BUILDERS OF BOTSWANA: “THUPA A MOLETA” Motswaledi-Kgosi Sebego I (regency 1825 – 1844) of the Bangwaketse was certainly one of Southern Africa’s most formidable early 19th century military leaders. Yet when people speak of notable ‘Difaqane’ or ‘Mfecane’ era figures Sebego’s name is often ignored amid such peers as Shaka, Mzilakhazi and Sebetwane. While consistent with the general popular neglect of pre-colonial Botswana situated history, Sebego’s relative anonymity is not due to any dearth of historical evidence about his deeds on, or for that matter off, the battlefield. This is especially true of Sebego’s audacious storming of Sebetwane’s fortified settlement at Dithubaruba on the 28th of August 1826. Key aspects of the week long military campaign leading up to the final assault were detailed in the diaries of an ivory trader named Andrew Geddes Bain, who accompanied Sebego, as well as surviving Sengwaketse accounts and additional contemporary references. The Bain diaries were, moreover, published by the Van Riebeeck Society back in 1949. As we saw last week Sebego also notably defeated Mzilakazi’s Amandebele at Dultwe in 1833 and subsequently gave chase to the Ovambandero of Tjamuaha Tjrua at Mannyelatsela, near Ghanzi, in 1834. Sebego’s celebrated martial prowess earned him the praise name ‘Thupa a Moleta’ (‘Rod of Moleta’), referring to his grandfather Moleta who is credited with first establishing the Bangwaketse as a regional power. The following extract is from a praise poem as recorded by Kgosikobo Chelenyane at the Kanye main kgotla in 1938: “Sebego opelo, ofa mapiritlwa, kebonye athelesetsa Matebele; oneile baba mmala wathebe. Kemmoditswe ke Thupa a Moleta, ke Makabe Rrabarekwakang; bare ngwana waga Matshadi oetsa thwadi’ oetsa thalabodiba, Sekokotla. Lomoreetseng lware moabi? Loko lorile motlhasedi, gongwe lware sebua bogale. Ketswa lemotlhasedi Tlammeng[from ‘Matlamma’ referring to Ovaherero/Ovambandero and Damara]; ketswa gobona kaditlhaba dilwela, banna bajana kasepuutlela salerumo. Sebego assumed leadership of the Bangwaketse following the death of his father Kgosi Makaba II, another celebrated practitioner of the art of war, who in 1825 (if not late 1824) perished in battle fighting Sebetwane’s followers at Losabanyana. Having first emerged as the Kgosi of the Bafokeng bagaPatsa, by 1824 Sebetwane was the leader a larger coalition who other local Batswana then referred to as the ‘Makgare.’ This is before they assumed their more enduring identity as the ‘Makololo’. The latter name only emerged in the 1840s in honour of Queen Setlutlu of Makolla (MmaSekeletu), the mother of Sebetwane’s heirs; thus reflecting the primacy by then of matrilineal descent within his middle Zambezi kingdom. Of Sebetwane’s earlier career we know that by 1822 the BagaPatsa, having been repeatedly raided in their original homeland near the Senqu (Gariep/Orange) River, had begun their northwards migration. Sebetwane is said to have then told his people: My masters, you see that the world is collapsing. We shall be eaten up one by one. Our fathers taught us peace means prosperity, but today there is no peace, no prosperity! Let us march! In 1823 the BagaPatsa merged with another southern Batswana group, the Bataung. Together the two merafe, under Sebetwane’s continued leadership, raided the Bahurutshe, Barolong, Batlokwa and Bangwaketse. The Bahurutshe were defeated in a battle near modern Zeerust, while the Barolong and Batlokwa fled for safety, with a faction of the latter group moving north to temporarily join the Bangwato. Only the Bangwaketse, then led by Makaba II, were able to initially repulse the attackers. In the early months of 1824 Sebetwane’s forces raided merafe further to the east. Among their additional victims were the Bakgatla bagaKgafela, then ruled by Motswaraledi-kgosi Motlotle. Following his defeat Motlotle fled to Kweneng, were he was later killed by members of his own morafe. By the end of 1824, Sebetwane once more led his mephato westward, also into Kweneng, apparently motivated by the arrival to his east of Mzilakhazi’s more powerful Amandebele. The ‘Makgare’ found the Bakwena divided as a consequence of the c. 1822 regicide of their Kgosi Motswasele II. One of the executioners, Moruakgomo, led the largest section of the morafe. But another faction, which included Motswaseles young heir Sechele, had moved to Gammangwato, where they lived under the protection of Kgosi Kgari. Unable to resist Sebetwane on their own, Moruakgomos Bakwena joined forces with the Bangwaketse and their Bakgatla bagaMmanaana allies. Thus it was that Makaba II led the combined force against Sebetwane at Losabanyana, which resulted in his own death in a battle that is otherwise believed to have been costly to both sides. In the aftermath of the Losabanyana debacle, Sebego, who was the son of Matshadi one of Makaba’s junior wives, assumed the regency on behalf of his nephew, Gaseitsiwe aTshosa. This was in the context of the continued exile among the Barolong of the late Tshosa’s maternal brother Segotshane. Embedded in this dynastic circumstance were the seeds of future internal conflict and historical controversy. Sebego’s initial actions as Motshwareledi-Kgosi were, however, well accepted. These included his vow to avenge the death of his father, which resulted in his march on Dithubaruba. - Dr. Jeff Ramsay
Posted on: Sun, 20 Jul 2014 10:40:11 +0000
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