people so that they become familiar with it. Xolani Ngwezi also showed concern on the implementation of NDP policies, specifically that government obsessed with a ‘trial and error’ implementation method, trying something and then another plan if that doesn’t work. Sipho Dlula, however, argued the ANC believes the NDP is the solution to a number of challenges South Africa faces, and the ruling party is best positioned to implement it.

The general feeling was that youth

are not familiar with the contents of the NDP, which is worrying if the document seeks to shape South Africa and drive it to a future the youth of today will spend their adult lives in. Platforms are needed for people to get a glimpse into the NDP, to familiarise it among the youth who will deal with its effects in years to come.

ConclusionThe youth dialogue hosted by the

Local History Museum was a strategic platform in which young South Africans were engaged in self-evaluation. Contrary to the belief that youth are best positioned to solve their own problems, it is clear that young people are in dire need of support from government. In order to realise their potential and be productive citizens, the youth need to be included in policy making, especially in policies that directly affect them. An unintended effect of barring responsible youth from an active role in South African policy making leads to policies that are insensitive to the plight of youth. For instance, the ‘willing buyer, willing seller’ policy automatically sidelines youth who have no money to buy land. Similarly, youth should familiarise themselves with the NDP, especially since some commentators have argued that this document is based on neoliberal principles that exclude the majority of South Africans and favours capitalists.

for an armed resistance to these attacks. Mandela was at the forefront of such calls, and was involved in the formation of Mkhonto we Sizwe. It was his involvement as Commander-in-Chief of MK which resulted in his arrest and trial for treason. Mandela was sentenced to life imprisonment in 1964, and would spend much of the next three decades behind bars on Robben Island.

He was released from prison on 11 February 1990 to play a key role in the negotiations to bring about a new political dispensation in South Africa. After being elected as the first democratic president of South Africa in April 1994, he served only one term in office and retired. The long and tumultuous journey that had brought him there made him our greatest hero, and the road came to an end on 5 December 2013 when he passed away in his Houghton home at the age of 95. It is too easy to simply call him an icon, his power comes from being a person who put his ideals into action. It is what made him a true revolutionary, and a man for all the ages.


COMMEMORATIONS

The public holidays of 27 April and 1 May commemorate Freedom Day and Workers’ Day respectively; to celebrate the first post-apartheid elections held

on that day in 1994 and pay homage to the working class of the nation, with an emphasis on the need for fair labour practices. While these public holidays are regarded as ‘glorious’ within their historical context, with relevance to the struggle for freedom in South Africa, it is also pertinent to reflect on their importance in the daily lives of ordinary South Africans.

This notion owes its origins to certain radical organisations that advance the idea that South Africa’s freedom ‘was, has never been or is not free’. Organisations that spring to mind are Abahlali baseMjondolo and Anti-Eviction Campaign, who coined an unofficial ‘counter holiday’ as a day of mourning, called UnFreedom Day. In addition, 2013 has seen the mushrooming of groups that question whether South Africa really is a free country. The apartheid regime ‘coupled with its discriminatory practices against the black majority’; together with the post-1994 era ‘coupled with its partial delivery of promised services’ are therefore viewed as having ostracised poor South Africans to the point that protests become inevitable.

While some political commentators argue that current protests stretch back to the 1970s, the focus of this reflection is post-1994. Newspapers report that ‘about three quarters of South Africans aged between 20 and 29 did not vote in the 2011 local government elections’ and that ‘South Africans in this cohort were more likely take part in violent street protests against the local ANC than to vote for the ruling party’. In fact, Freedom Day celebrations occurred amid massive service delivery protests. The rate of protest, it is reported, ‘rose dramatically in the first eight months of 2012’. Gauteng Province, for example, reported almost 550 protests between 1 April and 10 May 2013.

In September 2013 the police reported

that they had ‘made more than 14 000 arrests at protests in the past four years’. It is ironic that while approaching the 20th anniversary of democracy in South Africa the country has been dubbed ‘the protest capital of the world’. We have one of the highest rates of public protests on earth, and the rate of protests has escalated since 2004. Prior to 1994 some liberation struggle tactics involved destruction of state property, but since 1994 these tactics have continued. It has been a failure of liberation struggle icons to instill in protesters how the new government is funded through taxpayers’ money – including protesters themselves.

There is general consensus that a variety of different political parties with resultant competition represents a healthy democracy. The mushrooming of political parties with policy positions akin to that of the ruling party, however, results in a duplication of half implemented policies. It is in this milieu that South Africans need to consider how political anniversaries commemorate the improvement of their lives. In essence, the victory of democracy should be seen as a huge bill that South Africa has to repay to its people, including the poorest of the poor. If this bill is not settled, disaster looms.

Among reasons for the protests in South Africa is the removal of people from the land they occupy unlawfully, according to government. Presumably, organisations like Anti-Eviction Campaign and Abahlali baseMjondolo seize the opportunity to ask questions around land redistribution, restitution and tenure security to address imbalances created by apartheid. It is to be remembered

though, that in 2009 Abahlali baseMjondolo together with the Anti-Eviction Campaign, the Landless People’s Movement, the Rural Network and the eMacambini Anti-Removal Committee supported the ‘No Land! No House! No Vote’ campaign. Essentially this was a gesture to say the letter of the South African Constitution is perfect, whereas its spirit is in shambles. Similarly, the Marikana massacre of 2012 had the potential to erase the gains that have been realised and dented the country’s image of protecting worker’s rights. In this regard the celebration of Workers’ Day carries little meaning.

Obviously, South Africa’s democracy cannot be presented as a failure because the current government has affected a plethora of good deeds to date. Critical questions around issues such as access to land and income will attract individuals and organisations more concerned with successful implementation rather than formulation of policy. We need to be mindful of the placebo effect wherein the belief in our constitution becomes a cure, rendering us incapable of measuring the impact of programmes. It is incumbent upon all South Africans to gauge the extent to which the South African government is prepared to couch these celebrations and commemorations to the benefit of all.

For Freedom Day to receive the respect it deserves there are three distinct but interrelated propositions that need to be embraced. It marks a milestone in the history of the nation and celebrates the journey that South Africa has travelled to achieve freedom and democracy; we remember the heroes and heroines who sacrificed so much to ensure freedom for all; and we elebrate the Bill of Rights which guarantees all South Africans’ freedom from the repression and hatred which characterised our past.

