History of KwaZulu Natal, South Africa - South African Information

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KwaZulu Natal Information > History

A Short History of KwaZulu Natal
In the early 19th century the area now known as KwaZulu Natal was inhabited primarily by Bantu-speaking Zulu people which formed part of the Nguni tribe. Shaka was the most famous of their chiefs, known for his innovations in tactics and weaponry. In the 1820s and 30s the British acquired much of the KwaZulu Natal area from the Zulu chiefs Shaka and Dingane. Afrikaner farmers arrived in 1837 and, after battles with the Zulu, established a republic. In 1843, Britain annexed KwaZulu Natal area, then known as Natal, to the Cape Colony, and a Boer exodus followed. During the second half on the 19th century, many British people immigrated to Natal.

In 1856, Natal became a separate colony. Sugarcane cultivation began in the 1860's, and many Indians came to work in the sugar industry. Many Indians remained in Natal after their indenture expired; by 1900 they outnumbered whites. Today KwaZulu Natal still continues to have the largest Indian population in South Africa. In 1893, Natal was given internal self-government. Natal was invaded by the Boers in 1899 at the outbreak of the Boer War, but the Boers were driven out by the British in 1900. Ten years later Natal became one of the original provinces of the Union of South Africa.  Following the run to independence, Hendrik Verwoerd succeeded in establishing the Union of South Africa into the Republic of South Africa in 1961.

During apartheid the Bantustan of KwaZulu was created in Natal and designated as a supposed homeland for the Zulu. KwaZulu consisted of many small fragments of land scattered throughout the province. In the 1980s and early 1990s, KwaZulu Natal was wracked by conflict between the African National Congress and the Zulu-nationalist Inkatha Freedom Party. In 1994, following the release of Nelson Mandela, South Africa held its first free democratic elections and then in that same year Natal and the Bantustan of KwaZulu were recombined to form the new province of KwaZulu Natal.

 

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