Bambata, or Bhambatha kaMancinza (c. 1865–1906?), also known as Mbata Bhambatha, was a Zulu chief of the amaZondi clan in the

Colony of Natal The Colony of Natal was a British colony in south-eastern Africa. It was proclaimed a British colony on 4 May 1843 after the British government had annexed the Boer Republic of Natalia, and on 31 May 1910 combined with three other colonies t ...

and son of Mancinza. He is famous for his role in an armed rebellion in 1906 when the

poll tax A poll tax, also known as head tax or capitation, is a tax levied as a fixed sum on every liable individual (typically every adult), without reference to income or resources. ''Poll'' is an archaic term for "head" or "top of the head". The sen ...

was raised from a tax per hut to per head (£1 tax on all native men older than 18 – infamously called ukhandampondo), increasing hardship during a severe economic depression. Bhambatha claims that he was told to lead an armed rebellion by the de facto Zulu King Dinizulu. Dinizulu disputed this account and no convincing evidence for either story is available.P. S. Thompson, 'Bambatha ka Mancinza (1865/6–1906)’, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, Oct 200
accessed 16 Sept 2015
/ref>

Early years

It is unclear what year Bhamatha was born due to no written records or birth certificates, but it is estimated that Bamatha was born in 1865, in Mpanza, near the town of Greytown, Natal Colony. He was the son of Chief Macinza, sometimes called Macinga, of the abakwa Zondi chieftaincy; and his mother, principle wife of Mancinza, was the daughter of Chief Phakade, chief of an important Zulu chieftaincy, the Chunu. Bhambatha is also famous for being one of the 10,000 Zulu warriors to guard Shaka Zulu's mother's grave for a year. He is said to have been a Zulu warrior under the strict Shaka Zulu Impi training and discipline.

The rebellion

Bhambatha is famous for being one of the 10,000 Zulu warriors to guard Shaka Zulu's mother's grave for a year, but he is better known for his role in an armed rebellion in 1906 when the

was raised from a tax per hut to per head (£1 tax on all native men older than 18 – infamously called ukhandampondo) increasing hardship during a severe economic depression. The Natal Police believed Bhambatha was going to resist the tax with force and sent about 150 men to arrest him. Instead the police were ambushed and four policemen killed. Thousands of colonial troops were then sent after him, including cavalry and heavy artillery, leading to 3,500 casualties. The British government claimed Bhambatha was

killed in action Killed in action (KIA) is a casualty classification generally used by militaries to describe the deaths of their personnel at the hands of enemy or hostile forces at the moment of action. The United States Department of Defense, for example, ...

in the

Battle of Mome Gorge A battle is an occurrence of combat in warfare between opposing military units of any number or size. A war usually consists of multiple battles. In general, a battle is a military engagement that is well defined in duration, area, and force c ...

, while it is commonly believed among the Zulu people that he fled and eventually settled in

Mozambique Mozambique, officially the Republic of Mozambique, is a country located in Southeast Africa bordered by the Indian Ocean to the east, Tanzania to the north, Malawi and Zambia to the northwest, Zimbabwe to the west, and Eswatini and South Afr ...

. He is often credited as an inspiration to South Africans during the

anti-apartheid movement The Anti-Apartheid Movement (AAM) was a British organisation that was at the centre of the international movement opposing the South African apartheid system and supporting South Africa's non-white population who were oppressed by the policies ...

References

Zulu chiefs Year of birth uncertain 1860s births 1906 deaths 19th-century Zulu people {{SouthAfrica-bio-stub