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Sekhukhune I (Matsebe; circa 1814 – 13 August 1882) was the paramount King of the Marota, more commonly known as the Bapedi, from 21 September 1861 until his assassination on 13 August 1882 by his rival and half-brother,
Mampuru II 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 th ...
. As the Pedi paramount leader he was faced with political challenges from boer settlers, the independent
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 it ...
(Dutch: ''Zuid-Afrikaansche Republiek''), the
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, and considerable social change caused by
Christian missionaries A Christian mission is an organized effort for the propagation of the Christian faith. Missions involve sending individuals and groups across boundaries, most commonly geographical boundaries, to carry on evangelism or other activities, such as ...
. Sekhukhune was the son of Sekwati I, and succeeded him upon his death in 20 September 1861 after forcibly taking the throne from his half-brother and the heir apparent
Mampuru II 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 th ...
. His other known siblings were; Legolwana,
Johannes Dinkwanyane Johannes Dinkwanyane (died 1876) was a member of the Pedi royal family, who was a leading early convert to Christianity. He was the half-brother of the Pedi king Sekhukhune. Initially opposed by his brother as ruler, Dinkwanyane converted to Luth ...
, and Kgoloko. Sekhukhune married Legoadi IV in 1862, and lived at a mountain, now known as or Leolo Mountains which he fortified. To strengthen his kingdom and to guard against European colonisation, he had his young subjects work in white mines and on farms so that their salaries could be used to buy guns from the
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in
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, as well as livestock. Sekhukhune fought two notable wars. The first war was successfully fought in 1876, against the ZAR and their Swazi allies. The second war, against the British and Swazi in 1879 in what became known as the Sekhukhune Wars, was less successful. Sekhukhune was detained in
Pretoria Pretoria () is South Africa's administrative capital, serving as the seat of the executive branch of government, and as the host to all foreign embassies to South Africa. Pretoria straddles the Apies River and extends eastward into the footh ...
until 1881. After a return to his kingdom, he was fatally stabbed by an assassin in 1882, at Manoge. The assassins are presumed to have been sent by his brother and competitor,
Mampuru II 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 th ...
.


