 After Boer farmers, who lived in the area, helped Dinuzulu defeat his rival Zibhebhu for succession of the Zulu throne, land was given to them by way of session by the new Zulu king along the banks of the Mfolozi River.On August 5, 1884, the Boers formed the "Nieuwe Republiek" (New Republic) with recognition by Germany, ZAR and Portugal with Vryheid as its capital.The Nieuwe Republiek was finally recognized by the British on October 22, 1886 but within a few months the British annexed a stretch of the coastline of the Niewe Republic and the Zulu Kingdom north of the river Thukela river (1887) in order to prevent the new Boer republic from having access to the sea, which they needed for a harbor.