Mampuru II (1824 – 22 November 1883) was a king of the Pedi people in southern Africa. Mampuru was a son of the elder brother of Sekwati and claimed he had been designated as his successor. Sekwati died in 1861 and his son, Sekhukhune claimed the throne. Sekhukhune ruled until 1879 when a British-Swazi invasion deposed him and installed Mampuru as king. Mampuru ordered the assassination of Sekhukhune in 1882 for which he was arrested and hanged by the Boer

South African Republic The South African Republic ( nl, Zuid-Afrikaansche Republiek, abbreviated ZAR; af, Suid-Afrikaanse Republiek), also known as the Transvaal Republic, was an independent Boer Republic in Southern Africa which existed from 1852 to 1902, when i ...

the following year. Mampuru is regarded as an early liberation movement icon in South Africa and the prison where he was executed has been renamed in his honour.

Early life

The king (kgosi) of the Pedi people Sekwati died in 1861 but this resulted in a

succession crisis A succession crisis is a crisis that arises when an order of succession fails, for example when a king dies without an indisputable heir. It may result in a war of succession. Examples include (see List of wars of succession): *Multiple periods ...

. It was traditional for Pedi rulers to take a ''timamollo'' ("candle wife" or "great wife") in addition to their usual wife. The children of the candle wife would be those who succeeded to the throne, ahead of the other descendants. Mampuru was the child of the candle wife of Sekwati's elder brother, Malekutu, and Sekwati had afterwards married his mother. Mampuru claimed to have been designated heir by Sekwati, over Sekhukhune - the elder son of Sekwati, and was in possession of the royal insignia. Sekhukhune claimed that Mampuru's mother was not impregnated by Sekwati and that Sekwati had ordered a commoner to get her pregnant. It was also claimed that Sekwati's marriage to Mampuru's mother was not legitimate as he had not provided the customary present of a black bull. Sekhukhune seized power and killed Mampuru's advisers, causing him to flee the realm. Sekhukhune's reign was generally beneficial for the Pedi, he expanded the realm through conquest and marriage, invested in the mining and agricultural industries and purchased firearms for his army. However he came into conflict with the neighbouring Boer

(also known as the Transvaal) and the

Swazi people The Swazi or Swati ( Swati: ''Emaswati'', singular ''Liswati'') are a Bantu ethnic group native to Southern Africa, inhabiting Eswatini, a sovereign kingdom in Southern Africa. EmaSwati are part of the Nguni-language speaking peoples whose or ...

in what became known as the Sekhukune War.

Accession and execution

The British Empire annexed the Transvaal in 1877 and in the aftermath a combined British-Swazi force invaded the Pedi realm in 1879. Sekhukune was deposed and the British High Commissioner of Southern Africa, Sir Garnet Wolseley, installed Mampuru in his place. The Transvaal regained some independence following the

First Boer War The First Boer War ( af, Eerste Vryheidsoorlog, literally "First Freedom War"), 1880–1881, also known as the First Anglo–Boer War, the Transvaal War or the Transvaal Rebellion, was fought from 16 December 1880 until 23 March 1881 betwee ...

of 1880-81 though Britain retained control of foreign affairs and relations with tribal societies. Mampuru claimed that Sekhukhune was plotting against him to regain the throne and ordered his murder. Sekhukhune was stabbed to death at the Great Place, Manoge on 13 August 1882. Mampuru was afterwards arrested and charged with public violence, revolt and the murder of Sekhukhune. He was arrested because of his opposition to

hut tax The hut tax was a form of taxation introduced by British in their African possessions on a "per hut" (or other forms of household) basis. It was variously payable in money, labour, grain or stock and benefited the colonial authorities in four inter ...

imposed upon black people by the South African Republic. Mampuru was stripped naked and hanged in public at the Pretoria Central Prison on 22 November 1883. The rope broke the first time and he was dragged back onto the gallows to be hanged again.

Legacy

Sekhukhune's descendants became king after Mampuru's death, though the rival families maintained their claims through the colonial,

apartheid Apartheid (, especially South African English: , ; , "aparthood") was a system of institutionalised racial segregation that existed in South Africa and South West Africa (now Namibia) from 1948 to the early 1990s. Apartheid was ...

and rainbow (post-1991) eras. The South African government's Commission on Traditional Leadership Disputes and Claims ruled on the Pedi succession in 2008. The commission ruled that the Sekhukhune lineage was the legitimate one and confirmed Kgagudi Kenneth Sekhukhune as king. The location of Mampuru's remains is not known, though the South African government committed to look for them in January 2019. Mampuru has been described as one of South Africa's first liberation icons. Potgieter Street in Pretoria was renamed in his honour in 2007 and an annual Mampuru II day is held in January. On 10 April 2013 the prison where he was killed was renamed "Kgosi Mampuru II" in his honour. In February 2018 a statue of Mampuru was proposed to be erected in Church Square, Pretoria where it will stand opposite one of

Paul Kruger Stephanus Johannes Paulus Kruger (; 10 October 1825 – 14 July 1904) was a South African politician. He was one of the dominant political and military figures in 19th-century South Africa, and President of the South African Republic (or ...

who was President of the South African Republic at the time of Mampuru's execution.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mampuru 02 1883 deaths Year of birth unknown People executed by South Africa by hanging Bapedi monarchy