The Wild Coast - A Brief HistoryThis Wild Coast has always had a restless spirit ?? if it
wasn??t the elements that were conspiring to cause havoc,
it was the affairs of men that led to conflict. | |
The area was originally settled by Bushmen (San) and
Hottentots, but towards the end of the 17th century they
were gradually displaced by the Hlubi people wandering
down from KwaZulu-Natal, led by a woman named Xhosa.
These people claimed a common ancestry with all the tribes
of the eastern coast, originating from a place called
eMbo. When the Xhosa encountered the Hottentots, they
were much taken with the clicks in the Hottentot language,
which became a fashionable part of the Hlubi language. | |
Successive waves of people came down the coast and began
to split up into homogenous groups. The northern group
became the Pondo, the middle group became the
Mtembu and the southern group became the Gcaleka. | |
Pressure from migrating tribes in the north pushed the
population southwards ?? where they began to encounter the
white traders and settlers moving north. The inevitable
result was conflict. | |
The first half of the 19th century were particularly
turbulent years. The reign of Shaka was sending shock-
waves down the coast as refugees from his wars came
pouring south in search of new homes. This led to many
differences of opinion between the residents and the
newcomers. The British, moving north, often intervened in
these tribal wars and also found themselves in wars of
their own. The result was the nine Frontier Wars. It was
at this time that a young girl called Nongqawusehad a
vision that her forebears would help the Xhosa drive the
English out. The disastrous result weakened the Xhosa
still further. Matters were not helped by the fact that
the Xhosa themselves were not an homogenous people ?? there
were a number of old and newly-formed tribes in a shifting
demographic landscape and often they fought amongst
themselves. | |
The Ninth Frontier War spelled the end of the Xhosa and
the Transkei area was incorporated into the Cape Colony.
But it was never quiet. There were raids between settlers
and Xhosas, and turf wars between different Xhosa tribes.
Missions were established here and there to try to bring
Christianity to the people, with limited success. | |
Because of the warlike reputation of the Wild Coast and
the ongoing tensions between the different factions, the
place was never really populated by European settlers and
was thus left largely to the indigenous people. It became
known as a ??homeland?? for the Xhosa people ?? especially as
the only significant economic activity for the population
was to migrate to the cities and to work on the mines.
This led to enormous social dislocation, which continues to
reverberates through the region. | |
In 1971 the area was made into an independent ??state?? by
the South African government ?? the sovereignty of which
was only ever recognized by the South Africans
themselves. The expensive farce included an entire
independent government; an airline; a separate transport
system; an entire bureaucracy of visas and passport
control and citizenship; separate industries, economic
structures, parastatal organisations and even an ??elected??
president. The artificiality of this ??republic?? has had
the most damaging of consequences and has left the Wild
Coast impoverished and corrupt. | |
But, there are many more here to explore in the Wild
Coast. See the list of additional places of historical
significance below. | |
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