History of South Africa podcast

Episode 167 - Maitland dithers, Stockenstrom sallies forth into the Transkei and biblical storms change everything

This is episode 167 and the British army is clumping along towards the Amathola fastnesses, the deep ravines and steep riverine environment not the most ideal for an army that dragged everything around on wagons. Leading this army were officers steeped in the traditions of empire, and marching under their…

21 Apr 22 min

Episode 166 - Colonel Lindsay lashes a local lad, Fort Peddie attacked and the Battle of Gwangqa River

The Seventh Frontier war has burst into flame, and across the Ceded Territory and down into the land around Port Elizabeth amaXhosa warriors are on the warpath, the British have been forced into the defensive. If you remember, Sir Peregrine Maitland declared war on the amaXhosa chief Mgolombane Sandile Ngqika…

14 Apr 20 min

Episode 165 - Sandile ambushes a British column, Captain Bambrick’s skull and Somerset’s humiliation

This is episode 165 — and the atmosphere in Xhosaland was ablaze with indignation. A Mr Holliday had complained in Fort Beaufort that an imaDange man called Tsili had stolen his axe, and if you recall last episode, Tsili had been arrested then freed while under military escort by Tola…

5 Apr 19 min

Episode 164 - British sappers cross Block Drift into Xhosaland setting off a chain of events on the eve of war

This is episode 164. Remember when we left off we’d been hearing about the squad of Royal engineers who’d crossed into amaXhosa territory over the Tyhume River in January 1846. They were led by Lieutenant J Stokes — this small team of five were surveying land for the site of…

31 Mar 21 min

Episode 163 - British engineers build forts and semaphores while disabled chief Mgolombane Sandile signs a treaty

This is episode 163, the year, 1845. New Cape Governor Sir Peregrine Maitland had shown he was a man of action — as a veteran of the Peninsular Campaign against Napoleon you’d expect that, particularly as he fought at Waterloo. This new man of action governor had some doubts about…

24 Mar 23 min

Episode 162 - The 1845 Battle of Swartkoppies, Divide and Rule and a Bloemfontein origin story

This is episode 162. First, some housekeeping. A huge thank you to all my supporters, the podcast just passed 1.3 million listens, so there’s a large number of folks out there who’ve found this series useful. I’m so delighted that our crazy tale here on the southern tip of Africa…

16 Mar 23 min

Episode 161 - Moshoeshoe signs a Treaty then collects gunpowder and horses

This is episode 161 — and what’s this I hear? The sound of wind whipping and howling through the mountain recesses, snow-capped mountains, where the rivers have torn deep ravines in the geography, terraphysics scraping rocks, rushing waters plunging from the escarpment into the eastern cape and free state, foaming…

10 Mar 21 min

Episode 160 - A tour of Philippolis, an 1844 update, the Great Guano discovery and the Merino sheep miracle

This is episode 160 and we’re breathing the spicy smells of the semi-desert, and taking in the exotic and wonderous scenary of the Richtersveld, Namaqualand, and the stunning area around south westn Free State in the 840s. Last episode we heard about the period 1840-1843 in the southern Caledon River…

3 Mar 23 min

Episode 159 - Boer women as handmaidens to history and the swirling social dust storms in TransOrangia circa 1843

This is episode 159. If we take out a map of south Africa and reconsider the regions, it will become quite apparent that the main demarcation is geographical, geological, the main points of reference are the rivers and the mountains, the desert and semi-desert, the good soils and the bad…

25 Feb 22 min

Episode 158 - Venda kingdoms and the Lemba Yemeni enigma

This is episode 158 and we’re taking an epic regional tour into the along the Limpopo River to meet with the Venda and other groups of folks who hail from the province we now call Limpopo. Thanks to listener Mushe for the suggestion. By the mid-fifteenth century Shona-speaking immigrants from…

17 Feb 19 min

Episode 157 - Dick King and Ndongeni Ka Xoki’s epic ride leads another d’Urban to Durban

This is episode 157 - where Dick King and Ndongeni ka Xoki ride to out of Durban carrying a dispatch from besieged British commander, Captain Smith, surrounded by Boers, in real danger. On the 24th May 1842 King and ka Xoki snuck out of the Port Natal region heading to…

11 Feb 23 min

Episode 156 - The Battle of Congella leaves 34 British soldiers dead on a moonlit Durban beach

When we left off last episode, Captain Thomas Smith and two companies of the 27th Inniskilling Regiment, an 18 pounder that had just arrived by ship, two six pounder field guns, a small section of the Royal Artillery, a hand full of Royal Engineers, Sappers and miners, along with a…

4 Feb 21 min

Episode 155 - The Eastern Cape economy surges and the Americans visit Port Natal as tension rises

Welcome back to the History of South Africa podcast with me your host, Des Latham - it’s episode 155 and the Cape economy is growing in leaps and bounds. The years between 1840 and 1843 were a fascinating mix of economic development and military endeavour. We will be returning to…

27 Jan 21 min

Episode 154 - The Swellekamp grifter and Captain Smith marches from the Umgazi River to Port Natal

This is episode 154 and the amaBhaca people under chief Ncapayi have just raided the Boers along the upper Bushman’s river and near their new town of Weenen. Joining the Bhaca were the San raiders you heard about in episode 152. The area around the Umzimvubu River had been unstable…

21 Jan 24 min

Episode 153 - Dr Livingstone disembarks and Pretorius and Potgieter bury the hatchet

1840 was a leap year, and in November David Livingstone had left Britain for Africa. His story of exploration and commitment is extraordinary. While he would go on to become better known for his attempts at finding the source of the Nile River in east Africa, it was his formative…

14 Jan 19 min

Episode 152 - The amaTola San raiders of the Drakensberg: Horses, plant meds and the Chacma Baboon

This is episode 152, we’re going to dig into a story that is not often told — the amaTola San raiders of the Drakensberg. They emerged by the end of the third decade of the 19th Century as a result of a mish-mash of forces at play on the veld…

7 Jan 26 min

Episode 151 - The polymath Sir John Herschel, his free school system and other 1840 interconnections

Episode 151 and we’re into the 1840s - and its time to analyse some issues. One is education, the other, roads. Given our crisis in education these days, its perhaps another of our historical ironies that state funded schooling was offered by 1839 and 1840 in the Cape, something that…

31 Dec 2023 22 min

Episode 150 - Dingana assassinated near Ghost Mountain and the cultural appropriation tale of the toyi-toyi

For those who’ve lasted the journey thus far, thank you for listening. The number of downloads is approaching 1 and a quarter million, which by itself is quite a shock. Adding to the selfserving histrionics, Episode one of this series has just made to Spotify’s fourth most listened to podcast…

24 Dec 2023 22 min

Episode 149 - Mpande defeats Dingana at the Battle of amaQongqo and Bhibhi the beautiful is killed

This is episode 149 and Mpande kaSenzangakhona and the Boers are going after Dingana. We’re entering the 1840s where momentous events would continue to shape South Africa’s future. After Shaka’s death in 1828 his half-brother and murderer, Dingana, was supposed to usher in stability. Instead, Dingana embroiled the AmaZulu in…

17 Dec 2023 24 min

Episode 148 - The AmaZulu routed by amaSwazi Widow Bird warriors and Mpande’s exodus

This is episode 148 and there’re negotiations afoot between Dingana and the Voortrekkers, at the behest of Captain Henry Jervis who led the small detachment of British troops based at Port Natal. Their role was to stabilise the Natal region after a year of extreme violence, the Voortrekkers and the…

7 Dec 2023 24 min