The brave King Ngubengcuka.

According to Mpondomise counselor Vethe Mziziba AmaBhaca found AmaMpondomise at Mcuthu and defeated them however Amampodomise would just not submit to the letter because AmaBhaca were rather backward people who would gruesomely kill even defenseless old men women and children in times of battle, faced with this crisis AmaMpondomise appealed for help from AbaThembu King Ngubengcuka agreed to join hands with AmaMpondomise against AmaBhaca and proceeded to cross the Tsitsa river to join them. 

AmaMpondomise was defeated once again but the arrival of Ngubengcuka turned the tables and successfully drove back AmaBhaca, it was not an easy Victory as AmaBhaca were able to escape and settle near AmaCina they saw Bhaca cattle roaming around their territory and decided they would steal large herds and slaughter many as possible by such actions AmaCina had stirred up The Hornet’s Nest and were hunted down the whole day by AmaBhaca from Cala in the morning up to Qaba in the evening.

AmaCina almost flew down the nQabani Mountains with Bhaca warriors breathing down their necks some managed to escape from that deadly pursuit and returned to Nqaba settling their families at Ndungeni.

Once again the menace of AmaBhaca was brought to Ngubengcuka’s attention and he sent words to Xhosa King Hintsa asking for assistance on the night preceding the Thembu assault, AmaBhaca was not aware that Ngubengcuka was coming and that he was already in Ncobo that morning Madzikane seems to have sense that something was amiss because he was reported having said (Why do I think I can smell the presence of Ngubengcuka) the reply was ‘’Nothing of the sort, Nkosiyam, Ngubengcuka is miles from here all the way in Njwaxa!’’ it was not long after that conversation when Ngubengcuka appeared with his army it was such a big army that it seemed to be crawling all over the place yet AmaBhaca were undaunted all the Thembu men were present on the battlefield on that day with only the women and children remaining at home that was the first and last occasion when AbaThembu set out in arms in that manner.

It was not long before AmaBhaca overcome by sheer numbers were seen to be retreating to a nearby forest Ngubengcuka gave the orders (Flush them out I don’t ever want to see a trace of a Bhaca in this country) AmaBhaca were relentlessly flushed out of the forest and they scattered helplessly in all directions one Bhaca men held up his arms begging for mercy promising to divulge where his Nkosi was hiding.

When they reached the leader of AmaBhaca he had simply hidden his head under a shrub a terrifying figure stood up he was hefty with a heavy chest his hair as long as a horse, Nkosi with a real presence as AmaNkosi in sheer admiration was still questioning him a young man from the Cina clan went for his heart with his spear and Madzikane died on the spot while the men were still puzzled by the taboo act of regicide the young Cina men himself fell and died without anyone touching him all of Madzikane’s generals were killed and so was his Mother for it was said that she was a witch and she encouraged the wars.

Ncapayi the eldest son of Madzikane survived and he was later to be a real nuisance to AbaThembu, AmaBhaca submitted to King Ngubengcuka paying a tribute of cattle as is customary in Acts of submission and they were given land after dividing the spoils Ngubengcuka returned home and sent word to Hintsa informing him that the war was over and apologizing that he had to fight before his arrival having received the report already in Thembuland Hintsa gathered all the cattle of AmaTsatsu and AmaNdungwana and drove them home, when they went to inform Ngubengcuka he did nothing to help and in their anger, they decided to cut ties with Abathembu and leave Thembuland for good.

When Mpondo King Faku was attacked by shaka he appealed to Ngubengcuka and Xhosa King Hintsa for help with defeating the Zulu king and the message was also sent to Grahamstown by the time Grahamstown had sent their soldiers to compliment the Xhosa, Thembu, and Mpondo armies, Shaka’s warriors were long gone the combined force then proceeded to attack AmaNgwane thinking it was AmaZulu.

The Ngwane warriors died in large numbers on that day and were successfully expelled from Thembuland some became refugees hiding in the mountains all of their cattle were taken and there was not even a cow for remaining the surviving Ngwane people submitted to AbaThembu others went to join AmaMpondo and other Kingdoms. on the day when the spoils of war were to be divided King Ngubengcuka took all the cattle even those that were supposed to be given to King Hintsa, and AmaGcaleka left empty-handed Ngubengcuka at last got the opportunity to head back for the treatment AmaTsatsu and AmaNdungwana had received at the hands of AmaGcaleka after the war with AmaBhaca.

King Ngubengcuka lived with his people for a long time and he ruled with a firm hand and was greatly loved and respected.

When King Moshoeshoe of Basotho invaded Thembuland in search of more cattle he went along with his younger brother Magabane and Morosi his great friend and the King of BaPhuthi, Moshoeshoe then instructed Magabane to go and raid for cattle at Ngubengcuka’s Royal Estate while he and Morosi relaxed on a mountain near Ncobo when Magabane was returning with some cattle, Ngubengcuka's regiments gave him a tough time but unfortunately they failed to stop him.

