Dingane asked that Retief and his party retrieve some cattle stolen from him by a local chief as part of the treaty for land for the Boers . This Retief and his men did , returning on 3 February 1838 . The next day , a treaty was signed , wherein Dingane ceded all the land south of the Tugela River to the Mzimvubu River to the Voortrekkers . Celebrations followed . On 6 February , at the end of the celebrations , Retief 's party were invited to a dance , and asked to leave their weapons behind . At the peak of the dance , Dingane leapt to his feet and yelled '' " Bambani abathakathi ! " '' ( isiZulu for " Seize the wizards " ) . Retief and his men were overpowered , taken to the nearby hill kwaMatiwane , and executed . Some believe that they were killed for withholding some of the cattle they recovered , but it is likely that the deal was a plot to overpower the Voortrekkers . Dingane 's army then attacked and massacred a group of 250 Voortrekker men , women and children camped nearby . The site of this massacre is today called Weenen , ( Afrikaans for " to weep " )
massacred
Weenen massacre
Zulu Kingdom