Introduction
2. Socio-historical background
2.4. The isiZulu-speaking community in KwaZulu-Natal
2.4.2. Colonisation
amalala and everyone else who lived in the periphery of the kingdom. These groups carried other derogatory names such as amanhlwenga (destitutes) or iziyendane (those with a strange hairstyle) (Wright and Hamilton 1989: 72). This structure suggests that in the early Zulu kingdom, divisions within the society were common, and a 'broad' and 'unified' 'Zulu' identity did not exist. However:
...they [the people in the kingdom] were encouraged by their Zulu rulers to regard themselves as all being of amatungwa descent. In time, they did in fact come to think of themselves as sharing a common origin and culture. Ntungwa-ness thus constituted an ethnic identity which, like all ethnic identities, developed in specific political circumstances (Wright and Hamilton 1989: 72).
This line of argument implies that Ntungwa-ness was at least one of the expressions of Zuluness in this particular period of time, which was, however, based more on a political ethnic formation rather than a general ethnic identity. As ethnolinguistic identities are investigated from a sociolinguistic and rather apolitical perspective here, it suffices to say that Ntungwa-ness, as some kind of mobilised version of Zuluness, already existed in the Zulu kingdom.
It has to be assumed that in the first half of the nineteenth century, the Black population in the region of KwaZulu-Natal was a divided group without a notion of a uniform ethnic, or politically constructed identity. North of the Thukela the existence of the amabutho, an organised regiment of young men, created more of a corporate identity than an ethnic one, as the members stood under the ritual authority of the ruling chief and considered themselves exclusively of amatungwa, and thus royal descent. The amabutho stood in service of the chiefs, either as an army or as a police force, which made them, among other things, responsible for the maintenance of the political subordination of certain communities (Wright and Hamilton 1989: 63).85
Shaka was murdered in 1828 by two of his half-brothers, Mhlangana and Dingane.
The latter then became king and reigned for over a decade (for more detail, see Colenbrander 1989, Guy 1979, Laband 1992, etc). In 1837 the first Voortrekkers under the leadership of Retief and Maritz arrived in KwaZulu-Natal and although Dingane initially engaged in trade with the Voortrekkers, he treated them brutally.
After his warriors initially inflicted severe defeats on both the Boer and the British settlers, they suffered a brutal rout in 1838 at Blood River when the Voortrekkers killed 3 000 Zulus. Consequently, Dingane's power was damaged, the opposition among his people increased and the kingdom slowly split apart. Most of the inhabitants of the south allied themselves with Mpande, his brother, who with the help of the Voortrekkers, drove Dingane out off the country to the Lobombo mountains where he later died.
When referring to oral traditions, Colenbrander (1989: 85) notes that this event is described as "the breaking of the rope that held the nation together". Although it is unclear whether one could speak of any clear existing 'Zuluness' at this point,
Much has been written about the so-called mfecane (or difaqane), which took place in the first half of the nineteenth century and anthropologists spent a good deal of time researching this field.
The abovementioned terms {mfecane or difaqane) stand for the dramatic and powerful political changes that took place in the second and third decade of the nineteenth century due to the persecution of African people who fled the Zulu kingdom towards the north, the south and the interior of southern Africa.
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some kind of ethnic identity formation must have existed among the residents of the area north of the Thukela River and among those who considered themselves of either royal or amatungwa blood. Although Natal became a British colony in 1843, the residents in the area north of the Thukela in the Zulu kingdom maintained their independence of white rule until 1879 (Marks 2004: 185).
The particular role the missionaries played with regard to language issues deserves mention here. At the time, missionaries did remarkable and invaluable work with reference to the indigenous African languages. The orthographies, the development of literacy, and the collection of oral literature and traditions were entirely pioneered by them. Sanneh (1989) discusses in great detail how missionaries acted as 'vernacular agents' and, in fact, promoted the development of the indigenous African languages (often without realising it). In the case of isiZulu it has been argued that Zulu consciousness was stimulated and coincided with an interest in isiZulu, which was lead, ironically, by western missionaries (Nyembezi 1961). The work of Bishop Colenso, Hans Schreuder, Lewis Grout and Charles Roberts contributed tremendously to isiZulu literacy.
