Who the Bangwaketse are
The Bangwaketse (also written BaNgwaketse or Ngwaketse) are described by Wikipedia as one of the eight principal tribes of Botswana and as ethnic Tswana. Kanye, in the Southern District, is the original Bangwaketse village, settled in 1853 and first called Ntsweng Hill. Wikipedia’s article on Gaseitsiwe says the tribe was reunited in June 1853, and Kanye is the Bangwaketse capital today.
Origins and the break from the Bakwena
Published accounts agree that the Bangwaketse separated from the Bakwena, but not on the details. Wikipedia’s article on Moleta says Mongala is generally considered the first kgosi of the independent Bangwaketse, while some Bakwena accounts place Moleta at the head of the tribe when it split. Our Bakwena page has the wider picture of the groups that descend from them.
Moleta, about 1770 to about 1790
Moleta, son of Mongala, became kgosi after a quarrel with the Bakgwatlheng. He injured Seeiso, a son of the Bakgwatlheng chief Tau, and the Bakgwatlheng left. Mongala pursued them and was killed in the fighting. To avenge his father Moleta attacked the Bakgwatlheng and destroyed their tribe, though many survivors later returned, including Seeiso, who became head of a ward. During wars with southern tribes he moved the tribe from Seoke to the Pitsa Hills, where stone walls were built. He is also recorded as fighting the Bahurutshe on behalf of their leader Tirwe, whose rule had been usurped by his half-brother Boikanyo. Wikipedia says his reign marked the start of the Bangwaketse as a major regional trading power.
The accounts of his death differ. Bangwaketse tradition holds that he died of old age, while the missionary John Campbell recorded a story that his son Makaba poisoned him out of jealousy over one of his wives.
Makaba II, about 1760 to 1824
Moleta’s son Makaba II succeeded around 1790. He raided cattle from the Bakwena, Barolong and Batlhaping, and the article says these raids made the Bangwaketse the strongest tribe in the area. He used the cattle wealth to attract immigrants, and from 1820 to 1824 he took control of the Mmanaana Kgatla. In 1824 he welcomed the missionary Robert Moffat at Kgwakgwe.
His sons were Tshosa and Segotshane (by one wife) and Sebego (by another). The article says his control weakened as his sons worked with the Bakwena against him. Tshosa rebelled openly in 1823 and was killed, and Segotshane fled to the Barolong after the rebellion was defeated. Makaba himself was killed in 1824 while fighting an invasion by the Bakololo from the south. Tshosa had died first, so the throne passed to Tshosa’s son Gaseitsiwe, with Sebego and Segotshane acting as regents, and the tribe entered a period of strife.
Gaseitsiwe and the return to Kanye
Gaseitsiwe (about 1820 to 1889) was the rightful heir, with his uncles acting as regents. His uncle Sebego seized power as regent and the tribe split around 1830; Gaseitsiwe joined Segotshane’s alliance against Sebego. Gaseitsiwe fled to the Barolong with his mother and returned about 1844 to repel Sebego. He took control after the Batswana and Boer war of 1852 to 1853, reunited the tribe in June 1853, and consolidated his power in 1857. A London Missionary Society evangelist, Sebobi, taught him to read, but he did not convert. He was tolerant of the mission and had age regiments help build a church. In 1881 the Balete captured and ransomed him after a failed attempt to seize control over them, which shifted power toward his son Bathoen I, who succeeded him in 1889.
Izithakazelo (direto) and totem
None of the sources we read gives the Bangwaketse totem (seboko) or a praise text, so we are not printing either. If you belong to the Bangwaketse and recite the clan praises, we would like to record them, with your permission and credited to you.
Sources and further reading
- Wikipedia: Ngwaketse
- Wikipedia: Moleta
- Wikipedia: Makaba II (the dates for his birth and reign are marked approximate)
- Wikipedia: Gaseitsiwe
These articles draw on Isaac Schapera, “A Short History of the Bangwaketse” (African Studies, 1942), Barry Morton and Jeff Ramsay’s Historical Dictionary of Botswana (2018) and Burke’s Royal Families of the World. Fred Morton’s “The Rise of a Raiding State: Makaba II’s Ngwaketse, c. 1780 to 1824” (New Contree, 2014) is the key study of Makaba’s reign. We have not read these works first-hand, so check dates against them.
Do you belong to the Bangwaketse? Tell us your praises, your totem and what elders say about the tribe’s history, and we will add it, credited to you. Share what you know or WhatsApp 065 138 8213.