Battles That Shaped South Africa – Blood River.

All the battles that decided the shape of modern South Africa took place within fifty miles of each other in what is now KwaZulu-Natal but was once Zululand.

In 1838 the Boers def. Zulus and in 1879 the British def. Zulus.

Like Wimbledon, the winners of the two semi-finals went on to meet in the final. (Spoiler alert – Britain won)

The Boers – Afrikaner descendants of the Dutch settlers – were heading east as part of the Great Trek in search of more room for farms and family and to get away from the British who had taken control of the Cape Colony. At Blood River, after the Zulu chief reneged on a territorial agreement and killed the Boer leader, Piet Retief, the Zulus attacked the group and were soundly defeated – there were reportedly 3000 dead Zulus whose deaths gave the river its name and apparently no injuries among the trekkers.

Today, there are two memorials. One formed by 64 identical wagons cast in bronze representing the scene and celebrating the trekker victory. In the far distance there is a red-roofed building which is the Ncome Museum that was opened in 1999 to offer a Zulu “re-interpretation” of the events.

The Afrikaner consider this site to be sacred proof that God’s hand was involved in their victory and that they had divine right to exist as a people – the roots of white nationalism. Add to this the fact that The Great Trek that took place through the 1830s and 1840s was essentially triggered by Great Britain’s abolition of slavery and you have here on this spot the roots of apartheid.