Freedom Day & Workers’ Day in South Africa: A Critical Reflection

It is ironic that while approaching the 20th anniversary of democracy in South Africa the country has been dubbed ‘the protest capital of the world’.

BONGINKOSI ROCK ZUMA

We need to be mindful of the placebo effect wherein the belief in our constitution becomes a cure, rendering us incapable of measuring the impact of programmes.

UMLANDO 201336

The beginning of September signals the start of Heritage Month. With 11 official languages, a culturally diverse population, beautiful natural landscape,

rich biodiversity and range of climates, South Africa is a popular tourist destination. Tourism contributes approximately 22% to the national GDP. KwaZulu-Natal, in particular, attracts both domestic and foreign tourists, with Durban enjoying the lion’s share of the domestic tourism market. Our heritage is a major draw card and the Parks, Recreation and Culture (PRC) service unit is at the forefront of conserving and promoting the city’s heritage.

September witnessed a host of events to highlight the importance of the PRC service unit in the city. An annual feature is the Living Legends Awards which honours citizens of the city for their contribution in various fields (as documented by another article in this issue).The ‘One City One Book’ campaign was launched with a quiz on Nelson Mandela’s autobiography, Long Walk to Freedom. This annual storytelling competition, book quiz and creative writing contest orchestrated by the Heritage Department attracted a host of schools from within eThekwini Municipality.

During Heritage Month the Local History Museum also hosted opening for the exhibition entitled For Future Generations. This is a travelling exhibition that tells the story of how the International Library of African Music (ILAM) was established. It reveals how Englishman Hugh Tracey came to work on his brother’s plantation in Southern Rhodesia (Zimbabwe), where he developed a deep respect for the Karanga music he heard in the fields. In an odyssey which spanned 50 years, Tracey documented and recorded traditional music in various parts of Africa. His great appreciation of, and affection for African music is reflected in the exhibition, which opened at the KwaMuhle Museum on 12 September 2013. Guests included Deputy City Manager Dr Musa Gumede, Head of Parks, Recreation and Culture, Mr Thembinkosi

Ngcobo, Hugh’s Tracey’s son Andrew and the director of ILAM, Professor Diane Thram. The audience was serenaded with music by Madoda Mtshali, the Umkhumbane Jazz Ensemble and Nhla and Barney Bophela, as well as students from the Music Department at UKZN.

The ‘Passbook’ competition attracted over 500 primary school pupils, representing 11 schools, while three child and youth care centres also participated. Passbooks, once a hated symbol of apartheid, were creatively adapted by the Local History Museums for this competition. The purpose of the competition was to help learners develop empathy for victims of the pass laws, as well as promoting the Old House Museum, Cato Manor Heritage Centre and Bergtheil and Pinetown museums. Together with amended ‘passbooks’, worksheets informed participating students of the pass laws and the participating sites. A prizegiving ceremony was held at Bergtheil Museum on 18 September, which was attended by sponsors including the Honorary Consul-General of Germany, Mr Horst Achtzehn, Ms Roshini Pather from UKZN and Mr Barry Livsey of the Durban West Community Tourism Organisation, in addition to PRC staff. Christianenburg Primary School won the Grand Prize of R10 000 while the award for best essay went to Samkelisiwe Gcumisa of Khulugqame Primary.

eThekwini’s rich, vibrant heritage was again brought to the fore at a Cultural Festival held at the Old Court House Museum on 19 September. Twenty groups participated in the festival and the audience was entertained with songs and dance that

showcased the city’s expanding repertoire of cultural heritage, as one of the participants was a group of drummers from Burundi.

Heritage Month would not be complete without a mention of the centenary of 1913 Natives Land Act. The Act and its consequences had an enormous impact on black South Africans and the heritage of the country. In order to assess the impact of the Land Act, the importance of land in African society must be examined. Land is sacred, and intimately tied to African heritage and culture. It is linked to African cosmology and spirituality, for example in African communities that bury the umbilical cord and placenta at birth. Land is also critical to ancestral worship. In times of death and bereavement fields are not tended until after the performance of a cleansing ritual. Land formed the economic base of pre-colonial societies, which saw women traditionally tend the gardens while men took care of cattle. Wars of expropriation and alienation exacted a toll on pre-colonial African society and land dispossession was coupled with a host of laws that contributed to the creation of an African migrant working class.

The history, heritage and legacy of migrant labour in the city of Durban are found in the KwaMuhle Museum. Exhibitions like the Durban System, together with the sculpture ‘Shadows of the Past’ and the courtyard mural articulates the role Durban played in the migrant labour scheme. Displays of Zulu beadwork, mblaselo, and the Zulu medicine garden speak of the African working class’ contribution to the heritage of the city. It is therefore fitting that KwaMuhle Museum should host an exhibition depicting the character and consequences of the 1913 Natives Land Act. The exhibition was open on 8th August 2013.

A truly broad and representative range of exhibitions, competitions and events was assembled by the PRC service unit for Heritage Month in 2013.

Heritage MonthSeptember witnessed a host of events to highlight the importance of the Parks Recreation and Culture service unit in the City.

THEVAN HARRY

COMMEMORATIONS

Land formed the economic base of pre-colonial societies, which saw women traditionally tend the gardens while men took care of cattle.


COMMEMORATIONS

Reconciliation Day symbolises how two opposing forces came together to renegotiate the meaning of a brutal past for the purposes of building an

inclusive and democratic nation. The date of this national holiday, on 16 December, is significant to both Afrikaans-speaking South Africans and the African National Congress.

For descendants of the Voortrekkers it symbolises a covenant with God which they entered into before the Battle of Blood River. Voortrekkers who participated in the battle vowed to build a church and keep the day holy if God granted them victory over King Dingane. On 16 December 1838, the commando of Andries Pretorius defeated a Zulu impi at eNcome River, resulting in an enduring symbol of white supremacy in South Africa.

For African National Congress members, the significance of 16 December lay in the founding of their armed wing, Umkhonto weSizwe (MK). Together with a host of oppressive laws under apartheid, the Sharpeville massacre made the formation of MK inevitable. On 16 December 1961, when Curnick Ndlovu, Billy Nair and Bruno Mtolo placed a bomb at the entrance of the Department of Bantu Administration – now KwaMuhle Museum – it was one of the first acts of sabotage committed by Umkhonto weSizwe. The bomb caused minimal damage, though.

