Thousands gather to remember Zulu war
About 4,000 people gathered in the eastern town of Isandlwana on Saturday to commemorate the 125th anniversary of one of the Anglo-Zulu War's most brutal battles.
About 1,500 British soldiers and 2,000 Zulu warriors were killed in the eastern province of Kwa-Zulu Natal in 1879 -- the most crushing defeat of the war for the British -- after they attempted to disperse the Zulu army.
On the same day, 145 South Wales Borderers held off another Zulu army attack at nearby Rorke's Drift where 17 Britons and 450 Zulu's died.
This weekend marks two days of battle re-enactment, commemorative wreathe laying and church services.
Isandlwana is one of dozens of battlefields in the Kwa-Zulu Natal province, the scars of vicious battles for land waged through much of the 19th century, between the Boers, the Zulus and the British.
First Minister of Wales Rhodri Morgan lead a government delegation at a commemorative wreathe laying ceremony along with British Deputy High Commissioner Andy Sparkes on Saturday.
"We are no longer enemies. We are friends, Welsh, Zulu and British," Sparkes said to the crowd, the South African Broadcasting Corporation reported.
Also in attendance was South African Deputy President Jacob Zuma and Zulu King Goodwill Zwelithini.
"This year we wanted the memorial to be more focussed on reconciliation instead of just re-enacting a battle," said Barry Marshall, director of the Heritage Kwa-Zulu Natal, event organizers. "We must remember the significance of the battle and never let anything like it happen again."