The Bakwena or Bakoena ("those who venerate the

crocodile Crocodiles (family (biology), family Crocodylidae) or true crocodiles are large, semiaquatic reptiles that live throughout the tropics in Africa, Asia, the Americas and Australia. The term "crocodile" is sometimes used more loosely to include ...

") are a large

Sotho-Tswana The Sotho-Tswana, also known as the Sotho or Basotho, although the term is now closely associated with the Southern Sotho peoples are a meta-ethnicity of Southern Africa. They are a large and diverse group of people who speak Sotho-Tswana ...

clan A clan is a group of people united by actual or perceived kinship and descent. Even if lineage details are unknown, a clan may claim descent from a founding member or apical ancestor who serves as a symbol of the clan's unity. Many societie ...

Southern Africa Southern Africa is the southernmost region of Africa. No definition is agreed upon, but some groupings include the United Nations geoscheme for Africa, United Nations geoscheme, the intergovernmental Southern African Development Community, and ...

of the southern Bantu group. They can be found in different parts of southern Africa such as

Lesotho Lesotho, formally the Kingdom of Lesotho and formerly known as Basutoland, is a landlocked country in Southern Africa. Entirely surrounded by South Africa, it is the largest of only three sovereign enclave and exclave, enclaves in the world, t ...

Botswana Botswana, officially the Republic of Botswana, is a landlocked country in Southern Africa. Botswana is topographically flat, with approximately 70 percent of its territory part of the Kalahari Desert. It is bordered by South Africa to the sou ...

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

and

Eswatini Eswatini, formally the Kingdom of Eswatini, also known by its former official names Swaziland and the Kingdom of Swaziland, is a landlocked country in Southern Africa. It is bordered by South Africa on all sides except the northeast, where i ...

. "Kwena" is a Sotho/Tswana/Sepedi word meaning "

", the crocodile is also their totem ( seboko).

Genealogy and history

Earliest ancestor of the Kwena clan, Kwena, was a grandson of Masilo I, the King of Bahurutse clan around 1360 CE. Kwena and his followers settled at Tebang, now called

Heidelberg Heidelberg (; ; ) is the List of cities in Baden-Württemberg by population, fifth-largest city in the States of Germany, German state of Baden-Württemberg, and with a population of about 163,000, of which roughly a quarter consists of studen ...

. Around 1500 CE, Bakwena started spreading in the region, from the Lekwa River to

Kalahari The Kalahari Desert is a large semiarid sandy savanna in Southern Africa covering including much of Botswana as well as parts of Namibia and South Africa. It is not to be confused with the Angolan, Namibian, and South African Namib coastal d ...

(Botswana) until settling at Ntsoanatsatsi (mythical origin land of the Sotho-Tswana people) with the

Bafokeng The Royal Bafokeng is the ethnic homeland of the Bafokeng people, a Setswana-speaking traditional community. The monarchy covers in the North West Province of South Africa. The capital is Phokeng, near Rustenburg. "Bafokeng" is used to refer ...

around 1580 CE.

Early leaders

Kwena The Bakwena or Bakoena ("those who venerate the crocodile") are a large Sotho-Tswana clan in Southern Africa of the southern Bantu group. They can be found in different parts of southern Africa such as Lesotho, Botswana, South Africa and Eswatini. ...

(dates unknown) * Phokotsea (dates unknown) *

Kgabo I Kgabo may refer to: * Larona Kgabo, (born 1986) a Botswana model and beauty pageant titleholder * Kgabo Commission, a 1991 Botswana commission of inquiry ** Kgabo Report, the findings of the Kgabo Commission * Kgabo II, kgosi A (; ) is the t ...

(late 17th century) * Tebele (late 17th or early 18th century)

Basotho line

* first leader was Kgosi Nape. * Napo begot and was succeeded by his son Motebang * Motebang begot and was succeeded by his son Molemo * Molemo begot and was succeeded by his son Tsoloane le Tsolo * Tsholoane begot and was succeeded by his son Monaheng * Monaheng begot and was succeeded by his son Motloang * Motloang begot and was succeeded by his son Peete * Doc Mokoteli begot and was succeeded by his son Mokhachane * Mokhachane begot and was succeeded by his son

Moshoeshoe Moshoeshoe may refer to: * Moshoeshoe I (-1870), paramount chief of southern Sotho; founder of Basuto kingdom (later Basutoland, then Lesotho) * Moshoeshoe II of Lesotho (1938-1996), king of Lesotho See also * Letsie I Moshoeshoe of Lesotho Letsie ...

and it continues to the royal line of Lesotho.

Batswana line

Kgabo II led a small group of Bakwena and crossed the Madikwe River and founded a tribe on the lands of the Bakgatla tribe (whose totem was the blue monkey) which they drove away, modern day Botswana. As the result of a split, several tribes like the Ngwato and

Ngwaketse The Bangwaketse (also known as the BaNgwaketse, or Ngwaketse) are one of the eight principal tribes in Botswana, and are ethnic Tswana. (The "Ba" or "Bo" prefix in African tribal names in southern Africa means "people of" or "people who speak" ...

