Bobirwa

The Bobirwa Subdistrict is a jurisdiction in Botswana. It is populated by the Babirwa (Ba-Birwa) people who came from Transvaal in present-day South Africa.

History

Before Moshoeshoe and his nation of Lesotho, the Basotho people populated the land. Moshoshoe didn't find the Basotho nation, but put together a nation made up of Sotho-speaking people from different Sotho-speaking clans within present-day Free State and Lesotho, which the British erroneously called Lesotho. The Basotho nation cut the Basotho people in the nation off from the rest of other Basothos in Orange Free State and Transvaal in present-day South Africa, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Namibia and Zambia.

Basotho people present in the region before Moshoeshoe were born in Menkhoaneng (c. 1786–11 March 1870) to Mokhachane of the Bamokoteli clan, a sub clan of Bakwena. Moshoeshoe reunited the remaining smaller and weaker clans of Basothos in the area under his Bakwena clan leadership during Shaka's wars of difaqane after the rest of the Basothos had left the area.

Moshoeshoe, his Bakwena clan, and the other Basotho clans originate from Ntswanatsatsi in present-day South Africa. Families moved away from each other in Ntswanatsatsi. They started clans using a totem as a symbol of their clan (like the crocodile (Kwena), which Moshoshoe's ancestors used), and different families moved in different directions within the precolonial South Africa under different leadership.

Some settled on the Western side of present-day North West Province others spread around Ntswanatsatsi to the present-day Free State and Lesotho; others to present-day Botswana others to present-day Zimbabwe and Zambia; Namibia others moved to the present-day Gauteng in South Africa. They became patriarchs of the founding fathers of Bakgatla which also gave birth to Northern Basotho which in turn gave birth to different Northern clans with their dialects like BaPedi, Batlokwa, Babirwa, etc., and others ended up in intermarriage with other tribes they moved next to and mingled with like Swatis, Vendas, Tsongas, and Ngunis. In some places, these Northern Basotho's Sotho was diluted by the influence of the tribes they found in the area, they moved into and lived alongside.

Some of the Northern Basotho have a common denominator of "apa" (meaning talk) with Vendas; I mean, Balovedu, BaGubu, and Babirwa of Bobirwa in the southern part of Botswana near the Zimbabwean border along the Shashe river and with its dialect spoken on the other side of the border of Botswana in Zimbabwe.

After the scattering of the Basothos from their cradle, different Basotho dialects from different locations within present-day South Africa emerged, and the Babirwa people were one of those who emerged, coming out of Nareng in the Letswalo area near Phalaborwa under the leadership of Tshukudu between 1510 and 1599. Babirwa moved from Nareng under their leader, They trekked further North and settled in Blauwberg in present day Limpopo and others in Botswana and Zimbabwe

The Babirwa in South Africa reside north of the Bochum area, north of Polokwane. There are more than 40 Babirwa surnames in South Africa, which include Sebone, Malema, Makhura, Makwati, Makhurane, Maphala, Nare, Tau, Tlou-Serope, Mmamadi, Legong (Lehong), Mangale, Marema, Taueatswala, Molefe, Mogano, Jibula (Tjibula) (Muhanu), Machete, Lehomo, Raphahlelo, Raseokgo (Sebola), Phooko, Ramalepe, Boikanyo, Selema, Morerwa (Murerwa), Makgatho, Maruatona, Monekwe (Monengwe), Madema Morebeng (Phosa) and many more. The word Bobirwa, therefore, means the land of (Babirwa) Ba-Birwa people.

A large number of Babirwa left the northern South African shore. It ended up living in what is today called the Bobirwa Sub District, which is an administrative region in eastern Botswana, part of the Central District.
Bobonong is the largest town and the sub-district headquarters. The sub-district is bounded by Zimbabwe to the northeast and South Africa to the southeast. The Limpopo River forms the boundary with South Africa.

Agriculture

The Bobirwa Sub-district has an average annual rainfall of. Soils are mainly loams to sandy clay loams. Bobirwa is the lowest part of Botswana, varying from above sea level. It is intersected by a network of channels that drain into the Limpopo. Villages include Mathathane, Motlhabaneng, Tsetsebjwe, Kobojango, Bobonong, Molalatau, Tobane, Mabolwe, Semolale, Lepokole, Zanzibar, Moletemane, Sefophe and Lentswelemoriti.

Agricultural activities have heavily degraded the sub-district and made it susceptible to drought. Large areas in and around the villages are bare earth caused by clearing grasses to keep snakes and insects away. Overgrazing by sheep, goats, donkeys, and cattle is another cause. A study showed a substantial reduction in natural land cover between 1970 and 2010, combined with a significant increase in population.

