Sekhukhune I
Wikipedia says Sekhukhune I was born about 1814 to Sekwati and Thorometjane Phala, was first named Matsebe, and took the Pedi paramountcy after Sekwati’s death on 20 September 1861, defending his claim against his half-brother Mampuru with the support of his Matuba regiment. The sources differ on what he then did to Mampuru. Wikipedia’s article on Sekhukhune says he let Mampuru leave Pedi territory peacefully, following the serota tradition. South African History Online says he executed Mampuru’s councillors and declared himself ruler, and Wikipedia’s article on Mampuru says he killed Mampuru’s advisers and made him flee.
The wars of 1876 and 1879
Wikipedia dates the first war to 16 May 1876, when President Burgers of the South African Republic declared war, and says Sekhukhune defeated the Transvaal army on 2 August 1876. A peace treaty was signed at Botshabelo on 16 February 1877 with the missionary Alexander Merensky mediating, and the British annexed the Transvaal on 12 April 1877. The article says three British attacks in 1878 and 1879 were repelled, but that in November 1879 Sir Garnet Wolseley defeated Sekhukhune with about 2,000 British soldiers, Boers and 10,000 Swazis. He was captured on 2 December 1879 and imprisoned in Pretoria from 9 December. South African History Online says he was defeated and captured in 1879. The Pretoria Convention of 3 August 1881 provided for his release, and he returned to Manoge.
His death
Wikipedia says Sekhukhune was fatally stabbed at Manoge on 13 August 1882. South African History Online’s Pedi page says Mampuru murdered him after his release, and its Ndebele history gives the killing as 13 August 1882 and says Mampuru was blamed. Wikipedia’s article on Sekhukhune says the killers were “presumed” to have been sent by Mampuru in its lead but states in the body that Mampuru murdered him, and it carries a banner saying some of its sources may not be reliable. See Mampuru for what followed.
Sekhukhune II and the twentieth-century dispute
The Commission on Traditional Leadership Disputes and Claims, in its determination on the dispute of the Bapedi between Thulare Victor Thulare and Kenneth Kgagudi Sekhukhune, records the royal house through Sekhukhune II. It says that Sekhukhune II’s heir apparent, Thulare II, died in 1941 without an heir and that Sekhukhune II died in 1942; the commission lists it as common cause that Thulare II, though not Sekhukhune II’s biological son, was regarded as his successor in title. After a short regency, Thulare II’s brother Morwamoche III was installed as acting kgosikgolo, and he was to raise seed for Thulare II’s house. The commission says it is common cause that a woman, Mankopodi, bore a son, Sekhukhune III, in that union. The two sides disagreed about her status: the claimant said she was married as a surrogate wife (seantlo) to Thulare II’s deceased wife, while the respondent said she was brought to the royal household as a nursemaid and later married after a pregnancy.
The commission records that after Morwamoche III died in 1965 Mankopodi was installed as acting kgosigadi, that in 1974 a conflict with the royal council led to her being deposed and banished, and that Kgagudi Sekhukhune, a son of Morwamoche III by another wife, was installed as acting kgosikgolo in 1976. Sekhukhune III’s own attempts to take the throne, including litigation, failed, though he was installed in 1992 and, according to the commission, briefly in 1999; he died in 2007. His son Thulare Victor Thulare (born 1988) brought the claim. The commission also refers to two judgments by Judge van Dijkhorst, in 1991 and 1994, in the long litigation between Sekhukhune III and Kgagudi Sekhukhune.
What the commission decided
The commission found that Mankopodi was a seantlo to Thulare II’s wife Lekgolane, that Sekhukhune III was the rightful heir and successor in title to Thulare II, that Manyaku was married as a candle wife for him, and that Sekhukhune III’s failure to take the throne was not a repudiation because it was impossible in the circumstances. It found that the appointment of Kenneth Kgakgudi Sekhukhune as acting kgosikgolo of the Bapedi ba Maroteng “was irregular and not in line with the customs and customary laws of Bapedi”, because the councils overlooked Sekhukhune III’s brother Ramphelane and the other sons of Thulare II in order of rank, and because two sets of councils existed and the decision was taken by only one. It concluded that Thulare Victor Thulare is the rightful heir to the kingship of the Bapedi. It also noted that the Bapedi nation “continues to be divided to date”.
This is a contested matter. The respondent’s arguments, which the commission rejected, included that his blood through Sekhukhune I and II was “thicker” and that Thulare II was illegitimate. We have not read any court judgment after the determination, any response from the respondent’s house, or any later developments, and we are not taking a side. Please treat the commission’s findings as the commission’s.
Izithakazelo (direto) and totem
We have not found a published text of the Sekhukhune praises, so we are not printing one. If you belong to the Pedi royal house and recite the direto, we would like to record them, with your permission and credited to you.
Sources and further reading
- Commission on Traditional Leadership Disputes and Claims: Determination on the dispute of Bapedi between Thulare Victor Thulare and Kenneth Kgagudi Sekhukhune (pp. 192 to 304 of the PDF)
- Wikipedia: Sekhukhune (cites South African History Online, Delius, 1984, Delius and Rüther, 2013, and Kinsey; several passages are tagged as unreliable)
- South African History Online: Pedi and Anglo-Pedi wars, 1876 to 1879
See also our Maroteng and Bapedi pages.
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