Zulu assault at Holkrantz

On 6 March 1902 in the district of Vryheid, a Zulu Chief,  Sikobobo, attacked a Boer regiment after the latter had stolen their cattle, burned their kraals and driven their wives and children to Vryheid as punishment for assisting a British raiding force under Col. Bottemley.  The local Boer commander, Field Cornet Jan Potgieter then sent a message to Sikobobo daring him to take back his cattle. The chief then set about doing this, and a bloodbath ensued in which 56 Boers were killed, three captured and 380 head of cattle recovered. Fifty-two of Sikobobo's men were killed. Among the underlying causes of this conflict was the fact that the Boers felt betrayed that the British had armed Black people during the South African War, though in many cases they had done the same.