Who the Batau are
Wikipedia’s article on the Batau clan describes them as a Sotho-Tswana-speaking people who settled in Sekhukhuneland, Limpopo, and gives their totem as the lion (tau), citing the writer Chris Kanyane. The article carries a notice, dated March 2026, asking for more citations, and almost none of its narrative is cited, so please read what follows as the tradition the article records, not as established history. Do not confuse the Batau with the Bataung of the Free State, whose name also means “people of the lion”; we have found no source linking the two.
Two accounts of the origin
The opening of the Wikipedia article says the Batau lived in Swaziland, moved to the Lake Chrissie area from Wakkerstroom, and were later displaced by colonialism and the Mfecane before settling in Sekhukhuneland. The History section instead says that, in the 14th and 15th centuries, the communities shared a history under a Kgoshi Ngwato along the Crocodile River in Mpumalanga, then moved to the Pretoria area under a leader called Matlebo, and later north to Sekhukhune under Matlebjane. The two passages do not agree, and the article gives no dates for any of the moves except the 14th and 15th centuries. The Ga Masemola article we read (see Masemola) repeats the Swazi origin and adds that the Batau lived on the Crocodile River, which it calls the Mokwena River, for about 200 years; it too gives no sources.
Matlebo, Matlebjane and his sons
According to the article, Matlebo led the clan around Pretoria and died without an heir, and his younger brother Matlebjane succeeded him and ruled for a long time. Matlebjane is said to have had six sons by different wives: Mokwena, Seloane, Mogashoa (described as his sister’s son), Masemola, Phaahla and Photo.
The tradition says Matlebjane favoured a younger wife and her son Photo, who was still a teenager. Four of the brothers, fearing Photo would inherit, plotted to kill their father and persuaded Photo to strike the blow so that he alone would bear the blame; their spears were said to have been bent so that only Photo’s would pierce the king. The community learned of the plot, and after the king’s death the clan divided among the sons and scattered. The Ga Masemola article tells the same story with different details (it says the spears were blunted, and that the eldest son did not take part) and names the same sons. We print this as a tradition recorded on Wikipedia, and which the Ga Masemola article itself says historians should rewrite, not as a settled account, and we have not found the underlying books.
Batau groups today
The article lists present-day groups including Batau ba Masemola, Batau ba Malata a Manyane/Mawela, Batau ba Manganeng and Batau ba Marishane, and names communities such as Phaahla, Kgaphola/Diphofa, Mogashoa, Nchabeleng, Maroteng, Mohlaletsi, Malatane and Mmotwaneng; most are not explained. Our Masemola and Nkadimeng pages look at two of them (see that page for what we have found).
What we have not read
The Wikipedia article lists as its sources Kanyane’s writings on the Batau, M. M. Makgaleng’s Batau ba Tsitlana (1956), and E. M. Ramaila’s Setlogo sa Batau (1937). We have not read any of them. We have not seen how Batau groups relate to the Pedi paramountcy, and nothing here covers the present.
Izithakazelo (direto)
We have not found a published text of the Batau praises, so we are not printing one. If you belong to the Batau and recite the direto, we would like to record them, with your permission and credited to you.
Sources and further reading
- Wikipedia: Batau clan (cites Kanyane; Makgaleng, 1956; Ramaila, 1937; carries a citation notice and has an inconsistent lead)
- Wikipedia: Ga Masemola (uncited narrative, partisan in tone)
Do you belong to the Batau? Tell us your praises, your totem and what elders say about the history, and we will add it, credited to you. Share what you know or WhatsApp 065 138 8213.