Underpinning all political conflict in South Africa was the land question. This year marks the centenary of the heinous 1913 Natives Land Act, which was the culmination of 300 years of land expropriation. Initially 7% of land (equal to approximately one-quarter of available farm land) was set aside for African occupation. In 1935, the white government increased land set aside for African occupation to 13%. African resentment of the Act was succinctly expressed by Sol Plaatjie when he stated ‘the South African Native found himself, not actually a slave, but a pariah in the land of his birth’.

The Act laid the social, economic and political foundation of 20th century South Africa, and led to impoverishment of people in the Native Reserves. It transformed many African peasants and proto-agricultural producers into exploitable wage seekers. In his ANC Presidential Address on 14

December 1941 Dr A.B. Xuma stated:The fundamental basis of all wealth and power

is the ownership and acquisition of freehold title

to land. From land, we derive our existence. We

derive our wealth in minerals, food, and other

essentials. On land we build our homes. Without

land we cannot exist. To all men of whatever

race or colour land, therefore, is essential for

their wealth, prosperity, and health. Without

land-rights any race will be doomed to poverty,

destitution, ill-health and lack of all life`s

essentials. In South Africa all our legislation

aims at depriving the African of all right and

title to land, in both rural and urban areas.

He is made a perpetual and eternal tenant of

the State and Municipalities so that he may

forever be dependent for existence and wages

upon Europeans who are, alone, entitled to get

as much land as they can use and even more

than what they can use but may hold it for

future speculation while Africans are landless,

homeless, destitute, and starving.

The Natives Land Act also provided a blueprint for the 1923 Native Urban Areas Act, the Group Areas Act and the Bantustan policies of the Nationalist government which followed.

South Africa has made significant gains in building a nation through the process of reconciliation since 1994. Those gains could, however, be compromised if the land question is not fully addressed. The democratically elected government inherited the vestiges of the 1913 Natives Land Act in 1994. Steps have been taken to redress some of the imbalances of apartheid, but land restitution has been slow. Government mechanisms have only transferred 27% of

the intended 24.5 million hectares of land to African ownership.

On 8 January 2013 President Jacob Zuma thus signalled a shift in government policy from the ‘willing seller, willing buyer’ principle to the ‘just and equitable’ principle of expropriation. An important question arises over the impact this shift might have on nation building. Is redistribution of land enough to redress the imbalance in land ownership? Solutions to the land question must include rural development and the empowerment of rural communities and other consequences of the 1913 Natives

Land Act also need consideration. In order to answer these questions it is worth defining the terminology of reconciliation and nation-building.

Social reconciliation is a process which addresses conflict within fractured relationships and is linked with nation building. It

includes activities such as: (i) Developing a shared vision of an interdependent and fair society, despite different political beliefs; (ii) Acknowledging and dealing with the past; (iii) Building positive relationships; (iv) Significant cultural and attitudinal change; (v) Substantial social, economic and political change. Nation-building, like reconciliation, is a process and not an objective in its own right, defined as a diverse society being bound together within a sovereign state under a unified constitutional and legal dispensation.

Given South Africa’s painful and fractured history, and in the light of this philosophical background, the importance of reconciliation, nation building and land restitution cannot be stressed enough. True reconciliation will only be achieved after a conscientious education programme has been implemented, to inform the wider public of the history they may have been ignorant of in the past. And this is the function of our museums.

Day of Reconciliation‘The South African Native found himself, not actually a slave, but a pariah in the land of his birth.’ Sol Plaatjie

THEVAN HARRY

Underpinning all political conflict in South Africa was the land question.

UMLANDO 201338

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Theophilus Shepstone and the Forging of Natal: African Autonomy and Settler Colonialism in the Making of Traditional Authority

The figure of Theophilus Shepstone loomed over colonial policies regarding African communities and their land, besides many

other avenues of policy in Natal and the Zulu kingdom for almost half a century from 1846. In the formidable office he carved for himself as the Secretary of Native Affairs, which he occupied from 1846 to 1876, he sought personal control of the process by which the amakhosi of colonial Natal interacted with the British government. Shepstone’s endeavour to concentrate his authority, and thereby his prestige, among the African population as well as the settlers was based on his lifelong experiences among black people along South Africa’s frontier regions and his fluent ability to speak Zulu.

Very few colonial officials made as much of a direct and significant impact on the way Africans engaged with white settlers and with British imperialism as Theophilus Shepstone. The timing of this new book on the centenary of the 1913 Natives Land Act is therefore fortunate

as it provides a good perspective on the forces that deprived some Natal Africans of their land, but allowed others to remain on theirs. The contribution of Professor Jeff Guy to the historiography of Natal and the Zulu kingdom is considerable, providing insights on topics ranging from missionary bishops to the Zulu civil wars and the Bhambatha rebellion. Traced through all his work though, the principles and personality of Shepstone are constant themes. By addressing Shepstone’s career directly as the topic of his latest book, Guy is able to bring his understanding of this important personality to the fore in this very important book.

Although Theophilus Shepstone was not born in South Africa, he arrived on the Eastern Cape frontier as a small child of a missionary family in 1820. For the next two decades he lived in the turbulent, war torn area of South Africa that was ravaged by conflict over land between Xhosa kingdoms and Boer farmers or British soldiers. It was on his father’s Methodist mission stations in the midst of war that he learned to speak the Xhosa language with the fluency of a mother tongue. Shepstone’s use of African languages extended beyond the mere comprehension of vocabulary and grammar, as he could express complex concepts of European thought in an idiom or metaphor that Africans could fully grasp, and of critical importance, vice versa. His capacity as the best translator available brought him to the attention of senior government and military officials of the British administration, which led to his full-time employment in 1836, aged 19.