Sekhukhune Wars


First Sekhukhune War

On 16 May 1876, President Thomas François Burgers of the South African Republic (
Transvaal Transvaal is a historical geographic term associated with land north of (''i.e.'', beyond) the Vaal River in South Africa. A number of states and administrative divisions have carried the name Transvaal. * South African Republic (1856–1902; af, ...
) declared war against Sekhukhune and the Bapedi. On 14 July 1876 an
impi is a Zulu word meaning war or combat and by association any body of men gathered for war, for example is a term denoting an army. were formed from regiments () from (large militarised homesteads). In English is often used to refer to a ...
of Swazi warriors spearheaded an assault on a Bapedi fortified settlement, which was futilely defended by Johannes Dinkoanyane, Sekhukhune's half-brother and a Lutheran convert of
Alexander Merensky Alexander Merensky (8 June 1837 in Panten near Liegnitz – 22 May 1918 in Berlin) was a German missionary, working in South Africa (Transvaal) since 1859. Life Alexander was orphaned early in life and grew up among relatives. In 1855, h ...
. While their Boer counterparts did not join the advance, the Swazi reportedly massacred the settlement, including the women and children - whose brains were dashed against rocks. Johannes Dinkoanyane survived the assault, though, he was mortally wounded and died on 16 July 1876. His last words were reportedly: "I am going to die. I am thankful I do not die by the hands of these cowardly Boers, but by the hand of a black and courageous nation like myself..." - whereupon he instructed his brother, Sekhukhune, to study the Bible; and thereafter Johannes passed away. Apparently infuriated by the perceived cowardice of the Boers; the Swazi abandoned the front and returned home - and so, on 2 August 1876, Sekhukhune managed to defeat the Transvaal army. Subsequently, the Boers retreated - notwithstanding President Burgers' appeal that he would rather be shot than see his men desert him. Nevertheless, Burgers joined the Boer retreat to Steelpoort, where a fort was built - Krugerpos. On 4 September 1876, President Thomas François Burgers presented the Volksraad with a scheme to hire mercenary services in order to harry Sekhukhune's Bapedi. The Volksraad approved of the scheme and thus hired the services of the ''Lydenburg Volunteer Corps'', which were constituted under the command of a
Prussian Prussia, , Old Prussian: ''Prūsa'' or ''Prūsija'' was a German state on the southeast coast of the Baltic Sea. It formed the German Empire under Prussian rule when it united the German states in 1871. It was ''de facto'' dissolved by an ...
ex-soldier turned mercenary - Conrad Von Schlickmann. Von Schlickman was reputedly closely connected with the German Establishment and had fought under Otto von Bismarck in the Franco-Prussian War. The ''Lydenburg Volunteer Corps'' primarily recruited from Europeans immigrants at the
Griqualand West Griqualand West is an area of central South Africa with an area of 40,000 km2 that now forms part of the Northern Cape Province. It was inhabited by the Griqua people – a semi-nomadic, Afrikaans-speaking nation of mixed-race origin, w ...
diamond fields, including the likes of Gunn of Gunn, Alfred Aylward, Knapp, Woodford, Rubus, Adolf Kuhneisen, Dr. James Edward Ashton, Otto von Streitencron, George Eckersley, Bailey, Captain Reidel and others from America, Britain, Ireland, France, Germany, Austria and other European countries. In lieu of any salary or supplies from the Volksraad, the ''Lydenburg Volunteer Corps'' were instead issued with promissory notes, and each volunteer was promised to receive two thousand acres of land in Sekhukhune's territory. The volunteers were also expected to reimburse themselves by robbing whatever they could from the natives. Probably as a consequence hereof - the ''Lydenburg Volunteer Corps'' were notoriously brutal. In a despatch to Lord Carnarvon dated 18 December 1876;
Sir Henry Barkly Sir Henry Barkly (24 February 1815 – 20 October 1898) was a British politician, colonial governor and patron of the sciences. Early life and education Born on 24 February 1815 at Highbury, Middlesex (now London), he was the eldest son of ...
reported with horror how, after the ''Lydenburg Volunteer Corps'' kidnapped two women and a 'child' near a native settlement at Steelpoort, Conrad Von Schlickman then ordered the execution of both the women and the 'child'. According to a letter from one of the volunteers, the ''Lydenburg Volunteer Corps'' had originally encountered three women, and the child was, in fact, a baby. Despite the protests of the author of the letter, Von Schlickmann's mercenaries had opened fire immediately upon encountering the group - reportedly shooting off the head of one of the women - and thereafter kidnapping the surviving two women and baby. Von Schlickmann then followed-up the execution by raiding and massacring a nearby native settlement - in all probability the same settlement where the aforesaid captives had been kidnapped from. The ''Lydenburg Volunteer Corps'' reportedly took no prisoners - opting, instead, to slit the necks of any survivors. Conrad Von Schlickmann was killed on 17 November 1876 during a Bapedi ambush, but the Bapedi were also repulsed. The leadership of the ''Lydenburg Volunteer Corps'' was then taken over by Alfred Aylward, a Fenian rebel. Simultaneous Boer war crimes were also reported on by Sir Henry Barkly. Abel Erasmus, the field-cornet of Krugerpos, was accused for 'treacherously killing forty or fifty friendly natives, men and women, and carrying off the children' in October 1876 - arguably not the first time that some Boers were in breach of the anti-slavery provisions of the
Sand River Convention The Sand River Convention ( af, Sandrivierkonvensie) of 17 January 1852 was a convention whereby the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland formally recognised the independence of the Boers north of the Vaal River. Background The conven ...
. Upon sight of Abel Erasmus'
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, the native peoples apparently fled from their settlement immediately. This, however, appears not to have deterred the commando from hunting them down and murdering them all. Though some of the victims were shot by the Boers; Abel Erasmus' was also constituted of a number of allied natives at the time, who reportedly used
assegais An assegai or assagai (Arabic ''az-zaġāyah'', Berber ''zaġāya'' "spear", Old French ''azagaie'', Spanish ''azagaya'', Italian ''zagaglia'', Middle English ''lancegay'') is a pole weapon used for throwing, usually a light spear or javelin ...
to perpetrate the majority of the slaughter. These native allies, identified simply as 'Boer Kaffirs' were probably Swazi forces loyal to the Boers and/or Bapedi forces loyal to chief Mampuru. One of the Boers, who had accompanied the Krugerpos commando and witnessed the massacre and kidnapping, subsequently complained of these crimes to Sir Henry Barkly. Barkly, in turn, wrote of these allegations in protest to President Thomas François Burgers; whom he petitioned to punish the Boer war criminals. On 16 February 1877, the Boers and Bapedi, mediated by
Alexander Merensky Alexander Merensky (8 June 1837 in Panten near Liegnitz – 22 May 1918 in Berlin) was a German missionary, working in South Africa (Transvaal) since 1859. Life Alexander was orphaned early in life and grew up among relatives. In 1855, h ...
, signed a peace treaty at
Botshabelo Botshabelo, meaning "a place of refuge", is a large township set up in 1979 by the then apartheid government. It is located 45 km east of Bloemfontein in the present-day Free State province of South Africa. Botshabelo is now the largest ...
. The Boers inability to subdue Sekhukhune and the Bapedi led to the departure of Burgers in favour 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 (o ...
and the British annexation of the South African Republic (
Transvaal Transvaal is a historical geographic term associated with land north of (''i.e.'', beyond) the Vaal River in South Africa. A number of states and administrative divisions have carried the name Transvaal. * South African Republic (1856–1902; af, ...
) on 12 April 1877 by Sir Theophilus Shepstone, secretary for native affairs of Natal.


