Ngwane

The amaNgwane under Matiwane were drawn into the conflicts that transformed southeastern Africa in the early nineteenth century. After pressure from neighbouring powers, Matiwane led his people across the Drakensberg. They displaced other communities and established themselves in the Caledon valley, where they fought Moshoeshoe's followers near Thaba Bosiu. Moving south into Thembu country, the amaNgwane faced a coalition of British, Xhosa and Thembu forces and were decisively defeated at Mbholompo in 1828.