Nongoma


Nongoma is a town in Zululand, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. It is the seat of the Nongoma Local Municipality. 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.
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, which are the equivalent of American Community Colleges.

Royal palaces (Izigodlo)

The area has five royal palaces belonging to the current Zulu King Goodwill Zwelithini:
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 regiment, the Mandlakazi under Zibhebhu, defeated the uSuthu in the Msebe Valley near Nongoma.
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. 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: