In the beginning… | Langalibalele 'Vungu |
| Settlers | Port Natal |
| The colony of Natal | Stanger |
| Zulu war | Isandlwana |
| More Europeans | Marburg |
| Boer War | Ladysmith Spioen Kop Majuba |
| The Province of Natal | Greytown |
| Apartheid | Kwa Mashu |
| The New Order – Kwazulu/Natal | Saidi Kwa Dukuza Ethekweni Umuzu waBantu Izinqolweni Vula Mehlo Ugu |
Author notes
This was written as a piece of choral verse for my niece who is a primary school teacher in KwaZulu Natal, a province on the east coast of South Africa. The list contains the names of towns that reflect its history.
The first part of the list has names, in Zulu, of places that existed before the arrival of white people in KwaZulu Natal. The name ‘Port Natal’ signals the first settlement by the British and is derived from the name ‘Natal’ given by Portuguese explorers to land on the African east coast that they discovered on Christmas Day, about 1500.
The British were soon joined in the region by Dutch farmers who arrived over the Drakensberg mountains from the interior, using the van Reenen pass. They were trying to escape from British rule in the Cape and one of the first towns they settled was called Vryheid (“Freedom” in Dutch). They also named Mooi Rivier (Beautiful River). Weenen (Weeping) and Bloed Rivier (Blood River) are the sites of battles with the Zulus while Pietermaritzburg, the capital of their new state is named for two boer leaders. Congela was the site of the decisive battle in which the British defeated the Dutch settlers, driving most of them back over the Drakensberg to the Transvaal.
Stanger and Port Shepstone (after the British Native commissioner Sir Theophilus Shepstone) were named by the British as they settled in Natal, leading to war with the Zulu in 1879, reflected in Isandlwana, Rorkes Drift, Hlobane and Ulundi all sites of battles.
Once the Zulus were defeated the colony of Natal was opened up for immigration and settlement with names reflecting the British, German and Norwegian origins of different settler communities.
Kwa Mashu begins a new phase, associated with the political system of Apartheid and this and the names that follow are all townships established to house black workers under the system of influx control (the ‘pass laws’) used to determine where different race groups were legally compelled to live.
The last group of names, beginning with Saidi are examples of the renaming of towns and districts following the abandonment of Apartheid in the 1990s. They are Zulu names either replacing or supplementing the names of the colonial and apartheid eras.
How to add sound
Comments
1 - 8 of 8
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My priviledge to hear this sung. Perfect.. Like a lullabye. Thanks vic. Love, Dibs ps this was rhythm. High five mate.
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I like that Vic... it's got legs now...
well done..
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But Vic
Margate Ramsgate and Anerley I know altogether too well. Esp Anerley!! So are they nuffink to do wid saaaf lundun den?? I am such an ignoramus. Missing the chat and chewing the fat darlin!! But like the lyrical journey of this write - it has a certain rhythm. All the names of my homes would not make a poem for sure. Thank you for the author notes. Big love, debs (or should I say 'dibs' - love the accent) xx
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i'm not sure this works Vic, without the lengthy explanation....
i've read it a few times today... exploring the sounds it makes and what it makes me feel... and unfortunately, taking away your author notes, it doesn't really do alot... maybe .. maybe you could add a little more meat to the bones of this.... to give some depth and meaning..
then maybe you wouldn't need such a lengthy yet informative account...
??? I dunno......
Gill x
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You are absolutely right. This is not something that will work 'out of the box' as the sounds and emphases of the Zulu names will lose their music if they are read out with standard English letter values. My niece has promised me a recording of the performance when her class presents this. I think it will work in context but it certainly has limited value beyond that.
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p.s.
If you compare this with the song 'Homeless' on Paul Simon's Gracelands album you will see how I hope the sounds will work. -
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oohh i do get it... i have several south african friends.. so i do love the sounds and resonance..
i would however, love to see you stretch this and tell the story, without the author notes..
i see chilliwoman has stepped up to defend your honour though.. which is altogether too cute indeed...
lovely
Gill
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Does that make it easier? the headings would not be read out as part of the choral verse.
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