NKANDLA OPERATIONS AND THE BATTLE OF MOME GORGE, 10 June 1906 by K.G.Gillings, JCD
"The Battle of Mome Gorge broke the back of an uprising which has had its parallels in this country on more than one occasion since 1906.
Discontent amongst the Blacks in Natal had long been welling up. Extensive White and Indian immigration had resulted in the traditional way of life of the Blacks being drastically changed. Allocation of farms in Zululand to Whites for sugar farming was met with dissatisfaction and had resulted in squatting and, in some cases, exorbitant rentals in the form of hut tax on those farms. Registration of births and deaths, made compulsory by the Natal government, was foreign to the Blacks, and the 1904 census was viewed with great suspicion.
Dinizulu, King Getshwayo's son and successor, had been deposed by the Natal government, which proceeded to break down the Zulus' traditional way of life, found repugnant by the ‘civilised' Whites. The Blacks were restricted in the use of firearms, barred from drinking European liquor, and deprived of the franchise.
In May 1905, the Natal government under the premiership of Sir George Sutton, collapsed due to the state of the economy and the government's inability to have various tax bills passed through Parliament…."
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