Kgosi[Chief] Abram Ramotshere Pogiso Moiloa, a key figure in the Bahurutshe resistance of the 1950s, took office in 1932 at the age of 22. He went up ‘to standard five [grade seven] level’ at a local school and then attended Tiger Kloof Native Institution, a London Missionary Society school established near Vryburg [North West Province] in 1904 for a couple of years.

Conflict between the Hurutshe and the apartheid state came into the open in the early 1950s when [H.F.] Verwoerd summoned chiefs, including Kgosi Moila, to Rustenberg [North West Province] to secure their agreement to the implementation of Bantu Affairs.

KgosiMoiloa described the meeting and his reaction in the following way: ‘We were called to Rustenberg to hear about this law: “Why do you try to persuade us to sign this Act when already you have passed it in your Parliament?” I was told to sit down. Dr Verwoerd did not answer the question. It seems to us that they just want us Chiefs to sign a document that says “Destroy me, baas! Let them destroy us without our signatures.”

During 1955, KgosiMoiloa ‘closed the Lutheran church and boycotted its centenary celebrations,’ and railed ‘against the Bantu Authorities Act, the Bantu Education Act and the suggested removal of the Hurutshe “black spots.”’ Considered a “thorn in the flesh” of the Native Affairs Department (NAD) he ‘was placed under investigation, “with a view to requesting the department to remove him from the chieftainship and banish him from Linokana Reserve (Zeerust), Marico District, Transvaal [North West Transvaal, now North West Province].” A subsequent inquiry conducted by the Native Commissioner (NC) for Pilansberg found Abraham “guilty” of eighteen charges of misconduct.’

On 22 March 1957, the government issued Notice No. 421 proclaiming that passes were to be issued to Hurutshe women. A week later, Kgosi Moiloa was summoned by the NC to his office in Zeerust and ‘was instructed to command his women to present themselves at the Dinokana kgotla on 1 April to receive their Reference Books.’  On 1 April 1957, only 76 women presented themselves for reference books.  As Dinokana was the royal village, this was a major setback to the NC’s plans.

Kgosi Moiloa was ordered to a meeting that was to be addressed by the Chief Regional Commissioner. At this meeting, he was told that ‘You are Chief no longer. You are deposed. In 14 days be out of this village. Without the permission of the Native Commissioner you are not to return.’

The documentation related to his banishment set out the circumstances from the perspective of the state: ‘instead of urging that the women apply for’ pass books ‘he encouraged them to refuse,’ and he also created the conditions for state officials being forced to flee Bahurutshe, and for “leftists” ‘to burn down the houses of and assault the peace-loving population.’ In addition, although he left Dinokana ‘…to stay with a family member in Ventersdorp…he kept interfering in tribal matters through the use of messengers.’ Finally, recourse was made to the view of a Commission of Enquiry ‘that Moiloa needed to be moved further away, “not based on any allegations of misconduct… but solely as a matter of policy dictated by the Native view that “Once a Chief, always a Chief.”’

KgosiMoiloa had returned to Dinokana following the death of his partner in November 1957, and in order ‘to not be able to influence administrative or other affairs there,’hewas banished on 27 February 1958 to ‘Binfield Native Reserve’ in the Victoria East district of the Cape [Eastern Province, now Eastern Cape]. However, ‘he crossed into Botswana in late January 1958 and”¦sought protection for himself and a number of his followers from the bamaNgwato paramount Tshekedi Kgama at Pilikwe.’ He was connected to the African National Congress (ANC) in exile and also to a ‘number of recruits from Dinokana who served in the celebrated Luthuli Detachment. These men recall encountering him both in Botswana and in Dar-es-Salaam, Tanzania, in the late 1960s.’ Kgosi Moiloa was also a ‘catalyst for the many men who went into exile from’ Bahurutshe.

His banishment order was revoked on 1 January 1971. Today, in acknowledgment of his contributions to the struggle for democracy a local municipalitywith Zeerust as the seatbears the name Ramotshere Moiloa.

