Mountains of Spirit: The Story of the Royal Bakwena ba Mogopa of the North West, South Africa

By Freddy Khunou

A detailed account of the rich history and resilience of the Bakwena ba Mogopa, one of the most important traditional communities in South Africa. This seminal and lucid work depicts the scope of social, political and economic change of the community from its earliest beginnings as the Kwena tribe migrating from East Africa to southern Africa, the birth of the tribe as a distinct and independent lineage in the 1600s, the impact of land dispossession of the Boer settlers as they advanced from the Cape Colony to the interior, the impact of Christianity, the racist and oppressive attitudes and policies of colonial governments, through to the hardships endured under the Union government and apartheid. Mountains of Spirit captures the role that the traditional leaders of the Bakwena ba Mogopa played in shaping the community and responding to challenges of the modern economy and constitutional democracy of South Africa. It is an important study of the tribal structures, the social, cultural and traditional practices, and the questions of land, minerals and mining rights of the Bakwena ba Mogopa. A story spanning migrations, wars, land dispossession and restitution, intra-tribal rivalry, unrest, cultural disintegration, forced removals, pain and suffering and reintegration, Mountains of Spirit reclaims the history of a people and evinces the fighting spirit and resilience of a resourceful community against immense odds.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Bookstorm
• Release date: Jan 1, 2017
• ISBN: 9781928333012

Freddy Khunou

Professor Freddy Khunou is a Professor at the School of Postgraduate Studies and Research, in the Law Faculty of the North West University, Mafikeng Campus, South Africa. He recently qualified as an Advocate of the High Court of South Africa and is a member of the Pretoria Society of Advocates.

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MOUNTAINS OF SPIRIT

The Story of the Royal Bakwena ba Mogopa

of the North West, South Africa

SAMUEL FREDDY KHUNOU

© Text, SF Khunou and Bagopa Properties 2016

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording or any information storage or retrieval system, without permission from the copyright holder.

ISBN: 978-1-928333-00-5

e-ISBN: 978-1-928333-01-2

Published on behalf of Bagopa Properties by Rainbird, an imprint of Bookstorm (Pty) Ltd

Bagopa Properties (Pty) Ltd

Fredman Towers

13 Fredman Drive

Sandton 2196

South Africa

Cover design by publicide

Book design and typesetting by Triple M Design

Colour photographs courtesy of Bakwena ba Mogopa Administration

Archival photographs courtesy Hermannsburger Mission in Transvaal (HMIT)

Ebook by Liquid Type Publishing Services

Contents

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

FOREWORD

ABBREVIATIONS AND ACRONYMS

Introduction

SECTION I

THE HISTORY OF THE BAKWENA BA MOGOPA

EARLY HISTORY

CHAPTER 1

Earliest beginnings: c. 1000–c. 1600

CHAPTER 2

The birth of the Bakwena ba Mogopa tribe: c. 1600–1835

CHAPTER 3

The Difaqane and its aftermath: 1815–1880s

The regencies of More Motsile and Segwati

The chieftainships of Motsile and Tedie Mamogale

CHAPTER 4

Early Christianity: 1800s

The chieftainships of Tedie Mamogale, Raikane More and Lerothodi I

CHAPTER 5

The Boers and the British: 1830s–early 1900s

The regency of Mogale Daniel More

The chieftainships of Tedie Mamogale, Raikane More and Lerothodi I

THE 1900s

CHAPTER 6

Revolts against the Lutheran Church: early 1900s

The chieftainship of Otto Mamogale

CHAPTER 7

The Union government and early years of the SANNC (ANC): 1910–1920s

The chieftainship of Otto Mamogale

CHAPTER 8

Government interference in the succession of the Bakwena ba Mogopa: mid-1900s

The regencies of Daniel Mokgele More ‘Phiri-a-Feta’, Charles Mamogale and David Mamogale ‘Trupa’

CHAPTER 9

‘Separate development’, the Bantustan system and forced removals: mid to late 1900s

