Theunis
Contributor
Today is 16 December 2008, a public holiday in South Africa. This is the "day of covenant". Today it's called "day of reconciliation" but it can be called "national braai (bbq) day" as well, as many of us had forgotten the significant meaning of "day of vow".
Here is a short extract of the history of my ancestors, the Afrikaner Boers and Voortrekkers. Voortrekkers mean the beginners of the Great Trek or "great organised migration" that took place in the 1800's. This day commemorate a day of battle that took place on 16 December 1838. (I have quoted this history to a great extend).
In the early hours of the morning of 16 December 1838, a battle was fought between the Voortrekkers under the leadership of Andries Pretorius, and the AmaZulu warriors near the Ncome (Buffalo) River. The AmaZulu suffered heavy fatalities, losing more than 3000 men, while the Voortrekkers reportedly had only three non-fatal injuries. The Ncome River became red with the blood of the slain. Hence the river became known as "Blood River".
Origins of the battle
The background to this event can be found in two concurrent historical processes of the 1820s and the 1830s. Firstly the great trek (Afrikaans for "great organised migration") or the political disenchantment of Dutch-speaking farmers on the Eastern Cape frontier with British rule, leading to more than 15 000 of these frontier farmers trekking in groups north-east into the interior of the region to escape British administration.
Secondly, the advent of the mfecane (IsiZulu for "the crushing") or difaqane (Sesotho for "forced scattering or migration") in the 1820s which was the political and military upheaval with concomitant forced migration of the Nguni people in the eastern region, that marked the rise of the rule of Shaka over the AmaZulu.
Once beyond British influence, the Voortrekkers had to decide on the ultimate destination of the Great Trek; this was a source of differences of opinion. Potgieter believed that far North should be the ultimate destination. However, Mzilikazi's Matabeles had to be expelled from the Western Transvaal (now North West Province) before a Voortrekkers state could safely be established in the North.
Therefore Piet Retief, Gert Maritz and Piet Uys considered the area depopulated by the mfecane, the attractive Natal Coastal plain. Retief had to negotiate with the AmaZulu King Dingane over the ownership of land. Dingane, 10 years previously, had murdered his half-brother, Shaka, to assume the chieftainship of the Zulu's. Apparently Retief paid a successful visit to the Zulu king at the beginning of November 1837. Here is where sources differ greatly, Dingane supposedly declared that he was prepared to grant Retief an extensive area between the Tugela and the Umzimvubu as well as the Drakensberg, on condition that Retief restored to Dingane the cattle stolen from him by Sikonyela (the Tlokwa chief). Dingane felt that this would prove to him that Sikonyela and not the Voortrekkers had in fact stolen the cattle. Some sources claim that Dingane also demanded rifles - others do not.
The Voortrekkers were successful in obtaining the cattle from Sikonyela and on 3 February 1838 Retief and his party reached the Zulu capital, Mgungundlovu, with the cattle.
Retief surrendered the cattle but refused to hand over the horses and the guns he had taken from the Tlokwa. This could have been the reason for Dingane's suspicion of Retief, yet other sources site additional reasons, one being that Dingane's agents, who had accompanied Retief to supervise the return of the cattle, also may have reported that even before the land claim had been signed, Voortrekkers were streaming down the Drakensburg passes in large numbers. Despite the suspicions, Dingane supposedly put his mark on a land grant document sometime the next day (5th).
On 6 February Dingane requested Retief and his men to enter his royal kraal without their guns to drink beer as a farewell gesture. It was strictly in accordance with Zulu protocol that nobody appeared armed before the King.
Retief suspected no fowl play and accepted the invitation. As soon as the Voortrekkers party was inside the royal kraal, Dingane gave the order and his regiments overpowered Retief and his men, and took them up to a hill to be killed. Francis Owen, the missionary at Dingane's kraal, who later described the scene in his diary, witnessed the murders from a distance.
