Sage Robbins

The Inspiration Forged and Sought by the Bhambatha Rebellion

As Africans, we never slept. All we did was work in the fields. We worked in the sun, at night,
and in everything you could think of. We got paid nothing and were expected to live. We had no
say in anything and if we talked out we got punished. On top of that, the poll tax restricted our
agricultural views. It was impossible to buy seeds and cattle. This made farming extremely
difficult. Plenty of my fellow tribemates were enslaved. There was little hope to be seen. We
were far from helpless victims. It was time for us to fight back!

It was January 1906. The British made an unexpected new tax called the poll tax and it targeted
Africans, as it was a house tax imposed without any sense of democratic vote. The British
wanted money for the expenses that came from agriculture to benefit themselves. Many
Africans were harmed by the tax and angry; they were inspired and needed to make a change.

That change came in the form of the Bhambatha rebellion. A man named Bhambatha
kaMancinza was the leader of the Zondi clan located in the Mpanza valley. He was a well
-renowned leader.

The rebellion began when two British troops came to his land to collect the taxes from his
people. The article, “The Death of Bhambatha Zondi A Recent Discovery,” states, “When the
time came to pay the tax on 22 February 1906, Bhambatha was faced with a dilemma; he was
apparently prepared to pay, but one of his indunas (Nhlonhlo) informed him that the majority of
the tribe refused to do so, and would resort to armed resistance if necessary.” (Gillings) As
Bhambatha anticipated to pay, his foes convinced him to fold, thus the rebellion began. This
remarkable moment was awakening as to that date the Africans were too afraid to fight colonial
rule.

During colonization, slavery was put into place. If Africans refused to work they would get
punished, which ranged from being starved to being killed. This goes to show that there was a
lot of racism. In fact, the British thought of the Africans as animals. Thus many rules put into
place were racist and unjust.

The Africans also had no say in the laws that were passed. They were powerless and helpless
as no one would listen to them. The system was extremely undemocratic. So the rebellion
fought for a voice in their community. The rebellion also strived to end the poll tax, as well as
terminate slavery and white supremacy. This would result in more equality. The whole situation
was abusive so the Africans fought to put a stop to it.

Lastly, the rebellion sought to fight injustice. The article named, Nkosi Bhambatha ka Mancinza
Zondi (1866 - 1906), talked about white brutality: “The British troops went on a rampage whose
only outcome was the destruction of the livelihoods of the indigenous people. They torched their
homesteads, dispossessed the people of their land, destroyed their crops, took away their
cattle, and flogged the Africans indiscriminately.” This inhumane account shows many
examples of the white brutality and sheer force the British had over the Africans.
Bhambatha and his foes were fighting the unfair treatment and the savagery imposed by the
British. Even with the ambition forged by the rebellion, there was little hope of succeeding.

This was because the British had more men and power. For example, the Africans had spears
while the British had guns. Near the end of the rebellion, a huge war began at Mome George.
Even though Bhambathas rebellion fought hard, from day one the British overpowered the
rebellion and ended up victorious. Though the rebellion was not forgotten. Instead, it brought an
immense amount of hope that inspired Southern Africa.

With the desire for change, plenty of smaller groups started to fight for what they believed in.
For example, in 1946, for a week there was a protest formed by the African mineworkers. They
protested for higher pay and a fair work schedule. When they were getting paid less than 10
shillings per day for manual labor they demanded a change. They were inspired to make a
change because of the ambition of the Bambatha Rebellion.

The protest only demanded what was right and constitutional, although the British brought terror
to the protest. In just one week, the police injured numerous workers and killed 9 of them for
demanding what was right. This demonstrates just how racist and brutal the police were.
Through time colonial rule began to weaken.

Another example of the Africans fighting colonization was the 1976 student uprising. The
students were fighting to get rid of Apartheid views. Apartheid views are commonly known as
segregation. The protest only lasted for 3 days, but soon made a significant change in Southern
Africa. The biggest take away from the Bambatha rebellion was simple. It gave Africans
inspiration to fight for what was right.

While the Bhambatha rebellion was ultimately unsuccessful in its goals, it did establish hope
that inspired others to take action against colonial rule in the future. The spirit of reclaiming
power through revolution runs deep in the veins of those who are oppressed. Which goes to
show that rebellion was a remarkable point in southern Africa’s history as it began an uprising to
abolish the colonial rule.
Works Cited
Mngomezulu, Bheki R. The Economic causes and Effects of the Bambatha Rebellion. Microsoft
PowerPoint, University of Kwazulu- Natal. 2010.
https://www.econrsa.org/system/files/workshops/presentations/2010/bheki_bhambatha_2010.pd
f​ 22 September 2020
“Nkosi Bhambatha Ka Mancinza Zondi (1866 - 1906): The Presidency.” Nkosi Bhambatha Ka
Mancinza Zondi (1866 - 1906) | The Presidency,
www.thepresidency.gov.za/national-orders/recipient/nkosi-bhambatha-ka-mancinza-zondi-1866-
1906​. 23 September 2020
Gandhi, M K. “The Zulu Rebellion.” The Zulu Rebellion | The Story of My Experiments with Truth
| Gandhi Autobiography, ​www.mkgandhi.org/autobio/chap101.htm​. 23 September 2020
Gillings, Ken. “Military History Journal Vol 12 No 4 - December 2002.” South African Military
History Society - Journal - THE 'DEATH' OF BHAMBATHA ZONDI, 2002,
samilitaryhistory.org/vol124kg.html. 24 September 2024