Second Sekhukhune War

The Second Sekhukhune War formed part of Britain’s attempt to impose authority over the Transvaal and neighbouring African polities in 1879. Sekhukhune’s Pedi kingdom had resisted earlier attacks, and its fortified mountain strongholds made a direct campaign difficult.

After the Anglo-Zulu War, Sir Garnet Wolseley concentrated British, colonial and allied African forces against Sekhukhune. The assault on his stronghold in November 1879 ended organised resistance and Sekhukhune was captured, though the political settlement of the Transvaal soon faced a new crisis in the First Boer War.

John Wilcox draws on this campaign in The Diamond Frontier, placing Simon Fonthill and Jenkins with Wolseley’s forces while diamond wealth, Boer opposition and Pedi resistance make the Transvaal a volatile frontier.