It was the murder of Retief and his men, as well as the supposed and claim that seems to have ignited the war between the Voortrekkers and the Zulu's. The mutilated corpses of the Retief party were discovered by a search party of trekkers who reported that a land deed, signed by Dingane, was found among the possessions of the dead men.
Distraught and temporarily without a leader the Voortrekkers entered the battle with the view that it was a desperate fight to ensure their survival against overwhelming odds, and to secure for themselves a place to settle, a home to call their own, free of the shackles of any lordship. From their point of view, they had treated appropriately with the Zulu king, and had sought in good faith to fulfill Dingane's conditions for entry to the Zulu kingdom. But the latter had behaved treacherously towards them (by murdering their leader) and therefore the defeat of the Zulu military was the only way they could guarantee their safety.
The second part of Dingane's plan, namely to annihilate all Voortrekkers in Natal, was not a complete success, albeit it was well planned and the Voortrekkers at first disregarded the rumour that Retief had been murdered and consequently made no preparations to defend themselves. Perhaps Dingane had underestimated the number of Voortrekkers in Natal and the fervour with which the Voortrekkers would defend themselves once the intentions of the Zulu's became clear to them.
The first attack was successful. During the early hours of February 17th a surprise attack was launched on the unsuspecting trekker lagers on the Bloukrans and Bushman's rivers. Approximately 500 people (servants and Voortrekkers) were killed and the Zulu seized 25000 head of cattle and thousands more sheep and horses. The site of the attack was later renamed Weenen (Weeping). The Voortrekkers began to organise a counter attack. A commando led by two rival Voortrekkers leaders Piet Uys and Andries Potgieter, marched towards Mgundgundlovu in a scissors formation (2-pronged attack). But just across the Buffalo/Ncome River, at Italeni, the AmaZulu ambushed them. A British Port Natal expedition rushed to assist the trekkers but to no avail. Most of the Trekkers escaped, 10 were killed, among them Piet Uys and his young son Dirkie.
The Battle of Blood River
On 25 November 1838 Andries Pretorius (who had been roaming as a scout in the then Transvaal) took over leadership as Commandant-General of the Voortrekkers in Natal. He immediately started to prepare a retaliatory attack on the Zulu. On Sunday, 9th December, Pretorius and his followers made a vow to God that in the case of victory; they would build a church to honour God and they would tell there children to observe a day of thanksgiving. (The Pretorius party had crossed the Ncome (Buffalo) River, and on Saturday 15 December, they reached a tributary (Thukela).
Their scouts reported that a large AmaZulu force was advancing (10 000-20 000 Zulu warriors). The Zulu army was led by Dingane's generals Dambuza (Nzobo) and Ndlela kaSompisi. After the scouts had given the warning the Voortrekkers moved there wagons into a laager (circular formation) in the best strategical position possible, between a deep pool in the river and a donga (a large ditch).
The Voortrekkers force consisted of 470 men. There were only two gaps in the laager and in each, a canon was placed. At dusk on the 15th December the Amazulu had already begun to circle the laager. A heavy mist surrounded the laager and only lifted in the early hours of the morning, this made visibility difficult. At dawn on the 16th December 1838 the Zulu warriors equipped with assagais and shields swept towards the laager. To be able to use their assagais effectively they had to come as close as possible to the defenders.
At dawn when the first Zulu attack began, the firing was apparently so heavy that the Zulu warriors could not be seen through the smoke. The main shortcoming of the Voortrekkers weapons was the lengthy reloading times. The first Zulu attack had scarcely been repulsed when a second was launched, this time the Zulu warriors almost reached the laager Meanwhile hundreds of warriors were hiding in the donga.
Sarel Cilliers and 80 others attacked them during a short lull in the fighting. When the ZuluÃÔ, who had withdrawn about 50 yards from the laager, failed to launch a third attack, Pretorius sent some men to draw them out to seal the victory. Pretorius cavalry met with determined resistance from the Zulu Warriors, and it was only after a third sortie that the Zulu's were put to flight, pursued by the Voortrekkers. At midday the pursuit was called off. More than 3000 corpses were counted around the laager. Only 3 Voortrekkers (including Pretorius himself) were wounded, none were killed. The Ncome River became red with the blood of the slain. Hence the river became known as "Blood River".