The chieftainship of Lerothodi II

TODAY, AND INTO THE FUTURE

CHAPTER 10

Tribal leadership under constitutional democracy: late 1900s to early 2000s

The chieftainships of Lerothodi II and Letlhogile Royal-Pearl David Daniel Mamogale

CHAPTER 11

Towards a bright future: 2008 to 2015

The chieftainship of Motheo Mamogale

SECTION II

ADDENDUM A

The tribal structures of the Bakwena ba Mogopa

ADDENDUM B

The authority of the Bakwena ba Mogopa

ADDENDUM C

Social, cultural and traditional practices

ADDENDUM D

Land and land issues

ADDENDUM E

Mines, minerals and mining rights

ADDENDUM F

Holdings of the Bakwena ba Mogopa

GLOSSARY

BIBLIOGRAPHY

PICTURE SECTION

Acknowledgements

Kgosi of the Bakwena ba Mogopa traditional community, His Majesty Tebogo Reneilwe Motheo Mamogale, initiated the research and writing of this book. My sincere gratitude goes to His Majesty for this courageous initiative.

I’m thankful to all members of the Bakwena ba Mogopa community who participated in the oral interviews that contributed to shaping this book. These men and women gave their time and knowledge, and provided me with enormous historical information which has never before been written down.

My appreciation also goes to the staff of the North West Provincial Archives and Library (Mahikeng), North-West University (Potchefstroom and Mahikeng campus libraries), the National Library and the National Archives of South Africa (Pretoria), UNISA Archival Collection, and the Universities of Botswana and the Free State. They guided me throughout my research.

I would also like to express my sincere gratitude to the Chief of Staff of the Bakwena ba Mogopa Traditional Administration (BBMTA), Wissy Phaladi, for his remarkable contribution. He provided important insights and relevant details that added significantly to the final product. My grateful thanks are also due to Tracey Hawthorne for editing this book.

A special word of thanks is also extended to Joseph Modubu, Abel More, Cornelius Manonyane, Ditshoketsi Obed Pooe, Kgosana Daniel Kelosiwang of Kanye in Botswana and Kgosana Lesley More of Barseba village, who gave their time, facilitated interviews and collated information necessary for the compilation of this book.

My heartfelt gratitude also goes to my research assistants, Bophelo Mabula, Nimrod Mhambi, Franklin Kasanga and Pearl Phiri, for their immense contribution in data collection and research.

It would be remiss of me not to express my gratitude to Rufaro Kelvin Major, who was ever a tower of strength. His patience and sacrifice during the long period of research for this book is deeply appreciated.

I would also like to thank the two anonymous reviewers for their pre-publication insights and input.

With these few words, I passionately say: Pula! Bakwena! Pula!

Samuel Freddy Khunou

Mahikeng, North West, South Africa

November 2015

Foreword

The idea to write a detailed history of the Bakwena ba Mogopa and their successive traditional leaders came about when it dawned on me that such an exercise would be of benefit not only to the Royal Family but to South African society in general. It is indeed part of the contribution to reclaim our history.

Most history books written during the colonial and apartheid eras tend to distort the contribution made by traditional leaders in the development of their communities.

The colonial and apartheid forces impacted negatively on the traditional leadership of the Bakwena ba Mogopa and the community. In order to be able to predict the future, the current Royal Mamogale Family needs to understand the hardships that the community endured under colonialism, and apartheid and the Bantustan system. Similarly, the new democratic government has a moral obligation to redefine its relationship with the institution of traditional leadership in line with constitutional imperatives.

This thought-provoking work is a mirror of the Royal Family, the council of headmen, traditional councillors, and the present and future generations of the traditional leaders of the Bakwena ba Mogopa. The history is deep, inspiring, sensitive and somehow emotive. It captures the role of successive traditional leaders of the Bakwena ba Mogopa: Chiefs Setlhare, Mogopa, More, Segwati, Tedie Mamogale, Lerothodi I, Otto, Lerothodi II and Letlhogile, to mention but a few.

