Chief Bhambatha and the Rebellion of 1906

In 1906 the Bhambatha Rebellion took place in the Kranskop-Greytown region. The Magistrate of Kranskop, A W Leslie tried to collect taxes from local people, but the Hlongwa tribe of Chief Mtamu refused to pay, after which the men were jailed and each received 25 lashes with the Cat of nine tails.

The next group in line who were supposed to pay taxes was the Zondi tribe of Chief Bhambatha (Bhambatha ka Mancinza Zondi)Chief Bhambatha (Bhambatha ka Mancinza Zondi), but he also refused and called his men to war. The Natal Police were sent to calm matters, but a small battles ensued during which 4 policemen were killed and 5 were wounded. Casualties on Bhambatha side are unknown, but a Zulu participant testified that many of them died with neither side winning the battle. Bhambatha was apparently killed during a battle at Mome Gorge. Estimates have been made of about 2'000 Zulu men that were killed.

The police force was increased to 240 men. Another skirmish took place on 28 May 1906 with several more people killed. A police contingent of 500 men was sent from Johannesburg. At the ensuing battled near Nkandla, several chiefs were killed. Bhambatha and 24 others were exiled to St Helena Island.

Some historians regard Bhambatha as the beginning of more intense resistance against apartheid. The Bhambatha Rebellion of 1906 was the last uprising by indigenous people until Sharpville in 1960. The South African Post Office issues a memorial postal stamp in 2006, commissioned to Denis Murphy:

Zulu King Dinizulu (son of Cetshwayo) was implicated in the killing of chiefs who were more loyal to the Europeans during the rebellion and who were killed by him. Dinizulu led the Zulu army against the British during the anglo-Zulu War of 1879.

A force of 200 policemen was sent to arrest Dinizulu, but several more people were killed. Then another force of 4000 policemen was mobilised and sent to Nongoma. Dinizulu eventually surrendered, after which he was banished to Rustenburg in the then Transvaal (today in North-West) where he died at the age of 45 on the Farm Uitkyk on October 18th, 1913.