Microsoft Word - PhD Thesis Final.pdf - University of Limpopo ...

At macro-level, whereas the missionaries’ main objective was to convert the
indigenous communities to Christianity, for their part, Black communities
valued them more for their political and diplomatic roles than for their
religious functions 255 . In the confusion of early years of colonisation, the
missionary, alone among the Europeans, seemed to the Blacks to be well
disposed, trustworthy and accessible. It was a time in which conflict
between European and African was continual and bitter, and negotiation
was not made easier by their ignorance of each other’s beliefs and habits of
thought. The political value of the missionaries soon became clear to many
Black authorities who sought them because they could be useful as
diplomatic agents or intermediaries between themselves and the
Europeans 256 . Although such a role was strictly outside the religious task of
the missionaries, many of them accepted it as a means of establishing
confident and friendly relations with those whom they wished to convert.
They then aided the Black polities in negotiations with Europeans on issues
such as land, cattle-raiding, frontier incidents, and other matters which
exacerbated relations between Blacks and Whites 257 .
As a result, even if the missionaries were supposed to be religious agents,
their roles in impacting on political identities among communities which they
operated, became inevitable. In other words, the missionaries came to
255 United Presbyterian Church, Missionary Records, vii, 1852, pp. 57-58.
256 Ibid, pp. 57-58.
257 United Presbyterian Church, Missionary Records, vii, 1852, pp. 57-58.
152