I hope that the Bakwena ba Mogopa and indeed all people can draw significant lessons from this history. In this way, mistakes of the past can be avoided. In the words of Kenyan writer Ngugi wa Thiong’o: ‘I talk about the past mainly because actually I am interested in the present.’

The fighting spirit and resilience of the Bakwena ba Mogopa as demonstrated so lucidly in this work will forever prevail. The future looks bright indeed.

Kgosi Tebogo Reneilwe Motheo Mamogale

Bethanie, North West, South Africa

November 2015

Abbreviations and acronyms

Afplats: African Platinum Limited

Agricor: Agricultural Corporation of Bophuthatswana

ANC: African National Congress

Azapo: Azanian People’s Organisation

BBMBF: Bakwena ba Mogopa Business Forum

BBMCT: Bakwena Ba Mogopa Community Trust

BBMERPS: Bakwena ba Mogopa Enterprise Resource Planning System

BBMJEDI: Bakwena Ba Mogopa Joint Enterprise Development Initiative

BBMTA: Bakwena Ba Mogopa Traditional Administration

BEE: Black Economic Empowerment

BSAC: British South Africa Company

CEO: Chief Executive Officer

Codesa: Convention for a Democratic South Africa

Contralesa: Congress of Traditional Leaders of South Africa

CPA: Communal Property Association

D Account: Department Account

DEIC: Dutch East India Company

EDF: Enterprise Development Fund

EPWP: Expanded Public Works Programme

GNU: Government of National Unity

HKR: Hebron, Kgabalatsane and Rabokala

HKR CPA: Hebron, Kgabalatsane and Rabokala Communal Property Association

IFP: Inkatha Freedom Party

Implats: Impala Platinum Limited

JEDI: Joint Enterprise Development Initiative

KMRP: Kgosi Mamogale Rangers’ Programme

MEC: Member of the Executive Council

MKR: Moduane, Kgabalatsane and Rabokala

MP: Member of Parliament

MPNP: Multi-party Negotiating Process

MPRDA: Mineral and Petroleum Resources Development Act

NEF: National Empowerment Fund

NGOs: Non-Governmental Organisations

PAC: Pan Africanist Congress

RLM: Rustenburg Local Municipality

SACP: South African Communist Party

SANNC: South African Native National Congress

SASSA: South African Social Security Agency

SCOPA: Standing Committee on Public Accounts

SDP: Structural Development Plan

TBVC: Transkei, Bophuthatswana, Venda and Ciskei

UCDP: United Christian Democratic Party

Introduction

The Bakwena ba Mogopa is one of the largest tribes ¹ and most important Tswana ² groups in the North West province of South Africa. ³ Today, the people of the Bakwena ba Mogopa are spread over the regions of Bethanie, Jericho, Hebron, Pachsdraai and Ventersdorp, with their capital village in Bethanie. ⁴

The original Tswana group under the leadership of Chief Malope, known as the Kwena tribe, migrated in the 1400s or 1500s from East Africa to Southern Africa, where it underwent various splits.⁵ The current descendants of the Bakwena ba Mogopa are the products of the breakaway groups.

The history of the Bakwena ba Mogopa is intertwined with important events in the history of these Tswana groups, known as the ‘interior tribes’.⁶ It’s a long and winding story that covers migrations and wars, land dispossession and restitution, intra-tribal rivalry and tribal unrest, cultural disintegration, forced removals and reintegration – and all with more than its fair share of pain and human suffering.⁷

Various other Sotho-Tswana communities were also members of the parent Kwena tribe before it underwent a process of fission, so the Bakwena ba Mogopa are tribal cousins of Sotho-Tswana groups currently in Botswana, Lesotho⁸ and South Africa. For instance, the Bakwena ba Mogopa tribe has strong links with the Bangwaketsi, the Bangwato, the Hlakoena, the Pedi and the Bafokeng.

