I hear the sound of the feet of a great white people. They will tread the land flat.

THE ZULU nation grew from a few hundred followers into a mighty empire under Shaka. Successive kings ruled over it, and all to soon the inevitable conflict with the white man was to come. Britain's gradual expansion into South Africa led to Natal in 1845 becoming annexed to the British Cape Colony, after a treaty was signed with the Zuiu king Mpande in October 1843, stating that the Zulus would remain north of the River Tugela and east of the Buffaio River. The Transvaal was soon to follow, being annexed in April 1877.

This pleased the Boers in both states very little; they had made the long trek and fought many bloody actions with the Zulus and other tribes, only to be once more under the English yoke. The Zulus, for their part, were less concerned and saw an opportunity for the issue of its disputed border territory with the Boers in the Transvaal to be arbitrated by Britain. Its wishes were granted and a commission was set up in February 1878 and in June of that year, it reported its findings, upholding the Zulu rights to the land.

Key Players

Sir Theophilus Shepstone was to become a major figure in leading Britain to war against the Zulus. Having grown up in the Cape and able to speak Zulu, he was, in February 1846, made Secretary for Native Affairs in Natal. He had, in his opinion, a good understanding of the native way of life and soon saw the Zulus as a threat to Natal's growth.

He was to involve himself in the politics of a successor to the Zulu king Mpande, who finally died in 1872 with his son Chetshwayo succeeding him. Chetshwayo was keen to seek recognition from Natal of his sovereignty and invited Shepstone to attend his grand coronation in August 1873, this being indeed an honour. Alas Shepstone did not attend. Instead, he went in September and crowned the king in a tacky ceremony of his own design, which endeared him little to many Zulus.

Shepstone was to use the ceremony to discuss the disputed territories to the Northwest of Natal and to push the king to open up his country to more missionaries and the need for workers for the new province. Chetshwayo gave some concessions in workers for the new Natal, but was reluctant to let in any more missionaries who might dilute his power over his subjects.

Shepstone was to go further in his attempt to influence proceedings in Zululand. He read out a series of new laws that were to be kept, the king listened in silence.

1. That the indiscriminate shedding of blood would cease.

2. That no Zulu would be condemned without open trial and without public examination of all witnesses and that each convicted man would have right of appeal to the king.

3. That once a trial had taken place and the right of appeal had been exercised, no Zulu life would be taken without the knowledge and consent of the King.

4. And that for minor crimes, the loss of property, all or part of it, would be substituted for the death penalty.

Satisfied with his dealings with the king, Shepstone returned back across the border to Natal; the king, for his part, now prepared to rule his kingdom as he saw fit, no doubt pleased with befriending Britain.

The laws Shepstone had decreed proved his lack of knowledge and understanding of the Zulu way of life. True, Chetshwayo's rise to power before his coronation involved him in a bloody battle on Natal's border, when many thousands of his enemies were slaughtered, but during his reign as king, few Zulus were killed out of hand; times had changed since Shaka's reign when killings were all too frequent.

Shepstone was to leave Natal to face the new challenge of Administrator of the Transvaal when it was annexed in 1877. SIR BARTLE FRERE was appointed High Commissioner for South Africa in March 1877 and, like Shepstone, saw the Zulus as a real threat to British interests in South Africa and deemed it a matter of urgency that the Boers and other whites of Natai and the Transvaal see the advantages of British rule and was prepared to uphold Boer claims for land over the Zulus.

Speedy Confederation

The Head of the Colonial Office, Lord Carnarvon, encouraged this policy of a speedy confederation of the white states under British control, although he hoped that any conflict with the Zulus, although inevitable, would come later; this being very much in keeping with the British Government's policy, as it could ill afford yet another costly colonial war. The following are letters sent by Frere, detailing his totally inaccurate intelligence regarding the Zulus, fuelled for the most part by much exaggerated missionary tales.

Frere to Sir Michael Hicks Beach, new High Cornrnissioner for South Africa, Sept. 23:

"The Zulus are quite out of hand and the maintenance of peace depends upon their forbearance. I speak with a deep sense of responsibility for what I say, when I assure that the peace of South Africa for many years to come seems to me to depend on your taking steps to put a final end to Zulu pretensions to dictate to Her Majesty's Government what they may or may not do to protect their colonies in South Africa, and that unless you settle with the Zulus, you will find it difficult, if not impossible, to govern the Transvaal without a considerable standing force of troops."

Reporting to London he stated:

"There is no lack of Prophets of Peace hereabouts, but I feel convinced that the Zulus are boiling ouer with warlike conceit and will not let us alone. It is the Zulu practice to attack suddenly and without warning, relying on white unpreparedness and their own discipline. It was Chetchwayo's avowed policy to recover the position held by Shaka."