AbaThembu gradually built their regiments as more and more warriors responding to the war drum kept on joining them they attacked Basotho repeatedly but were repulsed every time just as Magabane was about to ascend eLuhewini mountain with the cattle a joint Army of AmaHala and AmaQwathi arrived Basotho with their small axes reaped havoc on the limbs of the enemy but they were thrown into confusion as AbaThembu attacked from behind.

After some time Basotho gave in and sought refuge in a forest Ngubengcuka instructed his army to completely expel Basotho from his Kingdom but one of the men informed him that they had run out of weapons Ngubengcuka then told them to get wood from the forest and make clubs at once the orders of the King were carried out, Basotho were driven out of the forest with sticks and clubs and Magabane was fatally wounded.

When the fight reached Moshoeshoe he put up no resistance and joined the flight into a nearby forest which Ngubengcuka ordered his men to surround at once, evening soon approached and because of the darkness AbaThembu could not get to drive Basotho out of the forest by the following morning there was not a single Mosotho in the forest as they had all escaped in that way Moshoeshoe was defeated by Ngubengcuka.

The forest was renamed Nduku meaning (stick to commemorate how they were used to drive out Basotho who very nearly perished in Thembuland) at the time when everything was under control in King Ngubengcuka’s country there was no nation that dared to touch him and his power was accepted and recognized by all.

A clash broke out between the king's personal regiment and that of AmaMaya who also attended to the Royal residence the cause is not clear but the fact is that no one is allowed to attack the people at the Royal residence and this was reason enough for Ngubengcuka to join the fight all in all the regiment at the Royal Estate was divided into two hostile camps fighting each other in a moment of confusion where no one knew who was fighting whom a young Maya man went for King and stabbed him with a spear and he fell down King Ngubengcuka managed to get back up and he bravely pushed AmaMaya back.

When the majority of AbaThembu heard that the King had been injured by AmaMaya they renewed their attack and captured all the cattle that belonged to AmaMaya whom they drove away and caused to seek refuge in Xhosa land in vain did Ngubengcuka try to argue saying ‘’AmaMaya must be allowed to remain, domestic fights are a reality no one can deny.’’

AbaThembu would not hear it so strongly did they feel about the injury of their beloved King, eventually Ngubengcuka died of complication that developed from the wound and that marked the end of the Great Brave King who is arguably the greatest in Thembu history a dark cloud descended upon the whole Thembu Nation gone was the leader who could not easily be replaced and whose wisdom was on par with that of King Moshoeshoe it was a tragedy that he died so young when he could still have accomplished greater deeds. Around 1840 Mthokrakra the eldest son of Ngubengcuka was installed as the King of AbaThembu his Royal residence was at Rodana after his death Nonosi became Regent of AbaThembu until Ngangelizwe was installed as King.

Ngangelizwe was known to have severely mistreated his wife Novili that ill-fated marriage had been arranged in 1866 by Sarhili in an attempt to unite AmaGcaleka and AbaThembu as a diplomatic marriage it was a hopeless failure in 1870 Novili fled back to Sarhili who claimed she had been badly maimed by Ngangelizwe.

War broke out in October 1872 becoming a genuine disaster for the Thembu nation the feature of this war was the astonishing number of firearms used by both parties especially AbaThembu Ngangelizwe attack Sarhili with five divisions of which the center division was to make an attack upon a ravine just beyond Mbhashe to provoke Sarhili after which the right and left armies were to close in from the rear the left division attacked prematurely and was met with fierce opposition.

When this division was forced to give way a general Retreat of the Thembu armies followed during which the entire left division was wiped out Sarhili followed up on his success by sweeping through Thembuland burning hats as far as he went and sewing panic among AbaThembu after Ngangelizwe’s Royal residence was burned down he fled to Tsals and in a moment of panic asked that his kingdom be taken over by the British government as he had no hope of retaining it from his surrounding enemies when Novili married Ngangelizwe Mxokozelo Sarhili’s niece accompanied her to Thembuland and she remained behind as Ngangelizwe concubine after Novili returned to her father.

Mxokozelo had been forgotten for almost three years but on 17 March 1875 Sarhili requested that she should return home as it had been some time since her friends had last seen her in response to repeated requests Ngangelizwe gave evasive replies in May it was rumored that she was actually dead Sarhili still unable to obtain a satisfactory response from Ngangelizwe now formally handed over the matter to and asked for the governmental inquiry.

On 27 July Ngangelizwe reported that the woman was ill and on the 29th he reported her death Sarhili reacted by saying that the matter was in the hands of the Cape government to whom he looked for an impartial judgment their final verdict was that Ngangelizwe’s smarting under the disgrace of his defeat in 1872 had vented his rage on Sarhili’s niece he had thrashed her on the head until she was all but dead than forced her in a cripple state to attend him at a beer drinking after their return he sent two young men to forcefully remove her from her house and beat her to death Ngangelizwe was fined 200 cattle but eventually that was deemed as too lenient and he was deposed as King losing all his authority which led to the Thembu Kingdom and its population of 60,000 people being incorporated into the British Empire.