The Bapedi (also called the Marota, or Maroteng for the royal house) built one of the most formidable 19th-century kingdoms in the South African interior, centred on the mountain stronghold of Thaba Mosega in what is now Limpopo. Their history is dominated by two remarkable rulers – Sekwati, who rebuilt the kingdom after the Mfecane, and his son Sekhukhune, who fought the Boer republic and the British Empire to a standstill before being defeated.
Origins
Several sources trace the Marota back to the Bakgatla of the western Transvaal, who are said to have moved east to the Steelpoort River area in the central-eastern Transvaal. Other accounts are less certain about the precise origin of the name “Bapedi” itself, and some missionary-era records simply note that the group had already been settled along the Steelpoort for close to two centuries by the time of European contact. One tradition credits an early founder, Thobela, with establishing the porcupine as the clan’s totem. Given the differing accounts, the earliest migration history should be treated as unsettled rather than fixed fact.
Sekwati and the rebuilding of the kingdom
Sekhukhune’s father, Sekwati, ruled as paramount king of the Maroteng from around 1824 until 1861, succeeding his own father Thulare. Sekwati’s reign is remembered for rebuilding the Marota state in the aftermath of the Mfecane’s upheavals, while maintaining an uneasy peace with the Voortrekker settlers moving into the region.
Sekhukhune and the wars for independence
Sekhukhune (also written Sekhukhune I or Matsebe, c. 1814-1882) took the throne in 1861 after a contested succession against his half-brother Mampuru II, whom he allowed to leave Bapedi territory peacefully once his own claim was secured. He built the kingdom into a genuinely multi-ethnic state stretching between the Vaal and Limpopo rivers, absorbing or allying with groups such as the Bakgaga, Batau and Bakone, and used strategic marriages to cement alliances with neighbouring royal houses.
Sekhukhune’s kingdom fought a war against the South African Republic (the Transvaal Boer republic) from 1876, and was ultimately defeated in December 1879 by a British force that notably included a large Swazi contingent. Sekhukhune was imprisoned in Pretoria; after his release he was assassinated in 1882 by Mampuru II, who had returned from exile. Following Sekhukhune’s death, the colonial administration broke Sekhukhuneland up into smaller “tribal” units, deliberately weakening the unified Marota kingdom that Sekwati and Sekhukhune had built.
Totem and related clans
Tradition associates the Maroteng royal house with the porcupine (noko) as totem – a detail consistent with the wider Sotho-Tswana practice of organising clan identity around a seboko (totem animal or object) rather than praise-names alone in the Nguni style.
Geography
Bapedi territory is centred on the Sekhukhuneland region of modern Limpopo province, around the Steelpoort and upper Olifants river valleys, with Thaba Mosega as the historic royal stronghold.
Izithakazelo / direko
We have not yet sourced a confirmed written record of the Bapedi royal praises (direto). If you can help us document them accurately, please get in touch using the details below.
What the government commission found
The Commission on Traditional Leadership Disputes and Claims also heard a dispute over the succession to the Pedi royal house in the twentieth century, between Thulare Victor Thulare and Kenneth Kgagudi Sekhukhune. It found that Kgagudi Sekhukhune’s appointment as acting kgosikgolo was irregular and that Thulare Victor Thulare is the rightful heir. That is a contested matter and the page on it records both sides’ arguments: see our Sekhukhune, Maroteng and Mampuru pages.
Sources and further reading
- South African History Online, “King Sekhukhune”
- Wikipedia, “Sekhukhune” and “Sekwati”
- Ditsong Museums of South Africa, background on the Bapedi kingdom
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