Battlefield+icon+Rattray+slain+in+botched+robbery,+Tim+Cohen,+Weekender

Business Day Weekender, Johannesburg, 2007/01/27 12:00:00 AM
//Shooting at David Rattray’s home is a blow to SA’s tourism industry//

=Battlefield icon slain in botched robbery=

//The death of the well-known Anglo-Zulu war historian in KwaZulu-Natal has come as a shock to the community and his friends, writes// **TIM COHEN**

RENOWNED historian David Rattray, 48, internationally famous for his oral histories of the Anglo-Zulu war, was shot dead in what appears to have been a botched robbery at his home, Fugitives’ Drift Lodge, near Rorke’s Drift on Friday.

According to friends, a group of men entered his home and held up the family’s housekeeper early on Friday evening. They then went in search of Rattray but found his wife Nicky and threatened her with a gun. Rattray then intervened and challenged the men, one of whom apparently panicked and shot him three times in the chest. The men then fled without taking anything from the Rattray home. The couple’s three sons, Andrew, Doug and Peter, were not at home at the time of the attack.

Rattray’s death is sure to stun historians around the world and constitutes a major blow to SA’s tourism efforts. Rattray pioneered the concept of raconteur tourism, and his dramatic retelling of the Anglo-Zulu war has become an iconic tourist attraction.

“He was the greatest raconteur I have even heard,” said family friend Tony Lederle.

Tens of thousands of tourists from around the world made the pilgrimage to his isolated home overlooking the battlefield of Isandlwana in rural KwaZulu to hear his dramatic retelling of the circumstances of the battles.

Friends said Rattray had spent much of his life piecing together the history of the Anglo-Zulu war, particularly the battle of Isandlwana, Britain’s most devastating defeat, and the heroic defence of Rorke’s Drift.

They said that Rattray had done perhaps more than anyone to keep alive the legend of Zulu marshal culture and was able to tap into Zulu oral histories to tell the stories of Isandlwana and Rorke's Drift from the Zulu point of view.

He was about to publish the definitive history of the war.

David and Nicky began building Fugitives' Drift Lodge in 1989, and have since hosted an almost constant stream of often distinguished visitors at the lodge. Rattray was a personal friend of Prince Charles and a frequent visitor at Balmoral castle.

Friends said on Friday that they were staggered at news of his death, with some warning that the killing of such an iconic figure in SA’s modern history of reconciliation and cultural understanding would set back the notion of a shared future.

Family friend Rob Still said Rattray was “an extraordinary South African”. He represented the best of SA and was deeply passionate about everything he did. “He saw the value of tradition and the value of knowing where we come from more clearly that most,” Still said.

The area around Isandlwana is home to a poor rural community; however, friends said Rattray was generous to fault. “I would have thought he would have been treasured,” said one friend.

Apart from his intimate knowledge of Zulu history, Rattray loved nature and is well known in conservation circles. At one time he served as chief game ranger at the Mala Mala game reserve in the Kruger Park.

By Friday night it appeared that the police had not yet made any arrests.


 * From: http://www.businessday.co.za/Articles/TarkArticle.aspx?ID=2525662**

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