“THEY PAVED WAY FOR THE BRITISH COLONISATION OF ZIMBABWE.” HOW FAR DO YOU AGREE WITH THIS COMMENT ON THE ROLES OF MISSIONARIES, HUNTERS AND TRADERS IN 19TH CENTURY ZIMBABWE?

Commenting on colonialism, Tewodros II a nineteenth century Ethiopian emperor said that “I know their game. First it’s traders and missionaries. Then it’s ambassadors. After that, they bring the guns.” His sentiments would be echoed by Jomo Kenyatta who also pointed out the close connection between the bible of the missionaries and the flag of imperialism. The colonisation of Zimbabwe was no exception and this essay shall demonstrate that to a large extent it followed the classic pattern of missionary, hunter and trader activity before the imperial power came in.

British-born missionaries were first onto the nineteenth century Zimbabwean scene and not surprisingly British imperialism followed. Robert Moffat was permitted by Mzilikazi to set up the first mission station at Inyathi in 1859. Little did Mzilikazi and Lobengula know that Moffat and his son John would be sending out treacherous reports regarding the Ndebele as a “miserable people” and “it will be a blessing to the world when they are broken up.”

John Moffat went beyond mere rhetoric and rendered practical assistance to the cause of colonialism by entering the paid service of Cecil Rhodes and negotiating treaties which laid the basis of colonialism. To this end, he fully exploited old ‘family ties’ with Ndebele royalty and got Lobengula to assent to the Moffat Treaty and Rudd Concession both in 1888. The first circumscribed Lobengula’s power in foreign policy issues while the second gave Rhodes’ agents complete mineral rights and full powers to procure them in Lobengula’s territory. It was on the basis of the Rudd Concession that the British government granted Rhodes a charter for the colonisation of Zimbabwe. Considering the fact that Lobengula virtually surrendered his territory and independence for negligible returns, it is most likely that he was misinformed with (Moffat’s connivance) as to the actual written terms of those treaties.

Lobengula followed Mzilikazi’s example and permitted the London Missionary Society (L.M.S) to open a second mission under Charles Helm at Hope Fountain in 1870 and that too was a mistake which paved the way for colonialism. Like the Moffats, Helm was firmly convinced that no substantial conversion of the Ndebele to Christianity was possible without the undermining of Lobengula’s power and the destruction of the Ndebele traditional structure. Just like John Moffat, Helm abused the trust Lobengula had in him by portraying Rhodes as a trustworthy and reliable man. Helm persuaded Lobengula to sign the Rudd Concession on which the colonisation of Zimbabwe was based.

The desire to colonise Zimbabwe was also touched off by the glowing and times exaggerated reports that the country abounded with mineral wealth and natural resources and these can be attributed to hunters and traders who visited the country. Thomas Baines was one such trader-prospector-cum artist and he was given a concession by Lobengula to exploit gold reserves but failed owing to lack of capital. His legacy mainly lies in the vivid but highly romantic paintings that portrayed a land awash with elephants and other natural resources only waiting for Europeans to exploit.

Traders such as George Westbeech and Karl Mauch spread rumours about the abundance of gold leading to suggestions that there could actually be a ‘second rand’ in Zimbabwe. Mauch was even granted the Tati Concession in 1870 and this was bought from him by Cecil Rhodes in his relentless drive towards colonizing Zimbabwe. Leask, Fairbairn, Philips and Tainton were some of the traders at Lobengula’s court prior to the Rudd Concession and they aided colonialism by selling their own concessions to Rhodes and persuaded Lobengula to sign with Rudd Lobengula’s tactics of playing off one group of Europeans against the others therefore, came to nothing as Rhodes’ financial muscle not only enabled him to buy concessions from his rivals, it also enabled him to get them to work for him in persuading Lobengula to deal with him. This was true of the traders and the missionaries and it was equally true of the hunters too.

Hunters like Henry Hartley and Frederick Selous also played their part in advertising Zimbabwe as a land full of minerals and big game. Hartley spoke favourably of the mineral prospectus after discovering gold 70 miles south-west of present day Harare while Selous even cut a road between Mashonaland and Matabeleland (Hunters’ Road) to facilitate the transportation of ivory. His biggest contribution to colonialism was to be in the guiding of the ‘Pioneer Column’ in 1890 as it trekked in from South Africa to assume control of Mashonaland on behalf Britain.

