Maravi

(TALKZIMBABWE) Land was indeed stolen, Mr Bloch

Land was indeed stolen, Mr Bloch
Rtd Brigadier-General Dr Felix Muchemwa - Opinion
Sun, 26 Jul 2009 03:28:00 +0000

THIS is a firm reply to the "Eric Bloch Column" in the Zimbabwe Independent of July 17-23 2009.

He alleged "President Mugabe reiterated the endlessly voiced contention that the lands were ‘stolen’ by the British colonialists" and that "this contention has prevailed ad nauseam in total disregard for the facts that when the colonialists entered the country, much of the land was unoccupied and underutilised".

When the Pioneer Column arrived at their various forts in 1890, each member of the column was granted 1 500 morgen (3 330 acres) of farmland. The total number of the pioneer members entitled to this was 1 000, including the police escort.

Therefore, the land assigned and alienated to the Pioneer Column "grantees" was 1 500 000 morgen (9 525 000 acres) before they even pegged any part of Zimbabwe.

In 1892, Cecil John Rhodes sanctioned a scheme for 100 Afrikaner families in the Orange Free State who wanted to settle in Zimbabwe.

Each of these Afrikaner families was entitled to a farm of 3 000 morgen (6 350 acres).

Late in 1892; 37 men, 31 women and 16 children recruited by Dunbar Moodie of Melsetter arrived from the Orange Free State to settle in Zimbabwe. About 13 of these Afrikaner families settled in the Enkeldoorn area, the rest settled in Melsetter.

When white settlers made their laager at Fort Victoria, many of the Pioneer Column members began immediately to peg land belonging to Chief Chivi in the south, Chief Zimuto in the east, Chief Gutu in the north and Chief Chirumanzu in the north-west.

The chiefs’ boundaries were clearly defined and recognised by every chief in the area, including Lobengula and the Portuguese.

In 1891, it appears that Chief Chirumanzu was not very welcoming to the British South Africa (BSA) Company’s Pioneer Column.

Chatikobo, then Chief Chirumanzu, was deposed in a coup d’etat by Chinyama, son of Bangure, who became friendly to the colonisers.

Similar coups occurred in 1892 with BSA Company involvement against Chief Zimuto and Chief Gutu.

Thus Fort Victoria was surrounded by "friendly chiefs" by 1893, ready not only to concede a lot of land around Fort Victoria, but even to send 500 hastily trained African soldiers to participate in the seizure of Matabeleland.

By 1895, there were more than 70 registered farms in the Fort Victoria area alone, with an estimate land size of 444 500 acres.

The seizure of Ndebeleland in 1893 was extremely traumatic to the people of Matabeleland. In 1893, an opportune time was found by Leander Starr Jameson to seize Matabeleland.

Forces were mobilised from Fort Victoria, Tuli and Fort Salisbury.

The forces, however, demanded certain conditions to be met before battle engagement.

A Victoria Agreement was drawn up where everyone taking up arms was entitled to a free farm of 3 000 morgen (6 350 acres) anywhere in Matabeleland with no obligation to occupy land there.

The total number of men from the Salisbury Column and the Victoria Column meant to seize Matabeleland was 772.

Excluding the Tuli Column, these men had to be granted 4 902 000 acres of land, over and above this they were granted 15 reef and five alluvial gold claims, a total of 11 580 reef and 3 860 alluvial goldfields.

Besides, they were also granted a "loot" of cattle, half of the cattle to the men and half to the BSA Company. By December 1893, at the fall of the Ndebele Kingdom, all these grantees got their land and cattle in Matabeleland.

Yet worse was to come for the people of Matabeleland when Lobengula’s territory was captured in 1893, and completely torn into bits and pieces.

Ndebele people were exiled to the north, the African Siberia of Gwaai and Shangani reserves inside the tsetsefly belt and mosquito zone.

Lobengula’s territory, the Ndebele heartland of the highveld, was centred around Bulawayo. It extended to the west and north from the upper Nata and Gwaai rivers up to the Bembezi and Bubi valleys.

