The Mphahlele house
Mphahlele is the name of a Northern Sotho royal house of Limpopo. Wikipedia’s list of Northern Sotho dialects and groups gives the form “Bakgaga (Mphahlele, Maake, Mothapo)”, which suggests the community is also known as Bakgaga, and a 2024 Sunday World report quotes a government certificate describing a leader of the “Bakgaga ba Mphahlele traditional community”. We have not found a published history of the house, so this page records only what we could read.
Acting Chief Moepadira Mphahlele
South African History Online has a short record for Acting Chief Moepadira Mphahlele of the Mphahlele community in the Northern Transvaal. It says he was banished from the Pietersburg District to Msinga in Natal on 19 February 1953 and that the order was withdrawn on 18 September 1962. It does not say why he was banished, and it draws on a 2012 contribution by Professor S. Badat on banishment. Its separate “Mphahlele Kingdom” record has no text beyond a title.
In the Pedi commission determination
The Commission on Traditional Leadership Disputes and Claims’ determination on the Bapedi dispute records the respondent’s evidence that a candle wife (timamollo) from the Mphahlele royal family was married for him in 1980, and his argument that the Mphahlele house is of higher royal status than the Nkadimeng house. The commission did not rule on that point. See the Sekhukhune and Nkadimeng pages; that case is contested and we are not taking a side.
A present dispute
A Sunday World report of 4 October 2024 describes a dispute over who is recognised as the senior traditional leader of the Bakgaga ba Mphahlele, with a government certificate on one side and the royal council on the other, and a hearing set for the Limpopo High Court in Polokwane. The report carries serious allegations from the parties. We are not repeating them or taking a side, we have not read any outcome, and we have not verified who holds the position now.
What we have not found
We have not found a published origin story, genealogy, totem or praises for the Mphahlele house, nor its relation to the Pedi paramountcy beyond the commission passages above. The same Wikipedia list also names Maake and Mothapo with it; we have found nothing further on either.
Izithakazelo (direto) and totem
We are not printing praises or a totem for the Mphahlele because none has been confirmed. If you belong to the Mphahlele house and recite the direto, we would like to record them, with your permission and credited to you.
Sources and further reading
- South African History Online: Acting Chief Moepadira Mphahlele
- South African History Online: Mphahlele Kingdom (record with no text)
- Sunday World: Chieftaincy certificate central to Mphahlele royal house disputes (4 October 2024)
- Commission on Traditional Leadership Disputes and Claims: Determination on the dispute of Bapedi
- Wikipedia: Northern Sotho language
Do you belong to the Mphahlele house? Tell us your praises and what elders say about the history, and we will add it, credited to you. Share what you know or WhatsApp 065 138 8213.