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Magema Magwaza Fuze (c. 1844–1922) was the author of ''Abantu Abamnyama Lapa Bavela Ngakona'' (''The Black People and Whence They Came''), the first book in the
Zulu language Zulu ( ), or isiZulu as an endonym, is a Southern Bantu languages, Southern Bantu language of the Nguni languages, Nguni branch spoken in, and indigenous to, Southern Africa. Nguni dialects are regional or social varieties of the Nguni language, ...
published by a native speaker of the language. Born near Pietermaritzburg, Colony of Natal, he was brought up from about 12 years of age by Bishop
John William Colenso John William Colenso (24 January 1814 – 20 June 1883) was a Cornish cleric and mathematician, defender of the Zulu and biblical scholar, who served as the first Bishop of Natal. He was a scholar of the Zulu language. In his role as an Ang ...
and was baptized into the
Anglican Church of Southern Africa The Anglican Church of Southern Africa, known until 2006 as the Church of the Province of Southern Africa, is the province (Anglican), province of the Anglican Communion in the southern part of Africa. The church has twenty-five dioceses, of whi ...
. Following his education at the mission, he trained as a printer and compositor on Bishop Colenso's press before starting his own printing business. He wrote for a number of Zulu newspapers and in 1896 travelled to the island of Saint Helena to be the secretary to Dinuzulu kaCetshwayo, exiled king of the Zulus, before returning to Natal in 1898. ''Abantu Abamnyama'' was published in 1922 and in an English translation in 1979. It has been described as one of the principal sources for the history of the
Zulu people Zulu people (; ) are a native people of Southern Africa of the Nguni people, Nguni. The Zulu people are the largest Ethnic groups in South Africa, ethnic group and nation in South Africa, living mainly in the province of KwaZulu-Natal. They o ...
.


Early life

Magema Magwaza Fuze was born near present-day
Pietermaritzburg Pietermaritzburg (; ) is the capital and second-largest city in the province of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa after Durban. It was named in 1838 and is currently governed by the Msunduzi Local Municipality. The town was named in Zulu after King ...
in Zululand around 1840 to Magwaza, son of Matomela, son of Thoko. The amaFuze were a sub-clan of the amaNgcobo. Nothing is known of his mother. His birth name was Manawami but he was given the nickname Skelemu, possibly derived from the Afrikans word ''skelm'' for rascal or trickster. He told his parents that he would not be raised at home but would work for an important white man. Fuze was raised from the age of about 12 by John William Colenso, the first Bishop of Natal. His year of birth was estimated by Colenso on the basis that Fuze was about 12 years old when he first met him. Colenso converted him to Christianity and baptised him in 1859, giving him the Zulu name Magema. Colenso never gave his converts English or Biblical names. He was educated at the Ekukhanyeni ("place of enlightenment") mission station.Fuze, Magema Magwaza Papers.
Campbell Collections, University of KwaZulu-Natal. Retrieved 2 August 2018.