After a decade of service in the Eastern Cape, when the territory of Natal was annexed to the Cape Colony, Shepstone applied for a transfer in 1845 and arrived at the colonial capital of Pietermaritzburg early the next year. His title was ‘Diplomatic Agent to the Natives’, which became ‘Secretary for Native Affairs’ a few years later. It is essentially his role in this post that Jeff Guy dissects in great detail to uncover the many mysterious elements of Shepstone’s personality and actions. This task is more difficult than might be imagined at first, due to the secretive and deceptive nature of the man in question. He was later described by one of his own superiors, the British High Commissioner Sir Bartle Frere as ‘a strange, shrewd, silent, immobile man’. Professor Guy deals with the both the causes and uses of this exaggerated talent Shepstone had for keeping bo

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Theophilus Shepstone and the forging of Natal. Jeff Guy

Publisher: University of KwaZulu-Natal Press,

Place of Publication: Pietermaritzburg

Date: 2013

Review By: Steven Kotze

BOOK REVIEWS

UMLANDO 201340

his facts and opinions to himself.Shepstone’s capacity for being devious

is important, as Guy demonstrates that few things were as important to him as adulation and public praise. Time and time again in his long career he obscured facts as they were known to him, in order to gain personal benefit. This was not terribly hard either, as the African people he dealt with could not read or write (on the whole), nor could they speak English. On the other hand, none of the British administrators could speak or understand Zulu. Shepstone therefore became the single means of communication between the colonial authorities and Africans living in the colony of Natal. While several important examples of Shepstone’s dishonesty are demonstrated in Jeff Guy’s text, one of the earliest is key to understanding how his career remains crucial in any analysis of land rights and land claims in KwaZulu-Natal.

In brief, a few months after his arrival, Shepstone wrote a report on 26 April 1846 in which he stated that various amakhosi as well as commoners ‘thronged my office’ and expressed their happiness at the newly established British authority. Shepstone claimed these Africans would all willingly become British subjects in the colony if their land rights were protected. Until recently Africans south of the Thukela River had faced dual threats, first from the Zulu kingdom and more recently from the Voortrekkers who claimed Natal in 1839. Unfortunately, when that report was published in July 1849, Shepstone cut out the crucial provision that Africans were prepared to accept colonial occupation in exchange for recognition of their land rights. Instead, the amakhosi and African communities are presented as wholly accepting of colonial occupation and offering their allegiance to Britain simply for protection or because of a perceived sense of European superiority, none of which is true nor does it occur in his original report.

Several other similarly subtle yet significant interventions by Shepstone eventually determined the ‘Locations’ policy that allocated land to black people who were living in this region before the arrival of white settlers. For the next 30 years, from 1846 until 1877 when Shepstone was sent to the Transvaal, his interactions with ordinary Africans and their amakhosi determined how black people related to colonial occupation in Natal. Jeff Guy provides a fascinating portrait of the office Shepstone used to

achieve his aims, and how the institution of ‘Government Chief’ was created in order to decrease the power of hereditary amakhosi in Natal. The bulging files of the Secretary for Native Affairs in Pietermaritzburg’s archives have been untangled, to the best of Guy’s ability, and the intentionally vague or legally intricate cloaks put in place by Shepstone to mask his deceit have been analysed.

Overall, the book conveys a compelling account of this crucial era of transition, when African independence was forcibly exchanged for white rule in the southern half of what is KwaZulu-Natal today. Although Shepstone’s later involvement with the British invasion of the Zulu kingdom is perhaps better known, the use of military force to intimidate and threaten African communities in the Mkhomazi and Mzimkhulu river valleys is perhaps less well known. Guy demonstrates how Shepstone used his deep knowledge of rural communities to precisely identify the weakest points of defence for attack: civilian homesteads (imizi) and the livestock that families depended on.

The system of identifying a certain nkosi as a threat, and then destroying that leader’s power base by confiscating vast herds of cattle which were then distributed to ‘loyal’ government-appointed amakhosi is a perfect demonstration of divide and rule. The chapter in which Guy retells the history of Langalibalele kaMthimkhulu of the Hlubi people is the most chilling example of what Shepstone was prepared to do in the pursuit of his objectives. For anyone interested in current debates around land restitution or how African land rights were undermined even before the 1913 Natives Land Act was passed, this book will provide a welcome new exploration of how policies were implemented at the inception of colonial occupation in this region.

Another reason this book is an important addition to the historiography of KwaZulu-Natal is for the snapshot it provides of settler society. Jeff Guy takes the opportunity of this text to examine how the first generation of British settlers came to view their African neighbours in terms of a reluctant labour force of ‘recent refugees’ who had no greater claim on the land than someone from London or Shropshire. Many of the acts committed by Theophilus Shepstone are devious or dishonest, but he was aware that the power he personally craved depended

on providing Africans (or at least certain Africans) with land. As a result, this brought Shepstone into direct conflict with the vast majority of colonists who were racist and chauvinist towards Africans. The generally prevailing view of white colonists in Natal was that no land at all should be set aside for Africans. That Shepstone was able to build his power base from the widespread allocation of land despite this is remarkable and a testament to his cunning.

A final distinguished feature of the book is the cast of characters surrounding Shepstone that Jeff Guy has found and brought to life. These include the various izinduna and amakhosi who worked with him to implement his system of administration, as well as those who opposed him and were punished for their courage. Many of these men were previously only given the smallest portions of our historical record, but in this book they become fully developed personalities. Guy also identifies a tiny handful of white, British-born colonial figures in Natal who utterly disagreed with both Shepstone’s policies and other white colonists’ racist greed for land. Individuals like the ‘remarkable’ magistrate, George Ryder Peppercorne or the radical liberal David Dale Buchanan, founder and editor of The Natal Witness or Bishop John William Colenso are all proof that racism was not obligatory among white settlers. Indeed, such people refute the tired argument that somehow ‘things were different then’.

Theophilus Shepstone and the Forging of Natal is undoubtedly a valuable contribution to the history of both our province and the development of official policies of segregation in South Africa. While Shepstone is the central figure in this account, Jeff Guy has carefully illustrated the story with a much larger cast of Africans and other colonials. A great deal of this book is painful to read, as one comes face to face with the phase in which the vast majority of people living in Natal at that time lost their security of tenure, but like medicine that tastes bad, the remedy is welcomed. Scholars of history have been anticipating this book eagerly, but it is also recommended to anyone with an interest in the origins of our modern society.

