O Level Revision : History - The Colonisation of Zimbabwe

Treaties of occupation

• Baines Treaty (1870)
• Tati Concession (1870)
• Grobler Treaty (1887)
• Moffat Treaty (1888)
• Rudd Concession (1888)
• Lippert Concession (1889)

Process of colonisation

• After the signing of the Rudd Concession, Rhodes quickly rushed to Britain to get a Royal Charter that would give him the permission to colonise Zimbabwe.
• Rhodes created a colonising company, the British South Africa Company (BSAC).
• Formation of the Pioneer Column – it was an army to invade Zimbabwe. It was made up of people of different trades (farmers, builders, soldiers, miners, police,  etc)   recruited   from   Britain,   Australia and New Zealand. Its leaders included Colonel Pennefather, Major Frank Johnson and Frederick Courtney Selous.
• To obtain  volunteers  for  the  Pioneer  Column, whites were promised large tracts of land, cheap labour and mineral claims for gold and diamonds.
• Rhodes also created a police force – the British South Africa Police (BSAP) to enforce the laws of the company and for the security of pioneers.
• On their way to Zimbabwe, the Pioneer Column set up forts – Fort Tuli, Fort Victoria, Fort Charter and Fort Salisbury.

SOUTH AFRICAN REPUBLIC

Pioneer Column route

• The Pioneer  Column  arrived  at  Fort  Salisbury kopje where, on 12 September 1890, they raised the British Flag called the Union Jack to show that they had colonised Zimbabwe.
• Missionaries  were  sent  to  convert  Africans  to Christianity.

• Hunters and mineral prospectors were also sent over.
• The first phase of colonisation was the occupation of Mashonaland in 1890 while the second phase was the occupation of Matabeleland after the 1893- 4 war.

Establishment of a colonial government

• The Pioneer Column was disbanded soon after the construction of Fort Salisbury.

• A semi-military administration was created under a

Resident Commissioner who was assigned to:

-     create a new political order under company control;  and

-     monetise the economy of the region through taxation and labour laws.

• The monetisation of the economy was not easy.

The BSAC had to take the people’s land, cattle, goats, and forced them to work.

• The monetisation of the economy was the major reason for two major wars against the BSAC, namely the Anglo-Ndebele War of 1893-94 and the First Chimurenga/Umvukela1 of 1896-97.

Early resistance to colonisation

The Anglo–Ndebele War: 1893-94

Causes of the anglo-ndebele war

• Attitudes towards the Shona – the settlers regarded the Shona as a source of cheap labour while the Ndebele regarded Mashonaland as their raiding ground. Therefore, both claimed that the Shona belonged to them.
• Boundary question  –  the  settlers  negotiated  for the setting up of a boundary between them and the Ndebele but the significance of such a boundary was little or not understood at all by the Ndebele who kept on violating it through raids.
• Tribute question  –  some  Shona  chiefs  such  as Nemakonde and Chivi believed that settlers had come to protect them so they refused to pay tribute to the Ndebele.  This provoked punitive raids from the Ndebele.
• The Victoria Incident: One chief named Bere stole Lobengula’s cattle – the Ndebele sent punitive expeditions which disrupted settler activities.
• Failure to find the second Eldorado or rand (gold fields) in Mashonaland raised suspicion that it was in Matabeleland.
• The Ndebele stood in the way of a proposed railway link between Salisbury and Mafeking.
• The settlers  had  since  come  to  the  conclusion that there would be no peace in the area until the Ndebele had been defeated.
• To complete the occupation of Zimbabwe.
• The murder  of  Lobengula’s  peace  envoys  to the Cape angered Lobengula and he ordered his warriors to prepare for a war.
• Missionary factor  –  the  missionaries  had  failed to convert the Ndebele to Christianity so they encouraged the conquest of the Ndebele State.

Course of the anglo-ndebele war

• BSAP columns rode from Fort Salisbury and Fort Victoria, and combined at Iron Mine Hill.

• The  BSAP   force   totalled   about   700   men, commanded by Major Patrick Forbes and equipped with five Maxim machine guns.
• Forbes’ combined forces moved on the Matabele king’s capital at Bulawayo.

• An additional force of 700 Bechuanas marched on Bulawayo from the south under Khama III, a staunch ally of the British.
• The Matabele army mobilised to prevent Forbes from reaching the city, and twice engaged the column as it approached: on 25 October, 3,500 warriors assaulted the column near the Shangani River.
• On  1  November,  2,000  Matabele  riflemen  and 4,000 warriors attacked Forbes at Bembezi, north- east of Bulawayo

• The Ndebele  were  no  match  for  the  crushing firepower of the Maxim guns: about 2,500 Matabele were killed at Bembezi.
• Lobengula fled Bulawayo as soon as he heard the news from Bembezi.

