Xhosa hero Maqoma dies on Robben Island

Xhosa war hero and regent of the AmaNgqika (Gaika) Xhosa clan during the youth of Sandile, Maqoma (also spelled Makoma or Macoma), died on Robben Island. He was captured in 1858 after the Cattle Killings, ranging from August 1856 to February 1857. The slaughter of cattle was incited by Nongqawuse's vision on the banks of the Gxarha River. She shared her vision with her uncle, Mhlakaza, a very powerful man who then ordered the killing of all AmaNgqika cattle and issued an instruction that crops should not be planted in a millenarian Xhosa offensive against the encroaching British rule. Maqoma was captured during the ensuing famine and looting and convicted of having been a party to the murder of a tribal chief who had refused to destroy his cattle. Maqoma and his wife Katyi were banished to Robben Island for twenty-one years. In 1869 they were released but he was sent back to Robben Island in 1871 after being found guilty of incitement, this time without his wife. Opinions on Maqoma vary. According to one tradition, he was a drunkard who ill-treated his wives and was responsible for the death of one of his children, while another tradition maintains that he drank mainly at meetings with colonial officials, who deliberately plied him with alcohol to try to befuddle his judgment. However, all sources agree that he was a brave warrior and "a formidable tactician, a masterly politician and a brilliant orator".