. *

Kgabo II Kgabo II was ''kgosi A (; ) is the title for a hereditary leader of a Batswana and South Africa peoples tribe. Usage The word "kgosi" is a Setswana term for "king" or "chief". Various affixes can be added to the word to change its meaning: ...

(until c. 1740) *

Motshodi Motshodi or Mochudi was ''kgosi'' of the Kwena tribe. He was preceded by his father Kgabo II and succeeded by his grandson Motswasele I. Motshodi was the son of Kgabo II, ''kgosi'' of the Bakwena. Motshodi succeeded his father as ''kgosi'', wit ...

(c. 1740 – c. 1770) *

Motswasele I Motswasele I (died ) was ''kgosi'' of the Kwena tribe from c. 1770 until his death c. 1790. He was preceded by his grandfather Motshodi and succeeded by his son Seitlhamo. Life Motswasele was born in the early 18th century, between 1715 and 17 ...

(c. 1770 – c. 1785) *

Seitlhamo Seitlhamo (died ) was a ''kgosi'' of the Kwena tribe. He ruled from the death of his father Motswasele I c. 1785 until his own death c. 1795. He was succeeded by his son Legwale. Life Seitlhamo was the son of Motswasele I, ''kgosi A (; ...

(late 18th century) *

Legwale Legwale was a ''kgosi'' of the Kwena tribe in the late 18th century. He was preceded by his father Seitlhamo and succeeded by his brother Maleke as regent. Gary Okihiro has contested the idea that Legwale is a single individual, saying that ...

(late 18th century) *

Maleke Maleke Moye Idowu (born 14 February 1979) is a Nigerian comedian and musician. In 2017, he served as thExecutive Director to Edo State Governor on Entertainment and the PMAN (Performing Musician Employers Association of Nigeria) chairman Edo S ...

(early 19th century; regent) *

Tshosa Tshosa was a regent of the Kwena tribe from 1803 to 1807. He became regent following the death of his brother Maleke, who was also a regent, and he held the position until he passed it to the Kwena heir, his nephew Motswasele II. After Motswas ...

(early 19th century; regent) *

Motswasele II Motswasele II (died ) was the ''kgosi'' of the Kwena tribe from until his death . Motswasele was one of three sons of ''kgosi'' Legwale, along with Segokotlo and Molese. Legwale died before Motswasele came of age, so Legwale's brother Mal ...

(c. 1807–1821) *

Sechele I Sechele I a Motswasele "Rra Mokonopi" (1812–1892), also known as Setshele, was the ruler of the Kwêna people of Botswana. He was converted to Christianity by David Livingstone and in his role as ruler served as a missionary among his own ...

(c. 1829–1892) * Sebele I (1892–1911) * Sechele II (1911–1918) *

Sebele II Kelebantse Sebele a Sechele II (1892 – 2 October 1939), known as Sebele II, was chief, or ''kgosi'', of the Kwena tribe in the Bechuanaland Protectorate (present-day Botswana) from 1918 to 1931. He succeeded his father, Sechele II. Through h ...

(1918–1931) * Kgari Sechele II (1931–1962) *

Neale Sechele Neale Molaodi Sechele (1915–1985) was ''kgosi'' of the Bakwena. He was appointed to the position by the court in 1963 following the death of his brother Kgari Sechele II, and he was forced to abdicate in 1970. As Neale was appointed against t ...

(1963–1970) *

Bonewamang Padi Sechele Bonewamang Padi Sechele (1926–1978) was the African Tribal Authority of the Kwena tribe from 1970 until his death in 1978. He was appointed by the government in lieu of a ''kgosi'' after the abdication of Neale Sechele. Bonewamang Padi Sechel ...

(1970–1978; appointed as the Tribal Authority) *

Mack Sechele MacIntyre "Mack" Sechele was the regent of the Kwena tribe from 1978 to 1986. He was born to ''kgosi'' Sechele II of the Bakwena and his first wife Lena Rauwe. When a succession dispute occurred between Bonewamang Padi Sechele and Moruakgomo S ...

(1978–1986; regent) * Moithali Sechele II (1986–1996; regent) * Kgosikwena Sebele (1996–2002; regent) *

Kgari Sechele III Kgari Sechele III is the ''kgosi'' of the Kwena tribe. He was born to Bonewamang Padi Sechele, ''kgosi'' of the Bakwena, in 1973 or 1974. Bonewamang died in a car accident in 1978 while Kgari was four years old. Mack Sechele MacIntyre "Mack ...

(2002–present)

Notes

References

* * * * Sotho-Tswana peoples in South Africa {{Africa-ethno-group-stub