• On  reaching  the  outskirts  of  Bulawayo  on  3

November 1893, the pioneers set the royal town ablaze.They marched into the settlement the next day, and nailed the company flag and the Union Jack to a conveniently placed tree. The reconstruction of Bulawayo began.

Results of the anglo ndebele war

• The Ndebele were defeated.
• The Ndebele State was destroyed.
• The Ndebele lost their independence.
• Lost their land.
• Lost their cattle.
• Were made to pay taxes.
• Forced labour in mines and farms.
• Creation of Gwaai and Shangani reserves.
• Chiefs and indunas lost their power and authority.
• The Ndebele were not allowed to choose another king after Lobengula

• An administrator was put in the place of a king.
• It marked the complete colonisation of Zimbabwe.

2. The First Chimurenga/Umvukela: 1896-7

Causes of the first chimurenga

• Forced labour – Africans were forced to work in mines and on farms.

• Abuse of women by police boys and settlers.
• Loss of land – Africans were pushed into reserves, e.g. Gwai and Shangani in Matebeleland (where they were crowded and the soils were very poor.)
• Natural disasters like rinderpests, locust plague and drought.

• Taxation, especially the hut tax, (1894-95), dog tax, cattle tax, poll tax, etc.

• The disruption of the Shona-Portuguese trade – (a cause on the Shona side and not on the Ndebele).
• Traditional chiefs’ authority was eroded or reduced

– loss of independence by Africans.

• The Ndebele had other grievances largely based on the Anglo-Ndebele War of 1893-94 and wanted revenge.
• The   killing   of   rinderpest   infected   cattle   and forbidding people from consuming the meat.

• Spirit  mediums  encouraged Africans  to  take  up arms against the settlers.

Course of the first chimurenga

(a)  Ndebele uprising

• In Matebeleland the revolt began in March 1896 led by the indunas and Mwari cult priests.

• The immediate aims were to repossess lost land; to kill and drive out the Europeans.

• The Ndebele concentrated on targets like:

-     European farm houses

-     Police posts

-     Stores

-     Mission stations

-     Local ‘collaborators’

• Europeans  were  taken  by  surprise. They  hid  in laagers created by joining wagons.

• The Ndebele were the first to be defeated, at the Battle of Umguza River.

• Rhodes  had  to  bribe  the  Ndebele  indunas  by offering them jobs in the BSAC’s government.

• The Ndebele ruling class deserted their people and agreed to the offer in October 1896.

(b) Shona uprising

• Europeans had  convinced  themselves  that  the Shona were grateful to the whites for removing the Ndebele.
• It  was  based  on  myths  that  the  Europeans  had created, namely:

-     That the Shona were weak, cowards, divided and generally peaceful.

-     That the Ndebele ruled the whole of Zimbabwe.

-     That  the  Shona  had  accepted  Europeans  as rulers.

• The Shona revolt seems to have started on 14 June 1896 near Chegutu.

• It reached Mazowe and Murehwa on 18 June and 19 June, respectively.

• The Shona used a form of guerrilla warfare.
• The Shona targeted symbols of imperialism and capitalist exploitation.

• The Shona did not fight as a unit; therefore the whites could not get one leader to negotiate a settlement with.

The  role of spirit mediums

• They led the struggle against the settlers.
• Organised the  people  against  the  whites,  for example Mr Pollard, Native Commissioner of Mazoe, was murdered under the orders of Nehanda.
• The spirit mediums supplied ‘protective’ medicine (muti).

• Instilled courage in the people.
• Coordinated the fighting
• The mediums sent agents to infiltrate European farms, mines and forts.
• They gave the impression of being ‘friendly’ to the Europeans and later attacked them.
• They are said to have blamed the Europeans for the natural disasters – influenced the people against the Europeans.
• Some of  the  religious  leaders/spirit  mediums involved in the First Chimurenga were Mawabeni, Nehanda, Kaguvi, Mkwati, Chaminuka, Umlugulu, Mpotshawana.
• Spirit  mediums  were  ably  supported  by  chiefs.

Some of the chiefs involved in the First Chimurenga include: Siginyamatshe; Mlugulu; Kunzvi- Nyandoro; Mashayamombe;   Zvimba; Makoni; Chiweshe; Mangwende.

Reasons for the  defeat of Africans

• The settlers used the following tactics:

-     Terrorism

-     Scorched earth (crop burning)

-     Destruction of water sources

-     Destruction  of  villages  using  maxim  and gatling guns as well as artillery such as seven- pounder guns.

