Episode 41 – The English take Cape Town, Americans flee and trekboer rebels tear down a flag

This is episode 41 and we’re dealing with two main things – firstly the shift in power amongst the Xhosa at the end of the 18th Century, then the arrival of the English in South Africa.

Remember we’ve been focusing on the Zuurveld as the trekboers and the amaXhosa both expanded their interest in the region. The fate of these contending parties would remain undecided for twenty years and for the amXhosa, it was their fractured politics that weakened them precisely at the moment their greatest threat appeared.

The indecisive Second Frontier War had left Ndlambe the most powerful Xhosa chief in the west but he couldn’t seize ultimate control of the Zuurveld – the trekboers were returning to their farms razed during the war. Although they did not return in the same numbers initially, the tension was set to rise once more.

In 1795 Ngqika turned 17 and he immediately took action against his uncle Ndlambe who as we know had been ruling on his behalf until he came of age. Ngqika was not to be trifled with although young. He was ambitious and pretty ruthless as you’re going to hear. As the tension rose amongst the amaXhosa groups, it wasn’t long before a mini civil war broke out.
Upheavals far away in the world were going to have a major impact on this sleepy little southern African backwater shortly. The first attempts by the British at seizing the Cape failed miserably back in 1781 as we’ve heard with the brilliant but obese French commander Bailli de Suffren defeating the English fleet at the Cape Verde Islands.
The British had no real interest in the Cape as such during this phase, they wanted the ports and the refreshment stations. There was no idea of colonizing this somewhat dangerous part of the world.
The major strategic aim was to hold the Cape to prevent it from being seized by the French to use as a naval base as part of the crucial logistics route to and from India and China.