AVAILABLE FOR R380

ADAMS BOOKSTORE 341 DR PIXLEY KASEME STREET

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In Denis Hurley – Truth to Power Paddy Kearney provides a candid, succinct and holistic account of the life of Denis Hurley

in an easy-to-read and spellbinding narrative. The book is an instructive presentation, not only of Denis Hurley’s complex and challenging world, but most importantly, of how he interacted with and responded to that world. His worldly interactions and

responses were invariably gracious and unwaveringly honest and humane. In this book we are not only taken along one man’s remarkable journey through life, but we are also made to appreciate the tremendous existential tension between principle and doctrine as embodied in Denis Hurley’s stand for social justice. Kearney chronicles both the tension between Hurley and the Roman Catholic Church, as well as the broader tension between the church and a society caught in the clutches of prejudice and gross social injustice.The principle of collegiality as opposed to the doctrine of papal primacy is the best way to describe Hurley’s personality and vision. This is a story of tireless determination by one person opposed to conservatism inside and outside the church, as demonstrated in his diligent participation and input during the Second Vatican Council.

With extraordinary skill Paddy Kearney presents the life of Denis Hurley as a clergyman within the social milieu of his time. Kearney’s depiction of Denis Hurley’s story leaves no doubt that Hurley was a true moral giant and a champion for social justice and social harmony. Kearney is a great narrator; which makes this book a real page-turner, written in an accessible yet rich language. Hurley emerges as a worthy ambassador

of the church and a personification of decisiveness in an environment where extreme caution and fence-sitting reigned supreme. He is at heart a social activist with sharp antennae for detecting and dealing with injustice wherever it rears its ugly head. Humble in demeanour and hands-on in orientation, he rolls up his sleeves to pitch tents for evicted communities in Limehill and reaches out across cultural and socio-political barriers. This is a story of a colossus rising head and shoulders, both literally - because of his physique and figuratively - because of the size of his heart, above the quagmire of injustice and bigotry.

Kearney tells the story of this giant with great incisiveness, which lays bare both Hurley the extraordinary man of the cloth and Hurley the ordinary human being. To his own brethren, he was too radical and to the government of the day, he was a personification of Die Roomse Gevaar. This book is well-organised into a meticulous flow of Hurley’s exploits and his life’s great milestones and turning points. For a better understanding of the role of the church, the Catholic Church in particular, during the dark days of apartheid in South Africa, this book is a must-read. It is candid, unpretentious, and insightful – a great pleasure to read.

Denis Hurley - Truth to Power. Paddy Kearney

Publisher: University of KwaZulu-Natal Press,

Date of Publication: 2012

Place of Publication: Pietermaritzburg

Review by: Bheki Mchunu

bookreview

The lecture presented by Ms Zama was both informative and eye opening about many details in the life and character of a well-known personality, who many people perhaps only know as a tragic name from the past. Entertainment at the event was rendered exclusively by cultural groups from Umlazi such as Ithemba,

the poet Mhligo, Green Berets Musical group from Mason Lincoln Special School for the physically challenged and Umlazi High School choir. Among dignitaries who attended were the Deputy Mayor of eThekwini, Councillor Nomvuzo Shabalala, who also made a brief speech before the lecture, and a number of other councillors.

The event owed its success to the co-operation between a number of units within the eThekwini Metro including Community Participation, Inter-Governmental Relations, Parks, Recreation and Culture. Valuable assistance was also provided by the Provincial Arts and Culture Department.

... continued from page 17The Inaugural Victoria Mxenge Annual Lecture

BOOK REVIEWS

UMLANDO 201342

In the analysis of peasant agriculture Bundy’s book demonstrates that South African capitalism brought about the centre-periphery

structure of our economy. In simple terms, capitalism divided the country’s economy into the centre (manufacturing, commerce, mining and capitalised agriculture) where the central economy grows rapidly, while peripheral economies stagnate. Although 35 years have passed since the first edition was published, Bundy’s book takes readers through well structured chapters that invalidate views held by both liberal and conservative South African historians. Bundy categorically shows that the present wretchedness of the Farm Reserve areas (now Traditional Authority) of South Africa was hardly due to ‘backward’ farming practices of black agriculturalists or their insensitivity to improved methods.

A century after the Natives Land Act was passed, Colin Bundy asserts that segregationist policies of South Africa were instrumental in the state of underdevelopment of African communities, especially in rural areas. He

maintains that the political economy of mining and specifically the discovery of diamonds and gold in the 19th century is, among others, one of the main causes of underdevelopment that account for the demise of the South African peasantry. He emphasises that the mining industry needed labour and it had to come from African communities because there were not enough whites in the country. When Africans resisted recruitment into mining, the colonial government responded by imposing a tax system on Africans (the hut and the poll taxes and even the dog tax) and this could only be paid in cash. This started the migratory labour system and its dire consequences for rural African economies.

When reading the book the reader realises that legislation such as the poll tax and the hut tax were strategic in the depletion of rural economies by making payments in cash mandatory, and forced Africans to leave their lands and seek work in the mines. Therefore, the synergy from the aforementioned acts was that Africans migrated to cities and white farms; and economic development was skewed in favour of mining, manufacturing and capitalised agriculture at the expense of the rural African economy.

When reading Bundy’s book one wakens to the thread that runs through his argument

– that food security is the ability to access quality food on a continuous basis and is a function of the economic status of individuals where persons are assured of means to either grow their own food or to have funds to purchase it. Where this condition does not exist, the individuals concerned experience food insecurity. A reader could, therefore, safely say that food insecurity is a direct outcome of poverty, especially in the South African context, given the history of productive relations in the country.

Bundy writes in a style that is easy to follow and draws readers into the roots of both segregation and politics in South Africa. It is a book that criticises the widespread view that African agriculture was primitive or backward and attacks the notion that poverty and lack of development were a result of ‘traditionalism’. Bundy correctly introduces the idea that by late 19th and early 20th century capitalist development in South Africa was increasingly hostile to peasant producers and a massive onslaught was orchestrated against them. bo

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The Rise and Fall of the South African Peasantry. Colin Bundy

u

Publisher: David Philip

Date of Publication: 1979

Place of Publication: Cape Town

Review by: Bonginkosi Rock Zuma

BOOK REVIEWS


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UMLANDO 201344

FEATURE

South African National SocietyA

larmed at the destruction of the indigenous fauna and flora, as well as the perceived threat to buildings of note and of historical value, a group of like-minded people came together

in Cape Town in 1904 and a year later established the South African National Society (SANS). Chaired by the then chief justice, Sir Henry de Villiers, SANS rapidly set about initiating legislation in the Cape to protect its fauna and flora.

