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Last we heard about the attack on the Ngwane at Mbholompo west of Umtata, and the destruction of Matiwane\u2019s raiders - sending him home back to Zululand where he was killed by Dingane.
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\nAfter the 1828 battle, Hintsa of the Gcaleka line of the amaXhosa and Nqubencuka who was his rival, fell out spectacularly over the division of the spoils. They had gathered a booty of women, children and cattle. The British took about 70 children back to the Colony, but appeared to be disgusted when the amaThembu and Gcaleka amaXhosa seized civilians after for themselves.
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\nNot long after this, Hintsa\u2019s Bomvana allies attacked two of Ngubencuka\u2019s subordinate clans - and the amaThembu gave up their territory closer to the coast and moved further north.
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\nEnter Ngqika\u2019s eldest son Maqoma - who will feature over the next quarter of a century of South Africa\u2019s amazing history.
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\nHe was around 30 years old when he emerged following his father\u2019s death, and his military leadership was going to become legendary. The British afforded him the kind of respect that they\u2019d later afford their Zulu enemies, he was to receive many verbal salutes over the next decade or two. On the frontier, he was regarded by all who met him as gallant and bold - although that didnt\u2019 stop the Cape administration from evicting him from his land.
\nBy 1829 however, Maqoma like his father Ngqika, had taken to the bottle - and in particular - to brandy. He moved his Great Place nearer to Fort Beaufort because it had an excellent canteen, and his love of Cape Brandy became notorious.
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\nAndries Stockenstrom was the Commissioner-General of the entire frontier, and Colonel Henry Somerset was its military commandant, and technically subordinate to Stockenstrom. However, it was never properly communicated who was in charge of whom.
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\nNeither Stockenstrom nor Somerset could operate on the basis other than their own wilfull characters which was going to cause disruption along the Eastern Cape frontier.