Who the Batlharo are
The Dictionary of South African English defines the Batlharo as a Tswana people living mainly in the Kuruman region of the Northern Cape, from Setswana baTlharo, with the original meaning of the stem unknown. Its earliest citation is W. C. Harris’s 1839 Wild Sports, which names “the Barolong and Batlaroo tribes, branches of the Bechuana”, and it quotes a 1905 writer who names the Batlharo among Tswana groups noted for honesty. A 1969 race-relations report is also quoted as listing the Batlharo among groups considered for “black spot” removals. Wikipedia’s article on Toto Makgolokwe says most Batlharo live in and around Kuruman, in the John Taolo Gaetsewe District Municipality, and that others live in Namibia, having moved there when the Langeberg war began.
Toto Makgolokwe
That article, a stub tagged for lacking inline citations, calls Toto the paramount chief of the Batlharo in South Africa and a “Freedom Warrior”, and says that in the Langeberg Rebellion of 1896 to 1897 his forces defeated British military units, that British reinforcements then defeated the Batlharo and captured Toto and Kgosi Galeshewe, that Toto was convicted for protecting and sheltering Galeshewe, that his eldest son Robanyane Toto was arrested with him and held on Robben Island, and that Toto died on Robben Island, without a date. It says Galeshewe died in 1927 at Magogong, Phokwane, Taung, after more than 20 years in prison over several periods. Its sources are a Volksblad report of 3 October 2007 and an oral testimonial from Kgosi J. B. Toto.
A manuscript
The University of Pretoria holds, in the van Warmelo Collection, a Tswana manuscript by B. Mogorosi, “Short histories of Barolong, Bathlaro and others” (1939, 8 pages, with a 13-page transcript). The record gives only the title and page count; we have not read it.
What we have not read
We have not read Mogorosi’s manuscript, the Volksblad report, Schapera or Comaroff on the Batlharo and Barolong, or any account of the Langeberg rebellion. We do not know how the Batlharo relate to the Barolong and Batlhaping beyond the dictionary’s grouping, and we have found no praise text, totem or list of Batlharo chiefs. We do not know who leads the Batlharo now.
Izithakazelo (direto) and totem
We are printing no Batlharo praises or totem because none has been confirmed. If you belong to the Batlharo and recite your direto, we would like to record them, with your permission and credited to you.
Sources and further reading
- Dictionary of South African English: Batlharo
- Wikipedia: Toto Makgolokwe (stub; tagged for citations)
- University of Pretoria: Short histories of Barolong, Bathlaro and others (B. Mogorosi, 1939; catalogue record only)
See also Batlhaping and Bangwaketse.
Do you belong to the Batlharo? 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.