South Africa’s impoverished amaHlubi nation is demanding multimillion-rand restitution from the British government in terms of a nearly forgotten 128-year-old proclamation by Queen Victoria.
The 1875 proclamation promised to compensate the shattered amaHlubi after imperial troopers executed 200 young men, women and children, torched scores of villages, and confiscated thousands of cattle in apparent reprisal for heavy losses during the Battle of Langalibalele.
The damages, conservatively estimated at R40-million for material losses alone, were never paid.
AmaHlubi King Muziwenkosi Hadebe used the 130th anniversary of the slaughter on Monday to formally call on the British government to honour Queen Victoria’s promise by pledging direct investment and development in amaHlubi communities.
“We estimate that just our cattle would cost R21-million to replace today, with an even bigger amount needed for lost homes and other property. But, we cannot, even now, attach a financial price to the lives lost, the destruction of our monarchy, or the rape of our women and enslavement of surviving amaHlubi men,” said Muziwenkosi.
“If this blood debt had been honoured by Queen Victoria, the fate of our nation would not be so grim today. Britain now has an opportunity and a moral obligation to right the wrongs of the past in the interests of reconciliation.”
The 130th massacre memorial was twinned with the centenary celebrations of the Giant’s Castle Game Reserve portion of the uKhahlamba-Drakensberg Park on Monday.
KwaZulu-Natal’s environmental agency, Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife, used the event to support Muziwenkosi’s calls for British investment in rural communities.
Ezemvelo board chairperson, Professor Victor Nzimande, told local dignitaries that any development assistance would improve the viability of world heritage sites such as the uKhahlamba-Drakensberg Park that contains the site of the Battle of Langalibalele.
“Reconciliation will allow us to implement tourism and conservation development projects that change people’s lives for the better, while also improving our management of world heritage sites,” said Nzimande.
Investment would also, he said, support growing cooperation between the amaHlubi people still resident in the area, the scattered decendants of the Drakensberg San, and the local eco-tourism industry.
“Giant’s Castle was established as a game reserve by the British in 1903 to protect dwindling numbers of eland. Today, we recognise that although we are the custodians of this land, it was once freely used by both the amaHlubi and San, and they therefore have a right to be involved in its management.”
He added that the physical heritage of both the amaHlubi and San, including spectacular rock-art, were key factors for the inscription of the uKhahlamba-Drakensberg Park as a World Heritage Site in December 2000.
Royal spokesperson for Muziwenkosi, Themba Langalibalele, welcomed Ezemvelo’s support and used celebrations to lobby for the South African government’s recognition of the amaHlubi monarchy.
“The monarchy was effectively dismantled after the British arrested and exiled King Langalibalele to Robben Island in 1873. Although recognition for our current king will not put bread on people’s tables, it will help provide a focal point for development and community building,” said Langalibalele.
The historic King Langalibalele is still widely revered as a local anti-colonial hero for standing up to imperial Britain.
He defied British demands that all amaHlubi register their guns with colonial authorities, insisting weapons were given to amaHlubi men as payment for working on diamond mines in Kimberley.
The defiance prompted Lord Anthony Durnford, however, to lead his Natal Carbineers in a surprise attack on the key Langalibalele pass leading from Bushman’s river near Giant’s Castle in the Drakensberg.
The British troopers encountered unexpected resistance, and lost five men in the ensuing firefight. The battle and subsequent reprisals on the amaHlubi have been celebrated ever since by the Natal Carbineers.
King Langalibalele fled to Lesotho, where he was eventually arrested and exiled to Robben Island by British authorities. His grave, kept secret by amaHlubi for more than 60 years, lies within the borders of the Giant’s Castle Game Reserve and was recently visited by one of his most illustrious blood decendants, former president Nelson Mandela. — African Eye News Service