| Conflict: | Bambatha rebellion |
| Partof: | the aftermath of the Anglo-Zulu War |
| Date: | 1906 |
| Place: | Natal, South Africa |
| Result: | British victory |
| Combatant1: | United Kingdom |
| Combatant2: | amaZondi and amaCube clans of the Zulu people |
| Commander1: | Colonel Duncan McKenzie |
| Commander2: | Chief Bambatha kaMancinza |
| Strength1: | 4,316 soldiers (including 2,978 Militia) |
| Strength2: | Unknown |
| Casualties1: | 36 (including 6 levies) |
| Casualties2: | 3,000 to 4,000 killed |
The Bambatha Rebellion (or the Zulu Rebellion) of 1906 was led by Bambatha kaMancinza (c. 1860–1906?), leader of the Zondi clan of the Zulu people, who lived in the Mpanza Valley (now a district near Greytown, KwaZulu-Natal) against British rule and taxation in the Colony of Natal, South Africa.
In the years following the Anglo-Boer War, British employers in Natal had difficulty recruiting Black farmers because of increased competition from the gold mines of the Witwatersrand. The colonial authorities introduced a poll tax £1 in addition to the existing hut tax to pressure Zulu men to enter the labour market.
Bambatha had occasionally been in trouble with the Natal colonial administration, and the authorities suspected that he had joined with other chiefs in expressing discontent over the tax. He was summoned to Greytown, but, fearing arrest, did not attend. He realised that the administration was intent on crushing dissent and fled to Zululand to consult with King Dinizulu.[1] Bambatha returned to the Mpanza Valley to discover that the Natal government had deposed him as chief. He gathered together a small force of supporters and began launching a series of guerrilla attacks, using the Nkandla forest as a base.
The British troops succeeded in getting face to face with and surrounding the rebels at Mome Gorge. As the sun rose, British colonial soldiers opened fire with machine guns and cannon, on rebels equipped mostly assegais (spears), knobkerries (fighting sticks) and cowhide shields. It was reported that Bambatha had been killed in action by Natal government forces, but this claim was disputed by his supporters, who believed that he fled to Mozambique.[2]
Between 3,000 and 4,000 Zulus were killed. More than 7,000 were imprisoned, and 4,000 flogged. The war cost the Natal government £883,576 .
| Amount actually collected from the poll tax between 1906 and 1909 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1906 | 1907 | 1908 | 1909 | |
| Natal | ||||
| £68,500 | £49,637 | £45,150 | £41,498 | |
| Zululand | ||||
| £7,990 | £4,267 | £3,940 | £3,520 | |
| Total | ||||
| £76,490 | £53,904 | £49,090 | £45,018 | |
In 2006, the hundredth anniversary of the rebellion was commemorated in a ceremony which declared Chief Bambatha a national hero of post-Apartheid South Africa. Also, his picture appeared on a postage stamp and a street was renamed in his honour.
According to speeches in the ceremony, the beheaded body had not really been Bambatha's and the actual chief succeeded in escaping to Mozambique. This belief is still widely current; a DNA test of his alleged body failed to give a definite answer.
The hip-hop musician Afrika Bambaataa takes his name from Bambatha and his rebellion.