To the east, the Shangani River formed an ill-defined boundary since cattle grazed beyond this river.

The Matobo Hills were within the southern boundary, and again cattle grazed beyond the Matobo Hills.

This was the Ndebele heartland, excluding the tributaries of the Kalanga in the north, the Mhari in the east, and the Venda in the south.

When the Victoria and Salisbury columns invaded Matabeleland, they went for a frontal assault on the City of Bulawayo, where Lobengula was. Lobengula escaped to the north along the Shangani River.

As battles raged in the Ndebele heartland, Ndebele people were deliberately forced out of the Ndebele heartland, mainly to the north beyond Shangani River, and beyond the Gwaai River towards already earmarked Ndebele native reserves of Gwaai (Tsholotsho and Shangani, Lupane).

Quite a number of other Ndebele people, especially the Zansi and Nhla, were forced to the west and beyond Umguza.

The Ndebele heartland was pegged and farms were established by mid-1894 before the Land Commission of 1894 made its recommendations.

Huge tracks of land were divided among white settlers. A mere 17 Victoria Agreement rights meant land from Bulawayo to the north of Shiloh, while Essexvale (Esigodini) Estates of the Matabele Gold Reefs and Estates Company alone occupied 250 square miles in the Umzingwane River, south-east of Bulawayo.

Within this complex, Heany and Selous alone owned 221 000 acres of land, which by 1895 contained 1 200 cattle of the Ndebele cattle "loot".

Arthur Rhodes — brother to Cecil Rhodes — held Sauerdale, 181 000 acres alone within the Essexvale/Matobo Hills Complex of Estates in the south-east of Bulawayo.

By 1895, it held 1 200 Ndebele "loot" cattle. Cecil John Rhodes of course deserved better allocation, he held the whole district of Matopo Hills and he was the first to be allocated land by December 1893, well before the Land Commission of 1894.

In fact, by December 1893 the whole southern Matabeleland involving Essexvale and Matobo Hills was declared "occupied".

At the end of October 1894 the Land Commission of 1894 made its recommendations but was already pre-empted by Jameson’s land distribution before even the Land Commission was formed.

Africans were virtually exiled to the north, to the Gwaai (Tsholotsho) and Shangani (Lupane) native reserves, both within the tsetsefly and malaria zone.

The Gwaai native reserve was 3 000 square miles. The area is sandy, only suitable to be a game reserve as one of the witnesses to the Land Commission emphasised.(compare this to Essexvale’s 250 square miles for three people).

The Shangani native reserve was 3 500 square miles. Only the eastern part of this land was relatively suitable for human habitation.

Earl Grey, successor to Jameson, described these native reserves as "cemeteries" not suitable for human settlement.

About 500 000 Ndebele people were to live in these native reserves when the Land Commission made its recommendations, in a total land area of 6 500 acres

Ndebele people who did not opt to go to the native reserves were encouraged to stay on white settler farms on "locations" as "tenants" subject to paying "rent" in the form of "forced labour", and every man married to pay "hut tax" for every wife’s hut.

The Order in Council 1894 establishing native reserves from Britain brought in a new era to the white settlers and the BSA Company.

Through this Order in Council they had the power to settle Africans anywhere they wanted, power to establish "locations" on their "farms" and "mines", power to tax Africans for whatever reason in the form of "hut tax", and power over all cattle in Matabeleland and Mashonaland which all "belonged" to the BSA Company.

That power was felt within no time from October 1894, when the "Native Affairs Department" was established to implement all those policies in both Matabeleland and Mashonaland.

The Charter Law (Chataro) was in operation.

The BSA Company and the white settlers were no longer bound by the Rudd Concession nor the Lippert Concession.

They were from then on to exercise the right of conquest to Matabeleland and Mashonaland, yet Mashonaland was not as yet defeated.

It was like detonating a dynamite fuse on a minefield, from Bulawayo along the entire highveld spine to its head in Manicaland.