Leboko la Bahurutshe (tottem)

Mmamokgatiti wa lewa
Tshwene ke naiwa mmele
Makopong ga ke naiwe
Ke sirelediwa ke seriba.
Tshwene fa di ya masimo
Go eta tshwenegadi pele
Rotwe a sale kwa morago
A sale a di retolola.
Ke ne ke fudile ka tlatsa
Ka kgopiwa ka relela ka
wa
Papalo tsa ya le maritse
Matlapa ‘etsho a borethe

Tseo, ke tshwene tsa ga
Malope-a-Masilo
Ba ga. Sebogodi-aMenwe-a-Moilwa
Bana ba ntswe la Tswenyane

BAHURUTSHE Go ya ka hisetori le bakwadi ba bangwe Merafe ya Batswana e tswa mo Bahurutsheng mme kganetsano ke gore fa merafe ya Batswana e tsamaya e kgaogana Bahurutshe le bona e ne ele karolo ya kgaogano fela jaaka maphata a mangwe. Bahurutshe le Barolong ke bangwe ba Merafe e metona ya Batswana.

Fa Batswana ba fitlha mo borwa ba Aforika ba ne bantse batsamaya ba kgaogana ka ntlha ya dintwa, go lwelwa bogosi, gantsi e ne ele magareng ga bana ba mpa. Magareng ga ngwaga ya 1400 le 1500, morago ga loso la ga kgosi Malope, morwaadiagwe e bong Mohurutshe wa ntlo e tona o ne a tshwanetse go tsena mo bogosing. Batho bangwe bane ba rata gore morwarraagwe Kwena wa ntlo e nnye e nne ena kgosi. Ntwa e ne ele gore a Ngwana wa ntlo e tona le fa e le morwadi e nne ena kgosi gongwe bogosi e nne jwa Morwa le fa ele wa ntlo ya bobedi.

Se sene sa tlhola ntwa le kgaogano. Mohurutshe o ne a pateletsega go tswa kwa Mabjanamatshwana a tsamaela ntlheng ya borwa le balatedi ba gagwe. Setlhopha se sengwe se ne sa sala Kwena Morago mme ba itsege jaaka Bakwena. Morago ga gore a ikele Badimong, barwa ba gagwe ba babedi Motebele le Motebejane ba fudugela le morafe kwa bokone bophirima jwa lefelo le itsegeng jaanong jaaka Witwatersrand.

Period of Traditional History.

The earliest Chief of whom the BaRolong have any recollection is Morolong after whom the tribe is named. As one informant put the situation,
“When God had created us, the BaRolong, He saw that we needed a Chief, and so He gave us Morolong”.

We do not know by what outstanding achievement in the history of the tribe Morolong made such an indelible impression upon them that they decided to regard him as the founder of the tribe.

It is probable that he was the Chief under whose leadership the BaRolong broke away from the parent tribe to which they once belonged; it may be that he introduced certain notable improvements in their social organisation or in their, material culture; he may have distinguished himself in some other way in the life of the tribe.

The BaRolong are unable at present to provide a clue to the solution of this question. Nor can any reliable information be obtained regarding the probable date of the reign of Morolong. The only way in which this can be estimated is by reckoning the number of Chiefs who ruled the tribe after his death up to the time of which we have more or less reliable information.

Judging by the number of Chiefs who are reputed to have occupied the BaRolong throne before the death of Tau which is generally placed at 1760, it is probable that Morolong reigned in the latter part of the 14th or the early part of the 15th century.

Some estimates put his reign in the latter part of the 15th or the early part of the 16th century. Morolong is reputed to have been followed in the chieftainship by Noto, his son. Noto (Iron Hammer) must also have been a remarkable man or his reign must have been marked by outstanding events in the history of the tribe, because the BaRolong often refer to themselves as Ba-binaTshipi (i.e. those-who-revere-Iron).

It is suggested that this subsidiary Barolong seboko (totem) is derived from the name of Noto (Iron Hammer). Very few chiefs in Tswana history have had their names honoured in this way.

The BaKwena are a case in point. Their seboko is supposed to be Kwena (the crocodile) derived from the name of Kwena, the Chief under whose leadership the tribe hived off from the BaHurutshe. Some historians say that it was during the reign of Noto that the BaRolong reached the region of the Molopo. This may account for the prominence given to his name in BaRolong tradition.

On the other hand some suggest that the tribe reached the region of the Molopo during the reign of Morara, the son of Noto.

The popularity of the name Morara among the royal lineage groups of the BaRolong seems to suggest that this Chief of whom little is otherwise known also left his mark on the tribe.

