Bakwena (also Bakoena, Bakoni) means “people of the crocodile.” It is one of the largest and oldest Sotho-Tswana clan groups, and many other well-known groups – the Bangwato, Bangwaketse, Bakgatla and the royal house of Lesotho among them – trace their descent from it.
Meaning and totem
The name comes directly from kwena – “crocodile” in Setswana, Sesotho and Sepedi. The crocodile is the clan’s seboko (totem): members traditionally do not kill, eat or harm it, and the animal appears in the clan’s praises and greetings. Because so many groups branched off from the Bakwena while keeping the crocodile totem, kwena is sometimes called the “genealogical totem” of the Sotho-Tswana as a whole.
Origins
Sotho-Tswana oral tradition traces the Bakwena to Kwena, remembered as a grandson of Masilo of the senior Bahurutshe house, at a time usually placed around the fourteenth century. The clan is associated in tradition with Ntsuanatsatsi (Ntswanatsatsi), the mythic place of origin of the Sotho-Tswana, and with an early settlement at Tebang, later Heidelberg in present-day Gauteng.
From roughly 1500 the Bakwena spread across the Highveld and into the Kalahari fringe. Successive splits – often after disputes over the chieftaincy – produced a family of related nations:
- Bangwato, Bangwaketse and Bakwena of Molepolole in what is now Botswana, all descended from the sons of Kgabo and Malope.
- Bakgatla, who separated early and took the monkey (kgabo) as their totem.
- South African Bakwena groups including Bakwena ba Mogopa, ba Modimosana and ba Mare-a-Phogole, spread across the North West and Limpopo.
- The founding line of Lesotho’s royal house, through Monaheng, from which King Moshoeshoe I came.
Direto (praises)
Bakwena praises open by naming the crocodile and the clan’s descent. Wording differs widely between the Botswana, Free State, Lesotho and North West branches. A commonly heard opening is:
Kwena!
Mmutla o motona!
Ba ga Kgabo!
Ba ba jang ka lehuma, ba sa je ka kwena ya bona!
(“Crocodile! … those of Kgabo! … who do not eat their own crocodile.”) We have not been able to confirm a single authoritative full text; the version currently on this page came from a secondary source and we would like to replace it with one verified by clan elders.
Where the Bakwena are today
Bakwena communities are found in Botswana (notably Molepolole, seat of the Bakwena paramountcy), across Lesotho, and in South Africa’s North West, Free State, Gauteng and Limpopo provinces. The surnames Kwena, Mokwena and many house names (Mogopa, Modimosana and others) belong to this group.
Related clans
Bafokeng, Barolong, Bahurutshe, Bakgatla, Bangwato, Bangwaketse, Bapedi and the Basotho royal line are all connected to the Bakwena through descent or shared totem.
Sources and further reading
- Wikipedia: “Kwena clan,” “Sotho-Tswana peoples,” “List of Sotho-Tswana clans.”
- Isaac Schapera, The Tswana (1953) and A Handbook of Tswana Law and Custom – standard references on Tswana clan structure.
- D. F. Ellenberger, History of the Basuto, Ancient and Modern (1912) – for the Kwena-Basotho line.
Help us improve this page. The Bakwena are spread across four countries and many houses, each with its own praises and history. If you can supply a verified seboko text or your house’s oral history, send us a WhatsApp on 065 138 8213 or use our contact page. We credit contributors who wish to be named.