After Sebetwane and his impoverished Kololo followers were expelled from the Dithejwane Hills by the Ngwaketse king Sebego, they resumed their northward migration. They fought the Ngwato under Kgari, lost cattle while crossing the desert toward Lake Ngami, and defeated the Batawana near the lake. An attempted crossing of the Kalahari toward the west coast failed because of desert conditions and resistance from local communities, forcing Sebetwane back toward Lake Ngami.

The Makololo eventually settled near the confluence of the Zambezi and Kafue rivers. They resisted invasions by Nguni forces, including Nqaba’s Msene Nguni and Mzilikazi’s Ndebele, and later moved farther west onto the Kafue plateau. Sebetwane then exploited civil strife caused by a succession dispute within the Lozi kingdom, conquered most of the Lozi, and established a new political order while some Lozi royals fled into exile.

Sebetwane sought to create unity among the Kololo, Lozi, and other conquered peoples through marriage alliances and an inclusive conception of kingship. He retained many Lozi chiefs in office, appointed new Lozi functionaries where royal officials had fled, and consulted Lozi chiefs through his council. Rather than impose the Sotho age-mate initiation system on conquered communities, he allowed existing political institutions to coexist with Kololo structures until the two systems merged.

The Kololo occupied the position of a ruling aristocracy, while Sebetwane organized villages into provinces or districts administered by Kololo officials. These functionaries collected tribute, part of which went to the king and part of which was redistributed. At least two Kololo families were placed in each village as lords of the land, creating a network of political supervision over subject communities.

Sebetwane also transformed the character of Lozi kingship by making himself accessible to people of every social and economic status. He promoted the use of the Kololo language throughout the kingdom but did not abolish the Lozi political system. When he died in July 1851, many subjects, including the Lozi, had come to identify themselves as Makololo. His successor Sekeletu ruled harshly, and after his death in 1864 the cruelty of later successors helped provoke a Lozi rebellion led by Sepopa, which overthrew Makololo rule and restored the Lozi dynasty.