Matiwane  Matiwane (died c.1830, uMgungundlovu), son of Masumpa, was the chief of an independent Nguni-speaking tribe, the amaNgwane, a people named after Matiwane's ancestor Ngwane. The amaNgwane lived at the headwaters of the White Umfolozi, in what is now northern KwaZulu-Natal. The cunning of Matiwane would keep the amaNgwane one step ahead of the ravages of the rising Zulu kingdom, but their actions also set the "Mfecane" in motion. After Matiwane's tribe was ousted from their homeland by Zwide or Shaka, they preyed on neighboring tribes and became vagrant marauders. They were eventually checked by an alliance of colonial and tribal troops, some of whom were refugees from Matiwane's earlier exploits. As a refugee Matiwane was at the mercy of the Basutos and Swazis, but eventually had to seek refuge with king Dingane, successor to Shaka. This despotic ruler put Matiwane to death shortly after Matiwane sought his protection. Expecting an attack on his homeland, Matiwane moved some of his cattle herds westward. Soon afterwards, in 1817 or 1818, either Zwide or Shaka serving as Dingiswayo's general, attacked and plundered the amaNgwane and drove them across the Buffalo river. This was the onset of the "Mfecane" migrations in which tribes became displaced, and in turn displaced others in a series of internecine wars. The destitute amaNgwane under Matiwane's leadership moved westwards, where they attacked the Hlubi, a larger kingdom built by Bhungane, in a quest to recover their cattle. Matiwane's patrols trapped and killed their chief Mthimkhulu c.1818, causing the Hlubi tribe to scatter in different directions. Some Hlubi abandoned their homeland and fled north or west, or joined Shaka, but some merged with the amaNgwane. Still others joined a coalition of refugees, the Fengu, who settled on the eastern frontier of the Cape Colony. The Hlubi rued this catastrophe, referring to it as the "izwekufa" ("country of death"), and ascribed it to an act of witchcraft.