In addition to livestock, the sub-district is home to abundant wildlife. In 2000, there was a herd of around 200 elephants.

In 2011, it was reported that the government had approved the establishment of service centers in Tsetsebjwe, Mathathane, and Gobojango, as well as other large infrastructure development projects such as road improvements, bridges, and electrification. This followed rapid economic growth in the previous three years. The local people could now shop and bank in Bobonong, rather than travel to Selebi-Phikwe. The new centers were expected to improve access to services further.

In 2012, there was a sharp increase in stock theft. This may have been caused by drought, which forced livestock to travel long distances to find grazing and water, making them vulnerable to rustlers.

Ethnography

The Babirwa in Zimbabwe is found in the south-west of Gwanda District, in the villages of Gungwe, Ntalale, Tlhakadiyawa, Kafusi, Mawaza, Mafukung, and surrounding villages. When Babirwa moved into the area that is today known as Gwanda, it was inhabited by Jahunda ( Kalanga dialect) speaking people and a group of Ndebele who moved southward from the northern side of precolonial Matabeleland South Province which they invaded under their leader Mzilikazi, who came from Transvaal, South Africa, by way of Southern Botswana, running away from the Boers in Transvaal after running away from Shaka in Natal. Other group of Babirwa left Bobirwa with other Transvaal migrants again and joined their relatives who left Transvaal for Bokgalaka, what Sothos called Zimbabwe back then

Not all Basotho in Zimbabwe are Babirwa. The Sothos found under Beit Bridge district to Manama and surrounding areas are not Babirwa. These are descendants of North Sotho of the then Northern Transvaal who have been displaced off their lands by the Boers because they were displaced and were forced to leave in fear of their lives and crossed either the Motloutse river to present-day Botswana to Bokgalaka or the Odi river (Limpopo) to Bokgalaka. These groups of Basotho traveled in groups, usually related. They came from different areas of the then- Northern Transvaal as far as Potgietersrus today known as Mokopane. Others came from Polokwane around Moletse areas, Bochum, Taaibosch, Zebediela, Ga Kibi, Botlokwa, Ga Makgato, etc.; others were from Venda and others were Tsonga speakers, and they adopted the Sotho spoken in Zimbabwe because of association and marriage. Some of the descendants of those people did go back to South Africa as early as the 1920s, 30s, 40s, 50s, 70s, and 80s and reunite with their relatives in Northern Transvaal. Today, there are many Pedi and Venda-speaking people in Limpopo and Venda, respectively, with Zimbabwean roots from this migration of the returnees. Some Basothos in Zimbabwe are still in touch with their ancestors' relatives in both South Africa and Botswana. The Sotho of Zimbabwe, which is similar to the Sesotho that is spoken in Musina and the surrounding area, is a corrupted Kubu, and it is similar to Selobedu. There is a thin line between Sebirwa, SeGubu, Setlhokwa, Selobedu, and other Northern Sotho dialects that use "apa" (talk) and "boswa" for "pap" (maize porridge stable food) because these languages are related languages with Venda words as common denominators, and speakers of these share surnames like Malema, Mafela, Moedi, Mahomela, and Mokoena. Your surname tells who you are, but many Basothos lost their identity when the Ndebeles forced them to use totems as surnames. That is why today, some Sothos use Ndlovu, Nyathi, Sibanda, Moyo, Dube, and Mdlongwa surnames instead of their surnames, which patriarchs still use even though it is not in their identity document, but many Northern Sotho patriarchs still use their South African surnames like Maphala, Malema, Sephuma, Mafela, Phalantwa, Molwantwa, Sephuma, Sephodi, Makgalema, Moedi, Sehata,Tjibula, Makushu, Mahumela, Madumetja, Makhura, Makwati, Maimela, Manamela, Pheta, Mokone, Mokwena, Marishane.

Language

Sebirwa or Birwa, the language spoken by the Babirwa people, is a dialect of Northern Sotho, along with Bididi, Lobedu, Kgaga, Hananwa, Pedi, Phalaborwa, Pulana, Tshwapong, Kutswe, Phahladira, Pai, Kopa, Kubu, etc. Northern Sotho is one of three Sesotho subgroups of Basotho. The two others are Western Sotho (better known as Setswana, which is largely spoken in Botswana), North West Province, a small number of people in Matebeland Province of Zimbabwe and Southern Sotho (spoken in Lesotho, Free State, and Vaal). The Basotho came from Ntswanatsatsi.

References

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Populated places in Botswana
Central District (Botswana)