All this translation activity concentrated attention on the vernacular, leading missionaries to a critical comparative perspective on the West while thrusting Africans into the world of literacy and the wider opportunities that it represents (Sanneh 1989: 172).
Hence, it deserves mention that the spread of western religious concepts such as Christianity, were, despite their inextricable link to the introduction of a more western lifestyle, not immediately linked with the spread of the European languages. In contrast, the influence of the vernaculars in religious life had ramifications for ethnic identity constructions as the orthographies provided the African language speakers with "potent literary sources for the imagining of ethnic history and culture" (Berman, Eyoh and Kymlicka 2004: 5). The significant role of African languages in 19th century religious life still influences African Christian life today.
Bishop Colenso, in particular, not only translated the Bible into isiZulu, but also reread the scriptures in the Zulu context, which ultimately resulted in his exoneration of the Church of England (Chidester 1996: 140).
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In the middle of the nineteenth century the British forces founded the Colony of Natal, whereas in Zululand, the area north of the Thukela and east of the Mzinyathi, Mpande was recognised as an independent ruler (Guy 1979: 13).
During Mpande's 30-year long reign - the longest of all the Zulu kings- he established a firm rule over the original kingdom, which due to the help of the Voortrekkers had increased dramatically in terms of territorial size. Unlike most other African societies in southern Africa at the time, the colonialists had no major influence on the people residing in Zululand and the autonomy and self-sufficiency of the kingdom remained established.87 In Natal, however, the British and hence the English language started to leave its mark on the indigenous African population.
In 1859 Bishop Colenso visited Mpande with a teacher and two Zulu boys from school. Subsequent to the meeting with Mpande, the teacher and the two isiZulu- speaking schoolboys, William Magema and Ndiyane, wrote accounts of this meeting, which represent the first Zulu texts published by Zulus (Nyembezi 1961:
3). With regard to the isiZulu-speaking population in general, this was a period of great inner- and inter-tribal conflict and an eventual allegiance with the colonial forces, most notably, Theophilus Shepstone (Secretary of Native Affairs in Natal), who recognised Cetshwayo as Mpande's successor in 1861 (Guy 1979: 14).
Shepstone was the main architect involved in the design of the South African version of the 'indirect rule' system and he successfully implemented it in Natal around the 1850s, partly because the colony needed cheap administration.
'Shepstonism' provided 'locations' or reserves for Africans in which the chieftainship was ultimately controlled by British judicial and administrative machinery (Etherington 1989b: 172). Surplus from African homesteads was extracted, first and foremost in the form of hut tax, which provided a crucial source of revenue for the colony (Cope 1993: 2).88
87 Mpande, for the most part, appears as a lethargic, but peaceful leader in the literature and has no special reputation among isiZulu-speakers today, despite the fact that he kept the kingdom intact for the term of his reign.
88 Shepstone's system of 'indirect rule' evidently created problems within the Zulu society as people in the chiefdom realised that the amakhosi (chiefs) often played the role of mere puppets for colonial politics and major opposition arose among the people. The isiZulu speaking people residing in the area, many of whom had previously fled the Zulu kingdom, became dependent on the colonial state, which severely damaged their social and economic situation.
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In Zululand, Cetshwayo came to the Zulu throne in 1872 and ruled over approximately 300 000 people, most of them residing between the Thukela and the Mzinyathi rivers and the valley of the Phongolo (Guy 1979: 21). It is argued that in these crucial years of colonisation, the isiZulu-speaking population was increasingly exposed to western influence. This also affected the way people drew from various categories to identify themselves in terms of ethnolinguistic identity negotiations. Hence:
... the presence of colonisers offered an alternative source of identification, alliance and protection for Africans who had long lived within the orbit of Zulu power. It was possible, for example, to take up arms against rival chiefdoms in the name of the British monarch.