The Royal Family of the Bakwena ba Mogopa owes its origin to Chief Mogopa, who is hailed as the founding father of this Tswana community. The community has undergone tremendous social, political and economic change since it was founded around 1600, when the Bakwena ba Mogopa emerged as a distinct and independent lineage and changed their habitation several times.⁹

The integrity of the early chiefdom of the Bakwena ba Mogopa was constantly threatened by external attacks, and by schisms emanating from the political process itself. The first typical example of those attacks was in the form of cattle raids by neighbouring tribes such as the Bapo ba Mogale and the Bakgatla. However, these clashes were comparatively minor.

At the beginning of the 19th century, however, the Bakwena ba Mogopa experienced two important and horrendous historical developments.

The first was brought about by the Difaqane, the forced migration and upheavals caused by the Ndebele warriors of Mzilikazi.¹⁰ The Difaqane disintegrated the community of the Bakwena ba Mogopa, who were conquered by Mzilikazi, who captured their women and children.

The second was the advancement of Boer settlers from the Cape Colony into the interior territory that was owned by Tswana communities, including the Bakwena ba Mogopa. These Voortrekker¹¹ settlers acquired the land of the Bakwena ba Mogopa community through conquest or other forms of alienation. ¹²

Due to the Boer settlers’ ill-treatment, the Bakwena ba Mogopa were forced to leave their ancestral land and sought sanctuary in Basutoland,¹³ where they were welcomed by King Moshoeshoe I. In 1867 they returned to their ancestral land, where they were once again subjected to the Boers’ rule.

During the time of the Voortrekkers’ administration in the then-independent republic of the Transvaal in the mid-1800s, the Bakwena ba Mogopa forged relationships with the German missionaries of the Hermannsburg Mission. This was important in more ways than one, as the missionaries promoted Christianity, which changed the cultural, social and political outlook of the locals.¹⁴ But the missionaries also helped the Bakwena ba Mogopa to regain their land by buying it on their behalf, then holding it in trust for them, in order to circumvent the racist policies that denied Africans the right to own and register land in their own names. These racist and oppressive attitudes and policies were upheld by successive colonial governments, including the British during their administration of the Transvaal Colony and later the Union government of South Africa.¹⁵

With the formation in 1910 of the Union of South Africa as a self-governing dominion of the British Empire, the Bakwena ba Mogopa were indirectly subjected to British rule, albeit under Boer administration by white officials known as Native Commissioners. These officials dictated the terms of tribal administration and, contrary to the customs and laws of the community, the appointments of chiefs. This meant that the chiefs of the Bakwena ba Mogopa were no longer accountable to their people but to the Union government. It was during this period that the community went to war with itself, rupturing the Bakwena ba Mogopa along factional lines.¹⁶

Like all African communities in South Africa, the Bakwena ba Mogopa suffered greatly under the apartheid regime from 1948 to 1994. The apartheid government established ‘Bantu authorities’ which eventually led to the creation of ‘homelands’, including Bophuthatswana, which politically and administratively barricaded the Bakwena ba Mogopa within territorial borders.

This was also a period of forced relocations of the Bakwena ba Mogopa in Swartrand and Hartebeeslaagte, who were moved against their wishes to Bophuthatswana, an economically unsustainable homeland made up of a scattered patchwork of individual areas.

The President of Bophuthatswana had powers to appoint and depose chiefs and headmen, delivering a fatal blow to the institution of chieftainship. Subsequently the Bakwena ba Mogopa lost faith in their leadership and the administration of the affairs of the community suffered.

Despite the difficult political, social and economic conditions engendered by the successive Boer, colonial, apartheid and Bantustan governments, the Bakwena ba Mogopa managed to remain largely organised and intact.

Following the demise of apartheid and the homeland system in 1994, the Bakwena ba Mogopa community was ‘inherited’ by the democratic government of the new South Africa.¹⁷ This means that the chieftainship of the community has to operate within the ambit of a constitutional democracy where the principles of gender equality and human dignity are upheld.