The advent of the Union of South Africa broadened their reach, for three years later legislation was passed to extend protection not only to fauna and flora but also to rock art. With the passage of the “Bushman Relics Protection Act of 1911” a start was made to protect this valuable heritage throughout the Union. Other legislation followed and SANS members collectively and individually continued to play a vital role in many of the early laws passed to set aside and develop nature reserves throughout the country. Many of their members also played a significant role individually, for example in the establishment of Kirstenbosch Botanical Gardens.

It helped to have the patronage of the Union’s chief justice, now Lord Henry de Villiers but people like J. H. Hofmeyer, F.S.Malan, Graham Botha as well as Mrs Koopmans de Wet held considerable sway at that time. But it was not only fauna and flora which attracted their interest and they saw that buildings and architecture required care and preservation. In the booklet published to mark their 25th anniversary, SANS claimed the preservation of Cape Town Castle from demolition as their single most significant achievement.

Immediately after SANS’ establishment, branches were established in a variety of different centres. The Natal branch was founded in 1907 and after Union was for many years chaired by the Administrator of Natal. For the next several decades SANS was at the forefront of heritage conservation in KwaZulu-Natal, in fulfilment of the original objectives outlined by its founders.

The aims of SANS are clearly spelt out in its constitution and a brief synopsis of its aims are:• to cultivate a love for, and appreciation of, the

natural, historical and cultural heritage of South Africa and all its peoples

• to promote interest in, and appreciation of, those

To cultivate a love for, and appreciation of, the natural, historical and cultural heritage of South Africa and all its peoples.

IAN SMITH

Durban: Once Upon A TimeA book entitled ‘Durban: Once upon a time’ has been published under the patronage of the South African National Society and one of its members, who wishes to remain anonymous, made a considerable financial contribution to enable the publication to take place. Professor Franco Frescura is a member of SANS and he has written the book in association with Barbara Maude Stone. Seen in the photo above are Ian Smith, left and Professor Franco Frescura on the right with a copy of the book. Behind them is a poster for the book.


aspects of natural resources, history and culture which are important for all the South African people

• to give general support and publicity to the S.A. Heritage Resources Agency and the Amafa/Heritage KwaZulu-Natal in their task of preserving the natural, historical and cultural heritage of South Africa, and to support any other body or organization engaged in, or faced with, a similar task.It is a difficult task to briefly pay tribute to the many people who

have ensured that these aims have continued to be upheld over the years. One person stands out, however, and that is the late Dr Killie Campbell, who unsurprisingly was deeply involved in the local branch of SANS in Durban. Her Herbert Baker home, set in unique and botanically significant gardens, would be important in its own right, but until her death it also remained a home and her residence. To this informal research institution she continued to welcome and encourage people of all races and from many parts of the world to study in what remains one of Africa’s most significant libraries. Tea time at Muckleneuk was an education when scholars of all races could meet and exchange views and be enriched by this experience. Besides her patronage of people such as Barbara Tyrell, over many years Killie Campbell and her family counted the heads of the Zulu monarchy as friends. As a leading member of the Black Sash she was quite prepared to explain her views to the Nationalist President of South Africa when he came to call.

SANS successfully persuaded the Durban City Council to preserve the Old Court House, now part of the Local History Museum, as well as the Robinson home, known as the Old House Museum. With Daphne Strutt as curator of the local History museum, SANS was pivotal in the collection and provision of many of the exhibits and old photographs for that and other local museums. The preservation of Drakensberg rock art together with the preservation of the Dlinza forest near eShowe are further examples of the work of the local branch of SANS.

SANS continued to play a significant though diminishing role in the preservation of South Africa’s heritage in the 20th century.Sadly, as the century wore on branches faded and in 1980 the Cape Town branch closed, leaving the Durban branch as the sole remaining branch in South Africa. But since 1982 SANS has annually awarded the Killie Campbell Memorial Bursary to post graduate students to further their studies relating to KZN history in honour of her work. SANS continues to meet each month on the second Tuesday at 5 pm at the KwaMuhle Museum for talks and discussion, with occasional visits to places of historical interest. SANS also distributes a monthly newsletter thereby creating an awareness of our South African heritage which we endeavour to preserve.

FEATURE

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UMLANDO 201346

Durban Local History Museums Trust

The Durban Local History Museums Trust was established in 1997 to assist the Durban Local History Museum in attaining its objectives.

In November 2011 the Trust of 1997 was dissolved and a new Deed of Trust was formulated to succeed in title to and continue with the aims and objects of the existing Local History Museums Trust. The Trust consists of not less than six Trustees who receive no remuneration for their services, which are considered to be charitable in nature.

The objects of the Trust are:• To serve the people by collecting,

researching, conserving and interpreting for education, exhibition and display, KwaZulu-Natal’s material and historical evidence so as to improve the knowledge, understanding and appreciation of artefacts that form

part of the wealth and diversity of the region’s cultural heritage.

• To promote regional pride in our common past so as to play an effective role in the process of reconstruction and reconciliation by providing for the informal and non-formal education needs of the community.

• To provide a focus for the dissemination of knowledge and information about the region’s past as part of a strategy to promote national and international tourism to the region.

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To facilitate the development of historical heritage primarily within the Durban Metropolitan Region.

• To develop the cultural heritage conservation message to preserve unique elements of the Durban Metropolitan Region’s urban environment for the benefit of this and future generations.

• To develop partnerships with educational institutions, cultural associations, labour organisations, local businesses to achieve these objectives.

The main function of the Trust is to raise funds and manage these funds for the benefit of the Museums.

STACIE GIBSON

Repairs to the decking of the tug ULUNDI

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• To increase productivity through improved staff efficiency and to be financially cost effective and self sufficient.

• To share administrative, secretarial and financial functions with other Trusts where and when it is desirable to save costs and ensure efficiency.The main function of the Trust is to

raise funds and manage these funds for the benefit of the Museums. Apart from this administrative function the Trust is also involved in various other projects in support of the museums, such as the development and hosting of the ‘Explore the Durban Local History Museums’ website www.durban-history.co.za and the scanning of the museums’ photographic collection.