Career

In the 1850s, Fuze trained as a printing compositor on Bishop Colenso's printing press. He was writing in Zulu from a young age and chose to write only in that language. His first piece was an essay describing the daily activities at Ekukhanyeni. Another early piece was an account of day to day dialogue in Zulu, ''Amazwi Abantu'' (''The People's Voices''). He first appeared in print in J. W. Colenso's, ''Three Native Accounts'' (1860) telling his experience of Colenso's visit to
King Mpande Mpande kaSenzangakhona (c. 1798–18 October 1872) was monarch of the Zulu Kingdom from 1840 to 1872. He was a half-brother of Sigujana, Shaka and Dingane, who preceded him as Zulu kings. He came to power after he had overthrown Dingane in 184 ...
in 1859. He printed Bibles using the press at Ekukhanyeni during Colenso's trips to England and eventually set up his own printing business in Pietermaritzburg His account of his solo visit to Zululand in 1877 was published in ''MacMillan's Magazine'' in 1878 as "A Visit to King Ketshwayo". He also wrote letters to and articles for newspapers such as '' Ilanga lase Natal'' and '' Ipepo Lo Hlanga''. In 1896 he travelled to the island of
Saint Helena Saint Helena (, ) is one of the three constituent parts of Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha, a remote British overseas territory. Saint Helena is a volcanic and tropical island, located in the South Atlantic Ocean, some 1,874 km ...
to be the secretary to Dinuzulu kaCetshwayo, king of the Zulus, who was in exile on the island after leading a rebellion. While on the island he entered into a correspondence with
Alice Werner Alice Werner CBE (26 June 1859 - 9 June 1935) was a writer, poet and teacher of the Bantu languages, Bantu languages.School of Oriental Studies The School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS University of London; ) is a public research university in London, England, and a member institution of the federal University of London. Founded in 1916, SOAS is located in the Bloomsbury area ...
. He returned to
Natal NATAL or Natal may refer to: Places * Natal, Rio Grande do Norte, a city in Brazil * Natal, South Africa (disambiguation), a region in South Africa ** Natalia Republic, a former country (1839–1843) ** Colony of Natal, a former British colony ( ...
with Dinuzulu on the SS ''Umbilo'', early in 1898. Some time after 1900 Fuze wrote ''Abantu Abamnyama Lapa Bavela Ngakona'' at the request of the readers of his journalism, but it was not immediately published due to lack of money. It was published privately in 1922, making Fuze the first native Zulu-speaker to publish a book in the language. It was reviewed by Alice Werner in the '' Journal of the African Society'', one of the few reviews given to it at the time, but not until 1931. It was published in English in 1979 by the University of Natal Press in the
Killie Campbell Africana Library The Killie Campbell Africana Library is a library of Africana at the University of KwaZulu-Natal. It is named after Killie Campbell (1881–1965) who bequeathed her collection of Africana to the (then) University of Natal The University ...
as ''The Black People and Whence They Came: A Zulu View'' in a translation by Harry Camp Lugg edited by professor
Trevor Cope Anthony Trevor Cope was professor of Zulu at the University of Natal The University of Natal was a university in the former South African province Natal which later became KwaZulu-Natal. The University of Natal no longer exists as a distin ...
. Hlonipha Mokoena of the
University of the Witwatersrand The University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg (), commonly known as Wits University or Wits, is a multi-campus Public university, public research university situated in the northern areas of central Johannesburg, South Africa. The universit ...
describes the book as significant not just for its use of the Zulu language and its historical content which makes it one of the principal sources of Zulu history, but as an example of the work of one of the group of mission-educated converts to Christianity known in South Africa as the ''amakhowla'' (believers) who marked the transition from an
oral tradition Oral tradition, or oral lore, is a form of human communication in which knowledge, art, ideas and culture are received, preserved, and transmitted orally from one generation to another.Jan Vansina, Vansina, Jan: ''Oral Tradition as History'' (19 ...
to a literate culture.


Death and legacy

Fuze died in 1922."Fuze, Magema"
by Hlonipha Mokoena in
A selection of his papers is held in the Campbell Collections of the University of KwaZulu-Natal. In 2011, he was the subject of a biography, ''Magema Fuze: The Making of a Kholwa Intellectual'', by Hlonipha Mokoena published by the University of KwaZulu-Natal Press."Book Reviews Hlonipha Mokoena. ''Magema Fuze: The Making of a Kholwa Intellectual''. Moss Mashamaite, ''The Second Coming: The Life and Times of Pixley ka Isaka Seme, The Founder of the ANC''
T. J. Tallie & Scott Couper, '' Journal of Natal and Zulu History'', Vol. 30 (2012), No. 1, pp. 101–106.


Selected publications


"Indaba Ka'Magema"

"Magema's Story"
in John William Colenso, ''Three Native Accounts of the Visit of the Bishop of Natal in September and October, 1859, to Umpande, King of the Zulus &c''. 1860. pp. 1–13 & pp. 107–121. * "A Visit to King Ketshwayo", ''
MacMillan's Magazine ''Macmillan's Magazine'' was a monthly British magazine published 1859 to 1907 by Alexander Macmillan. The magazine was a literary periodical that published fiction and non-fiction works primarily by British authors. Thomas Hughes convinced Mac ...
'', 1878. * ''Abantu Abamnyama Lapa Bavela Ngakona''. Privately published, 1922. * ''The Black People and Whence They Came''. Translated by Harry Camp Lugg and edited by Anthony Trevor Cope. University of Natal Press, Pietermaritzburg, 1979. (Killie Campbell Africana library. Translation series, No. 1)


References


Further reading

* Mokoena, Hlonipha
"An Assembly of Readers: Magema Fuze and His Ilanga Lase Natal Readers"
''
Journal of Southern African Studies The ''Journal of Southern African Studies'' is an international publication which covers research on the Southern African region, focussing on Angola, Botswana, Eswatini, Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa, Zambia, and Zimbabwe, and ...
'', Vol. 35, No. 3 (Sep., 2009), pp. 595–607. {{DEFAULTSORT:Fuze, Magema Anglican writers Zulu literature 1840s births Year of birth unknown Zulu-language writers Converts to Anglicanism Typesetters 1922 deaths People from Pietermaritzburg South African journalists South African Anglicans 19th-century Zulu people