Nongqawuse was not the primary cause of the 1856 Cattle Killing — we are wrong to make her a scapegoat
I read with great interest the Daily Maverick article dated 6 June by Dr JJ Klaas and felt the need to make my personal observations with regards to the Cattle Killing of 1856-1857, based on my readings of the topic and visits to key locations in the Eastern Cape.
A broad range of sources acknowledge that a devastating cattle disease arriving from Europe in Xhosa territories in the mid-1850s was a contributory factor in the mass slaughter of cattle by AmaXhosa and the subsequent undermining of their society. It was unlikely to have been the sole cause of tens of thousands of deaths of amaXhosa by starvation and mass displacement into the Cape Colony.
It is likely that the slaughter of livestock was also heavily influenced by the interpretation of Nongqawuse's interaction with the ancestors, by her uncle and other senior leaders in AmaXhosa society. To this extent, the young prophetess (a seer) was a proximate, not the primary cause of this tragedy. We are wrong to blame 'that stupid girl', as she is so wrongly called by many. The real causes were many and sinister. After eight brutal wars against colonial powers, the murder of King Hintsa by British troops, drought, crop disease, cattle disease, persistent erosion of the leaders' dignity, AmaMfengu defection, European encroachment and an undermining of the chiefs' authority by magistrates and colonial governors, many echelons of AmaXhosa were under intolerable strain.
Hope of ridding themselves of colonial tyranny would have been evaporating rapidly. Society and its senior leaders were extremely vulnerable.
At a time of such intolerable and prolonged strain, notions of sacrifice for salvation from a seer and her supporters may well have fallen on receptive AmaXhosa ears. In fact, prophecies based on sacrifice for salvation or a new beginning, such as Nongqawuse's, were not new in this society. It wasn't an isolated event. We need to be mindful that slaughtering livestock to rid AmaXhosa of European encroachment had been a major theme of the distinguished prophets Makanda Nxele and Mlanjeni in previous decades.
Similar prophecies based on livestock sacrifices to deliver better times for all were to continue in the region in future decades, most notably at times of huge societal stress.
The notion that the cattle lung disease was deliberately introduced by Sir George Grey as a biological weapon to decimate AmaXhosa does not seem credible. Where's the evidence? Facilitating the importation and spread of cattle disease would have been extremely risky, running the risk of decimating the livestock of colonial settlers and undermining the local economy. Grey was consistently fastidious in controlling all affairs in the Cape. Nothing happened without his approval. Letting a cattle disease spread unpredictably is contrary to the nature of this highly ambitious colonial servant. He needed calm, stability and economic growth in his domain of control, not chaos and anarchy induced by cattle disease.
That said, Grey did acknowledge and exploit the cattle killing movement after it had started. While initially concerned that it might start another war with AmaXhosa, he later stated how 'We can draw very great advantages from the situation'. This he did, providing starving AmaXhosa with food, only on the condition they worked in the Cape Colony where labour was scarce.
We need to remember that the mass starvation and decimation of AmaXhosa society was not caused by the killing of cattle alone. Based on the spiritual interpretation of the young prophetess and her entourage, many AmaXhosa (the Believers) also followed the demand to destroy all their corn reserves and not to replant any crops the following season. So, many people lacked meat, dairy products and grains to eat. If corn hadn't been deliberately destroyed (as the prophecies demanded) and sowing had occurred the following season, is it likely that the mass starvation and undermining of Xhosa society would have been avoided, and a tragedy averted? Quite possibly.
Whatever our interpretations of these events, we all need to be mindful of the colossal suffering resulting from this period of history. We must avoid translating gross suffering into cold, uncaring statistics. Never forget, it was a human tragedy of huge proportions.
And lest we forget, many members of the public still blame much of this on Nongqawuse, a teenage orphan girl. I, for one, do not accept this simple explanation. On the occasions that I've stood at her graveside, I've always thought that she has been made a scapegoat for the actions and failings of many others. DM
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