(such as Mrs Ples) in and around the Sterkfontein Caves, which lie at the Cradle of Humankind World Heritage Site, close to the town of Magaliesburg. The earliest known name for the Magaliesberg mountains is Dithaba Diloka. This is a local seTswana name in reference to the abundance of Heteropogon contortus which grows in the area. However it seems this name would have only been used by neighbouring Sotho-Tswana_peoples coming to and from the Magaliesberg mountains. Local resident Tswana tribes referred to it simply as Dithaba "The mountains". The first European explorers who came to the area recorded the mountains being called the "Cashan" or "Kashan" mountains. This was a corruption of the name of a powerful chief of the BaKwena ba Mmatau whose name was Kgwasane wa Sekano (Kgwasane, son of Sekano). In the mid-1800s the mountain range became known as Magaliesberg (lit. Mogale's mountain) after Kgosi Mogale. Mogale means "sharp" or "brave" person, but is also the common word for a warrior or Tswana soldier, in Sotho bogale means "sharp" and mogale is "brave". Similarly, the mountain range to the north, near Sun City, Pilanesberg, was named after the local Bakgatla chiefs, who were called Pilane. In 1822, Shaka, the leader of the Zulu Kingdom, sent his most trusted commander, Mzilikazi, to conquer the Sotho tribes of the region. After accomplishing this task, Mzilikazi decided to break away from Shaka and found his own nation, the Matabele. As he feared an attack from Shaka if he returned home, he settled in the Magaliesberg region. On 17 January 1837, after some Voortrekkers had been attacked and killed by Mzilikazi's impis, they counter-attacked and, under the leadership of Hendrik Potgieter and Gerrit Maritz, and with the help of local Sotho-Tswana chiefdoms, drove the Matabeles north across the Limpopo River. Because the re-conquest of the region was a cooperative venture of the Boers and the Sotho-Tswana against the Matabele, the Boers and Sotho-Tswana had friendly relations at the beginning of white settlement. These friendly relations are reflected in the name of the main Boer town, Rustenburg (lit. resting town), because it seemed to them that they would not have to engage in any more fighting against African communities. The Boers initially settled south of the Magaliesberg in the Highveld, leaving the Bushveld north of the Magaliesberg mostly to their Sotho-Tswana friends and allies; according to Sarah Heckford's memoir, A Lady Trader