Once settled in the region of the Molopo the tribe prospered and grew in numbers and was ruled in succession by a number of Chiefs whose reigns were apparently uneventful. These were Mabe, Mabua, Monoto, Mabeo and Modibowa. Stow records that Monoto is said to have been ” skilful in invention and resources”, whatever that means, but as regards the others practically nothing is known.

Modibowa is said to have left two sons, namely, Mooki and Tshesebe, the former being the elder. A quarrel over succession to the chieftainship arose between the two brothers, although according to custom there should have been no doubt about Mooki being the rightful heir to the chieftainship. However Tshesebe seems to have had the support of the bulk of the people in his claim: The reasons for this attitude on the part of the tribe are obscure.

It is possible that Mooki may have had certain undesirable features in his character which did not commend themselves to the tribe. , On the other hand although Mooki was older than Tshesebe as far as age was concerned it may be that his mother was inferior in status to the mother of Tshesebe. In other words they may have been the sons of Modibowa by different wives and therefore different in status.

It is common knowledge that among the Bantu the son of the chief wife is the one entitled to the chieftainship and the chief wife is not always the first wife married. The latter custom sometimes results in the rightful heir being younger than some son or sons of his father by a junior wife or wives.

Whatever may have been the reason for the support which Tshesebe obtained, the result of the quarrel was that he broke away from the main body of the tribe with his followers and established himself at a place called Setlagole, about 45 miles west of the present town of Mafikeng. Those loyal to the elder son remained with him.

Relation to other Tribes.

Nor is it easy to determine the exact relationship of the BaRolong to other Tswana tribes. The BaNgwato and the BaNgwaketse speak of themselves as genealogically related to the BaKwena whom they regard as their seniors, and these three
tribes admit relationship to or descent from the BaHurutshe.

But the BaRolong claim to be entirely unconnected with the former tribes. As far as they are concerned at no time in their remembered history or tradition did they ever with these tribes form part of one political unit from which they hived off for one reason or another.

The BaRolong do, however, recognise the seniority among Tswana tribes of the Hurutshe to whom they give precedence in ritual and ceremony, if they happen to be present. This would seem to imply that the BaRolong separated from these tribes between whom and themselves there is fairly close affinity in language, customs and culture generally, so long ago that they have lost all knowledge of their exact relationship with them.

Stow points out that the early separation of the BaRolong from other Tswana tribes may also be gathered from the fact that the dialect of Tswana which they speak
commonly called Se-Rolong is regarded by the Tswana themselves to be sufficiently distinct to merit a special name. This is of course nothing to go by, because every Tswana group speaking a distinctive dialect of Tswana, for example, Se-Tlhware, Se-Tlhaping, Se-Hurutshe, Se-Ngwato and so forth, considers that it is deserving of a distinctive appellation.

At all events the BaRolong consciousness of their lack of genealogical relationship with the tribes referred to above may be due to the fact that a considerable interval of time separated their departure from their original home from that of the others, or if they left together, they must have parted company very early in their migration southwards.

The BaRolong admit, however, that the BaTlhaping who live to the south of them are related to them and once formed together with them a single tribe having as its seboko (totem) the koodoo (tholo). Here again it is difficult to say when they divided into the two independent tribes which they have since become. It is known, however, that as long ago as in the reign of Tau among the BaRolong, the latter attempted to regain their former hegemony over the Batlhaping,

but their efforts proved abortive. Since the time of Chief Montshiwa among the Tshidi BaRolong and Chief Mankurwane among the Tlhaping fairly good relations have prevailed between the two tribes, partly because of the united front which these Chiefs endeavoured to maintain against European encroachment on the territory which they claimed as their own in the latter part of the last century, but the BaRolong continue to regard the Batlhaping as their juniors in status (bo-monna-bone).

The Origin of the Barolong.

It is difficult to say with certainty where the original home of the BaRolong may have been. Like all the Bantu now living in the South they must have come from somewhere north of the Zambezi where African tribes speaking languages related to theirs in structure if not in vocabulary, and resembling them in physical features are to be found.

According to their own traditions, although they do not know the name of the country from which they came, their old men relate that their forefathers had dim recollections of a land in which rain was plentiful, which was traversed by great rivers and expansive lakes and where the fertility of the soil made things grow relatively easily.s This description seems to point to the region of the Great Lakes of Central Mrica as the original home of the BaRolong.

We have no information as to the reasons which led the BaRolong and other Bantu tribes to leave a country such as this which appears to have had all the elements of a land flowing with milk and honey.

