According to Xhosa oral tradition, the Hala clan migrated along the east coast of southern Africa before settling in KwaZulu-Natal.

The Thembu emerged as a single political entity during the reign of Nxeko, who settled in Dedesi and was awarded chieftainship by King Togu, who later also handed him independence to form a new Xhosa state.

Famous descendants of Nxeko include members of the royal line of the Xhosa Kingdom and politicians like Nelson Mandela, whose father was a reigning nobleman from a junior branch of the AmaMadiba clan of kings, and Walter Sisulu.

This name was originally the Khoisan language term specifically for the followers of Chief Maphasa who moved into the area west of the Great Kei River in the 1820s.

The original name of AbaThembu was /Xam ka !eten (Antelope water people) in khoemana the word exists as /ehem it's the same.

[8] Thembu's always praises a phrase called Sopitso or Yem-Yem which means (/Xam - /Xam) it connects all the Madiba, Dlomo, Nxongo, and Qwithi people.

Mthembu settled with his people in a place known as Mbabane in Swaziland and then went to kwaMsinga in Natal where he got two sons, Ndilo and Mvelase also known as Qudeni.

Khazeka is one of the two woman names mentioned in the history of AbaThembu because of their fearlessness and victories in unifying and stabilizing the Kingdom.

But because AbaThembu namaXesibe had some history, Mtshutshumbe decided to hide his Xesibe identity by calling his people AmaQwathi, named after a cow that was used at his graduation from initiation school.

It then happened that Mngxongo didn't return and his father Mguti got lost searching for him to crown him as the next King and he drowned with his dogs in the Qethume River.

Ngxeko was the first legitimate king of abaThembu because he was the one who assimilated various fragments from tribes such as amaBomvana, amaVundle, amaMpondomise, and amaMfengu to build his kingdom.

The right-hand house is called Western Thembu at Qamata Great Palace and is situated in Cofimvaba, Eastern Cape.

[11] AbaThembu gradually built their regiments as more and more warriors responding to the war drum kept on joining them they attacked Basotho repeatedly but were repulsed every time just as Magabane was about to ascend eLuhewini mountain with the cattle a joint Army of AmaHala and AmaQwathi arrived Basotho with their small axes reaped havoc on the limbs of the enemy but they were thrown into confusion as AbaThembu attacked from behind.

[14] The forest was renamed Nduku meaning (stick to commemorate how they were used to drive out Basotho who very nearly perished in Thembuland) at the time when everything was under control in King Ngubengcuka’s country there was no nation that dared to touch him and his power was accepted and recognized by all.

In response, he proposed secession from South Africa,[16][17] and later demanded that the government pay Dalindyebo R900 million and the tribe a further R80 billion in compensation for the humiliation caused by his criminal trial.

On 23 December 2019, following president Cyril Ramaphosa's Day of reconciliation speech, the abaThembu king was released from prison after serving one-third of his sentence.