Who the Bahananwa are
J. A. van Schalkwyk and S. M. Moifatswane’s article “The Siege of Leboho” (Military History Journal, vol. 8, no. 5) says the Hananwa lived at Blouberg in the northern Transvaal, now Limpopo, and explains that the spelling Hananwa uses an h where earlier writers wrote g (Ganawa, Lebogo), because the sound does not occur in their dialect. The authors say a faction under Chief Kibi had split off generations earlier. The Capricorn District Municipality says the language mostly spoken in the area is Sehananwa, though written in Sepedi. See Bagananwa for the older spelling.
The siege of 1894
The article says the South African Republic declared war on Chief Leboho (also written Malaboch in other sources) in 1894, and that from early May to the end of July burghers under General Piet Joubert besieged the Hananwa to force surrender. It says about 1,760 burghers from seven commandos took part, with about 700 allied tribal men, and that the Hananwa had some help from the Lobedu of Madjadji and the Venda of Makhado according to tradition. Because the burghers climbed the mountain from four directions and built at least 20 forts encircling the capital, which cut off its water and food, the authors say the war was won by blockade; dynamite attacks on the caves where the Hananwa sheltered failed. They say Chiefs Kibi, Masebe, Matlala and Mapene fought for the Republic, largely from feuds with the Hananwa, and that Morotsi’s village was attacked on 14 June and driven out.
Leboho surrendered to Joubert on 31 July 1894 and was taken to Pretoria with his councillors. A military court found him guilty but he was never convicted, and was freed in 1900 after the British took Pretoria and returned to rule until his death in 1939. The article says that after the war Hananwa women and children were indentured to burghers in six Transvaal districts for five years, for food and clothing only, though many returned to Blouberg. It says that even today many tribal elders regard the siege as a major source of injustice. The authors work from documents, fort remains and field interviews, and they argue the burghers’ strategy was debatable.
Malebogo
A Capricorn District Municipality article of 30 September 2024 says the Bahananwa ba Malebogo community, under Kgoshi Ngako Malebogo, held a heritage celebration on 21 September 2024 at Malebogo, a village outside Senwabarwana, and that the community originates from Botswana; it names Kgoshi Sello Moroka III from Botswana as attending. It gives no other history and does not mention Leboho, so we do not know how the Malebogo community relates to Leboho’s chiefdom; the two may be different Hananwa groups.
What we have not read
We have not read Rae’s Malaboch (1898), Sonntag’s My Friend Maleboch, Weidemann’s 1946 article, or the 1905 Transvaal native affairs history that the siege article cites. A City Press piece on the siege appeared in a search, but it would not open. The date the siege article was published is not on the page. We found no praises or confirmed totem, and we do not know who leads the Bahananwa today.
Izithakazelo (direto) and totem
We are printing no Bahananwa praises or totem because none has been confirmed. If you belong to the Bahananwa and recite your direto, we would like to record them, with your permission and credited to you.
Sources and further reading
- J. A. van Schalkwyk and S. M. Moifatswane: The Siege of Leboho: South African Republic Fortifications in the Blouberg, Northern Transvaal (Military History Journal 8:5)
- Capricorn District Municipality: Bahananwa from Malebogo celebrates their history (30 September 2024)
Do you belong to the Bahananwa? 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.