The Aftermath of the Battle
After the defeat of Dingane, the Kingdom of the AmaZulu was hurled into political strife. Mpande, Dingane's half-brother, taking advantage of the political uncertainty, overthrew the Dingane and seized the leadership of the AmaZulu. Since Mpande was open to the demands for land by the Voortrekkers, Andries Pretorius recognised him as King of the AmaZulu and an ally. Large areas of his kingdom were annexed by the Voortrekkers new Natal Republic. While Mpande's vassalage lapsed when the British colonial administration annexed the Natal Republic, the AmaZulu did not regain their land.
However, they did undergo a period of stability and economic recovery. The Battle was the main historical event that was used by Apartheid apologists - some of them historians, political leaders and theologians - to construct an exclusivist Afrikaner nationalist identity, to inculcate in this community a sense of having a unique history and place in Africa and thereby legitimize white supremacy in South Africa.
For the greater part of the twentieth century 16 December had been observed as a public holiday, with Afrikaans-speakers attending special church services or visiting the Voortrekker Monument. Until the National Party seized power in 1948, this day was observed as "Dingane's Day". After 1948 the National Party government set about politicising this day to legitimize their apparent uniqueness and historical relationship with God. Hence in 1952 "Dingane's Day" officially became the "Day of the Covenant". African nationalists and the socialist liberation movement forces also used the day to mount protest action against white rule. The ANC led Congress Alliance launched its armed struggle (military wing), Á¶mkhonto we Siwze: the Spear of the Nation? on December 16th 1961.
In 1994 South Africa elected its first non-racial and democratic government. In the spirit of promoting reconciliation and national unity, the day was given a new meaning and was renamed the "Day of Reconciliation" in 1995.
We, the Afrikaners, do not celebrate this day from a racist point of view, but as a day of convenant to the Almighty God!!
Here is a short extract of the history of my ancestors, the Afrikaner Boers and Voortrekkers. Voortrekkers mean the beginners of the Great Trek or "great organised migration" that took place in the 1800's. This day commemorate a day of battle that took place on 16 December 1838. (I have quoted this history to a great extend).
In the early hours of the morning of 16 December 1838, a battle was fought between the Voortrekkers under the leadership of Andries Pretorius, and the AmaZulu warriors near the Ncome (Buffalo) River. The AmaZulu suffered heavy fatalities, losing more than 3000 men, while the Voortrekkers reportedly had only three non-fatal injuries. The Ncome River became red with the blood of the slain. Hence the river became known as "Blood River".
Origins of the battle
The background to this event can be found in two concurrent historical processes of the 1820s and the 1830s. Firstly the great trek (Afrikaans for "great organised migration") or the political disenchantment of Dutch-speaking farmers on the Eastern Cape frontier with British rule, leading to more than 15 000 of these frontier farmers trekking in groups north-east into the interior of the region to escape British administration.
Secondly, the advent of the mfecane (IsiZulu for "the crushing") or difaqane (Sesotho for "forced scattering or migration") in the 1820s which was the political and military upheaval with concomitant forced migration of the Nguni people in the eastern region, that marked the rise of the rule of Shaka over the AmaZulu.
Once beyond British influence, the Voortrekkers had to decide on the ultimate destination of the Great Trek; this was a source of differences of opinion. Potgieter believed that far North should be the ultimate destination. However, Mzilikazi's Matabeles had to be expelled from the Western Transvaal (now North West Province) before a Voortrekkers state could safely be established in the North.
