page_title: South African Wars (1879–1915)
section_title: Key Figures
hierarchical_section_title: South African Wars (1879–1915) / Key Figures
caption_attribution_description: English: Mgolombane Sandile - Xhosa Chief
context_page_description: Ethnic, political and social tensions among European colonial powers, indigenous Africans, and English and Dutch settlers led to open conflict in a series of wars and revolts between 1879 and 1915 that would have lasting repercussions on the entire region of southern Africa. Pursuit of commercial empire as well as individual aspirations, especially after the discovery of diamonds and gold, were key factors driving these developments.
  The various wars of this era are usually studied separately, as independent conflicts. They include the first and second Anglo-Boer War, the Anglo-Zulu War, the Sekhukhune Wars, the Basotho Gun War, the 9th Frontier War and others.
  However it is instructive also to see them as outbreaks in a far larger wave of change and conflict affecting the subcontinent – beginning with the "Confederation Wars" of the 1870s and 80s; escalating with the rise of Cecil Rhodes and the struggle for control of gold and diamond resources; and leading up to the Second Anglo-Boer War and the Union of South Africa in 1910.
context_section_description: Throughout the period of the South African Wars, people on both sides of the conflict achieved notability. Some of these people were in favour of the British colonising South Africa and making it a British territory, while others fought against the British in an attempt to slow down and stop these efforts.
  Mgolombane Sandile was the dynamic and charismatic chief of the Ngqika, who led his people in a string of wars until he was killed by Fengu sharpshooters in 1878. Although he acted independently, he usually recognised the authority of King Sarhili(Kreli) of the Gcaleka, whose country lay to the east and who was nominally the Paramount-Chief of all the Xhosa people. Sandile's soldiers used modern firearms (in addition to their traditional weapons for close combat) and they were skilled in guerilla warfare. However his tragic death was a turning point. It brought to a close the last of the Xhosa Wars (1779–1879); and saw the beginning of the greater South African Wars (1879–1915) which now encompassed the whole subcontinent.
  The Earl of Carnarvon was the colonial secretary in London from 1874 to 1878. He was greatly concerned with Imperial defence of the Cape and felt that it was a crucial point in the empire's trade and future security. For this reason, he wished to bring all the various states of southern Africa into one single British-controlled Confederation. He had recently confederated Canada, initiating a unified, British-controlled government that meshed two cultures and create a bi-lingual society, and he wished to replicate that success in southern Africa. The South Africa Act 1877 was derived from the British North America Act concerning draft confederation. Carnarvon felt that if it worked for Canada, it could also apply to southern Africa. Many southern African states fiercely resisted this interference in the region. His attempt to enforce this system of confederation onto southern Africa was a primary cause of the first set of the South African Wars.
  Sir Henry Bartle Frere was the new British Governor whom Carnarvon sent out to southern Africa in 1877, to enforce his confederation plan, bring the various states of southern Africa into the united British federation, and preempt what he believed would be a "general and simultaneous rising of Kaffirdom against white civilisation".   
  For this purpose, Frere initiated the Anglo-Zulu War, the 9th Frontier War, the Gun War, and overthrew the elected government of the Cape Colony to replace it with the pro-federation Sprigg puppet government. He critically underestimated the Zulu State as "a bunch of savages armed with sticks" and likewise miscalculated in taking on war with the Boers and the Basotho – against all of whom the British suffered serious setbacks and defeats, before sheer force of arms extricated them. Back in London, the new British Government was horrified by Frere's actions. "What was the crime of the Zulu?!" became the call-to-arms of liberal leader William Gladstone. In 1880, Bartle Frere was recalled to London to face charges of misconduct, but the conflicts which he initiated were effectively the commencement of the South African Wars.
  John Gordon Sprigg was the local puppet Prime Minister of the Cape (1878–81), whom Bartle Frere installed to lead the Cape Colony into Confederation, after he had deposed the previous elected government. At first, Sprigg had opposed confederation (like most local Cape leaders), but he prudently converted, and Frere offered him the Cape government if he promised to assist the confederation plan. His government consequently pursued expansionist military policies and attempted to segregate and disarm the Cape's Black soldiers and allies. His discriminatory policies shocked much of the Cape's liberal political elite, and alienated the Cape's traditional allies – such as the Sotho and Fengu nations. A string of defeats followed – from the superior strategies of the Sotho army, among others. Facing military defeat and bankruptcy, Sprigg became more and more unpopular. Once his imperial protector Bartle Frere was recal
caption: Mgolombane Sandile
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