Episode 296 - kwaCeza Prayers and 20-something Dinizulu kaCetshwayo leads his men into battle
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Show notes
Last episode we had joined Dinuzulu on his tour of the Boer New Republic as it was known in 1888, the area around modern day Utrecht. Piet Meyer the Republic leader thought it best to step back, wary of the fact that the Zulu chief had crossed the boundary line and was openly talking in treasonable terms at least from the British perspective.
But the Qulusi branch of the Usuthu whom he led were impressed by the young chief, they had been cut off from the rest of Zululand, and began to muster on the large, imposing flat-topped Ceza Mountain. This bold geographical feature would become crucial in Zulu historiography - the site holds deep cultural and spiritual importance for the Zulu nation. An annual KwaCeza Mountain Prayer is held here, attended by Zulu Monarchs and provincial leaders who honour the resistance of King Dinuzulu.
By March 1888 word spread in Zululand, and Natal, that the uSuthu had become a sanctuary for those defying the British, as well as their collaborator, Zibhebhu of the Mandlakazi. In April Dinuzulu rode to the Phongolo River, rallying support from the outlying villages — and as you heard last episode, it was during this period that local magistrate Addison tried to arrest the uSuthu leaders he’d left behind in the Ndwandwe district - modern day Nongoma.
You’d remember that Zibhebhu used the chaos to mobilise his warriors, the Zululand police were on the move from Eshowe, backed up by a couple of hundred British troops. Dinuzulu realised he’d reached a point of no return, and in May he and his men withdrew to Ceza Mountain.
The uSuthu Rebellion - as it became known - had begun. They began raiding from their hilltop refuge, attacking those they regarded as friends of the British - victims included Mnyamana and Ziwedu, who sought refuge at the British military camp as Nkonjeni just north of Ulundi.
In early June, a force of African levies from Myamana’s Buthelezi joined the Zululand police force and British troops as they advanced on Ceza planning to arrest Dinuzulu and Ndabuko, along with the other rebel chiefs. This left Addison’s camp at Ndunu hill exposed, a small garrison remained, so he asked Zibhebhu and his Mandlakazi to encamp on the hill as insurance against a surprise attack. The British mobilised more of their troops, 515 infantry and 455 mounted men swelled the ranks along with 22 officers. Eshowe resident commissioner Melmoth Osborn managed to mobilise about four thousand black auxiliaries in southern Zululand - so the order of battle began to develop quickly.