In the final analysis, it is evident that the colonisation of Zimbabwe owed to beliefs of abundant economic resources and the various concessions obtained from the African rulers. It is also evident that in all such beliefs and concessions obtained, there was the hand of missionaries, traders and hunters.

SETTLER GOVERNMENTS' FRUSTRATION OF AFRICAN ECONOMICS 1894 - 1951

 

1. This is a straightforward question requiring the candidate to outline the settler government’s policies that were designed to frustrate African economic activities as a way of forcing them to submit to the colonial capitalist system as labourers

2. A knowledge of various African activities is essential e.g. crop cultivation, pastoralism, mining, tool making, hunting and gathering, trade, tribute and raiding

3. It will be important to examine the settler government’s policies to hinder the above and other African economic activities

SOME OF THE KEY ISSUES TO CONSIDER INCLUDE THE FOLLOWING:

1. Expropriation of land- the Europeans started the process of grabbing the Africans’ land in 1890 when they occupied a part of Mashonaland. More land was forcibly taken away from the Africans in 1894 after the defeat of the Ndebele in the Anglo-Ndebele war of 1893-4. The land-grab was followed up by the creation of reserves for Africans in the Gwayi and Shangani areas that were arid and infertile. Given the fact land was the mode of production for the Africans whose most important economic activity was Agriculture it is not difficult to understand that the land-grabbing and subsequent creation of reserves severely frustrated and undermined the Africans’ way of life.

2. Confiscation of cattle- apart from pegging out huge farms for themselves on land that had been taken away from the Ndebele in 1894, the Europeans also went on to loot large herds of the Ndebele cattle. Pastoralism was also an important economic activity and cattle were significant as a form of wealth. They were used to pay the bride-price, for trade, for meat and milk as well as for ritual purposes. The expropriation of large herds of African cattle had negative results for the Africans leaving many of them poorer and unable to live a self-sufficient life. Many were ultimately forced to sell their labour rather cheaply to the Europeans on their farms and mines in order to survive.

3. Forced labour- the Europeans often resorted to forcing Africans to work for them on their farms and mines. Such measures removed Africans from their independent and traditional economic pursuits of agriculture and pastoralism and prevented them from being self-reliant. The practice of forced labour was extremely brutal to the point that it became a major African grievance leading up to the first Ndebele-Shona uprising popularly known as the First Chimurenga/Umvukela of 1896-7

4. Taxation- different kinds of taxes were imposed on the Africans by the settler governments in a clear attempt to uproot them from their traditional agricultural and pastoral way of life and get them to participate in the money-based colonial and capitalist economy as manual labourers. There was a Hut Tax, a Poll Tax and even a cattle tax among others and all these had to be paid in cash in order to induce the Africans to take up paid employment on the European farms, mines and manufacturing industries.

5. Discriminatory and oppressive laws- perhaps the best known was the Land Apportionment Act first passed in 1930 and amended so many times afterwards. This divided the country’s land into African and European areas. Europeans were given 48 million acres in the prime farming regions that were closest to transport and telecommunications infrastructure while over one million Africans were allocated only 21 million acres of mostly arid and barren land far removed from the markets and transport and telecommunications facilities. Overcrowding and a severe deterioration in African agriculture quickly followed and the settler government attempted to redress the consequent environmental degradation by passing the equally discriminatory and oppressive Native Land Husbandry Act in 1951. This law further frustrated and undermined African economic activity and way of life by imposing limits on land owned, cattle owned as well as prohibiting tree cutting which was a source of firewood for rural energy requirements. The Maize Control Act discriminated against African farmers causing their produce to be classified as inferior to that of the Europeans and therefore attracting a lower purchase price. The Masters and Servants Act as well as the Industrial Conciliation Act were some of the oppressive pieces of legislation that prevented African workers from effectively organizing themselves in trade unions that could negotiate with employers for higher wages and better working conditions.

6. Having outlined and discussed the measures stated above, it will remain for the candidate to conclude that the combination of all those measures succeeded in frustrating and progressively destroying African economic activities