We can only suppose that they were driven from their desirable home either by internal dissensions, especially in connection with succession to the chieftainship, which were so common in the old tribal days and which would perhaps have been no less common today but for the Pax Brittanica, or by the invasion of their land by more powerful peoples under whom they were not prepared to live, or by the dreadful pests dangerous alike to human and animal life which thrive in tropical countries and to this day render vasts tracts of the African continent uninhabitable.

Whatever the cause of their southward migration the BaRolong appear to have been preceded by other tribes in their southward march, for when they reached the part of South Africa which they have since made their home, they did not find it uninhabited.

They found dwelling in it other tribes, some of them speaking languages not altogether unintelligible to them and with physical features not unlike their own.” In the struggle
that ensued for the mastery of the country the BaRolong proved too much for, at least, some of the earlier inhabitants.

When they had duly subdued them they pressed them into their service to perform their menial and unpleasant tasks, the men of the conquered tribes taking charge of their cattle posts often at great distances from their central villages, in contact with wild beasts against which the stock had to be protected, while the women did duty as maidservants drawing water, hewing wood, building and keeping in good condition both the interior and exterior of their houses, taking care of the children of their conquerors and generally making themselves useful about the home.

The tribes which were subjugated in this way included the Bakgalagadi and the BaLala, and today when these tribes have largely ceased to be under BaRolong domination to the same extent, their tribal names-Bakgalagadi and BaLala-have passed into ordinary BaRolong speech as terms of abuse or contempt.

The BaRolong belong to the Western cluster of the Sotho group of the Bantu-speaking tribes of South Africa. They are among the best known of the Tswana tribes. As regards their location the BaRolong are scattered over a considerable portion of South Africa. They have impo~tant settlements in different parts of the portion of the Cape Province known as British Bcchuanaland; in the Bechuanaland Protectorate they are settled not only in the Lobatsi district but as far away as in Ngamiland in the country of the Tawana and in the Ghanzi district; 1 in the Transvaal they are found principally in the district of Lichtenburg at Polfontein (Bodibe) and at Khunwana and in the Orange Free State in the district of Thaba Nchu. As I have pointed out elsewhere,’ owing to the geographical distribution of their settlements, prior to the formation of Union in 1910 the BaRolong fell under the jurisdiction of four different European Governments, namely, the governments of Cape Colony, Bechuanaland Protectorate, the Transvaal Republic and the Orange River Colony. The formation of Union reduced the number of European governments to which they are subiect to two, namelv the Union Government and the Bechuanaland ~Protectorate Administration

The real home of the BaRolong, however, has for many generations been in British nechuana~ land, where apart from having settlements of considerable dimensions at places such as Morokweng and . Ganyesa in the district of Vryburg; Mafikcng, Lotlhakane, Phitshanc, Tshidilamolomo, Sctlagolc, Disaneng, l\1:areetsanc and others in the district of Mafeking, they have at various times in their history moved over the greater part

of this territory, leaving their ruins, great and small, in numerous places. The Rev. John Campbell, of the London Missionary Society, made contact with them during his visit to Lattakoo (Dithakong) in 1813;3 they were also visited by the Rev. Robert Moffat, the L.M.S. missionary of Kuruman fame, in 1824 who “at a place called Mositc received definite information that the Mantatees were in actual possession of the Barolong town”.’ Hodgson and Broadbent,S the Methodist missionaries, were together with them at Matlwasi, near the present Klerksdorp, just before they were attacked by the Batlokwa under Moletsane. Hodgson and Archbell were with them at Platberg· (Motlhanawapitse) north of Warrenton after they had moved from Matlwasi, and when they moved thence to Thaba Nchu in 1833 they were accompanied by the Methodist missionaries, Archben and Edwards’ who had in the meantime succeeded Hodgson.

Thaba Nchu decided to trek northwards again to return to their traditional home. In the course of this northward migration some of them went as far as Moshaneng in the country of the BaNgwaketse (in the Bechuanaland Protectorate), while others remained in the vicinity of the Mafeking and V ryburg di.tricts and others remained in the Transvaal. They have in the course of their history been driven hither and thither by warfare with different peoples such as the BaTlhaping, the Korana, the Batlokwa, the Matebele and the emigrant Boers who founded the Dutch Republics. Internal dissensions among themselves, the search for better grazing grounds for their stock, for better land for cultivation and for water supplies adequate to meet the needs of both man and beast are among other causes which account for their wide dispersal. At the present time they are most numerous in the district of Mafikeng where they have been situated for the best part of a century since their return from Thaba Nchu.

