DINIZULU GUILTY.

Dominion, Volume 2, Issue 448, 5 March 1909, Page 7

DINIZULU GUILTY.

COURT'S FINDING. SHELTERING OF REBELS. FOUR YEARS' IMPRISONMENT AND A FINE. (BYTELEGKAriI—PRESS ASSOCIATION —COPYRIGHT.) (Rcc. March 4, 11.45 p.m.) Durban, March 4. After a trial lasting 70 days, at which 150 imtivo witnesses were examined, and in conliootion with which the expensos of tho prosecution total £10,000, the Spccial Court has found Dinizulu, Paramount Chief of tho Zulus, guilty .of sheltering Bamhaata, Mangati, and other rebels. On tho chargo of inciting rebellion, Dinizulu is found not guilty. Tho Court sentences Dinizulu to four years' imprisonment, dating from his arrest (December 10, 1907), and ordore him to pay a fine of £100. DINIZULU'S CAREER. Dinizulu, the son of Cetewayo, has been under arrest since December 10, 1907, on charges of treason. Towards the end of 1907 the Natal Government took drastic action in Zululand in consequence of the unrest among the tribesmen and the number of scriqus crimes alleged to have 1 , been committed in various districts. There was reason to suspect a secret combination for tho murder of chiefs and others who had beon loval to the Government during the recent rebellion. Martial law was proclaimed and the Natal Militia mobilised. Dinizulu, suspected of complicity in the seditious movement, was summoned by Colonel Sir Duncan M'Kenyie to surrender. He did so on December 10, and was taken to Pietcrmaritzburg, whore he wa3 kept in confinement pending the examination preliminary to the trial.

The salary of .£SOO a year, which ho receives so long as his attituao towards the British power remains above reproaoh, was stopped by the. Natal Government; but, in response to strong representations in the House of Commons, it was paid by the Imperial Government, the Colonial Secretary holding that the stoppage was unwarranted. Complaints were made at intervals by Dinizulu's counsel and by Miss Colenso, his constant supporter, that tlio examination was unduly delayed, and that difficulties were being placed in the way of tho defence; but tho Natal Government insisted that tho procedure adopted was unavoidable ill the interest of the Colony. Dinizulu, who was defended by Mr. W. P. Schrciner, was brought up for trial before a special court at Greytown on November 10, 1908. Among the witnesses against Dinizulu were Bambaata's wife and son and daughter, who testified to Bambaata's presenco at Dinizulu's kraal at Usutu, and to Dinizulu's supplying ammunition and watching rifle praotice. Bambaata's wife stated that she heard Dinizulu urge his followers to murder Sir Chas. Saunders, Commissioner fdr Native Affairs, in Zululand. Giving evidence in his own dofence, Dinizulu denied having expressed a wish that Sir Charles Saunders might be killed while he was on a hunting expedition. Ho also denied having given Bambaata a gun, or having identified himself with Bambaata's cause. The prisoner statod that he refused to allow Bambatta to stay at Usnfu, but reluctantly consented to allow Bambaata's family to remain. Ho was afraid to inform Sir Charles Saunders of this,' as Bambaata had proved an enemy'of the Government.

During the trial at Greytown, Natal, the Court was generally crowded, chiefly by natives..' A correspondent wrote in November: '"All over the colony and Zululand the word has gone forth, in the picturesque hyperbole for whicn tho Zulus are noted, that the white men are killing tho Child'—the latter being tho term applied to Dinizulu, i.e.,' 'The Child of tho King,' Cetawayo. "Every day on tho assembly and rising of tho Court, the native spectators gave utterance to tho royal salute, 'Bayet'o!'—nominally addressed to tho Judges, but really, it is said, intended for Dinizulu himself." Dinizulu, the favourito son of Cetewayo, was born in 1869, and was made King of tho Zulus in 188'f. Trouble ensued,.and he was charged with rebelling against tho British, aud was sentenced, with his.two brothers, to ten years' imprisonment, and banishment to St. Helena. When Zululand was incorporated with Natal in 1597 Dinizulu obtained his liberty, and before returning to South Africa visited London. Tho Natal Government appointed him a local chief at a salary of .£SOO a year. He had a tolerably good education, much of which was received at St. Helena. The Commissioners who were appointed a Spocial Court to try Dinizulu are Sir Will. J. Smith (Judge of tho Transvsaal Supreme Court), Mr. H. G. BoshofF (Judge of the Natal Nativo High Court), and H. C. Shepstone.