-      Dynamited caves into which the Shona had hidden.

• The whites had better methods of communication.
• The whites were mobile: operated on horseback while the Africans operated on foot.

• The Africans had no standing army.
• Africans used traditional weapons.
• Some Africans collaborated with the whites, for example Chief Seke.

• The belief in ‘muti’ made Africans believe that bullets would not harm them, hence they were killed in large numbers.
• The spirit mediums were caught and hanged, thus the Africans lost their source of inspiration.

Results of the first chimurenga

• A lot of lives, especially of Africans, were lost.
• Leaders of the uprisings were severely punished or killed.

• Traditional religion was suppressed.
• A Resident Commissioner was sent by Britain to stay and monitor the activities of the BSAC.

• A Commandant General was introduced by Britain to monitor the activities of the BSAP.

• Railway   lines   were   constructed   (Bulawayo- Salisbury, 1897 and Harare-Umtali, 1898).

• Cheap labour became available to the whites.
• Segregatory laws were passed.

The  importance/significance of the  First Chimurenga / Umvukela

• The  failure   of   active   resistance   in   1896-97 discredited violent resistance and saw the beginning of negotiations and gentle pressure to achieve very limited improvements.

-     It was done through the missionary educated elite.

-     Colonial rule was not questioned.

-     The elite aimed to improve their conditions within the colonial system.

• The Chimurenga/Umvukela  of  1896-7  laid  the basis for the dispossession of the Shona of their more productive land.
• The Shona/Ndebele began to play a subservient role in the building of a capitalist economy. This would secure a high standard of living for the small group of European bourgeoisie settlers.
• The spirit mediums were very important in inspiring the Second Chimurenga in the 1960s.

Establishment of colonial and political structures: 1898-1923

The Royal Charter laid the BSAC’s legal right to rule Rhodesia. Jameson, who was Rhodes’ administrator, was incompetent.Alot of injustices and abuses prevailed during his tenure of office as no court system existed. The Chimurenga/Umvukela changed this:

• The company began to establish proper government.
• Laws were now backed by a legal system.
• Under  the  1898  Southern  Rhodesia  Order  in Council:

-     Southern Rhodesia became the official name of the country.

-     Specific rules were laid down as to how the BSAC should govern.

-     A specific administrative structure to run the country was established.

-     An  administrator  was  chosen  to  head  the legislative functions of government.

-     All regulations affecting Africans were subject to British government approval.

• The British Government did not stop the exploitation of Africans in Southern Rhodesia. Laws that restricted African movement and farming, taxing them and forcing them to submit their labour were enacted with British approval.
• There were  tensions  within  the  settler  interests in Southern Rhodesia. During a whites-only referendum  of  1922  the  majority  voted  for  a

responsible government to remove company control. They voted against becoming a province of South Africa.

Effects of Company rule  on Africans

• Laws were introduced to legalise the oppression and exploitation of Africans.

• Numerous commissions were set to force Africans from rich soils and to surrender their labour. These included:

-     The 1901 Importation of Labour Ordinance No. 18.

-     1907 Mines and Minerals Ordinance.

-     1911  Native  Labour  Regulations  Ordinance No. 16.

-     Native   Registration   Ordinance   and   1922 Gwaai Reserves Development Fund.

• Slowly Africans lost their wealth and freedom.

• The Legislative Council was to be replaced by an all-white Legislative Assembly headed by a Prime Minister and a Cabinet.

• Elections were to be held every five years.

• The settlers had three major aims:

(i)   To increase the power of the Assembly and government.

(ii)  To reduce the British Governor’s power.

(iii) To pass racist laws aimed at increasing the wealth and power of the settlers.

• These aims were achieved because the Governor was surrounded by settlers and had little contact with Africans. This explains why the British Government was unable to remove racist laws when they were passed, e.g. the Land Apportionment Act of 1930.

Some of the oppressive laws passed between 1898 and 1923

The  1923 Constitution

• It allowed the Southern Rhodesia Government the sole right to pass certain laws. Other laws, however, needed British Government approval, e.g. laws that concerned ‘native affairs’ and racial issues. The British Governor based in Salisbury would oversee this arrangement.

(a) List  any  six  reasons  why  Zimbabwe  was colonised by the BSAC?                              [6]

(b)  Describe the steps taken by Rhodes to colonise Zimbabwe.                                                 [11]

(c)  To  what  extent  was  Lobengula  cheated  by Rhodes’ agents during the signing of treaties? [8]