King Dingane, kaSenzangakhona of the Zulu people, asks that Voortrekker Piet Retief and his party retrieve some cattle stolen from him by a local chief.

This Retief and his men do, returning on February 3, 1838.

The next day, a treaty is signed, wherein Dingane cedes all the land south of the Tugela River to the Mzimvubu River to the Voortrekkers.

Celebrations follow.

On February 6, at the end of the celebrations, Retief's party are invited to a dance, and asked to leave their weapons behind, which they do willingly to show good faith.

At the peak of the dance, Dingane leaps to his feet and yells "Bambani abathakathi!" (isiZulu for "Seize the wizards").

Retief and his men are 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 ploy to overpower the Voortrekkers.

Dingane's army now attacks and massacres a group of five hundred Voortrekkers—men, women and children—camped nearby.

The site of this massacre is today called Weenen, (Afrikaans for "to weep").

The remaining Voortrekkers had elected a new leader, Andries Pretorius, after which Dingane suffers a crushing defeat at the Battle of Blood River on December 16, 1838, when he attacks a group of four hundred and seventy Voortrekker settlers led by Pretorius.

An estimated three thousand Zulus are killed, while three Voortrekkers are slightly wounded.

Dingane's commander at the battle is Ndlela kaSompisi.

Following this defeat, Dingane burns his royal household and flees north.

The Voortrekkers under Pretorius form the Boer republic of Natalia, south of the Thukela, and west of the British settlement of Port Natal (now Durban), in 1839, following the campaign against Dingane.

They establish a capital at Pietermaritzburg, named in honor of their slain leader Piet Retief and deceased leader Gerhard Maritz.

Mpande and Pretorius maintain peaceful relations.