THE KHOI (SAN) CONSULTED AROUND FIREPLACE, NOT AT KGOTLA

If you ever attend kgotla meetings, try thinking back to when you witnessed high attendance by San people, especially when such meetings discussed issues they care deeply about. On second thought, don’t do that because such mental exercise would be futile.

The most obvious reason the San (who self-identify as Khoi) don’t attend kgotla meetings is that over centuries, society has created a tribal caste system that renders them virtually voiceless as a cultural group. And all too often, what they say falls on deaf ears. There is a less obvious, less known reason which is stated in the MA thesis of a Norwegian woman who studied one aspect of modern-day Khoi life in the Okavango Delta panhandle. Naturally, she had to hire the services of an interpreter who familiarised her with how Botswana works.

“The interpreter told me that the system with a village kgotla, which is a public meeting place, usually lead by a chief (a kgosi), is a traditional Tswana system, and thus not part of the San people’s leadership tradition. However, today, all villages in Botswana organise their community according to this system,” writes Margrethe Haug in her Master of Social Anthropology thesis for the University of Tromsø that is titled “Indigenous People, Tourism and Development? The San People’s Involvement in Community-Based Tourism.”

While the Khwe have been culturally cast adrift by strong socio-political currents, they retain vivid memories of how proper consultation looks like. A Xakao woman, Thokomelang Ngaka, illuminated this point for us by providing a historico-cultural context for consultation.

“Although it is not the case in this era, each clan had its own leader, who was an elderly person, who provided guidance and protected people,” says Ngaka who is //Anikhwe – the // sign denotes a click sound. “If it’s the hunting season, all the men would be consulted in a gathering at the fireplace.”

The consultation would take the form of drawing up an elaborate hunting expedition plan, which plan would follow an earlier scouting expedition by “a few elders.” After inspecting the hunting area, the scouts returned home and provided feedback to the clan leader. It is only after the fireside consultation (kgotla meeting in Setswana culture), that permission to hunt would be granted.

“The same goes for gathering – which is basically done by woman,” Ngaka adds.

This is a topic for another day but what she asserts also makes clear the fact that excellent conservation practices (protection of wildlife and promotion of biodiversity) were baked into Khwe socio-political leadership.

She makes another point with regard to how present-day San women relate to the kgotla: “Traditional San women cannot deliberate their concerns in a kgotla as it is not their norm. Only a few of us can do that but it also depends on your literacy level,” says Ngaka, who is the Deputy Coordinator of the Trust for Okavango and Development Initiatives (ToCaDi). “That’s why you find that even though we are consulted, most of us don’t raise our concerns.”

While the Khwe are a mostly egalitarian society, they also share a cultural norm found in patriarchial societies. Ngaka explains that “in our tradition, women cannot easily disagree with men – it’s respect.”

So, with the fireside having lost its socio-political role and the kgotla system being acultural, what is the best way to consult the Khwe, especially under circumstances that give women a voice? Ngaka says that the best way is to convene separate focus groups for men, women and youth.

Problem is not lack of education sometimes. Its lack of self esteem and we need to address this matter. People are not internally satisfied with themselves they need external validation. They need likes or comments or credit from other people in order for them to be satisfied.

This is the reason why they end up buying things they don’t afford to impress people they don’t like. You want to impress your colleagues, your peers , your neighbors that’s why your doing all these things. Posing as a person who lives a lavish life on your social media so that your ex buddies know that your not suffering. When infact your suffering.

People need counselling the problem is deeper than you think. They are internally suffering. That’s why they are doing all this stuff.
Buying R500k cars when they have no furniture etc.
We need help.

Never sell yourself short just because you want to be loved by people. Business is all about exchanging value for money.
People will tell you your services are expensive not looking at the value and quality of your service. Next thing it’s them popping expensive champagne.

Don’t let the society take you for a ride know your worth. People will make you feel bad for charging them for your services because they know you and believe that your cheap. Do not let them. Never allow people to exploit you.

I have people who don’t talk to me because I refused to give them my books for free. They wanted make me feel bad about charging them.

If they hate let them hate. Never sell yourself cheap.