Therefore Piet Retief, Gert Maritz and Piet Uys considered the area depopulated by the mfecane, the attractive Natal Coastal plain. Retief had to negotiate with the AmaZulu King Dingane over the ownership of land. Dingane, 10 years previously, had murdered his half-brother, Shaka, to assume the chieftainship of the Zulu's. Apparently Retief paid a successful visit to the Zulu king at the beginning of November 1837. Here is where sources differ greatly, Dingane supposedly declared that he was prepared to grant Retief an extensive area between the Tugela and the Umzimvubu as well as the Drakensberg, on condition that Retief restored to Dingane the cattle stolen from him by Sikonyela (the Tlokwa chief). Dingane felt that this would prove to him that Sikonyela and not the Voortrekkers had in fact stolen the cattle. Some sources claim that Dingane also demanded rifles - others do not.
The Voortrekkers were successful in obtaining the cattle from Sikonyela and on 3 February 1838 Retief and his party reached the Zulu capital, Mgungundlovu, with the cattle.
Retief surrendered the cattle but refused to hand over the horses and the guns he had taken from the Tlokwa. This could have been the reason for Dingane's suspicion of Retief, yet other sources site additional reasons, one being that Dingane's agents, who had accompanied Retief to supervise the return of the cattle, also may have reported that even before the land claim had been signed, Voortrekkers were streaming down the Drakensburg passes in large numbers. Despite the suspicions, Dingane supposedly put his mark on a land grant document sometime the next day (5th).
On 6 February Dingane requested Retief and his men to enter his royal kraal without their guns to drink beer as a farewell gesture. It was strictly in accordance with Zulu protocol that nobody appeared armed before the King.
Retief suspected no fowl play and accepted the invitation. As soon as the Voortrekkers party was inside the royal kraal, Dingane gave the order and his regiments overpowered Retief and his men, and took them up to a hill to be killed. Francis Owen, the missionary at Dingane's kraal, who later described the scene in his diary, witnessed the murders from a distance.
It was the murder of Retief and his men, as well as the supposed and claim that seems to have ignited the war between the Voortrekkers and the Zulu's. The mutilated corpses of the Retief party were discovered by a search party of trekkers who reported that a land deed, signed by Dingane, was found among the possessions of the dead men.
Distraught and temporarily without a leader the Voortrekkers entered the battle with the view that it was a desperate fight to ensure their survival against overwhelming odds, and to secure for themselves a place to settle, a home to call their own, free of the shackles of any lordship. From their point of view, they had treated appropriately with the Zulu king, and had sought in good faith to fulfill Dingane's conditions for entry to the Zulu kingdom. But the latter had behaved treacherously towards them (by murdering their leader) and therefore the defeat of the Zulu military was the only way they could guarantee their safety.
The second part of Dingane's plan, namely to annihilate all Voortrekkers in Natal, was not a complete success, albeit it was well planned and the Voortrekkers at first disregarded the rumour that Retief had been murdered and consequently made no preparations to defend themselves. Perhaps Dingane had underestimated the number of Voortrekkers in Natal and the fervour with which the Voortrekkers would defend themselves once the intentions of the Zulu's became clear to them.
The first attack was successful. During the early hours of February 17th a surprise attack was launched on the unsuspecting trekker lagers on the Bloukrans and Bushman's rivers. Approximately 500 people (servants and Voortrekkers) were killed and the Zulu seized 25000 head of cattle and thousands more sheep and horses. The site of the attack was later renamed Weenen (Weeping). The Voortrekkers began to organise a counter attack. A commando led by two rival Voortrekkers leaders Piet Uys and Andries Potgieter, marched towards Mgundgundlovu in a scissors formation (2-pronged attack). But just across the Buffalo/Ncome River, at Italeni, the AmaZulu ambushed them. A British Port Natal expedition rushed to assist the trekkers but to no avail. Most of the Trekkers escaped, 10 were killed, among them Piet Uys and his young son Dirkie.
