by the time the first frosts of autumn arrived they would have withdrawn most, if not all, of their nutrients into their root systems. The herds would move on to other pastures and the Khoisan would probably follow them and not remain in the Wakkerstroom area during the winter months. Settlement by Nguni and Sotho peoples It seems likely that the first Nguni or Sotho people may have arrived in the Wakkerstroom area in the 15th Century or earlier. Whether they settled in the area, visited it occasionally or merely passed through it on their way to somewhere else is not clear. Gradually the area was settled by Nguni and Sotho people. In the mid 18th Century the death of Ngwane, the chief of a small group of Nguni people of the same name, resulted in a struggle for succession between two of his sons, Ludonga and Dlamini. The Ngwane were the nucleus of the people later to be known as the Swazi nation. Ludonga and a band of his supporters eventually fled and hid in a cave on Mhlongamvula, part of the KwaMandlangampisi mountain complex overlooking the present day hamlets of Dirkiesdorp to the north and Lüneburg to the south. The Khoisan people who occupied the cave at the time were evicted and the Swazi occupation of the area to the east of Wakkerstroom began. Around the same time the Hlubi, a Sotho tribe, were ensconced in the catchment of the upper umZinyathi (Buffalo) River in the area of the present-day towns of Wakkerstroom, Volksrust, Utrecht and Vryheid. Further to the south-east Dingiswayo, after unsuccessfully trying to oust his father, Jobe, as ruler of the Mthethwa fled into exile. For at least part of his time in exile he gained refuge among the Hlubi. After Jobe’s death, Dingiswayo returned to Mthethwa territory and ousted his brother who had succeeded Jobe. Dingiswayo is credited with developing and implementing the age-regiment system among the Mthethwa – a system that was soon used to great effect by his General and protégé – Shaka. Dingiswayo and Zwide welded together a number of smaller tribes into two major opposing tribal confederations in eastern South Africa – the Mthethwa and the Ndwandwe. Their bitter enmity resulted in Dingiswayo being killed by Zwide in 1818. To honour his name Dingiswayo’s name Langalibalele, the Hlubi chief born in this year, was given the second name of Mthethwa.