Nongoma is a town in
Zululand,
KwaZulu-Natal
KwaZulu-Natal (, also referred to as KZN and known as "the garden province") is a province of South Africa that was created in 1994 when the Zulu bantustan of KwaZulu ("Place of the Zulu" in Zulu) and Natal Province were merged. It is locate ...
,
South Africa. It is the seat of the
Nongoma Local Municipality
Nongoma Local Municipality is a local municipality in the northeastern part of Zululand in the KwaZulu-Natal province of South Africa. It is Zululand’s second largest municipality in terms of population and the second largest in terms of area. ...
. It is situated 300 km north of
Durban and 56 km from
Ulundi; it is surrounded by the
Ngome Forest. It is a busy market town that serves a large surrounding area. It is assigned registration plate NND (Natal NDwandwe).
This small town is also the home of King Bhekuzulu College, one of the popular boarding schools in the province. There are also TVET College, Mthashana TVET College Nongoma and KwaGqikazi Campuses.
Royal palaces (Izigodlo)
The area has six royal palaces belonging to the late
Zulu King Goodwill Zwelithini
King Goodwill Zwelithini kaBhekuzulu (27 July 1948 – 12 March 2021) was the reigning King of the Zulu nation from 1968 to his death in 2021.
He became King on the death on of his father, King Cyprian Bhekuzulu, in 1968 aged 20 years. Pr ...
:
* Osuthu Royal Palace - The King lived here.
* Khethomthandayo Royal Palace — His first wife, Queen MaDlamini, lives here.
* KwaDlamahlahla Royal Palace — Queen KaMathe lives here.
* Kwakhangelamankengane Royal Palace — Queen Mother Mantfombi kaSobhuza II -Zulu lives here.
* Linduzulu Royal Palace — Queen MaNdlovu, lives here.
* Enyokeni Royal Palace — Queen MaMchiza lives here, and it is the King's only 'traditional' palace. In early September it is the site of the ''
Umhlanga'' (Reed Dance). It now Belongs to the current king, King Misuzulu
History
This area was once the home of King
Zwide, a late 18th-century
Ndwandwe monarch who was eventually defeated by
Shaka at the beginning of the
Mfecane wars.
On 30 March 1883, a Zulu
Mandlakazi force under
Zibhebhu, defeated a larger
uSuthu force (who represented
Cetshwayo) in the Msebe Valley near Nongoma. In early March 1883, Zibhebhu had seized the uSuthu
kraal
Kraal (also spelled ''craal'' or ''kraul'') is an Afrikaans and Dutch word, also used in South African English, for an enclosure for cattle or other livestock, located within a Southern African settlement or village surrounded by a fence of th ...
s (livestock pens) in the heartland of the uSuthu in northern Zululand.
which he had been allotted in an expansion of his chiefdom in the Second Partition of Zululand of 1882.
In response Ndabuko (Cetshwayo's younger brother) gathered around 5,000 uSuthu warriors who marched northward under Makhoba kaMaphitha to retake the kraals. Known as the Battle of Msebe, Makhoba led the uSuthu in an attack on Zibhebhu's Mandlakazi forces. The defenders were assisted by five or six Boer allies. They killed over 1,000 of the uSuthu, estimates vary upwards.
The town itself was only established in 1887 with the building of Fort Ivuna by the
British as a buffer zone between the Zulu warring factions.
It was originally called Ndwandwe but was later replaced by an earlier name given by the local tribesmen to the sacred area where the town stands: KwaNongoma ("place of the diviner or mother of songs").
In June 1888 Nongoma was destroyed by the uSuthu but later rebuilt. The fort was used during the
Bambatha Rebellion of 1906.
Two Zulu monarchs are laid to rest in the Nongoma area:
*
King Solomon kaDinuzulu (1891–1933), son of
King Dinuzulu kaCetshwayo
*
King Cyprian Bhekuzulu kaSolomon (1924–1968), son of King Solomon kaDinuzulu and father of the former Zulu King Goodwill Zwelithini.
*
King Goodwill Zwelithini
King Goodwill Zwelithini kaBhekuzulu (27 July 1948 – 12 March 2021) was the reigning King of the Zulu nation from 1968 to his death in 2021.
He became King on the death on of his father, King Cyprian Bhekuzulu, in 1968 aged 20 years. Pr ...
(1948-2021), son of King Cyprian Bhekuzulu kaSolomon and father of the reining amaZulu monarch, King
Misuzulu Sinqobile kaZwelithini
See also
*
List of Zulu kings
References
External links
Tourism site describing the Umhlanga ceremony
{{Zululand District Municipality
Populated places in the Nongoma Local Municipality