The white settlers, confident that they had the law of conquest in their hands in 1894, pegged and established farms along the entire highveld spine, establishing "locations" on their farms, "native reserves" near their farms or far away in the Lowveld.

The farm settlements had been going on since 1891, but there was a marked acceleration after 1894 Land Commission recommendations.

Sir John Willoughby’s Consolidated Company had accumulated 2 000 claims in the Kwekwe-Gweru area by 1896, amounting to 660 000 acres. The Mashonaland Agency had secured 79 farms within the Ndebele heartland on the Highveld, with land size of 101 600 acres.

From Kwekwe to Gweru, crossing into the Sebakwe River area, and into Charter District, the entire district was occupied by Afrikaner farmers from the Orange Free State and the Transvaal.

A large group of them had established farms along the Umnyati River and the Sebakwe River in Chief Mashava’s territory.

Others had farms around Fort Charter in Chief Maromo’s territory. By 1895, chiefs Maromo, Mashava and Nyika’s territories were completely occupied by these Afrikaner farmers in a land area of 454 000 acres.

Chief Mutekedza’s territory, which was as big as chiefs Mashava/Nyika, and Maromo combined, that is, more than 454 000 acres, was completely alienated to Sir John Willoughby’s Mashona Consolidated Company, forming Wiltshire, Lancashire and other estates by 1895.

Chief Mashayamombe’s territory in Hartley (Chegutu) was quite expansive with boundaries in the north with Zvimba, in the east with Chivero, and in the west with Ngezi.

White settlers concentrated on mining in this area more than on agriculture before 1896, but land was pegged 25 miles on either side of the road.

The Mazowe district area was rich in agricultural land, but white settlers had only established mines and huge citrus estates in the Mazowe Valley by 1895.

In the Marondera district white settler farmers had occupied land by 1895.

These settlers came largely from South Africa, but 70 to 80 percent of them were of British origin. They occupied farmland almost everywhere between Wedza and Mangwende, totalling 234 261 morgen (2 005 566 acres).

Other farmers occupied land close to Marondera town, within a 15-mile radius from the city centre, with a total land area of 167 638 acres by 1896.

In the Umtali district (Manicaland) the head of the highveld spine really exploded both Makoni and Mutasa, who had huge territories between them before 1896.

By 1896, the two chiefs were reduced virtually to headman status in terms of territorial size, yet before 1893, their territories were kings’ or paramount chiefs’ territories.

White settlers preferred the Eastern Highlands, and by 1895 224 farms were already established in an area of 1 422 400 acres.

Afrikaner farmers from the Orange Free State dominated the area under Dunbar Moodie in Melsetter. Here more than 20 families out of the 37 families who arrived late in 1892 settled in Chimanimani/ Melsetter area.

They occupied farmland of approximately 127 000 acres under 1892 Rhodes’ agreement. Dunbar Moodie himself, a fortune hunter, had more than 60 000-acre farms in Melsetter by 1893.

By 1896, 8 500 000 acres of land was "occupied" in Matabeleland, mainly in the Ndebele heartland highveld as already described.

In Mashonaland, 7 300 000 acres were "occupied" by 1896, mainly in the Fort Salisbury, Umtali, Fort Victoria, Enkeldoorn, Melsetter and along the entire spine of the Mashonaland highveld up to Umtali.

More "occupation" was to come after 1896, faster than before with physical eviction of Africans from their land.

The Ndebele people had lost nearly 288 000 cattle, representing two-thirds of their herd. About 200 000 of these "loot" cattle were sold in Johannesburg and Kimberly by mid-1894.

Because of this "land grab" explosion, few chiefs were able to retain any land for their people.The 1896 uprising was a direct resistance to this capitalist "land grab" or "stealing".

Mr Eric Bloch must accept these well-documented facts.

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* This article first appeared in the Sunday Mail.

Labels: COLONIALISM, FELIX MUCEMWA, LAND REFORM, LAND RIGHTS, NEOCOLONIALISM, RHODESIANS

posted by MrK @ 2:26 PM