RETIEF, PIETER
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Pieter Retief (November 12, 1780-February 6, 1838), Voortrekker leader who negotiated with and was betrayed by Zulu King Dingane, was the second son of Jacobus Retief and his wife Debora Joubert.
Retief spent the first 32 years of his life in the vicinity of Wellington and Stellenbosch. In 1812 he was appointed one of the commandants of Stellenbosch and, in the same year, participated in the Fourth Frontier War against the Xhosa. He left Stellenbosch the following year in order to settle on the eastern frontier, and he made a living as a businessman in Uitenhage, and later Grahamstown. His business transactions were, however, seldom successful and, after having been on the verge of bankruptcy for more than ten years his estate was finally liquidated in 1834. He spent a short time in debtor’s prison.
In spite of his failures in the world of business, Retief was respected by his fellow burgers. He was also popular with the local authorities and, when the Sixth Frontier War broke out in December 1834, he was appointed commandant. After the war he acted as spokesman for the frontier farmers who had suffered a great deal from murdering and plundering expeditions of the Xhosa. When it became clear that his hopes for improved conditions on the eastern frontier were in vain, he decided to leave the Cape Colony. On February 2, 1837, he published his famous Manifesto in the Graham’s Town Journal. Retief’s pamphlet, “Manifesto of the Emigrant Farmers,” cited a number of Boer grievances, including: Ordinance 50, abolishing the vagrancy and apprenticeship laws that had provided legal leverage over the Khoi; the British Parliament’s outlawing in 1833 of slavery throughout the Empire; and the Boer perception that they were receiving insufficient support in their struggles with the Xhosa, while British law and administration continued to extend its geographical influence over the Boers themselves.
Retief’s trek left the Winterberg area in February 1837 and crossed the Orange River at Buffelsvlei (now Aliwal North). When his trek party united with those of Gert Maritz and Hendrik Potgieter north of the Orange River, Retief was elected Governor. He and the majority of the Voortrekkers were in favour of settling in Natal and, in September 1837, he travelled with 15 men to Natal to negotiate with the Zulu king Dingane about land. Dingane promised to cede the territory between the Tugela and the Umzimvubu Rivers if Retief recaptured cattle that had been stolen from him by the Tlokwa chief Sekonyela.
Retief recaptured the cattle from Sekonyela and left with about 70 volunteers to deliver the booty to Dingane. He arrived at eMgungundlovu (uMgungundlovu) on February 3, 1838 and Dingane duly signed the title deed in which he relinquished sovereignty over the territory between the Tugela and the Umzimvubu. When Retief and his men were preparing to leave on the morning of February 6, 1838, Dingane summoned them to his kraal in order to bid them farewell. While they were watching the Zulu dance, Dingane rose to his feet and roared: “Kill the wizards.” At that the warriors poured down on the defenseless Retief and his men, and dragged them to the hill of execution, Kwa Matiwane, where they were killed and left to the vultures.
Retief’s life was difficult from an early age. Never a financial success, he did find respect as a frontiersman and expedition leader. The betrayal he experienced at the hands of Dingane was, historically, a highly unusual event, and rather than tarnishing his image as a leader, the incident made of him a martyr in the Afrikaner hagiography.
B.J. LIEBENBERG