More Troops

Frere pushed for more troops and officers, and with Britain becoming more aware of tensions in South Africa, Hicks Beach wrote to Frere to set out the Government's position:

Mid October:

"Her Majesty's Government are not prepared to comply with a request for a reinforcement of troops. All the information that has hitherto reached them with respect to the position of affairs in Zululand appears to them to justify a confident hope that by the exercise of prudence and by meeting the Zulus in a spirit of forebearance and reasonable compromise, it will be possible to avert the very serious event of war with Chetshwayo."

This dear non-war policy did nothing to sway Frere. He again made his concerns quite clear.

"I can only repeat my own conviction that the continued preservation of peace depends no longer on what the servants of the British Government here may do or abstain from doing, but simply on the caprice of an ignorant and bloodthirsty despot, with an organized force of at least 40,000 armed men at this absolute command."

More letters were penned, all warning of the Zulu army "unconquered, insolent, burning to clear out the white man."

Further anxieties fuelled Frere's views in the form of some otherwise insignificant border incidents two of which involved the killing of some Zulu women by Zulu warriors, having been kidnapped back from Natal. These incidents were to be straw that broke the camel's back for Frere.

On 11th December, he called on Zulu representatives to hear his somewhat delayed decision on the Border Commission's report back in June. The bones of the report he upheld, with the disputed land around the Blood River territory being awarded to them, but to their surprise, they would have to give a large compensation of cattle to any Boer families leaving the area and agree to a British representative to reside in Utrecht to ensure the safety of those that remained.

This was bad enough for the Zulu izinduna (chiefs); worse was to come after lunch. Frere had drawn up a 4,000 worded document, which listed demands that had to be adhered to over the next 20 and 30 days and showed Frere's understanding of the Zulu way of life to be negligible, to say the least. The demands were to sound the death knell for the Zulu nation.

Demands

By delaying the sending of a draft of the demands to London, the Government was unable to stop the inevitable.

Demands to be met within 20 days :-

(1) Sihayo's brother and his three sons (involved in one of the incidents with Zulu women) were to be surrendered for trial by the Natal courts.

(2) A fine of 500 head of cattle was to be paid for Mehlokazulu's outrages, and for Chetshwayo's delay in acceding to Natal's previous request for his surrender (again incident with Zulu women).

(3) A further fine of 100 head of cattle was to be paid for the offense committed against Smith and Deighton (whilst on survey of roads to Drifts on Zulu border they were held by some Zulu warriors but released unhanned).

Ten further demands to be met within 30 days:-

(1) Mbilini, and others to be named thereafter, were to be surrendered for trial by the Transvaal courts (they had led a raid on Swaziland).

(2) Shepstone's advice at the coronation was to be adhered to; no Zulu was to be executed without an open trial before the Indunas, with the right of appeal to the king.

(3) The Zulu army was to disband, and the men were to be permitted to return to their homes.

(4) The current Zulu military system was to be abandoned, and new regulations concerning the maintenance of armed men and the defence of the realm would be worked out between the Great Council and British representatives.

(5) Every Zulu was to be free to marry on reaching maturity.

(6) All missionaries and converts who had fled Zululand in 1877 were to be permitted to return to their mission stations (no missionary had ever been harmed with many leaving Zululand in 1877 due to growing tensions).

(7) All missionaries were to be free to teach as they pleased, and all Zulus who cared to attend were to do so without let or hindrance (lack of progress by missionaries was due to the strong Zulu way of life and not any hindrance on them).

(8) A British diplomatic resident was to reside in Zululand to enforce these provisions.

(9) Any dispute involving an European was to be heard in public in the presence of the king and of the British resident.

(10) No sentence of expulsion from Zululand was to be carried out until the British resident had approved it.

Chetshwayo sent word agreeing to the surrender of the men and stating that the cattle were being collected; nothing further was to be heard. On January 4th Frere gave Lord Chelmsford the duty to enforce all the demands.

The following notification was published on January 11th:

"The British forces are crossing into Zululand to exact from Chetshwayo reparation for violations of British territory committed by the sons of Sirayo and others; and to enforce compliance with the promises, made by Chetshwayo at his coronation, for the better government of his people. The British Government has no quarrel with the Zulu people. All Zulus who come in unarmed, or who lay down their arms, will be provided for till the troubles of their country are over; and will then, if they please, be allowed to return to their own land, but all who do not so submit will be dealt with as enemies. When the war is finished, the British Government will make the best arrangements in its power for the future good gouernment of the Zulus in their own country, in peace and quietness, and will not permit the killing and oppression they haue suffered from Chetshwayo to continue."

Britain was now at war with the Zulus.

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