Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Illustrations
- Acknowledgements
- A note on sources and terms
- Map
- 1 Introduction
- 2 Who was Enoch Mgijima?
- 3 1907—1918: Unokuzaku wokugqibela: Ambassador of the Last Days
- 4 1919—October 1920: ‘We won't move’: The Passover Gathering at Ntabelanga
- 5 November—December 1920: ‘They must remember they are fighting God’
- 6 January—April 1921: ‘Do you people still pay taxes?’
- 7 May 1921: ‘If there is death, let us die through our belief’
- 8 Understanding Bulhoek: Voices down the years
- References
- Sources for further reading
- Teaching approaches
- Questions for discussion
- Index
8 - Understanding Bulhoek: Voices down the years
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 16 February 2020
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Illustrations
- Acknowledgements
- A note on sources and terms
- Map
- 1 Introduction
- 2 Who was Enoch Mgijima?
- 3 1907—1918: Unokuzaku wokugqibela: Ambassador of the Last Days
- 4 1919—October 1920: ‘We won't move’: The Passover Gathering at Ntabelanga
- 5 November—December 1920: ‘They must remember they are fighting God’
- 6 January—April 1921: ‘Do you people still pay taxes?’
- 7 May 1921: ‘If there is death, let us die through our belief’
- 8 Understanding Bulhoek: Voices down the years
- References
- Sources for further reading
- Teaching approaches
- Questions for discussion
- Index
Summary
In the months between the massacre and the trial, there were intense debates about the tragedy. Almost every newspaper in the country carried extensive reports of the events of 24 May. These newspaper reports can give us a good idea of what people thought about the conflict between the Israelites and the government.
The Israelites received tremendous support from black political and trade union groups. Both the ANC and the ICU helped the Israelite families with money. They reminded people that the Israelites had been the victims of harsh government policies and controls. The ANC said that Enoch Mgijima attracted people who had been pushed off their land by the 1913 Land Act. His religious ideas and his community had given them hope when they were poor and homeless. A meeting of the ANC condemned ‘the pogrom [a deliberate massacre] action of the authorities at Bulhoek, Kamastone, resulting in an appalling loss of life and destruction of property’ (quoted in Queenstown Daily Representative, 27 May 1921).
Selby Msimang, a leader of the ICU, referred to the effects of the laws about land, and noted that Enoch Mgijima and his followers had refused to work for neighbouring white farmers:
Can we safely say – even supposing the ‘Israelites’ were wrong – that their mistakes were deliberate and without cause? Persuaded as I am by a deep conviction that if the Land Laws of this country were not as they are, and believing fully, as I do, that if Enoch Mgijima had ordered his proselytes to indenture their labour to the surrounding farmers of Kamastone or to give it gratis [free] in the name of his Church the killing and wounding of 400 natives would not have taken place … Man is not bound to confess loyalty to a tyrant. History has shown that the human soul naturally revolts against injustice (quoted in the Cape Times, 23 July 1921).
The Natal newspaper Illanga Lase Natal, which was started by black educator John Dube, commented that whites could not tolerate any resistance to their laws or practices that affected their control of blacks:
When we consider that Enoch and his followers were not breaking any law of the land, but only a location by-law regulating the number of huts which may be built on an allotment the tragedy suggests a sad mishandling of a serious situation …
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- Because They Chose The Plan of GodThe Story of the Bulhoek Massacre of 24 May 1921, pp. 40 - 50Publisher: University of South AfricaPrint publication year: 2012