Second Sekhukhune War

Although the British had first condemned the Transvaal war against Sekhukhune, it was continued after the annexation. In 1878 and 1879 three British attacks were successfully repelled until
Sir Garnet Wolseley Field marshal (United Kingdom), Field Marshal Garnet Joseph Wolseley, 1st Viscount Wolseley, (4 June 183325 March 1913), was an Anglo-Irish officer in the British Army. He became one of the most influential and admired British generals after a s ...
defeated Sekhukhune in November 1879 with an army of 2,000 British soldiers, Boers and 10,000 Swazis. On 2 December 1879, Sekhukhune was captured and on 9 December 1879 he was imprisoned in
Pretoria Pretoria () is South Africa's administrative capital, serving as the seat of the executive branch of government, and as the host to all foreign embassies to South Africa. Pretoria straddles the Apies River and extends eastward into the footh ...
.


Aftermath

On 3 August 1881, the
Pretoria Convention The Pretoria Convention was the peace treaty that ended the First Boer War (16 December 1880 to 23 March 1881) between the Transvaal Boers and Great Britain. The treaty was signed in Pretoria on 3 August 1881, but was subject to ratification by t ...
was signed, which stipulated in Article 23 that Sekhukhune would be released. Because his capital had been burned to the ground, he left for a place called Manoge. On 13 August 1882, Sekhukhune was murdered by his half-brother
Mampuru II 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 th ...
, who claimed to be the lawful king. Mampuru was captured by the Boers, tried for murder and hanged in Pretoria in 21 November 1883.


Legacy

After his death, Bopedi (Pedi kingdom) was divided into small powerless units conducted by the native commissioners. His grandson
Sekhukhune II Sekhukhune II was the paramount King of the Bapedi and grandson of Sekhukhune I. He reigned during the Second Anglo-Boer War. Sekhukhune's reign marked the final collapse of the Bapedi resistance against the occupation of their land by the Sout ...
in an effort to rebuild the Bapedi kingdom launched an unsuccessful war against the
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 it ...
. The defeat marked the end of Pedi resistance against foreign forces. '' The London Times'', which at the time was not known to report on the deaths of African leaders, published an article on 30 August 1882, acknowledging his resistance against the Boers and the British: The
Sekhukhune District Municipality Sekhukhune is one of the 5 districts of Limpopo province of South Africa. The seat of Sekhukhune is Groblersdal. The majority of its 1,076,840 inhabitants speak Sepedi (2011 Census). The district code is DC47. This district is named after the n ...
in
Limpopo Province Limpopo is the northernmost province of South Africa. It is named after the Limpopo River, which forms the province's western and northern borders. The capital and largest city in the province is Polokwane, while the provincial legislature is ...
was named after him in 2000; the area is also known as
Sekhukhuneland Sekhukhuneland or Sekukuniland ( af, Sekoekoeniland) is a natural region in north-east South Africa, located in the historical Transvaal zone, former Transvaal Province, also known as Bopedi (meaning “land of Bapedi”). The region is named aft ...
. Sekhukhune I had many children apart from his heir Morwamoche II, he fathered Seraki, Kgobalale, Kgwerane, Kgetjepe, Moruthane and more of others who were lost in the battle field.


See also

*
Sekwati Sekwati was a 19th-century paramount King of the Maroteng or more commonly known as the Bapedi people. His reign focused on rebuilding the Pedi Kingdom on the conclusion of the Mfecane and maintaining peaceful relations with the Boer Voortrekke ...
*
Mampuru II 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 th ...
*
Sekhukhune II Sekhukhune II was the paramount King of the Bapedi and grandson of Sekhukhune I. He reigned during the Second Anglo-Boer War. Sekhukhune's reign marked the final collapse of the Bapedi resistance against the occupation of their land by the Sout ...
*
Pedi people The Pedi or (also known as the Northern Sotho or and the Marota or ) – are a southern African ethnic group that speak Pedi or ''Sepedi'', a dialect belonging to the Sotho-Tswana enthnolinguistic group. Northern Sotho is a term used t ...


References


Footnotes


Further reading

* . * * {{Authority control 1814 births 1870s in the South African Republic 1882 deaths 19th-century murdered monarchs African resistance to colonialism Assassinated South African people Fratricides Bapedi monarchy Northern Sotho people People from Limpopo People of the Sekukuni Campaign History of South Africa Transvaal South African Republic