Podcast
History of South Africa podcast
Episodes — page 10
- Episode 110 - Sir Harry Smith, his petite guerriere espagnole Lady Smith and the revenge of the amaXhosa
The Sixth Frontier war had started on 21st December 1834 and this would be a dirty affair - a calamity for the amaXhosa. When it began Hintsa the Xhosa regent did not join in,…
- Episode 109 - Maqoma’s war begins as the amaXhosa invade the Colony in December 1834
It’s December 1834 - the Second of December to be more precise. The British had just emancipated the slaves at the Cape, although real freedom was still some months off as the colo…
- Episode 108 - Mzilikazi empties the lower Vaal, Sir Benjamin D’Urban arrives and slaves are emancipated
A new Governor was in town, the Cape Sheriff, and he was another Peninsular Campaign Veteran called Sir Benjamin D’Urban. In July 1832 Frontier military commander Colonel Henry…
- Episode 107 - Dr Andrew Smith, his mysterious Dingane expedition and a bit of XGaoXna- Knysna
The small settlement of Port Natal had hardly grown by 1830. Dingane had moved his ikhanda which he named uMgungundlovu to the eMakhosini valley, close to Singonyama or Lion hill,…
- Episode 106 - Rustling along the Amatolas in 1830 and Dingane’s black liver
So here we are - 1830. Maqoma had been ejected from his beloved region below the Amatola mountains of the Eastern Cape, to be replaced by the new Khoekhoe dominated Kat River S…
- Episode 105 - The Kat River Settlement of 1829 and how Maqoma was evicted
Last we heard about the attack on the Ngwane at Mbholompo west of Umtata, and the destruction of Matiwane’s raiders - sending him home back to Zululand where he was killed by Dinga…
- Episode 104 - Matiwane’s Ngwane massacred at Mbholompo and Hintsa's ama-Bulu
South Africa’s history is peppered with chaos and warfare, perhaps more so than is apparent in the modern period. It is fairly difficult to explain how our past intermeshes with th…
- Episode 103 - Barend Barends battered and the men in black on the frontier
Last episode we heard how Jan Bloem and Kora leader Haip had launched a raid on Mzilikazi’s Ndebele people arraigned along the southern reaches of the Vaal River in 1830 - and Mzil…
- Episode 102 - Tales of the Trans Vaal and how Magaliesberg got its name
It’s time to delve deeply into the other Ndebele, then what happened when Mzilikazi arrived in the area known as the Trans Vaal - across the Vaal, with his hungry wolves. The de…
- Episode 101 - Mnkabayi dresses like a man and Dingane drowns his brother
Port Natal was steeped in fear and loathing in late 1828 follow in Shaka’s assassination on the 24th September 1828 which had thrown the traders into a panic. They anticipated…
- Episode 100 - Ordinance 50 shock, Dr John’s mission and Wesleyans vs polygamy
For my listeners who’ve lasted a century of podcasts, thank you folks! The series has far exceeded my expectation when it was launched I thought perhaps a few people would respond…
- Episode 99 – Shaka assassinated by muddle-headed brothers Dingane and Mhlangana
First we pick up the point where James Saunders King made his way back to Port Natal following his failed diplomacy on Shaka’s behalf – the result would be catastrophic for Shaka.…
- Episode 98 – Nandi dies, Zulu diplomats in the Cape & Shaka raids the amaMpondo
With the defeat of the Ndwandwe Shaka had moved to KwaDukuza near the Mvoti River, about 80km from Port Natal – a day and a half’s journey – or two if you were taking it fairly eas…
- Episode 97 – Shaka shifts South, Mzilikazi raids West and Fynn becomes Zulu
We kick off this episode with Henry Francis Fynn, the trader who’d made his home in Port Natal and was part of a group of Englishmen who’d fought with Shaka against Sikhunyane of t…
- Episode 96 – A “bipolar” Shaka hunts down and exterminates Sikhunyane’s Ndwandwe
We’re dealing with the period 1826 to 1828 and southern Africa was a rich patchwork of expanding trekboers, Shaka setting up his empire in Zululand, the Khoe and basters traveling…
- Episode 95 – Sunset for Somerset and Maqoma eyes guns and horses in 1825
We’re going to join one of the biweekly market gatherings held at Fort Willshire in 1825 where amaXhosa, English settlers, trekboers and khoekhoe met to exchange goods. Then we bid…
- Episode 94 – White and black ants in Botswana and Eastern Cape secession
Port Natal and Delagoa Bay are far away from Cape Town and appeared even further in the early 1820s. The Cape Governor was inevitably more concerned with what lay immediately beyon…
- Episode 93 –Shaka survives an assassination attempt and Farewell gets Port Natal
Shaka met Henry Francis Fynn and Lieutenant Francis George Farewell in August 1824 and the traders were seeking his permission to live and work at Port Natal. Cape Governor Lord Ch…
- Episode 92 – The monsters from the sea and a Robben Island convict advises Shaka
As years go, 1824 was one for the history books. Not that the others weren’t, but 1824 is a one of those seminal 12 months in southern Africa history. It was the year that Shaka’s…
- Episode 91 – An early history of Port Natal and its treacherous sand bar
It’s the steamy coast of south east Africa 1824, Port Natal to be exact. It’s now called eThekweni from the Zulu word for port itheku, although some say it is actually from the…