Or one could become a migrant labourer or trader, using new market opportunities to establish independent means of accumulation: These choices invariably involved adopting aspects of colonial life and could lead to the formation of new identities shaped by the language of modernism which was inscribed within the colonial policy and expressed in the world which settlers were creating. (Morrell, Wright and Meintjes 1996:37).
Accordingly, there were various categories on the basis of which Africans, i.e.
isiZulu-speakers, could identify themselves. With regard to language it must be assumed that English started to gain significance in the lives of isiZulu-speakers around this time. The contact between English and isiZulu further created interesting communication patterns between whites and Africans. The linguistic make-up of the African population in the area of present-day KwaZulu-Natal was reasonably homogenous. The vast majority of manual workers employed on farms spoke isiZulu, although dialectical variation undoubtedly existed. Unsurprisingly, among Africans, isiZulu was the predominant medium of communication in the agricultural workplace, in homes and in social settings while English was the official language in the colony (Lambert and Morrell 1996: 64).
IsiZulu had widespread influence in KwaZulu-Natal, which is exemplified, for example, by the spread of isiZulu nicknames among white men and the retention of isiZulu place names at the turn of the century.89 As mentioned previously, English was, however, the official language and "no Black person could get the vote
For an excellent recent exploration of isiZulu names, see Koopman (2002).
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without the limited written competence in it" (Lambert and Morrell 1996: 64).
IsiZulu, of course, was the only medium of communication in African private and domestic settings. "Its currency and tenacity meant that the language idiom and symbolism survived, conveying a world view which was the basis for the development of subaltern, ethnic identities" (ibid.).
The Zulu kingdom remained economically independent nearly until the turn of the century, and one must assume that the inhabitants of Zululand looked down upon those who lived behind the border to Natal and sold their labour to whites.
Zululand Africans ascribed the derogatory term 'amakhafula', to their Natal neighbours, which literally means when translated "those who have been spat out"
(Guy 1979: 18). Clearly, this is testimony to the sharp divisions that existed among the isiZulu-speaking community of the time and shows the contempt felt by the residents of Zululand. Zululand Africans were proud people and their unwillingness to work for the applicable wages and conditions of the sugar cane plantations ultimately resulted in the arrival of indentured workers from India (Mare 1995: 102).
The end of Zulu power and independence, however, must not be equated with the British military victory at Ulundi in 1879, which is a commonly held belief.
Although the Zulu military system was destroyed after the war and Cetshwayo was exiled, the British dismissed an annexation of Zululand. Guy (1979) discussed in great detail how the destruction of the material strength and the political independence of the Zulu people in the late nineteenth century was not based on the Anglo-Zulu war itself, but on that which followed after: the forceful integration into a dependent and, in many ways, destructive colonial system.90
The chaotic system of 'indirect rule' and the empowerment of thirteen chiefs as 'agents of British rule' further resulted in the complete destruction of the independence of the isiZulu speaking population (Laband and Thompson 1989).
More recently, John Laband (1992) has followed Guy's approach with a comprehensive reassessment on the Anglo-Zulu war.
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By the turn of the century, Zulu society was no longer what it had been during the time of the old Zulu kingdom, and it seemed that the Zulu royal family might gradually fade into insignificance, having been transformed into little more than an ideological remnant of past Zulu independence (Cope 1993: 4).
Despite the short existence of the Zulu kingdom, which spanned about six decades, the saliency of its existence - in particular the ruling of Shaka - remains an omnipresent factor of 'Zulu thinking' today. The nostalgia attached and associated with the Zulu kingdom prevails among isiZulu-speakers, and still presents a
"potent element of African thinking" based on the fact that "the house of Shaka has had an emotional appeal" (Guy 1979: 245). In reality, it appears that the kingdom of Shaka and his successors plays a greater role in the life of many isiZulu speakers today than does the contemporary King Goodwill Zwelithini. But, before we turn to the current situation, I will briefly discuss how racism became institutionalised and what sociolinguistic consequences these laws had for the African language speakers.