Xhosa chaplain led troops to a dignified death

The following lines from Joseph Addison’s play Cato, A Tragedy are among my favourite: Tis not to mortals to command success; But we’ll do more, Sempronius, we’ll deserve it.

The ill-fated SSMendi, on which more than 600 African soldiers lost their lives in one of the worst maritime disasters in the English Channel in the early morning hours of February 21, 1917. As the ship went down, the chaplain, Rev William Dyobha Wauchope (inset), led the doomed troops in prayer and gave them the courage to die with dignity.

I find these lines from the play a fitting introduction to the remarkable Xhosa life in the 19th century of the Rev Isaac William Wauchope.

Rev Wauchope was the eldest son of Dyobha, known as William Wauchope. His grandfather was Citashe, a member of Cethe people of the Chizama clan. In terms of royal allegiance he was a Ngqika from Maqoma’s royal tribe yamaJingqi.

Rev William Dyobha Wauchope

Born in 1852, below the Vuba mountains at a place today known as Qhagqiwa, Tinarha, or Uitenhage, he was one of the core of early Xhosa intellectuals.

It sounds strange today that some of these Xhosa men would be known by English surnames. They were born in a missionary era when, as SKE Mqhayi reminds us, it was believed a Xhosa name could not sanctify an individual before God. Most of them were named after their missionary patrons or in accordance with their wishes, hence Wauchope.

Rev Wauchope was of very light complexion because his great grandmother had married one of her Khoi attendants. It is a common thing to find Xhosas with Khoi blood since the two nations intermarried all the time.

As a teacher at a school in Uitenhage he taught the likes of Charlotte Manyhi, later to become Mrs Maxeke and a founding member of what became the African National Congress Women’s League.

He went back to Lovedale to train in ministry and married Naniwe. Living with their children he became the right-hand man of Dr Steward, aka Somgxada, the founding father of Lovedale.

He also supported the editor of the Imvo zaba Ntsundu newspaper, JT Jabavu, much to the chagrin of Nzululwazi, the editor of Ilizwi, which had a conspicuous Christian bent as opposed to the more secular Imvo.

Rev Wauchope was active in education, local and national politics, especially organising against the social segregation of black people.

He was firmly opinionated and intolerant of the messy ambiguity of colonialists preachers who, though regarding Xhosas as brothers in Christ, acted as if Xhosa preachers were younger siblings.

Wauchope was also instrumental in the fight for the establishment against massed opposition from both black and white communities of a college for black people, which eventually would become known as Fort Hare. The group from Ilizwi favoured the foundation of bursaries for black people to study abroad instead.

When a need arose for South African volunteers to fight in France in World War I, Wauchope enlisted for the South African Labour Corps as army chaplain.

After spending a lot of time in Cape Town, helping the white government with interpreting and training of the new recruits, he was eventually allowed to cross to Europe with a contingent of about 800 men on the SS Mendi.

It is reported that the voyage to England was relaxing, with shipboard amusements, songs, gift-giving, prayer groups, and so on.

On February 20, 1917, the Mendi set sail from England to cross the English Channel to France. Everyone thought they had passed all enemy threats when at 5am on a pitch-black night’ship lights were not effective in the sea fog the Mendi was rammed by the massive SS Darro, near the Isle of Wight.

Both ships could not see the other and the Mendi was pierced on the side (note Mqhayi’s use of Christian religious imagery). Most on board awoke befuddled without knowing which direction to head for safety.

The fast-travelling SS Darro survived the accident but all hopes of saving the fast-sinking Mendi soon vanished.

There were also too few life boats on board to rescue everyone.

The frantic thrashing of drowning people, most of whom could not swim, disappearing on the cold black sea, we are told, was a horrific sight to see.

More than 600 black South African volunteers drowned. The crew of the Darro did not help the captain was later suspended for a year though the captain of the destroyer HMS Brisk, which had accompanied the Mendi, tried his best in difficult conditions.

In the midst of that confusion one man rose to the occasion. That was Rev Wauchope. As a chaplain he had the opportunity to board the first life boats and save his life, but he refused, choosing to wait for the last rescue that never came.

On board of the sinking vessel he appealed to the leaderless soldiers, urging them to keep calm. When he realised their case was lost he urged them to lock arms and die like real heroes.

Be quiet and calm, my countrymen. What is happening now is what you came to do…you are going to die, but that is what you came to do, he proclaimed. Brothers, we are drilling the death drill. I, a Xhosa, say you are my brothersSwazis, Pondos, Basotho’so let us die like brothers. We are the sons of Africa. Raise your war-cries, brothers, for though they made us leave our assegais in the kraal, our voices are left with our bodies.

Hard-edged and lyrical, courageous and incandescent with faith, yearning for the green fields of home and feverish with dreams of the new transcendent life, they held fast to each on the sinking vessel. When they were about to be delivered to their death, Rev Wauchope, with knitted brow and eyes lifted up in prayer, burst into a song composed by Tiyo Soga: ‘Lizalis’ idinga lakho’ (Fulfil your promise God, host of truth).

The song, since the tragedy of Nognqawuse, which it was composed for, became more of a black people’s anthem, sung almost in all gatherings, including political ones, before Nkosi sikelel’ iAfrika.

Lizalis’ idinga lakho (Fulfil your promise), Thixo, Nkosi yenyaniso (God, host of Truth). Zonk’ intlanga, zonk’ izizwe (All the nations, all the countries), Mazizuze usindiso (Let them receive salvation).