INgonyama UDingane’s Warrior Cry: “Bulalani Abathakathi!”

INgonyama UDingane’s Warrior Cry: “Bulalani Abathakathi!”

On 6 February 1838, following the “signing” of the “uMgungundlovu Treaty” between iNgonyama uDingane kaSenzangakhona and the leader of the Voortrekkers in the East Coast, Piet Retief, Retief and his party were treated to a farewell dance by the Zulu warriors at Royal Palace of uMgungundlovu. Before the function, the delegation was told to leave their firearms outside the royal kraal, as the carrying of weapons was viewed as threatening to His Royal Highness. Suddenly, when the dancing had reached a frenzied climax, iNgonyama uDingane leapt to his feet and shouted a warrior cry, “Bulalani abathakathi!” (“Kill the wizards!”).

The men were totally overpowered and dragged away to a hill called kwaMatiwane, named after a chief who had been killed there. Retief and his men were clubbed to death. It is alleged by some that the reason why they were killed, was because they withheld some of the cattle recovered from Inkosi uSigonyela of the Batlokwa. The general opinion is that Dingane did not wish to yield the land ceded to them in the “treaty”, as he had been tricked to sign it, and accordingly mistrusted the Voortrekkers and their presence within his Kingdom. However, there are various versions, based on the prior historical events, that made iNgonyama uDingane to kill the delegation led by Piet Retief into his Kingdom.

When the first Europeans, largely Englishmen, who came in 1824 to the Kingdom of the Zulu, the reigning monarch, iNgonyama uShaka kaSenzangakhona, gave them permission to settle and establish their small holding in what was known as Port Natal (now Durban). In 1828, following the assassination of Shaka, by his brothers, Dingane and Mhlangana, the Zulu Kingdom, now under the rule of iNgonyama uDingane ka Senzangakhona, became suspicious and were disturbed by the behaviour of the Whites in Port Natal. Dingane then sent some of his men, including a chief, Jacob, also known as Hlambamanzi, to the Cape Colony to study the way the Europeans had behaved towards the Khoi and the Xhosa people. there,

In his report, Jacob (Hlambamanzi) maintained that “At first the white people came and took part of their land, then they encroached and drove them farther back … they built houses (missions) among them for the purpose of subduing them by witchcraft … the soldiers frequently asked what sort of country the Zulus had … and said ‘We shall soon be after you’. They would then build a fort, when more would come and demand land, who would also build houses, and subdue the Zulus and keep driving them farther back, as they had driven the frontier tribes”.

In spite of this explicit and prophetic warning, iNgonyama uDingane took no hostile action against Port Natal, although the white settlers, who were numbering no more than thirty people, until 1836, were completely at his mercy. Three times his councillors recommended the destruction of the settlement, and three times Dingane vetoed the proposal. He did not bother them even though he had cause for resentment because the Port Natal White settlement, happy to have black labour and black allies, was providing a haven for the outlaws and political refugees from the Zulu Kingdom. The white settlers were treated as chiefs by no fewer than 3,000 of these people and exercised power even of death over their followers.

According to one of the settlers, Henry Francis Fynn, “The European settlement was objectionable not only because it was an imperium in Imperio (i.e. a kingdom within a kingdom) but because it harboured many that could be assumed to have vowed everlasting vengeance … and were consequently plotting to bring about his (Dingane’s) downfall”. In addition, the settlers were actively fomenting inter-ethnic feuds and disunity. Alarmed at the possibility that Dingane might attack them, the Europeans held a meeting and agreed to approach the Zulu monarch and give him an assurance that they would not be attacked.

In April 1835, Dingane willingly entered into a pact with the Europeans saying at the time, “I will keep my word, but I know that the white people will be the first to break the treaty”. And “As the despot himself correctly surmised”, Fynn later commented, “it was indeed broken and surprisingly soon”.

One such example of violating the agreement was that two white traders, Thomas Halstead and John Snelder, were, within two months, hard at work in the Zulu territory smuggling Zulu women through to Port Natal, where there was a great demand for them among the Europeans. And, in spite of these infringements, the general effect of the treaty satisfied Dingane.

A year of close co-operation between the Africans and the Europeans followed. When in 1836, Dingane launched an attack on the Swazis, one of the colonists noted: “The whole of the British inhabitants with three or four exceptions have voluntarily joined the Zulu army and bymeans of their firearms killed and wounded a number of his enemies for which they have been handsomely rewarded with the cattle they have captured”. Europeans with their guns formed the spearhead of the Zulu contingent in at least one such attack.