The Battle of Blood River
On 25 November 1838 Andries Pretorius (who had been roaming as a scout in the then Transvaal) took over leadership as Commandant-General of the Voortrekkers in Natal. He immediately started to prepare a retaliatory attack on the Zulu. On Sunday, 9th December, Pretorius and his followers made a vow to God that in the case of victory; they would build a church to honour God and they would tell there children to observe a day of thanksgiving. (The Pretorius party had crossed the Ncome (Buffalo) River, and on Saturday 15 December, they reached a tributary (Thukela).
Their scouts reported that a large AmaZulu force was advancing (10 000-20 000 Zulu warriors). The Zulu army was led by Dingane's generals Dambuza (Nzobo) and Ndlela kaSompisi. After the scouts had given the warning the Voortrekkers moved there wagons into a laager (circular formation) in the best strategical position possible, between a deep pool in the river and a donga (a large ditch).
The Voortrekkers force consisted of 470 men. There were only two gaps in the laager and in each, a canon was placed. At dusk on the 15th December the Amazulu had already begun to circle the laager. A heavy mist surrounded the laager and only lifted in the early hours of the morning, this made visibility difficult. At dawn on the 16th December 1838 the Zulu warriors equipped with assagais and shields swept towards the laager. To be able to use their assagais effectively they had to come as close as possible to the defenders.
At dawn when the first Zulu attack began, the firing was apparently so heavy that the Zulu warriors could not be seen through the smoke. The main shortcoming of the Voortrekkers weapons was the lengthy reloading times. The first Zulu attack had scarcely been repulsed when a second was launched, this time the Zulu warriors almost reached the laager Meanwhile hundreds of warriors were hiding in the donga.
Sarel Cilliers and 80 others attacked them during a short lull in the fighting. When the ZuluÃÔ, who had withdrawn about 50 yards from the laager, failed to launch a third attack, Pretorius sent some men to draw them out to seal the victory. Pretorius cavalry met with determined resistance from the Zulu Warriors, and it was only after a third sortie that the Zulu's were put to flight, pursued by the Voortrekkers. At midday the pursuit was called off. More than 3000 corpses were counted around the laager. Only 3 Voortrekkers (including Pretorius himself) were wounded, none were killed. The Ncome River became red with the blood of the slain. Hence the river became known as "Blood River".
The Aftermath of the Battle
After the defeat of Dingane, the Kingdom of the AmaZulu was hurled into political strife. Mpande, Dingane's half-brother, taking advantage of the political uncertainty, overthrew the Dingane and seized the leadership of the AmaZulu. Since Mpande was open to the demands for land by the Voortrekkers, Andries Pretorius recognised him as King of the AmaZulu and an ally. Large areas of his kingdom were annexed by the Voortrekkers new Natal Republic. While Mpande's vassalage lapsed when the British colonial administration annexed the Natal Republic, the AmaZulu did not regain their land.
However, they did undergo a period of stability and economic recovery. The Battle was the main historical event that was used by Apartheid apologists - some of them historians, political leaders and theologians - to construct an exclusivist Afrikaner nationalist identity, to inculcate in this community a sense of having a unique history and place in Africa and thereby legitimize white supremacy in South Africa.
For the greater part of the twentieth century 16 December had been observed as a public holiday, with Afrikaans-speakers attending special church services or visiting the Voortrekker Monument. Until the National Party seized power in 1948, this day was observed as "Dingane's Day". After 1948 the National Party government set about politicising this day to legitimize their apparent uniqueness and historical relationship with God. Hence in 1952 "Dingane's Day" officially became the "Day of the Covenant". African nationalists and the socialist liberation movement forces also used the day to mount protest action against white rule. The ANC led Congress Alliance launched its armed struggle (military wing), Á¶mkhonto we Siwze: the Spear of the Nation? on December 16th 1961.
In 1994 South Africa elected its first non-racial and democratic government. In the spirit of promoting reconciliation and national unity, the day was given a new meaning and was renamed the "Day of Reconciliation" in 1995.
We, the Afrikaners, do not celebrate this day from a racist point of view, but as a day of convenant to the Almighty God!!
