Episode 281 - The Boers anoint Dinizulu King of the Zulus
About this episode
This episode discusses the events surrounding the death of Zulu king Cetshwayo and the political tensions in Zululand during the late 19th century.
Cetshwayo had sought refuge in Nkandla as his arch enemy, Zibhebhu, turned his attention to the royalists living along the Zululand Coastal plain. Soon Somkhele of the Mphukunyoni and the emaNgweni people were hiding in the swamps and reed-beds of the sub-tropical bush along the Indian Ocean. Melmoth Osborne was the resident commissioner of Zululand and a committed foe of Cetshwayo’s royal line, a supporter of Zibhebhu. As Cetshwayo waited for the civil war to die down, he came to the conclusion that it was imperative to convince Melmoth of his right to rule. It was time to come out of hiding and to seek shelter from the commissioner — which he did under Henry Francis Fynn’s junior’s escort in October 1883. Cetshwayo was placed in a small house alongside his father’s old kwaGqikazi homestead where he could contemplate how far he’d fallen. There he remained until 8th February 1884. Had he lived longer, he would have heard that his old Nduna and councillor, Mnyamana, had escaped with his life after being poisoned. The Zulu king was another going to be so fortunate. Shortly after he ate, at 2.30 pm on 8th February, he was overtaken by convulsions, then he collapsed and died a short…
People in this episode
Host: Desmond Latham
Topics covered
- Zulu history
- Cetshwayo
- colonial conflict
- royalty
- poisoning
- Zululand
Keywords
- Cetshwayo
- Zibhebhu
- Melmoth Osborne
- Zulus
- poisoning
- Zululand
- civil war
- royalty
More episodes of History of South Africa podcast
- Episode 284 - Australians and the Struben Brothers Hunt Gold on the Ridge of White Waters
- Episode 283 - Warren’s Great North Road Balloon and Telegraph Escapade
- Episode 282 - The Scramble for Africa Berlin Conference of 1884/5 and Lüderitz becomes German
- Episode 280 - Zibhebhu’s Mandlakazi shatter Cetshwayo’s uSuthu setting off a Zulu Civil War
- Episode 279 - Dean Williams and Bishop Merriman compete for Anglican Souls as De Villiers Graaff Ponders
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