Podcast
History of South Africa podcast
Episodes — page 12
- Episode 70 – Senzangakhona dies and Shaka takes over as chief of the AmaZulu
This is episode 70 and we’re walking with Shaka. He spent the bulk of his early and teenage years in Zulu country, that area to the north of the Umhlatuzi, between the Langeni an…
- Episode 69 – Senzangakhona’s “Jerusalem of the Zulus”, his beautiful wife Bhibhi and a bit of Delagoa Bay
This is episode 69 and we’re hunting the origins of Shaka. Throughout the area north of the Thukela River the main medium of exchange in terms of goods was no longer cattle by 18…
- Episode 68 – Stockenström’s anguish, Dingiswayo and the beginning of the era of blood, power and iron
We heard last episode how the fourth Frontier War of 1811/12 had been a short sharp affair and the anger bubbling away amongst amaXhosa leadership about the brutal emptying of the…
- Episode 67 – Wardoctor Nxele begins to see visions as he synthesises amaXhosa religion with Christianity
Graham’s war in the Eastern Cape had sent the amaXhosa hurrying eastwards over the Great Fish River, with Ndlambe settling near where East London is today. Not surprisingly, howe…
- Episode 66 – The Fourth Frontier war bursts into flame, Chungwa is shot and Stockenstrom is assegai'd
This is episode 66 – it’s late 1811 and Sir John Cradock has just dispatched Lieutenant Colonel John Graham into the eastern Cape frontier to rid the Zuurveld of the amaXhosa. Cr…
- Episode 65 – Graham launches his terror campaign in the Zuurveld and Chungwa of the Gqunukhwebe is in his sights
This is episode 65 and we’ll spend time with the amaXhosa, and hear about Lieutenant Colonel John Graham. I mentioned last episode that he was going to introduce what he would call…
- Episode 64 – The amaXhosa “strolling” days are numbered as Lieutenant-General Sir John Cradock arrives
This is episode 64 and we’ve rejoined Lieutenant colonel Richard Collins and Governor Caledon in Cape Town. If you remember last episode we heard about Collins’ military intelligen…
- Episode 63 – Shaka’s isicoco regulation, a “she” rebellion and Lieutenant Colonel Collins collects intel
Last episode we spent some time back in Zululand hearing about the amaMthethwa, the amaNdwandwe, the amaHlubi, the amaQwabe and that tiny little chiefdom called the amaZulu. They…
- Episode 62 – Dingiswayo and Shaka of the amaMthethwa, Ndlambe and Ngqika of the amaRharhabe
We’re hustling towards the year 1807. If you remember last episode, we heard that the young Shaka had grown up in amaZulu chief Senzangakona’s house – the Zulu chief – but by 1802…
- Episode 61 – British Governor Lord Caledon launches the pass law system in the Cape in 1808
This is episode 61 and the English are back in Cape Town. This was a momentous moment for southern Africa. Gone was the VOC and its chaos, in its place a world superpower had ar…
- Episode 60 – The Battle of Blaauberg in 1806 and an American landdrost takes control of the Eastern Cape
Its January 1806 and the British have dispatched a fleet of 61 vessels to Cape Town under the charge of Commodore Home Popham to seize the port. As you’ve heard that was after the…
- Episode 59 – Senzangakhona and his son Shaka, Janssens has a plan and American sailors ogle the eastern Cape
The Batavians trying to setup a formal long-term administration that was rooted inside the Cape rather than in Europe. Unfortunately, their tenure was to be short. International…
- Episode 58 – A dilemma of principle as religious freedom and a reformed government are introduced in 1803
For on 18th May 1803, ten days after Janssens had reached Algoa Bay on his long journey overland to the frontier from Cape Town, Malta in the Mediterranean became a flashpoint. T…
- Episode 57 – The Batavian Republic takes over the Cape in 1803 with a “Methods in dealing with Savages” handbook
Last episode we dealt with the arrival of the new representatives of the Batavian Republic who’d come to take over the Cape Colony from the British. While the British received co…
- Episode 56 – The burghers suffer their worst setback since 1652 as the Third Frontier War reignites in 1801
Last episode we heard about Doctor Somerville’s expedition to Dithakong which was interesting but a failure in terms of its main aim. That was to secure cattle – he came back with…
- Episode 55 – Somerville's 1802 description of the baThlaping and their grand capital at Dithakong
Welcome back to the History of South Africa podcast, with me your host Des Latham - this episode 55. We’ll follow Doctor William Somerville on his way home from the expedition…
- Episode 54 – Doctor William Somerville’s extraordinary expedition to the Orange River in 1801
World events has once again conspired to interrupt the flow of events in southern Africa by the early 1800s. The British were going to withdraw from the Cape of Good Hope and the…
- Episode 53 – The surge in centralized chiefdoms circa 1800 and the development of an African military system
This episode we return to the eastern coastal region of what would become Zululand – but first we’ll cover the trekboers quick getaway in the Zuurveld. It’s crazy town time at Ng…
- Episode 52 – Christmas 1799 brings a fortuitous Amatola downpour and the intertwining of futures
We’re heading into a new and most momentous century – the 1800s. When we left off last episode, Ngqika was still trying to decide what to do about the missionaries camping near his…
- Episode 51 – The Third Frontier War ends and missionaries trek into a snake’s nest at Ngqika’s Great Place
So this war was set off by the blunt British instrument called Packenham Vandeleur as we heard in Episode 50. The Zuurveld farmers were now in a defenceless state since their suppl…