In 1837 the Voortrekkers arrived in Natal and iNgonyama uDingane saw them in a completely different light from the men at Port Natal. He saw “amaQadasi” (“the Boers”) as a threat to the Zulu people, since he believed that they would seize the land of the Zulu people as they had seized the land of other people before. Nevertheless, his first dealings with the Voortrekkers were friendly.

On 31 October 1837, Dingane sent a letter written for him to the Voortrekker leader, Piet Retief, telling him that he had discovered another Chief in possession of a number of sheep belonging to the Boers. He returned the sheep together with the letter. Retief responded with a letter asking Dingane for a grant of land. In his letter Retief wrote, “Our country is small, and we, becoming numerous, can no longer subsist there”.

On 8 November 1837, Dingane replied, saying that he was considering the request, but also charging the Boers with the theft of his cattle. In this letter he said, “A great number of cattle have been stolen from my country by a people having clothes, horses and guns. The Zulus assured me that these people were Boers … the Zulus now wish to know what they have to expect. My greatest wish, therefore, is that you should show that you are not guilty of the matters alleged against you, for at present I believe that you are. My request is that you recover my cattle and restore them to me, and if possible, hand over the thief to me. That proceeding will remove my suspicions, and will give you reason to know that I am your friend: then I shall accede to your request. I shall give you a sufficient number of people to drive the cattle that you may recapture for me; and they will removeall the suspicions that the stolen cattle are in the hands of the Dutch.”

Piet Retief assured Dingane that it had not been the Boers but a Basotho chief, Sigonyela, who had stolen the cattle. Whether or not Sigonyela had stolen any cattle, no one knows. But Retief and his men, accompanied by some Zulus, without further ado, made for his kraal. They were already acquainted with Sigonyela, for he and his people had helped to show the Voortrekkers the best way to get their wagons from the Highveld through the difficult Drakensberg mountains into Natal.

Retief received a hospitable welcome, and in return, offered to demonstrate to the Chief Sigonyela a pair of handcuffs he had with him. Sigonyela was kept bound for three days until his people had rounded up a sufficient number of cattle for Retief. The helpless Basotho men, according to an account by Dr. John Philip, asked Retief indignantly, “Is this the way you treat the chiefs of the people?”

“Being answered in the affirmative, with coarse and offensive expressions, he asked, ‘Would you treat Dingane in this way were he in your power?’ To this they made reply: ‘We shall treat Dingane in the same manner should we find him to be a rogue’. Unknown to Retief, there was one of Dingane’s councillors among the Zulus with him.”

“From that moment”, said Philip’s informant, “Dingane’s councillor became restless and uneasy, and as soon as it became dark, he disappeared, proceeded with speed to Dingane, related his story, along with his own impression; and the chief taking fear from his councillor, made his preparations for the destruction of Retief and his party before their arrival with the cattle.”

Though this may have been the deciding factor, other facts have also been cited as confirming the view of Dingane’s councillors that the Boers were a very real danger to Zulu security. The Zulus had heard from Retief’s own lips how the Boers had defeated the Matabele and massacred then – and the Matabele were the kinsmen of the Zulus.

As witnessed by Zulu councillors who accompanied him, Retief then managed to recapture the Zulu cattle from Sigonyela. He also took some rifles and horses from the BaTlokwa chief. The Zulu men drove the cattle to Dingane, but Retief kept the horses and some of the cattle. At the beginning of February 1838, Retief returned to Mgungundlovu, accompanied by about 70 Voortrekker men and boys, including his own fourteen-year-old son, Pieter Cornelis, and about 30 servants. His aim was to re-enter negotiations with Dingane who had in the meantime received detailed reports about the defeat of the Matebele and the way Retief had regained the cattle from Sigonyela.

Retief wasted no time in sounding out Dingane on the granting of land by means of a treaty. The Zulu monarch seemed willing to agree. However, in retrospect it is highly unlikely that he ever seriously contemplated granting the land which Retief wanted from him, namely the area between the Drakensberg in the west, the Thukela River in the north, the Indian Ocean in the east and the Mzimvubu River in the south.

In terms of Zulu law, Dingane was not empowered to give away indigenous land; it was regarded as inalienable and an inheritance from “Mvelinqangi” (God). The king was merely the guardian, the custodian, of the land. The furthest that he could go was to grant ‘iziza’ or use of the land to specific people where they could erect huts for themselves and plant crops.

