), leader of the Zondi clan of the Zulu people, who lived in the Mpanza Valley (now a district near Greytown, KwaZulu-Natal) against British rule and taxation in the Colony of Natal, South Africa.

In the years following the Anglo-Boer War, British employers in Natal had difficulty recruiting Black farmers because of increased competition from the gold mines of the Witwatersrand.

[3] Bambatha had occasionally been in trouble with the Natal colonial administration, and the authorities suspected that he had joined with other chiefs in expressing discontent over the tax.

As the sun rose, British colonial soldiers opened fire with machine guns and cannon, on rebels equipped mostly assegais (spears), knobkerries (fighting sticks) and cowhide shields.

[3] It was reported that Bambatha had been killed in action by Natal government forces, but this claim was disputed by his supporters, who believed that he fled to Mozambique.

Nonetheless, they accepted Gandhi's offer to let a detachment of Indians volunteer as a stretcher bearer corps to treat wounded English[9] soldiers.