THE BULHOEK MASSACRE: ORIGINS, CASUALTIES, REACTIONS AND HISTORICAL DISTORTIONS

Abstract

The Bulhoek massacre remains a standard feature in accounts of South African history. Historians who wrote on the incident before the birth of the Popular or Peoples history movement and evidence submitted to Sir Thomas Graham, the presiding judge at the trial of the Israelites, made it clear beyond all doubt that the Israelites were religious fanatics who were driven by their fanaticism and blind faith in Enoch Mgijima's words to attack the Police. In the 1980s, with the birth of the Popular history movement, the massacre was reinterpreted by social historians, especially those associated with the University of Witwatersrand (Wits) History Workshop to fit into the perspective of the Popular history approach. The Israelites were seen as political heroes who stood against an oppressive system. The two different approaches to the massacre leads to the historical distortions of the event.

Full text

THE BULHOEK MASSACRE:
ORIGINS, CASUALTIES,
REACTIONS AND
HISTORICAL DISTORTIONS
D.H. MAKOBE
DOCUMENTATION SERVICE DIRECTORATE, SANDF
Introduction
The Bulhoek massacre remains
a
standard feature in accounts of South African history.
Historians who wrote on the incident before the birth of the Popular or Peoples history
movement and evidence submitted to Sir Thomas Graham, the presiding judge at the trial
of the Israelites, made it clear beyond all doubt that the Israelites were religious fanatics
who were driven by their fanaticism and blind faith in Enoch Mgijima's words to attack the
Police. In the 1980s, with the birth of the Popular history movement, the massacre was
reinterpreted by social historians, especially those associated with the University of
Witwatersrand (Wits) History Workshop to fit into the perspective of the Popular history
approach. The Israelites were seen
as
political heroes who stood against an oppressive
system. The two different approaches to the massacre leads to the historical distortions of
the event.
The writer's research attempts to correct such distortions. His analysis of the event is
divided into
a
series of four articles. The first article is entitled: Confrontation with the
Police: The Israelites of Enoch Mgmma and the Bulhoek massacre of
24
Mav
1921.
The
article focuses on the origins of the Israelites, their confrontation with the authorities over
their illegal squatting at Bulhoek and the events of
24
May
1921.
The second article is
entitled: The price of fanaticism: the casualties of the Bulhoek massacre. It focuses on the
casualties of the massacre on the side of the Israelites and shows that the high number of
Israelites who lost their lives during the incident was due to their fanaticism. The article
further tries to establish
a
reliable figure on the basis of available sources
as
to how many
Israelites lost their lives during their attack. The third article is entitled: Understanding
Bulhoek massacre: voices after the massacre and down the years. The article focuses on
the reactions from different political organisations, the Union Government, people who
lived in the vicinity of Queenstown at the time,
as
well
as
the views of the general public at
the time. In order to take the reader back to the period immediately after the massacre,
a
lot
of quotations is used. The last article is entitled: Religious fanatics that became political
heroes: The historical distortions of the Bulhoek massacre. This article shows how the
Bulhoek massacre was distorted by historians, especially within the context of the Peoples
history approach.
22
Militaria
26 (1)
1996
Scientia Militaria, South African Journal of Military Studies, Vol 26, Nr 1, 1996. http://scientiamilitaria.journals.ac.za

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