In March 2012, members of the Trust toured the nine LHM facilities, which included the Rank Xerox Storage Facility and the Conservation/Technical Centre, and produced a comprehensive report on their findings.

The Friends of the Port Natal Maritime Museum was formed in June 2012, their primary purpose being to assist the

Museum staff in carrying out essential maintenance and repair work to craft, artefacts and display items in the Museum.

To date, projects of the Friends have included: (i) the refurbishing of the ‘Port Natal

– Port of Durban’ Photographic Exhibition in the Britannica Room

(ii) making the mine sweeper SAS Durban waterproof and restoring the deck of the vessel to a safe condition

(iii) cleaning and repairing the insides of the tug JR More and

(iv) an exhibition commemorating the grounding, fifty years ago, of the American freighter Aimee Lykes on the Aliwal Shoal along the KZN South Coast.Funding of approximately R 500 000

has been donated by the Trust towards the first three of these projects.

The Trust is intended to be a non-profit and wholly public benefit organisation and gladly accepts donations and bequests.

To promote regional pride in our common past so as to play an effective role in the process of reconstruction and reconciliation by providing for the informal and non-formal education needs of the community.

www.durban-history.co.za

Msunduzi Museum (incorporating the Voortrekker Complex)

The museum was founded in 1912 and depicts the heritage of the different culturalgroups of KwaZulu-Natal. Voortrekker history is displayed in the Voortrekker Complexwhich includes the Church of the Vow, Andries Pretorius House and E.G. JansenExtension. The main building, formerly the Longmarket Street Girls' School, housesa variety of exhibitions including 'Tapestry of cultures – our diversity is our pride'exhibition, history of Pietermaritzburg' and 'Birth of Democracy' exhibition, supplemented by a Hindu Shiva temple, traditional Zulu home, herb garden and Discovery Centre. Displays on the Anglo-Boer War can be seen at the VoortrekkerHouse in 333 Boom Street. The museum also offers a variety of educationalprogrammes. An outreach programme in which various crafts are taught is offered.

Ncome Museum and Monument Complex

Ncome Museum is located 43km from Dundee on the R33 to Vryheid.The museum is named after the river known as Ncome in isiZuluor Bloedrivier in Afrikaans, meaning Blood River. The site witnesseda major confrontation between the Voortrekkers and amaZuluon 16 December 1838. The museum offers a reinterpretationof the 1838 confrontation and exhibits on Zulu and Sothoculture in general. The Museum regularly hosts culturalevents in partnership with local communities. The facility is being upgraded to include a picnic site,library, restaurant, multi-purpose hall and Zulu hutsfor tourist accommodation. The museum alsooffers guided tours and educationalprogrammes.

Tel: 034 271 8121Fax: 034 271 8124E-mail: [email protected] daily 08:30-16:30

351 Langalibalele Street, PietermaritzburgTel: 033 394 6834/5Fax: 033 394 6797www.voortrekkermuseum.org.zaHours: Monday to Friday 09:00-16:00, Saturday & Public Holidays 09:00-13:00 Reference library and internet caféMonday to Friday 09:00-16:00

This is Henry Paul, one of the guests at the 50 Years Anniversary of the Aimee Lykes Grounding exhibition and seminar held on 26 of October 2013. Mr Paul was a young artisan who worked on the ship in the Durban dry dock 50 years ago and he told the audience of 125 people of how, as a result of the work that this ship brought him, he was able to buy his first ever house in Wentworth. He said he had to come to the seminar to relive the six months when a ship’s misfortune brought him a good turn of luck.

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UMLANDO 201348

Shepstone, Africans and Land in KwaZulu-Natal

Interview with Professor Jeff Guy

Jeff Guy has dedicated his entire academic career as a writer to the history of KwaZulu-Natal. Specifically, the history of British colonial policies

in this region and how the leaders of various African and settler communities interacted with those policies, as well as with one another in the period of transition between independent kingdoms and the segregationist state of the 20th century. Professor Guy has been a tireless advocate of detailed, methodical research in the archives of our province, and his latest publication is yet another skilful product of his own efforts in this regard.

Published late in 2013, Theophilus Shepstone and the Forging of Natal: African Autonomy and Settler Colonialism in the Making of Traditional Authority takes on the important figure who founded and then dominated the post of ‘Secretary for Native Affairs’ in the Colony of Natal (reviewed in this edition of Umlando, on page 39). Although Shepstone’s career began more than 150 years ago, his great significance lies in the fact that his generation of government officials established the first relationships and legal principles with African leaders and communities in this region. In addition, Shepstone’s personality and methods of operation have made him a difficult topic of analysis due to an underlying

inclination to obscure his intentions and present a vague or elusive record of his actions.

Meeting with Jeff Guy to discuss this strange character who seems familiar to us through his legacy, and yet completely blurred in the historical record, it soon becomes clear that the retired professor still has a great deal to say about both Shepstone and the history of KwaZulu-Natal. Although his new book is not a biography of Shepstone, and does not specifically set out to provide a comprehensive account of the man himself, it comprises over 530 pages of well written and compelling text on the era that saw the formation of the Colony of Natal. Central to the history he has compiled, and really central to Shepstone’s career too, is the issue of land for Africans. The whole basis of what became known as the ‘Shepstone System’ of administration was colonial control of

how Africans gained access to land.According to Guy, the argument

made by Theophilus Shepstone was that African communities of Natal had fled the terrible violence that surrounded the establishment of the Zulu kingdom north of the Thukela River. When the colonial government was created in the 1840s, Shepstone maintained that Africans were still terrified of a shapeless and general threat the Zulu king Mpande posed to their lives and their cattle. In fact, Professor Guy asserts that the amakhosi of Natal were intrigued to find a white colonial official who could speak their language fluently (Shepstone grew up on the Eastern Cape frontier in an 1820 settler mission station). Being able to communicate directly in idiomatic Zulu with a British official was a unique experience for these African leaders. They impressed on Shepstone their need for security, in other words a deep desire to protect their families, livestock and crucially – their access to the land they were already living on.

Land became a currency of power in the early days of the colony of Natal, and the chief broker of that power, and of land, was Theophilus Shepstone. One of the points Guy makes in conversation is that British policy for this early period is not well written up yet, despite the attention of contemporary historians for the last 50 years. As befitting an academic

Land became a currency of power in the early days of the colony of Natal, and the chief broker of that power, and of land, was Theophilus Shepstone.

