ZULU WARFARE.

Auckland Star, Volume LXVI, Issue 170, 20 July 1935, Page 14

ZULU WARFARE.

OUTBREAKS TO-DAY.

C.ATTLE-STEALING RAIDS

NEW ZEALANDER IN NATAL,

The Zulus, a nation whose name was onie terrible for their prowess in fighting, arc still partly untamed, according to 31 r. A. E. Joseph, a former resident of Christchurch. who for the past five years lias been engaged in the administration of the native code in the South African province of Natal. Mr. Joseph, who is spending leave with relatives in Merivale, described in an interview inter-tribal wars that still take place and in which life is from time to time lost.

The Zulus owe allegiance to one paramount chief, but among tlie minor chiefs disputes on such subjects as grazing rights arise. Then raiding parties, 700 or,SOO strong, set out, burning huts and stealing cattle, and some big lights occur. "Unfortunately," said Mr. Joseph, "there is still the type of white man who will run guns in the remote districts."

Severely Punished. When the Zulu faction fights break out, Government police are rushed to the scene, the ringleaders are arrested, taken to Court and severely punished, usually by imprisonment without the option of a fine. Killing is a capital offence. Though tlie Zulus are frequently in trouble among themselves, they never fall foul of the police. The chiefs, in fact, give willing assistance. If a young native commits a crime in a town and escapes to his kraal, the police only liave to send a message to his chief to secure tlie production of the offender.

The Zulus' only grievance against, the white administration—a just grievance, in Mr. Joseph's opinion—is the incidence of taxation. There is a poll tax of £1 a head a year and a hut tax of 10/, which amounts to about two months' wages to a native in employment. This comes still harder on the native on the land, who has 110 idea of saving and small opportunity of earning money. Particularly is this so in seasons of drought and locust plagues, when the native is frequently at the point of starvation.

Drugs and Drink. In Mr. Joseph's administrative district, which is a comparatively small one, because it contains the large town of Durban, drugs and drink are serious causes of troilble, though both are prohibited under the native code. This district contains 50,000 Zulus, 10,000 Indians, 5000' "eoloureds" and 1000 Europeans. The "eoloureds," the general name applied to crossbreeds of all kinds, are shunned by blacks and whites alike. Finding it hard to make a living ( by ordinary , means, they make illicit sales of liquor, of-which the law allows them a restricted quantity, to the Zulus, who are prohibited: "The blacks," said Mr. Joseph, "cannot carry liquor, and when they get it stabbings and murders follow. Otherwise the Zulus are splendid fellows to deal with. I have never known them to bear malice, and they are very honest and capable workers, and of a cheery disposition."

There were two native , vices that sometimes gave tlie police trouble. One was the smoking- of dogga, a drug made from dried leaves of a plant, after heavy indulgence in which the natives were liable .to run amok. The other was the drinking of isityimiyana, a dangerous intoxicant. This was rife only in the towns where the Zulus could obtain hops, a forbidden commodity, from the j Indians. j Ho Servant Problem. I

There was 110 servant problem in Soutli Africa, said Mi*. Joseph, for tlie Zulu boys - made excellent domestic workers at very small Wages. A parried couple could employ for 10/ a month a housebov who would -do all scrubbing, polishing and running of messages, and £3 a month would secure an expert who <iould cook and do the washing and housework.

In Natal the natives are not allowed to live where they please. Those in private employment must reside with tlieir employers, and for those employed by firms, compounds are set apart under the control of a white manager. It is a crime for a native to be found without his registration certificate and tax receipts. For the natives on the land large reserves where no white man may go without special permission are established..