SOUTH AFRICA
inconsiderable was the number
of exhausted and terror-haunt-
ed survivors who eventually
reached Natal,” writes Lloyd,
“that it was widely held that the
slaughter had been complete.”
But a brief delay in getting am-
munition to the British front line
gave the Zulu impi an oppor-
tunity to turn the tide. “When
you look back on the various
Anglo-Zulu battles, a clear trend
emerges,” Knight says. “Whenev-
er the British were able to keep
the Zulus at arm’s length, they
won the battle. But as soon as
the Zulus were able to engage
in hand-to-hand combat, they
were unstoppable.” The Zu-
lus, he explains, had grown up
stick-fighting: “They were brutal
with their assegais.”The Zulus
suffered great losses at iSandlwa-
na — approximately 1,000 dead
and 2,000 mortally wounded
— but there was no doubt which
side had won the battle. “So
The defeat at iSandlwana result-
ed in a strong British backlash
that allowed them to conquer
the Zulus and capture King Cet-
shwayo before the year was out.
Cetshwayo was imprisoned in
Cape Town and subsequently
exiled to England, before finally
being allowed to return to Zulu-
land. Not until the election of the
current president of South Africa,
126 years later, has a Zulu leader
again been in control of his own
land.
Capital
Pretoria (Executive)
Bloemfontein (Judicial)
Cape Town (Legislative)
Largest city
Johannes-
burg
Ethnic groups
80.2% Black, 8.8% Coloured
8.4% White, 2.5% Asian
Demonym: South African
Government: Unitary
dominant-party parliamen-
tary constitutional republic
President
Cyril Ramaphosa
Deputy President
David Mabuza
Area size
1,221,037 km2 (471,445 sq
mi)
Currency: South African
rand (ZAR)
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Hugh Masekela
Trumpeter