While not going as far as to say that the new democratic government is a replica of its predecessors, it appears that the more things change, the more they remain the same. For instance, this is evidenced by the fact that traditional leaders in the new South Africa – including the North West province – are still accountable to democratic government and subject to its laws and regulations.

Although the provincial government does not want to be seen as a photostat copy of the previous Bantustan government, the end results are likely to be similar unless the attitude of the provincial government towards the Bakwena ba Mogopa and other communities in the North West province is changed.

It seems God is on the side of Kgosi Motheo Mamogale, however. Since he occupied the seat of power in 2008, Kgosi Motheo has succeeded against the odds. He has exposed maladministration and illegal mining deals, and corrected the situation. He has shaped the future of the community within the domain of the modern economy of South Africa, and rebuilt tribal administration through innovation and creativity.

His leadership is characterised by a fusion of Christianity and tradition; his vision of an annual prayer meeting, at which all denominations of his community are invited to pray for the leadership and the Bakwena ba Mogopa community, is a significant step towards achieving the unity the Bakwena ba Mogopa so desperately need.

Today, the Bakwena ba Mogopa are a proud community with vast mineral resources. Some of these land properties are rich in platinum, vanadium, chrome and granite, which serve as the major source of income necessary for the development and prosperity of the Bakwena ba Mogopa.

It remains to be seen how the current Royal Family will navigate the stormy waters of traditional leadership and the administration of the Bakwena ba Mogopa. But there is light at the end of the tunnel for this resilient and resourceful community.

NOTES

1 The word ‘tribe’ is used to refer to a traditional community. Under the new constitutional dispensation in South Africa, a community such as the Bakwena ba Mogopa is referred to as a traditional community or morafe. The word ‘tribe’ was frequently used during both the colonial and apartheid eras to describe morafe.

2 The origin of the name ‘Tswana’ is a matter of speculation. However, the name ‘Bechuana’ derives from the word ‘chuana’ meaning ‘alike’ or ‘equal’, with the personal pronoun ‘Ba’ (they) which means ‘fellows’ or ‘equals’. Otlogetswe P. ‘Setswana Language – Puo Ya Setswana’. http://setswana.blogspot.com/2005/10/setswana-facts.htm (accessed 15 March 2013).

3 ‘Affairs of the Bakwena Tribe under Chief JOM Mamogale’. Minute No 29/02/23 Dated December 1939. Records of the National Archives of South Africa: NTS, Volume 325.

4 The community of the Bakwena ba Mogopa is divided into the regions of Bethanie (villages: Makolokwe, Modikwe, Barseba and Maumong); Hebron (villages: Kgabalatsane, Moduane and Rabokala); Jericho (villages: Rantlapane, Madinyane, Legonyane, Mmupudung and Mmakgabetlwane); Pachsdraai in Groot Marico; and Mogopa in the Ventersdorp district.

5 Shaw BP. ‘State Formation, Nation Building and the Tswana of Southern Africa’. Unpublished Thesis, Duquesne University (1975). 70–71.

6 Massie RH. ‘The Native Tribes of the Transvaal’. http://archive.org/stream/nativetribesoftr00grea/nativetribesoftr00grea_djvu.txt (accessed 25 May 2012).

7 The fate of the Bakwena ba Mogopa was decided first by the Difaqane/Mfecane, which disintegrated the community. Second, the Boers dispossessed the land of the Bakwena ba Mogopa. Third, the Bakwena ba Mogopa became the subjects of the British colonial government. Fourth, they were subjected to the successive regimes of the apartheid government and the Bophuthatswana government.

8 Present-day Lesotho (which, roughly translated, means ‘the land of the people who speak seSotho’), then called Basutoland, emerged as a single entity under King Moshoeshoe I in 1822. An independent kingdom and member of the Commonwealth of Nations since 1966, Lesotho is a landlocked country completely surrounded by South Africa.

9 Massie RH.

10 Molokoe BKM. ‘A Historical Study of the Bakwena ba Mogopa as Victims of Forced Removals, 1983–1994’. Unpublished Thesis, PU for CHE (1998). 8–9.