In the 1835 treaty between Dingane and the British residents of Port Natal, there was no mention in the agreement of the transfer of land and similar to that signed on 4 February 1838 – the so-called Retief–Dingane Treaty. Latter day historians largely believe that the Retief–Dingane Treaty is a fake. The reasons are that even though the treaty is dated 4 February, it was only signed on 6 February, less than an hour before Retief and his men were killed. Furthermore, the treaty that exists today is a copy – the original no longer exists.

And according to the short biography of Dingane in Mweli Skota’s ‘African Yearly Register’, “on more than two occasions reports were brought to him by his spies that the Boers were seen by night on all sides of the village in which the Royal kraal was situated”. It is also suggested that the Zulus who accompanied Retief on his raid on Sigonyela reported back that the cattle seized there were not those which had been stolen from the Zulus, thus confirming Dingane’s suspicions that the cattle had been stolen by the Boers,

There were very strong rumours at the time that one of the British settlers had influenced Dingane in his decision to kill Retief by telling him that the Boer claim that they were short of land was patently untrue, for they had left good land in the Cape, that they were deserters from British rule, and that the British therefore, would not view their punishment with disfavour.

When Retief and his sixty followers came to uMgungundlovu kraal with the cattle, the iNgonyama uDingane, who now in his own words, “had no doubt that they were enemies masquerading under the guise of friendship,” tricked them with professions of friendship, just as they had tricked Sigonyela, and had them killed on the spot.

Early in the morning of 6 February 1838, while the Voortrekkers were preparing themselves for the return trip, they were invited to a feast in their honour at the uMgungundlovu Royal Palace and were asked to bring their servants too. INgonyama uDingane himself requested Retief and his companions to enter his stronghold to bid farewell to him and to drink to his health, after which they could return to their wives and children. A request that accompanied the invitation was that they should leave their firearms outside the stronghold. That was why the Voortrekkers placed their rifles at the euphorbia trees in front of the entrance to the kraal, outside against the kraal fence before entering.

Piet Retief sat down with the Zulu iNgonyama and his captains. The other Voortrekkers and their servants seated themselves a short distance away. The iNgonyama offered them “utshwala”, a type of beer and they all accepted. While they were drinking, on the order of the monarch, a few Zulu warriors began to dance.

The oral tradition related that Dingane ordered his military commander, Ndlela ka Sompisi, to mobilise the Zulu army. In order to have the advantage of surprise and to ensure that the Voortrekkers would not become suspicious, the warriors were unarmed and had no assegais and battle shields (“izihlangu”); they only had short sticks (“iziqwayi”) and dance shields (“amahawu”). Dingane indicated that he would say to Retief and his men: “I will hold a war dance for you. You have to come and watch. Afterwards I will give you cattle and you can then leave with that.”

The Voortrekkers had been sitting for only about fifteen minutes when iNgonyama uDingane then began singing the following words in isiZulu, “Phuzani, nibuphuze utshwala, ngoba imiqala yenu iyabulangazelela – nibuphuzisise ngoba kusasa ngeke nisabuthola!” (“Drink, o drink the beer, your burning throats long for it – drink as much as you can, since tomorrow you will no longer drink.”). Dingane then whistled, as the Zulu warriors do when they attack, and shouted: “Babambeni mabutho kaZulu, nibabambisise, nibabulale abathakathi! (“For me, my warriors – grab them, grab hold of them, and kill, kill the wizards!”)

Immediately after the Voortrekkers were overpowered their necks were broken by their attackers in order to end their stout resistance. The warriors grabbed the Voortrekkers and broke their necks with their bare hands. Their bodies were then carried to the KwaMatiwane hillock to be mutilated and allowed to rot.

On 10 February 1838, four days after killing the Voortrekkers, iNgonyama uDingane requested Francis Owen, a British missionary based at Mgungundlovu, to write a letter to the Cape governor on his behalf to explain why he had killed Retief and his companions. He then explained that the Voortrekkers had indicated that they wanted to fire a salute in farewell greeting to him as they left, using gunpowder only, but that their real intention was to kill him. The evidence was clear, he said, when their rifles were examined after the killing of the Voortrekkers, as it was found that they were loaded with gunshot.

Sources:
Wikipedia.
Lionel Forman, “Why Did Dingane Kill Retief?”, Dawn – Monthly Journal of Umkhonto we Sizwe, Vol. 3, No. 11, December 1979.
Jackie Grobler, “The Retief Massacre of 6 February 1838 Revisited”, Historia, Vol. 56, No. 2, November 2011.

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