STEVEN KOTZE

The fact that Africans largely continued their way of life despite the onset of colonial government bred the greatest frustration for white settlers, and Guy portrays that frustration as the origin of the bitter racism that later took hold among later generations of Natal settlers.

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who has consistently approached our history from a Marxist perspective, he believes an understanding of the economics of the situation is vital. Explaining the key problem he says, ‘a settler colony needed to pay for its own upkeep with the sale of Crown Land, and in order to make the most of this resource the land price was kept as high as possible’. This proved extremely frustrating for the settlers, who saw that Shepstone’s policies allowed Africans to have land ‘free’ as they saw it, while it remained expensive for whites who had to buy it.

The second major issue settlers found with Shepstone’s land policy was that it permitted homesteads (imizi) to retain their independence of the colonial economy, and largely absolved Africans of the need to work. The racist majority of settlers believed that if Africans were forced to buy their land, this would drive them into jobs and thus allow whites to prosper. Of course, such bigoted settlers did not regard Africans as having any rights to their own land in the first place. The fact that Africans largely continued their way of life despite the onset of colonial government bred the greatest frustration for white settlers, and Guy portrays that frustration as the origin of the bitter racism that later took hold among later generations of Natal settlers.

For Africans the access they gained to land came at a considerable price, namely their unquestioned loyalty to the Secretary for Native Affairs. Shepstone used the situation for his own benefit, says Guy, ‘you were left on the land if he was on your side’ as far as the amakhosi were concerned. While Africans in Natal were not defeated in cruel military campaigns of subjugation, as Shepstone later devised for the Zulu kingdom in 1879, they were given brutal examples of what happened to those communities whose leaders “stepped out of line”. Intimidation was the most effective military tool employed by Shepstone in his career, particularly in cases that involved powerful hereditary amakhosi.

Jeff Guy has argued in his earlier work that the punishment inflicted on Langalibalele kaMthimkhulu of the Hlubi is the best example of how any perceived threat to his power was severely dealt with. This new book contains detailed accounts of other, prior uses of violent retribution levelled against leaders such as Fodo and Sidoyi of the Nhlangwini, Mdushane kaNgcaphayi of the Bhaca,

Mbalo of the Ngwe and Matshana kaMondise of the Sithole. Reading of how these amakhosi and their followers were stripped of cattle and potentially faced losing their land as well, it was clear that Shepstone ran his administration along the lines of a vast protection scheme. In order to shield their people from even worse attacks by colonists, the hereditary amakhosi quietly toed the line as best they could, hopefully to avoid the fates of those foolish or brave enough to cross Shepstone.

Another tactic employed by the Secretary of Native Affairs was to create a base of power among newly established ‘government’ amakhosi, who owed their power and thus allegiance to Shepstone. Guy explains that for certain Africans, working for the colonial government came with enormous benefits. When cattle were distributed after raids against headstrong African leaders, large numbers of these were awarded to Shepstone’s izinduna. The most trusted men who worked

Intimidation was the most effective military tool employed by Shepstone in his career, particularly in cases that involved powerful hereditary amakhosi.

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UMLANDO 201350

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for him not only amassed vast wealth in livestock, they ultimately became chiefs in their own right. In this respect none are more famous than Ngoza kaLudada, who rose to become the most powerful nkosi in Natal as a direct result of his unquestioned loyalty to his boss, and the system they both operated within.

Ngoza was originally from the upper reaches of the Mzinyathi River valley, where his family fell under Nkosi Jobe of the Sithole, says Guy. As a young man Ngoza fought against the Boers at Blood River-eNcome, but later found himself in Natal after the British colony was founded. Shepstone noticed Ngoza during the early actions he took against Fodo of the Nhlangwini, and appointed him as a government induna. His further loyal service was later rewarded with a position as a ‘government chief’ in the area around Table Mountain outside Pietermaritzburg. Ngoza was granted jurisdiction over a community of refugees mixed together by fate and by Shepstone’s orders. Finally, he returned to his roots in Msinga when Matshana kaMondise was deposed by Shepstone and fl ed to the Zulu kingdom

in 1858. The extensive Sithole territory was awarded to none other than Ngoza kaLudada ,who settled there with his numerous followers, by permission of Theophilus Shepstone.

Clearly this is an exceptional case, but there was great benefi t in being a man trusted by Somtsewu (Shepstone’s nickname, ‘Father of Whiteness’). Jeff Guy did not set out to write a book about land, but the way that land features in this new text is important to understanding how the 1913 Natives Land Act and other laws of segregation were applied in Natal and the former Zulu kingdom.

In the fi rst chapter Guy offers an analysis of two entirely different views of the world that operated when Theophilus Shepstone fi rst arrived in Natal. The chapter is entitled ‘People or Things’ and it serves as a philosophical departure for understanding what gave Shepstone such insight, and hence subtle grasp of power in an African context. Jeff Guy gives an important but brief explanation of how he believes wealth and value were ascribed, both by white settlers and in African communities. ‘People’, Guy says

in discussion ‘or accumulating followers, were the overriding social and economic goal in this society’. In a key passage of the text he expands further,

These were not societies to which ideas and concepts – buy, sell, marriage, wealth, invest, for example – derived unconsciously and uncritically from a capitalist system, can be applied, except at the most superfi cial level. We cannot merely transfer contemporary ideas of oppression and exploitation to our understanding of pre-conquest societies.This attempt to look at the experience

of how African land was lost, and how Africans faced the colonial occupation, from a perspective that is sympathetic to African views makes this important book about far more than simply the career of one man. As the rest of the title claims, the ‘forging’ of Natal was deeply concerned with African autonomy and settler colonialism, and in the process Traditional Authority was transformed. Like all important history, it remains as relevant to our region today as it was 150 years ago.

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UMLANDO 201352

‘I may shut up for some time because of fear. Yet even this will not make me feel ashamed. For I know that as long as the ideas remain unchanged within me, there will be the possibility that, one day, I shall burst out and say everything that I wish to say - in a loud and thunderous voice’.

Nathaniel Ndazana Nakasa, Rand Daily Mail, 30 May 1964

exhibition now openOld Court House Museum. 77 Samora Machel Street. Durban

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