Grading - 367072

The UmQwashu Memorial Site represents a pivotal point in the history of the Eastern Cape, following the oath that was taken on 14th May 1835 after the migration from Butterworth to Peddie by a group of amaMfengu. The amaMfengu were among the first African converts, the first to make use of a plough and to plant wheat. They also aligned themselves with the British and were exposed to missionary education the longest of all African groups. This exposure led to some of the first African academics to have come from the Mfengu, for example, DDT Jabavu, the first African to obtain a BA Degree.

The Memorial is a tangible reminder of the moment that represents, on the one hand, success of the British eastward expansion; and the methods used by both the Cape Administration and the British missionaries to ensure the Evangelisation of Africans and expansion of colonial rule in Africa. Yet on the other hand, the memorial is the embodiment of Mfengu identity. It represents the turning point for socio-cultural changes that had a lifelong impact on the Mfengu. The Vow became a guiding priniciple on which the Mfengu's self-perception is formed.