11 The Voortrekkers were the Boers or white farmers of Dutch origin who migrated from the Cape of Good Hope in the early to mid-1800s.

12 Khunou SF. ‘A Legal History of Traditional Leadership in South Africa, Botswana and Lesotho’. Unpublished LLD Thesis, North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus (2007). 67–68.

13 Basutoland was a British Crown colony established in 1884. It was renamed the Kingdom of Lesotho on independence from the United Kingdom on 4 October 1966.

14 Under the influence of the missionaries, the Bakwena ba Mogopa adopted Christianity. Today, most of the Bakwena ba Mogopa community are members of the Lutheran Church.

15 Khunou SF. ‘The Legal Crisis of Land Restitution in South Africa: A Critical Analysis’. Unpublished Paper Presented at the 50th Anniversary of the Law Faculty, North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus (25 September 2015). 8–9.

16 Confidential Letter Dated 28 February 1935, ‘Native Unrest: Hebron 51 and Syferfontein 310’. Records of the National Archives of South Africa : NA, File No 56/55.

17 In 1994, South Africa entered a new constitutional dispensation based on democracy, equality, fundamental rights, the promotion of national unity and reconciliation. The Constitution of the Republic of South Africa Act 200 of 1993 was adopted on 27 April 1994. This transitional or Interim Constitution contained the Bill of Rights. On 8 May 1996, the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa 1996 was adopted. The adoption of the South African Constitution was one of the turning points in the history of the struggle for democracy. The Constitution is considered by many as one of the most advanced in the world.

SECTION I

THE HISTORY OF THE BAKWENA BA MOGOPA

EARLY HISTORY

CHAPTER 1

Earliest beginnings

c.1000–c.1600

Like that of most African people, the early history of the Tswana people ¹ is shrouded in legends, folklore and traditions, ² and some information recorded by historians seems to be at variance with oral history.

There are different migratory theories about the early origins of the Tswana people. One (regarded as unrealistic) traces the Tswana ancestors back to 1350, when they inhabited the present-day area of Johannesburg in South Africa’s Gauteng province.³ In terms of this theory, the main Tswana migration⁴ moved westwards within South Africa, encouraged and stimulated by friction and competition for survival from others. This theory posits that the Tswana empire originated in the 18th century, and that by 1800 many related Tswana groups were already organised and settled.⁵

Another theory suggests that they originally came from North Africa, and were living north of the Zambezi River between the 11th and 15th centuries.⁶

Historical evidence indicates, however, that most Southern African black people, including the Tswana, originally came from northeast Africa.⁷ Reasons for their migration included the increase and spread of domesticated livestock, the drying of the Sahara Desert, and the spread of metallurgy.⁸

Migration routes of Tswana groups in Africa (SOURCE: www.newworldencyclopedia.org/entry/Bantu)

The Tswana separated from other black people in the vicinity of Nokadifatshe (literally, ‘The Great Lakes of Africa’), and proceeded downwards along the western section of present-day Zimbabwe, crossing the Botletli (today’s Zambezi) River⁹ before the 11th century.¹⁰

The Tswana filtered into Southern Africa from north of the Zambezi in three migratory waves.¹¹ Pastoral people who travelled with their livestock entered Southern Africa along the ridges of the central Rift Valley and then moved through the tsetse-free zone¹² between the Kalahari Desert and the Limpopo River valley. As hunters, herders and cultivators, the migrants found the high plains to their liking: game animals abounded, the grass was excellent for cattle, there were no serious endemic livestock diseases, and the soil was deep and easy to cultivate.

The first group to arrive in Southern Africa was the earliest Kgalagadi people, during the 13th and 14th centuries.¹³ The next groups of immigrants were the Rolong and the Tlhaping.¹⁴ The Rolong – who took their name from Chief Morolong, the earliest recorded chief¹⁵ – are believed to be the most ancient Tswana group, having migrated from the north, probably in the region of the Great Lakes, around 1400.¹⁶ Having reached Southern Africa, they then underwent a common Tswana process of fission, dividing into four chiefdoms: the Rratlou-Rolong, the Seleke-Rolong, the Tshidi-Rolong and the Rapulana-Rolong.¹⁷ From these descended not only various Tswana communities now found in Botswana and South Africa, but also various branches of the Barotsi nation.

