The history of the Zulu nation traces its legacy from Shaka who during his reign, the Zulu wars caused ranging migrations especially during the Mfecane period that gave birth to large kingdoms such as the Basuto nation, the Ndebele kingdom, the Tswana kingdom of Bechuana land among others.  This disruption of peace and migrations of the Boers into the regions of Natal, Orange Free State and Transvaal.  The stage was thus set for the three concerned struggles for the control of South Africa i.e between the Bantu states, the Boers and the British.  It was in 1897, that the imperial British government which had taken over the Cape Province from the Dutch permitted the Natal colonial government to annex Zulu land thereby placing Zulu under the direct control of the colonialists.  It was the attempt of the Zulu nationalists to do away with the Natal colonial government that manifested itself into the Bambata rising.

The Natal government was characterised by the unfair taxation of the Zulus supplemented by harsh policies of tax collection.  This caused antagonism between the Zulu and the Natal officials which later gave birth to the Zulu rising of 1906.

Furthermore, the Natal government encouraged taxation as a tool of making the Africans work on the white farms and this also brought discontent among the Zulu nationals as later evident in the Zulu rising.

Their leadership was also characterised by labour laws whereby the Africans were forced to work on the white lands and with little payment.  These harsh labour laws forced the Zulus to rebel against the whites in 1906.

Politically, the Zulus had never accepted, defeat and loss of their independence and indeed they were determined to ensure that they gain their independence from the Natal government.  This is what caused the Zulu rising.

The Natal government had driven the Zulus out of their land and had made them squatters especially in the economically unviable areas.  This policy of land alienation greatly angered the Zulu people who were left with no alternative but to rebel against the Natal government.

Hence in 1906, a local rising took place in Natal against poll tax in which two whites were killed.  The government then over reacted and declared a martial law, sent in troops and sentenced a dozen leaders to death in a military court in which Africa leaders were executed.

The execution of the Zulu leaders provoked wide spread rising in the Zulu land led by a minor Induna in the names of Bambata from whom the title of the rebellion originates.

It is believed that Bambatha had no clear plan of action.  Although he greatly appealed to the Zulu national feelings and indeed a number of prominent Zulu leaders joined him notably Mehloka Zulu, Sigananda the chief of Cubea, a well reknown mat carrier of Shaka and a close follower of Ceteyewayo.  To which case therefore this brought a close link between the Pre-Colonial African Imperialism and the post colonial imperialism.

Like any other African rebellion, the Bambata rising was ruthlessly suppressed.  Bambatha and the other chiefs who supported him were arrested and killed at battle of Momegorge.

Dinizulu, Cetywayo’s son who had initially led a rebellion in 1889 between the Zulu and the whites which were crashed was arrested and imprisoned for a period of 4 years for he was convicted of conspiracy and having housed Bambatha.

The Natal government in 1908 introduced a Bill whereby 4 whites were approved to represent the African interests in 1909, a council of native affairs was set up whose function was only advisory.

The Africans from this defeat decided to oppose the whites not through use of arms but by education and modern political organisation.  In other words, no longer by local upraising but by nationalistic protests as seen later in the birth of political movements such as A.N.C. led by the likes of Nelson Mandela, Oliver Tambo, Walter Sithole among others. who were later to fight for the independence of South Africa towards the closure of the 20th Century.

WHY HAD AFRICAN RESISTANCE COME TO AN END BY 1914?

A number of factors are responsible for this predicament but military weakness, political, Economic weaknesses, social problems and Natural calamities are important to consider in analysing the factors that made African societies lose the wars except for Ethiopia and Liberia.

Military weakness: This handicapped the African resistance wars in various ways for example

·      Most African resisting communities had small unprofessional armies compared to the enemy forces, for instance, the time Mkwawa died, he had only two soldiers.

·      African weapons were so rudimentary compared to those of their enemies. The African' were using bows and arrows, stones, spears, insults, witchcraft and yet the colonialists had sophisticated weapons such as maxim guns. Africans had poor and old rifles. Perhaps they had a local arms industry like that of Samoure Toure, they would have put up a better show.

·      African tactics were inferior because of poor training and traditionalism. But even if the had good tactics without proper arms and ammunitions, they were bound to lose the war.

·      The Africans lacked proper coordination and a concentrated spirit of togetherness. This was shown by fighting on different fronts and yet they had a common cause, for example, in the Chimurenga rebellion, the Shona joined late and fought on different frontlines. In the 1894 British-Ndebele war, some soldiers refused to fight while others went on with war.

·      Other African resisting societies lacked strong leadership. Perhaps if they were all strong hearted like that of Samoure Toure and Kabalega of Bunyoro their defeat would not have been quick and total as it happened to some societies.

Political weakness: This manifested in military weakness. A poorly organised community could not definitely wage formidable resistance. Political weakness was two-fold i.e. internal and external weakness. The Africans were disunited which was so because of continous interstate that the colonialists exploited, for example, Bunyoro against Buganda, Nandi against Masai, Mandika against Turkolor empire, Asante against Fante, perhaps if these Africans were united, they would have put up a better show.

·      In some cases, especially those secondary resistance, some African leaders were incapable of leading their states to successful resistance against the imposition of colonial rule. example, it was argued that in his last days Lobengula was disorganised because of old

·      There were succession disputes that was a source of disunity, for example, in case of Masai, it was Laibon Lenana who collaborated with the British colonialists against his rival brother Sendeyo. In Ankole, it was prince Rwakatogoro against Igumira, thus such divisions created lack of African solidarity.

·      Individualism in pre-colonial African societies was another factor to consider, for instance, there was no recognition of fellow African societies in face of colonial torture. It's against this background that A frican societies helped the colonialists to crash their fellow Africans. For example, in 1894 Shona advised the British how to conquer the Ndebele the same to Buganda advising and assisting British how to colonise Bunyoro.

·      In some societies, African struggle was betrayed by their own men, for example, in Chimurenga rebellion of 1896, the Ndebele were betrayed by their own members who refused to continue with war. They were divided up in opinion over the strategy to use, some wished to use military force while others wanted a peaceful solution.

·      To overcame African resistance, the colonialists applied different methods in the process of imposition of colonial rule. Some of the methods were so tricky that the Africans did not know that they would lose their independence in the process. The other methods were so peaceful that the Africans could not resist.

Economically Africans lacked a sound economy to sustain prolonged wars of resistance. Worse still, most Africans lacked mixed economies. For this matter in case of destruction of this sector of the economy, for example, crops or livestock, the war would end. It's a testimony-therefore why Samoure Toure was able to challenge French colonialism for all that long period because of a mixed economy coupled with the trade. The Nandi challenged imposition of British colonial rule for eleven years partly because of their mixed economy.

There were religious differences: At the time of imposition of colonial rule, European Christian Missionaries had divided the Africans along religious lines. For example in Buganda the British colonialists supported the Protestants against the Catholics. Such differences only served to cultivate colonialism.

There was also the weakness of natural calamities that included plant, human and animal catastrophes, for example, the Ndebele had been hit by small pox and rinderpest even the Masai. The Banyankole had been hit by jigger epidemic under such circumstances. It was impossible to risk a resistance war.

By way of conclusion it's important to recall the words of Professor Mohamood Mamdan in his book imperialism and fascism in Uganda. He convincingly argued that the most vital factor to explain the failure of African resistance was the military superiority of the coloniser. This hand-over does not undermine the other factors considered.