The Mfecane: A Non-Zulu African Perspective

Thomas Mokopu Mofolo is regarded as the greatest Basotho author, and his reputation largely comes from his novel, Chaka. In understanding the creation of the Mfecane, there are two main interpretations of Mofolo’s work to examine. The first is that Chaka was an anticolonial, nationalist leader who created the nation-state of Zulu to band together southern Africa, which paints him more heroically. Oppositely, Zulu’s nation-state is also said to have been born out of violence and feeds off of colonization, which appears to be Mofolo’s interpretation of Chaka’s leadership. However, as with all narratives, this must be analyzed with all the personal bias and strategic aims the writer brings forth. 

 Mofolo was from Lesotho, and his work was published through the Morija Mission. In order to properly evaluate the authenticity of Mofolo’s work, his motivations, as well as those of the Christians publishing his work, have to be considered. Mofolo grew up Christian, and this had a profound effect on his life and works. He went to Morija Mission to then work as a servant for Reverend Alfred Casalis, who was in charge of many things, including the printing press and book depot. 

As a Christian, anything other than his religion would have been not only wrong in his eyes, but heinous. In light of this, the portrayal of spirituality in his novel Chaka needs to be carefully read knowing that Mofolo had a certain bias to the religious beliefs of the Zulu people, as well as any religion that wasn’t Christianity in general. This may also be why Mofolo portrays Chaka as a tragic character rather than a complex historical figure. He completely fabricates parts of the novel, leading the reader to question if he tries to manipulate the truth for the sake of a good story or an interesting read. He invents characters, such as Noliwa, and invents the part of the plot in which he murders her. He also writes that Chaka murdered his own mother, though it is clear from other documents that he clearly mournered her death. He does all this to add to Chaka’s brutality, developing the scene of the Mfecane through his creative liberty in the novel. 

Chaka’s death in the final paragraphs the novel were clearly written by Mofolo to instill an ominous sense of fear into the reader, alluding to the fear the Zulu people may have had after Chaka died–as if somehow he could come alive again and cause more damage to their nation. He darkens and, yet, embellishes the legacy of Chaka by crafting this aura of power around him that exists beyond his death. He is able to highlight both the darkness of this leader who was not a Christian, contrasting it with his own faith of his time, as well as the agency held by an African leader to genuinely make nervous those who don’t respect his leadership.

Mofolo’s research took place between 1907 and 1910, a crucial time in the formation of modern South Africa. His research happened roughly a decade after the South African War, and finished in step with the union of South Africa in 1910. With tensions high in the present-day area he was writing about, it would have been difficult to put forth the time and effort to research the nations of southern Africa during the 1800s and time of the Mfecane without acknowledging how this history affected the land of the present there. At the time when Chaka controlled Mthethwa, the Mfecane was ongoing, and the Zulu nation was expanding inland, hurting people groups, and absorbing nations. When Chaka was assassinated, the Great Trek began, and when the Battle of Blood River occurred, Zulu eventually found itself in a very different position over the next few decades, through British rule and transformation after the Mfecane ended. 

It is obvious that Mofolo is not particularly interested in “what really happened.” Rather, he curates a collection of facts, fabrication, and things in between to present a creative and amplified depiction of a historical figure, Chaka. Through his narrative, he portrays Chaka as bloodthirsty and violent, as a leader who needs colonization. The creation of the nation-state Zulu from this portrayal of Chaka’s rule could definitely explain the beginning of the Mfecane. However, it is important to carefully examine and evaluate the credibility of Mofolo, and what his aims were in writing this piece in the first place: to tell a story referencing African history, not privileging it.