After four generations, the Rolong reached the Molopo River and settled somewhere in the vicinity of present-day Mahikeng.¹⁸ They formed a powerful state in the 17th and 18th centuries in the region of the northwestern Cape and one-time south-western Transvaal.¹⁹ They reached the height of their power under Chief Tau,²⁰ establishing a large, stone-walled capital town named Taung.

The third wave of the Tswana migration into Southern Africa was that of the Kwena, during the 15th or 16th century²¹ under Chief Mogale, who is regarded as the father of all the communities of the Bakwena group.²² All the larger Tswana chiefdoms, such as the Ngwaketse, Ngwato, Tawana, Bakwena ba Mogopa, Bafokeng and Baphalane, and some of the Sotho communities,²³ emerged from this parent Kwena lineage.

Within Southern Africa, the Tswana settled in different regions; historians do not agree on the exact areas.²⁴ It’s believed that the Kwena resided in the Brits-Rustenburg area from 1400, although some say that the Tswana lived in the area of the Molopo River from 1500. Other historians suggest that the Tswana first settled in an area that was free of both tsetse fly and malaria around the Magaliesberg Mountains and the watershed of the Crocodile, Vaal (Lekwa) and Molopo Rivers, the Marico region, Rustenburg and Lichtenburg districts of the one-time western Transvaal.²⁵

THE KWENA AND ITS BREAKAWAY GROUPS

The original Kwena tribe lived at Lowe southwest of the Marico and Notwane Rivers under Chief Mogale. From there, they relocated to Rathateng on the lower reaches of the Crocodile (Odi) River. The Kwena dispersal probably started at Rathateng near what was later called the Botswana-Transvaal border.

The original Kwena tribe was ruled by Chief Mogale, who was succeeded by his son Mfete. Melore, the son of Mfete, took over the reins next. Melore’s son, Masilo (who lived in the 15th or 16th century), had two sons, Mohurutshe I and Malope. Chief Malope ruled the Kwena group.

After the death of Malope, there was a succession dispute between his daughter Mohurutshe II and her brothers, Kwena,²⁶ Ngwato and Ngwaketse. Some objected to Mohurutshe II’s bid for the throne because she was a woman, and, as a result, during the 15th or 16th century,²⁷ she and her followers broke away. The followers of Mohurutshe moved south as a separate group, possibly to Kaditshwene, near Zeerust, an area which later formed part of the western Transvaal. ²⁸

Subsequent to the formation of this Bahurutshe dynasty, the Kgatla broke away from them²⁹, taking their name from their early chief Mokgatla.³⁰ The Kgatla lineage, which was also divided on numerous occasions,³¹ includes the Bakgatla ba Mmakau, Bakgatla ba Kgafela, Bakgatla ba Mosetlha, Bakgatla ba Motsha in Hammanskraal and Bakgatla ba Mmanaana in present-day Botswana.

By the early 18th century, the Bahurutshe had become one of the most powerful Tswana chiefdoms, based at Tshwenyane near present-day Zeerust³² – the district of South Africa where they are still mainly located today. The Bahurutshe were known for their war skills and feared by other Tswana communities, some of whom were not allowed to gather their crops until the Bahurutshe chief had given his permission – a rite called Go loma thotse, which literally means ‘to bite or taste the first fruits or crops of harvesting’.³³

In the meantime, Kwena, the eldest brother, remained with the parent tribe at Rathateng. (The order of successive chiefs who ruled after Kwena is unknown.³⁴) During his reign, in the 15th or 16th century, Ngwato and Ngwaketse both moved to present-day Botswana and formed their own tribes, the Bangwato and