Bambatha Uprising: Significance to the Anti-Imperialist Revolution
Exactly 120 years ago, on 10 June 1906, British colonial troops under the command of Colonel Duncan Mckenzie, which consisted of a large militia that was raised from Natal, Johannesburg and the Cape, encountered the warrior forces led by Bambatha ka Mancinza Zondi along the Mome Gorge, near the Nkandla forest. In a half-hour’s engagement, Bambatha’s followers were massacred, and nearly 600 lives were shed. A body that was presumed to be Bambatha’s, was decapitated. However, other historical accounts dispute that the body actually belonged to Bambatha, since he had escaped before the battle was terminated.
Several influential chiefs, such as Ndlovu ka Thimuni, Gobizembe, Meseni, Swayimana, Mashwili and Tshingumuzi, continued resistance in the Lower Thukela River area until July 1906. For example, warrior forces under Ndlovu ka Thimuni attacked a colonial army outpost at Thring’s Post, kwaMaphumulo, killing the soldiers manning it and a Norwegian running a store there. They also ambushed a convoy of Natal’s Mounted Rifles trying to cross the Otimati River. Over the next six months, the uprising was effectively crushed, 5 000 members of the warrior forces were arrested, tried and some eventually served life sentences.
The Bambatha Uprising of 1906 was primarily caused by the imposition of a one pound (£1) poll tax (“Ukhandampondo”) on all adult males. Unlike the household “hut tax” tha
