Death of Shaka Zulu

Shaka kaSenzangakhona, Zulu king and founder of the Zulu empire, is murdered by his two half-brothers Dingane and Mhlangana at kwaDukuza on 24 September 1828. Dingane assumes the throne.

Shaka's last words have taken on a prophetic mantle - and popular South African / Zulu myth has him telling Dingane and Mhlangana that it is not they who will rule the Zulu nation but "white people who will come up from the sea." However, the version which is probably the truest rendition comes from Mkebeni kaDabulamanzi, King Cetshwayo's nephew and grandson of King Mpande (another half-brother to Shaka) - "Are you stabbing me, kings of the earth? You will come to an end through killing one another."