Something that many of our readers may not understand about the current rioting and looting in South Africa is that the problem is not so much racism as tribalism. Things were quieter yesterday in Johannesburg -- all that "reparations shopping" tires you out, eh -- but still out of control in Durban, the biggest city of KwaZulu-Natal (KZN), where whites and "Asians" (read: south Asians) have formed armed self-defence militias to protect themselves and their property. Most of the looting, though, is black-on-black.
Like many other African countries whose borders were established by Europeans in the 19th century, South Africa is an amalgam of different tribes who dislike each other almost as much as they dislike whites. The biggest groups are Zulus (21 %), Xhosas (17 %) and the Sotho (15%). Smaller minorities are the Tswana, Venda, Ndebele, Swasi, and Pedi, among others. The Khoi-San -- the ones we used to call "Bushmen" (see the excellent movie The Gods Must Be Crazy) -- are originally hunter-gatherers who have inhabited the land for a long time.
As you might guess from the name, Kwa-Zulu Natal (formerly just "Natal") province, is the homeland of the Zulus, a fierce and warlike people whom the British imperialists fought hard to displace in the 19th century. Pictured below is a painting of the Battle of Isandhlwana, fought on 22 January 1879, the first major encounter in the Anglo-Zulu War between the British Empire and the Zulu Kingdom.
Eleven days after the British commenced their invasion (for such it was) of "Zululand" (as they called it), a Zulu force of some 20,000 warriors attacked a portion of the British main column consisting of about 1800 British, colonial and native troops and perhaps 400 civilians, killing most of them
During the final hour of the battle, a contingent of about 4000 Zulu warriors broke off from their main force to attack a small mission station at Rorke's Drift, about six miles distant. A force of about 150 British troops -- mostly Welshmen of B Company, 2nd Battalion, 24th (2nd Warwickshire) Regiment of Foot -- held off the attackers in a fierce two-day battle which has been immortalized in one of Walt's favourite films, Zulu, starring Stanley Baker and Michael Caine.
Here is a clip of one of the opening scenes of the movie, showing some handsome men and beautiful women doing a pre-marital dance, in preparation for a mass marriage.
Readers who were not transfixed by the sight of the dancing girls may note that the missionary (played by Jack Hawkins) had a little conversation with the Zulu chief, who was actually... wait for it... a Zulu chief! Chief Mangosuthu Buthelezi played his grandfather, Cetshwayo kaMpande, king of the Zulu Kingdom from 1873 to 1879 and its leader during the Anglo-Zulu War of 1879.
After a lot more fighting, "Zululand" was incorporated into Natal province, which was renamed KwaZulu-Natal in the transition from the apartheid era to the "new South Africa". Mr Buthelezi was still the Zulu Chief, and from 1975 to 2019 led the Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP), the main opposition to the Communist-dominated African National Congress (ANC), which has ruled South Africa since 1994.
They do have elections in South Africa, about as free and fair as the American presidential election of 2020. The IFP never had a chance of forming a national government because it is supported almost exclusively by the Zulus. The other tribes fall into line with the ANC, and the whites and Asians make up the Democratic Alliance, never really a force in SA politics, nationally.
What does this have to do with this week's riots? Just this... Some Zulus, seeing that the IFP would never get their hands on the levers of power, defected to the ANC, which is now split along tribal lines. The disgraced ex-President, Jacob Zuma, is a Zulu, and it is his people who are now in the streets. If Mr Zuma lived like a traditional Zulu chief, well, why shoudn't he?!
Mr Zuma adheres to many traditional Zulu customs, including polygamy. This has endeared him to some segments of the population but has also been a source of criticism from others, who find some customs to be at odds with what they consider to be "modern societal norms". In February of 2010, Mr Zuma addmitted that he had fathered a child out of wedlock, something frowned upon in traditional Zulu culture.
He also had to deal with allegations of impropriety regarding extensive upgrades -- "for security reasons", of course -- to his private homestead at Nkandla in KZN. An official report in March of 2014 concluded that many of the publicly funded improvements made to Zuma’s homestead, such as a swimming pool, an amphitheatre, and a cattle kraal, were... wait for it... not security-related. Mr Zuma was found to have "benefited unduly" from the "upgrades" ans was asked to pay for some of them. Whether he ever did so is not known.
The list goes on, but the present hoorah comes down to the feeling of Mr Zuma's supporters that he was persecuted for living the life to which he was entitled. And if he corruptly received certain benefits, well, what American president could plead "not guilty" to similar accusations? And anyway, it's not like Mr Zuma is white! He's just another victim!
Besides, in today's South Africa, any excuse for rioting and looting will do as long as it is somehow tied to making non-black people pay for the oppression of black people, once upon a time. Thank goodness that's only South Africa and not any place closer to home!
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