SHEPSTONE, THEOPHILUS

Sir Theophilus Shepstone (January 8, 1817-June 23, 1893) is credited with the construction of an administrative policy in both Natal and Zululand for the governance of Africans. Although his career was spent within South Africa, many of his ideas entered into the canons of British “native” policy in other parts of Africa. Shepstone arrived in South Africa as a baby of three in the arms of his immigrant English parents. A fluent linguist, he served at the age of 18 as a translator for the British forces in the Xhosa war of 1835.

PHOTO CAPTION: Sir Theophilus Shepstone. SOURCE: EA Library.

Widely respected by the British as “knowing the natives” he was appointed first as Resident in Kaffraria at the age of 22 and in 1845 was appointed Agent for Native Affairs for Natal. By 1856 he was Secretary for Native Affairs at Pieter-maritzburg. Much concerned with Anglo-Zulu relations Shepstone was able to convince the Zulu King Cetshwayo that Natal provided the Zulu with a protection against the Transvaal.

The cordiality of Anglo-Zulu relations broke down when the British annexed the Transvaal in 1877 under Shepstone. Shepstone subsequently endorsed the Transvaal’s claims against Zululand and war ultimately ensued ending in the destruction of the Zulu army. In 1884 Shepstone was appointed administrator of Zululand, and in this post-war situation Shepstone’s policy led to the Balkanisation of the Zulu state, the diminution of its chieftaincy and the appropriation of about a third of Zulu territory.

In the circumstances it is perhaps remarkable that Shepstone is still portrayed in South African textbooks as a “friend of the native.” Perhaps the ambiguity of his Zulu name Somtseu (mighty hunter) provides some with that idea.

RICHARD RATHBONE