Grahamstown is a town of about 70,000 in the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa. The stamp honours the laying of a monument to the 1820 British settlers that came to Grahamstown replenishing it after 300 British defenders held out against 10,000 Xhosa warriors under Makhanda. Interesting but perhaps a little dated. Makhanda perhaps only lost the first phase of the battle. The town after all is now named for him and the monument is looking for a new name before it again gets burned. So slip on your smoking jacket, fill your pipe, take your first sip of your adult beverage, and sit back in your most comfortable chair. Welcome to todays offering from The Philatelist.
Imagine having just won a battle where you were out numbered 33 to one. You have to be wondering when the Xhosa warriors will return and how many more times God will be with you. Then a ship arrives from the home country, the Chapman, bringing 271 new colonists ready to make a go of it in Grahamstown. It must have seemed like a message from God. The town got busy building roads and infrastructure. In 1846, there was a funny exchange between the Royal Engineers and headquarters in Cape Town, The Engineers requested a vice be sent. Headquarters laughingly replied that they should acquire vice locally. The engineers replied that there was no vice in Grahamstown. Understandable why South Africa thought the memory deserved a monument.
Todays stamp is issue A117, a 2 and a half cent stamp issued by South Africa on August 20th, 1962. It was a two stamp issue in different denominations. According to the Scott catalog, the stamp is worth 25 cents used.
Scotsman and British Army Major John Graham was tasked with clearing the area between the Bushmen and Fish River of approximately 20,000 Xhosa tribespeople that had recently began squatting on old Boer farmland. Modern history paints this as some sort of genocide and cite a quote from Graham about relying on a little terror to get the squatters to move on. They forget that the British Army’s use of the Bright Red outfits and marching in with military band playing is what was meant by terrifying. In 1812, he declared Grahamstown as headquarters on an abandoned Boer farm for a string of forts on the Fish River. In 1819 Xhosa Chief Gwala sent his son Makhanda with 10,000 warriors to take and loot Grahamstown. Though Makhanda had converted at one point to Christianity, the British marching in convinced him that this was a battle between Thixo, God of the whites, and Mdalidiphu, Creator of the Deep and the blacks. He was convinced if he attacked Grahamstown, the British bullets would turn to water. Perhaps Makhanda’s Boer Missionaries should have spent a little more time with him explaining how the world really worked. After the defeat, Makhanda was detained on Robben Island, where he drowned trying to escape.
You might wonder what happened to the 1820 Settlers Monument after the change in government. In 1994 it was burned. The complex had held the best set of event venues in town though and so was rebuilt with Nelson Mandela rededicating it in 1996. After that the history being taught there shifted to show how the British arrival was bad for the Xhosa, perhaps a fair point. Things got more pressing in 2019 when Grahamstown was renamed Makhanda as part of reparations for past injustices. The event venue now is in the process of coming up with a new name for the memorial. The Philatelist suggesting honouring the god Thixo.
Two white women perhaps best represent the changing times in Grahamstown. In 1819, Elizabeth Salt snuck into the Fort bringing much needed ammunition that she had slung around her as a baby. Today Cecile Van Scalkwik is a lawyer who fights the city’s black government to allow black squatters to stay on land. She complains that the town has not built any new public housing. The sewers won’t take it because the haven’t ben maintained since apartheid. Here is her fund raising video, https://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=grahamstown+south+africa&docid=608037321911044055&mid=11FF756CE9728D14108511FF756CE9728D141085&view=detail&FORM=VIRE . Makhanda is sure lucky to have her on their side. Perhaps though instead of seeking donations, she should pray to Mdalipiphu for Deep sewers.
Well my drink is empty and I am left wondering when Makhana will get his wish and the last of the British there will turn to water and run away. Come again soon for another story that can be learned from stamp collecting. First published in 2020.