The Xhosa Royal House is seeking support from both the South African government and the private sector for its mission to travel to meet the British royal house to talk about the brutal and treacherous killing of King Hintsa in 1835.
This was one of the many 19th century atrocities wrought by colonial forces.
Hintsa’s direct descendant, the reigning Xhosa King Mpendulo Zwelonke Sigcawu, said the mission to the UK was in the hope that the British royals would apologise.
“We still have no closure on the matter, hence we want to engage them. We urge the South African government and the private sector to assist funding the mission,” the king said.
He was speaking during the cleaning ceremony of Hintsa’s grave 30km south-east of Willowvale on the banks of Nqabarha River by about 100 staff members of the King Hintsa TVET College’s five campuses on Friday, where the king and Mbhashe mayor Samnkelo Jada laid wreaths.
The college and the royal house have declared May “Hintsa month”.
Friday, May 12, marks 182 years since the brutal murder – and decapitation – of King Hintsa, who was shot by British colonialists on the banks of the Nqabarha River.
Hintsa was renowned for his ability to unite his people and to marshal them in the fight against internecine wars – and later the colonial invasion by the British.
The King Hintsa Memorial Lecture – organised by the royal house, Mbhashe, Mnquma, Amathole municipalities and the King Hintsa TVET College – will be delivered by Professor Ncedile Sawule at Butterworth Christian Centre in Butterworth at 6pm on Friday.
Hintsa the son of Khawuta, was killed while commanding the Xhosa battalions on May 12 1835 during the 9th Frontier War, aged 45.
After his capture British soldiers decapitated him and took his head to Britain as a grotesque war trophy.
About 161 years after his murder, in March 1996, a self-styled traditional leader and igqirha (sangoma), Nicholas Tilana Gcaleka of Centane, stunned the world when he claimed that his ancestors had sent him to Scotland to dig up and bring home Hintsa’s skull.
The skull was analysed by leading palaeo-anthropologists Philip Tobias and Alan Morris, but their tests proved it was that of a middle-aged European woman.
The Xhosa Royal house subsequently denounced Gcaleka as a “fraud and charlatan”.
Hintsa, who was born around 1789, was the fourth king of the Gcaleka. He ruled from 1820 until his death in 1835.
The Xhosa nation is challenged to find out the truth about their late king’s death and the mystery surrounding his skull and its whereabouts.
AmaXhosa royal households have called for Queen Elizabeth II and the British government to apologise for 19th-century oppression and atrocities committed by colonial rulers, including the killing of King Hintsa, the commander of the armed forces of the Xhosa.
During Nelson Mandela’s funeral on December 15 in 2013 at Qunu near Mthatha, King Sigcawu and Britain’s Prince Charles had a short and impromptu meeting over the matter. It was hoped that Xhosa royals were a step closer to an apology from Britain and that it was seen as a remarkable move from the former colonial power which, in the past two decades, has come under increasing pressure to apologise for various atrocities committed around the world during the years of the empire.
“But almost four years after that brief meeting with Prince Charles, we are still struggling to raise funds to travel to the UK for a proper meeting.
“Hence we appeal for the assistance of both the government and the private sector,” King Sigcawu said. — lulamilef@dispatch.co.za
UK apology still sought on death of Hintsa
This was one of the many 19th century atrocities wrought by colonial forces.
Hintsa’s direct descendant, the reigning Xhosa King Mpendulo Zwelonke Sigcawu, said the mission to the UK was in the hope that the British royals would apologise.
“We still have no closure on the matter, hence we want to engage them. We urge the South African government and the private sector to assist funding the mission,” the king said.
He was speaking during the cleaning ceremony of Hintsa’s grave 30km south-east of Willowvale on the banks of Nqabarha River by about 100 staff members of the King Hintsa TVET College’s five campuses on Friday, where the king and Mbhashe mayor Samnkelo Jada laid wreaths.
The college and the royal house have declared May “Hintsa month”.
Friday, May 12, marks 182 years since the brutal murder – and decapitation – of King Hintsa, who was shot by British colonialists on the banks of the Nqabarha River.
Hintsa was renowned for his ability to unite his people and to marshal them in the fight against internecine wars – and later the colonial invasion by the British.
The King Hintsa Memorial Lecture – organised by the royal house, Mbhashe, Mnquma, Amathole municipalities and the King Hintsa TVET College – will be delivered by Professor Ncedile Sawule at Butterworth Christian Centre in Butterworth at 6pm on Friday.
Hintsa the son of Khawuta, was killed while commanding the Xhosa battalions on May 12 1835 during the 9th Frontier War, aged 45.
After his capture British soldiers decapitated him and took his head to Britain as a grotesque war trophy.
About 161 years after his murder, in March 1996, a self-styled traditional leader and igqirha (sangoma), Nicholas Tilana Gcaleka of Centane, stunned the world when he claimed that his ancestors had sent him to Scotland to dig up and bring home Hintsa’s skull.
The skull was analysed by leading palaeo-anthropologists Philip Tobias and Alan Morris, but their tests proved it was that of a middle-aged European woman.
The Xhosa Royal house subsequently denounced Gcaleka as a “fraud and charlatan”.
Hintsa, who was born around 1789, was the fourth king of the Gcaleka. He ruled from 1820 until his death in 1835.
The Xhosa nation is challenged to find out the truth about their late king’s death and the mystery surrounding his skull and its whereabouts.
AmaXhosa royal households have called for Queen Elizabeth II and the British government to apologise for 19th-century oppression and atrocities committed by colonial rulers, including the killing of King Hintsa, the commander of the armed forces of the Xhosa.
During Nelson Mandela’s funeral on December 15 in 2013 at Qunu near Mthatha, King Sigcawu and Britain’s Prince Charles had a short and impromptu meeting over the matter. It was hoped that Xhosa royals were a step closer to an apology from Britain and that it was seen as a remarkable move from the former colonial power which, in the past two decades, has come under increasing pressure to apologise for various atrocities committed around the world during the years of the empire.
“But almost four years after that brief meeting with Prince Charles, we are still struggling to raise funds to travel to the UK for a proper meeting.
“Hence we appeal for the assistance of both the government and the private sector,” King Sigcawu said. — lulamilef@dispatch.co.za
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