SORCERY AND SOVEREIGNTY - TAXATION, WITCHCRAFT, AND POLITICAL SYMBOLSIN THE 1880 TRANSKEIAN REBELLION

The paper examines the causes of the 1880 Transkeian Rebellion and att empts to build upon previous explanations. In particular the paper loo ks at the way in which taxation and witchcraft beliefs combined to mak e the colonial state appear especially malevolent. The information on hut tar registers represented a potential threat to the African popula tion, a threat that was both material and supernatural. With that info rmation. stare officials could confiscate property, deny bridewealth c laims, and do harm through the means of sorcery. This threat motivated many Africans to rally behind the precolonial authority and social ha rmony symbolised by the chiefs and to rebel in October 1880. Once colo nial forces had squashed the rebellion, however, the collection of hut taxes became a state ritual that recreated and reinforced bonds betwe en ruler and ruled. A high proportion of Africans paid their hut tares in the years after the revolt: in the 1887-97 period in the three dis tricts discussed, compliance rates averaged in the 80-100 per cent ran ge. Yet, this was a period in which officials were often reluctant to use physical coercion or property seizure to enforce collection, becau se of the fear of provoking more unrest. The high compliance rates can instead be explained by the symbolic content of tax payments. Believi ng that state officials had access to supernatural powers and knowing that they had overcome the power of the chiefs, Africans paid their ta xes as a way of deflecting those powers, thereby enabling themselves t o farm in relative peace. Compliance with tax laws reflected an acknow ledgement of the historical reality of the loss of African independenc e, but it also helped create and maintain the political reality of col onial control in the aftermath of the rebellion.