Bambatha after Mome: dead or alive?

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Periodical article

Title:	Bambatha after Mome: dead or alive?
Author:	Thompson, Paul S.
Year:	2005
Periodical:	Historia: amptelike orgaan
Volume:	50
Issue:	1
Pages:	23-48
Language:	English
Geographic terms:	South Africa Natal
Subjects:	Bambatha rebellion 1906 traditional rulers Zulu colonial period
Abstract:	In April 1906, Bambatha kaMancinza, the insurrectionary chief of the Zondi people in the Greytown district of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa, raised part of his tribe in armed rebellion against the poll tax imposed by the Natal colonial government. After the battle of Mome Gorge on 10 June 1906, the colonial government announced that Bambatha was killed in action and that his body had been identified. The moral impact of Bambatha's death was immense. The rebellion in Zululand collapsed within a fortnight. But was Bambatha really dead? Rumours of Bambatha's redivivus were common coin in 1907, when Zululand seethed with discontent and apprehension of a second rebellion. Even government officials came to doubt that he was dead. This paper examines the official reports and rumours of the period and shows that there was no substantial evidence from anyone who could positively identify and had actually seen Bambatha after Mome. It seems most probable therefore that he died there. Notes, ref., sum. in English and Afrikaans [ASC Leiden abstract]