HC Deb 28 April 1892 vol 3 cc1559-61
MR. PICTON

I beg to ask the Under Secretary of State for the Colonies if the attention of the Colonial Office has been drawn to a statement by an European resident in Zululand, published in the Natal Witness of 24th February, 1892, that— There can be no talk of Usibepu's people returning to Ndwandwe District because they have already been long established there, and that though Usibepu is not with them in person he indirectly manages his tribe, the Chief who is recognized is his brother on the spot"; and whether the above statements are a correct description of what has occurred; and, if so, what steps are the Government taking to secure the fulfilment in spirit, and not in the letter only, of the assurance given on 18th March?

* BARON H. DE WORMS

Usibepu's tribe is in apparent charge of an Induna named Zikizane, who is believed not to be a brother of the Chief. Whether the latter essays to manage the tribe indirectly is not known to Her Majesty's Government. The hon. Member does not appear to be aware that the Ndwandwe district is the ancestral home of Usibepu's tribe, and that the people of some hundreds of its kraals never left the district, or, if they did, returned to it in past years. The people are peaceably gaining a living by agricultural and pastoral pursuits, and Her Majesty's Government have no intention of evicting them. The assurance mentioned by the hon. Gentleman did not refer to them, but to those portions of Usibepu's tribe who are living out of the district.

MR. PICTON

Am I to understand that portions of Usibepu's people are now in Ndwandwe district, and have never been out of it?

BARON H. DE WORMS

The hon. Gentleman does not appear to have heard what I said—namely, that the Ndwandwe district is the ancestral home of the tribe, and that the people of some hundreds of its kraals never left the district, or, if they did, returned to it in past years.

MR. PICTON

This is rather an important matter. The right hon. Gentleman does not, I think, apprehend the point of my question. I want to know whether care is being taken that the assurance which the right hon. Gentleman gave on the 18th March will be carried out—that people hostile to the tribe will not be allowed to disturb them?

* BARON H. DE WORMS

Again I have to say that the hon. Member does not understand the last portion of my answer. I distinctly said the assurance mentioned by the hon. Gentleman did not refer to them, but to those portions of the tribe who are living out of the district.

MR. PICTON

I shall be obliged to raise the question on the Estimates.