 AJ Shepstone, son of Sir Theophilus Shepstone, the former secretary of native affairs in Natal, was sent to the area and worked together with the official British military intelligence J. Roberts to conspire with some Zulus against the Boers, and had victory achieved over the Boers in Schurweberg, near Vryheid.In March 1901 he declared martial law in the region.After the Second Boer War the territory was transferred to the British Colony of Natal (1903).