King suffered with his people

Inkosi Langalibalele I, who was banished to life imprisonment on Robben Island by a kangaroo court of British colonial officials in 1874, remains a cult figure in amaHlubi history.

“He had the gift of bringing rain. He had 46 wives and more than 150 children. He built the [amaHlubi] nation,” says amaHlubi royal imbongi Bheki Radebe, resplendent in a leopard kaross, cowhide shield and sticks carried by amabutho (warriors).

Langalibalele defied the British colonial regime and refused to submit to its attempts to force him to register the guns in his nation’s arsenal. The guns had been supplied by his subjects who worked on the diamond mines in Kimberley. Instead, he waged an armed rebellion against the British, putting him in an elite league of African freedom fighters who chose to take up arms rather than submit to the colonial invaders.

As a result, the British colonial regime imposed martial law in an attempt to capture Langalibalele, who had fled to Lesotho. He was arrested there, brought back to his land, tried in a court in which he was refused representation and sent to Robben Island.

He was eventually released from the island but remained banned and confined to the Cape Colony until 1887 when he was allowed to return to Natal. He died two years later, a king whose kingdom and power had been looted by an invading colonial force.

“He was persecuted by the British because of his love for his nation. He refused to submit to them when they said his people should return their guns. He said: ‘If my people are killed I will die with them,’ ” says Radebe.

Langalibalele is held in such high esteem that even the local municipality, which falls under the uThukela (Ladysmith) district, is named after him. —