Shangani Patrol – The Last Victory of the Matabele Kingdom Warriors

Abstract

The First Matabele War had several results. Firstly, it ended the existence of the Ndebele Kingdom. Secondly, it was the basis of the British dominion between the Limpopo and Zambezi rivers. Thirdly, it became the founding myth of the Rhodesian community. Nothing has stuck in the memory of the settlers as much as the death of the members of the Major Allan Wilson’s patrol, whose main task was to capture King Lobengula. The 4th of December, until the transformation in 1980, was one of the main public holidays. Songs were sung and movies were made about the heroes from the Shangani River, thereby creating a clear boundary between the defending settlers and the attacking Ndebele people. An indirect result of this was the policy of racial segregation, which under the slogan of “partnership” is not much different from the South African “apartheid”. Rhodesian people often compared the Shangani Patrol to the Battle of Little Bighorn and the siege of the Alamo. It is not surprising that the Ndebele people compared the Shangani Patrol to the victorious Zulu Battle of Isandlwana. This article aims to describe the event, known as the Shangani Patrol, which had brought colonial rule for nearly 90 years to the present area of Zimbabwe.