As one result of the war, an addition was made to the territory comprised in Natal, consisting of a portion of what had previously been included in the Transvaal. The Natal government originally made two proposals for annexing new territory:—
1. It was proposed that the following districts should be transferred to Natal, viz. the district of Vryheid, the district of Utrecht and such portion of the district of Wakkerstroom as was comprised by a line drawn from the north-eastern corner of Natal, east by Volksrust in a northerly direction to the summit of the Drakensberg Range, along that range, passing just north of the town of Wakkerstroom, to the head waters of the Pongola river, and thence following the Pongola river to the border of the Utrecht district. In consideration of the advantage to Natal from this addition of territory, Natal should take over £700,000 of the Transvaal debt.
2. It was proposed to include in Natal such portions of the Harrismith and Vrede districts as were comprised by a line following the Elands river north from its source on the Basutoland border to its junction with the Wilge river, and thence drawn straight to the point where the boundaries of Natal, the Transvaal and the Orange River Colony meet on the Annexations to the northern territories. Drakensberg. In consideration of this addition to her territory, Natal should take over a portion of the Orange River Colony debt, to be raised at the end of the war, to the amount of £200,000.
The Imperial government decided to sanction only the first of these two proposals. For this course there were many reasons, the Transvaal territory annexed, or the greater part of it (the Vryheid district), having been only separated from the rest of Zululand in 1883 by a raid of armed Boers. “In handing over this district to the administration which controls the rest of Zululand, His Majesty’s government,” wrote Mr Chamberlain, under date March 1902, “feel that they are reuniting what ought never to have been separated.”
With regard, however, to the proposed transfer of territory from the Orange River Colony, the circumstances were different. “There is,” said Mr Chamberlain, “no such historical reason as exists in the case of Vryheid for making the transfer. On the contrary, the districts in question have invariably formed part of the state from which it is now proposed to sever them, and they are separated from Natal by mountains which form a well-defined natural boundary. In these circumstances, His Majesty’s government have decided to confine the territory to be transferred to the districts in the Transvaal.”
The districts added to Natal contained about 6000 white inhabitants (mostly Dutch), and some 92,000 natives, and had an area of nearly 7000 sq. m., so that this annexation meant an addition to the white population of Natal of about one-tenth, to her native population of about one-tenth also, and to her territory of about one-fourth. An act authorizing the annexation was passed during 1902 and the territories were formally transferred to Natal in January 1903. (A. P. H.; F. R. C.)
The period following the war was succeeded by commercial depression, though in Natal it was not so severely felt as in other states of South Africa. The government met the crisis by renewed energy in harbour works, railway constructions and the development of the natural resources of the country. A railway to the Zululand coalfields Commercial depression and native rebellion. was completed in 1903, and in the same year a line was opened to Vryheid in the newly annexed territories. Natal further built several railway lines in the eastern half of the Orange River Colony, thus opening up new markets for her produce and facilitating her transit trade. Mr Chamberlain on his visit to South Africa came first to Natal, where he landed in the last days of 1902, and conferred with the leading colonists. In August 1903 the Hime ministry resigned and was succeeded by a cabinet under the premiership of Mr (afterwards Sir) George Sutton, the founder of the wattle industry in Natal and one of the pioneers in the coal-mining industry. In May 1905 Sir George Sutton was replaced by a coalition ministry under Mr C. J. Smythe, who had been colonial secretary under Sir Albert Hime. These somewhat frequent changes of ministry, characteristic of a country new to responsible government, reflected, chiefly, differences concerning the treatment of commercial questions and the policy to be adopted towards the natives. Towards those Dutch colonists who had joined the enemy during the war leniency was shown, all rebels being pardoned. The attitude of the natives both in Natal proper and in Zululand caused much disquiet. As early as July 1903 rumours were current that Dinizulu (a son of Cetywayo) was disaffected and the power he exercised as representative of the former royal house rendered his attitude a matter of great moment. Dinizulu, however, remained at the time quiescent, though the Zulus were in a state of excitement over incidents connected with the war, when they had been subject to raids by Boer commandoes, and on one occasion at least had retaliated in characteristic Zulu fashion. Unrest was also manifested among the natives west of the Tugela, but it was not at first cause for alarm. The chief concern of the Natal government was to remodel their native policy where it proved inadequate, especially in view of the growth of the movement for the federation of the South African colonies. During 1903–1904 a Native Affairs’ Commission, representative of all the states, obtained much evidence on the status and conditions of the natives. Its investigations pointed to the loosening of tribal ties and to the corresponding growth of a spirit of individual independence. Among its recommendations was the direct political representation of natives in the colonial legislatures on the New Zealand model, and the imposition of direct taxation upon natives, which should not be less than £1 a year payable by every adult male. The commission also called attention to the numerical insufficiency of magistrates and native commissioners in certain parts of Natal. With some of the recommendations the Natal commissioners disagreed; in 1905, however, an act was passed by the Natal legislature imposing a, poll-tax of £1 on all males over 18 in the colony, except indentured Indians and natives paying hut-tax (which was 14s. a year). Every European was bound to pay the tax. In 1906 a serious rebellion broke out in the colony, attributable ostensibly to the poll-tax, and spread to Zululand. It was suppressed by the colonial forces under Colonel (afterwards Sir) Duncan McKenzie, aided by a detachment of Transvaal volunteers. An incident which marked the beginning of this rebellion brought the Natal ministry into sharp conflict with the Imperial government (the Campbell-Bannerman administration). Early in the year a farmer who had insisted that the Kaffirs on his farm should pay the poll-tax was murdered, and on the 8th of February some forty natives in the Richmond district forcibly resisted the collection of the tax and killed a sub-inspector of police and a trooper at Byrnetown. Two of the natives implicated were court-martialled and shot (February 15); others were subsequently arrested and tried by court martial. Nineteen were sentenced to death, but in the case of seven of the prisoners the sentence was commuted. On the day before that Conflict with the home government. fixed for the execution Lord Elgin, then Secretary of State for the Colonies, intervened and directed the governor to postpone the execution of the sentence. Thereupon the Natal ministry resigned, giving as their reason the importance of maintaining the authority of the colonial administration at a critical period, and the constitutional question involved in the interference by the imperial authorities in the domestic affairs of a self-governing colony. The action of the British cabinet caused both astonishment and indignation throughout South Africa and in the other self-governing states of the empire. After a day’s delay, during which Sir Henry McCallum reiterated his concurrence, already made known in London, in the justice of the sentence passed on the natives, Lord Elgin gave way (March 30). The Natal ministry thereupon remained in office. The guilty natives were shot on the 2nd of April.[1] It was at this time that Bambaata, a chief in the Greytown district who had been deposed for misconduct, kidnapped the regent appointed in his stead. He was pursued and escaped to Zululand, where he received considerable help. He was killed in battle in June, and by the close of July the rebellion was at an end. As has been stated, it was ostensibly attributable to the poll-tax, but the causes were more deep-seated. Though somewhat obscure they may be found in the
- ↑ Subsequently three other natives, after trial by the supreme court, were condemned and executed for their share in the Byrnetown murders.
