The History of Makholokoe - Part I
By Vusi Moloi © 2008
The History of Makholokoe - Part II
The Makholokoe (Makholokwe, Makgolokwe, Makgolokoe) are the descendants of the great King of the Bakhatla Morena Tabane. Morena Tabane had two sons, among others, namely Prince Diale Matlaisane and Prince Khetsi. It’s not clear who of the two or rather which wife of the Prince gave rise to Makholokoe. The general consensus is that Prince Khetsi is the founder of Makholokoe something borne out by a lot of the Makholokoe who carry the name Khetsi or Kgetsi.
Around 800AD some Bakgatlas with a primordial role in the future founding of the Makholokoe broke away from the Bakhatla in the same way that the Ndebele King Mzilikazi broke away from the Kingdom of King Shaka in the 1800s. This fact is confirmed in many historical accounts including a dissertation by the great African scholar Ms. Ntaoleng Belina Sekere who recalls from the official sources of the Makholokwe Tribal Council in Phuthaditjhaba that the Makholokwe had descended from King Tabane and his wife Queen Mathulare. Makholokoe are also related to the Bakoena and Batlokwa in terms of a common genesis making them cousins.
The Makholokoe eventually settled around the present day Harrismith and QwaQwa region. To this day this is still a Makholokoe land in terms of the numbers of the Makholokoe who live there in the same way that Komani in Queenstown is the land of the Mfenes, another heritage of this writer.
It’s here that the Makholokwe shared space with the great Queen of the Batlokwa Mofumahadi Manthatisi who fought bravely against the colonial invaders. She was supported by the Makholokoe. The Makholokoe also coexisted peacefully with the Batlokwa. Morena Wetsi ruled much of QwaQwa. King Wetsi was the leader of the Makholokwe in the 1800s. One of the great sons of the Batlokwa descent Mr. Monnafela Mota is venerated in this writer’s book A Goodbye To My Little Troubles.
In 1856 war broke out between the colonially invasive, racist and sexist Afrikaaners and the Makholokoe over their indigenous land and livestock wealth. The war mongering Afrikaaners wanted the land of the Makholokoe and their cows, horses and more. The Afrikaanners concocted a story that the Makholokoe were stealing their property and also taking their own land. So was the strategy that concocted accusations against King Cetshwayo of the Zulu Empire by the British that he was refusing to comply with an ultimatum that was based on fictitious reasons and therefore defying the sovereignty of the Queen.
The Makholokoe King was a powerful and proud man who loved his people and would do anything to defend them. He refused to bow to the Afrikaaners and fought back. In the ensuring battles the Makhokokoe strategically retreated to the defensive rock layers of the QwaQwa mountains where they mounted a stiff resistance and inflicted damaging blows to the Afrikaaners. This strategy of rolling bumpy rocks upon the invading Afrikaaners proved so effective that the Afrikaaners gained respect for King Wetsi and called the place Wetsishoek (meaning the fearful corner of Wetsi). The italicized adjective is mine. This was already known as “naha ya Morena Wetsi”translated “the land of King Wetsi”. Eventually the Afrikaaners captured the land and gave it to their Free State Government as a state property. This would later be divvied up among the Batlokwa, Bakwena and Mopeli Mokhachane people. The Mopeli people (from Lesotho) were elevated because of their allegiance to the Free State government. One of the direct descendents of King Wetsi lived outside QwaQwa near Goldengate and this writer met him in 1985 on a television assignment.
Another interesting observation is that the orthography has changed and this writer was not aware of that (having lived in Canada for most of his life) and this presents a research challenge. Most of the orthography in the historical records use Makholokoe or Lekholokoe, some use Makholokwe or Lekholokwe and now it’s Makgolokwe or Lekgolokwe. This shows why it’s so important to revert to the ancient African writing systems. In fact there are ancient writing systems that existed in Africa before colonialism, a topic for another time!
Check out the Facebook group Makholokoe and subscribe to it.
The History of Makholokoe - Part II
The Makholokoe (Makholokwe, Makgolokwe, Makgolokoe) are the descendants of the great King of the Bakhatla Morena Tabane. Morena Tabane had two sons, among others, namely Prince Diale Matlaisane and Prince Khetsi. It’s not clear who of the two or rather which wife of the Prince gave rise to Makholokoe. The general consensus is that Prince Khetsi is the founder of Makholokoe something borne out by a lot of the Makholokoe who carry the name Khetsi or Kgetsi.
Around 800AD some Bakgatlas with a primordial role in the future founding of the Makholokoe broke away from the Bakhatla in the same way that the Ndebele King Mzilikazi broke away from the Kingdom of King Shaka in the 1800s. This fact is confirmed in many historical accounts including a dissertation by the great African scholar Ms. Ntaoleng Belina Sekere who recalls from the official sources of the Makholokwe Tribal Council in Phuthaditjhaba that the Makholokwe had descended from King Tabane and his wife Queen Mathulare. Makholokoe are also related to the Bakoena and Batlokwa in terms of a common genesis making them cousins.
The Makholokoe eventually settled around the present day Harrismith and QwaQwa region. To this day this is still a Makholokoe land in terms of the numbers of the Makholokoe who live there in the same way that Komani in Queenstown is the land of the Mfenes, another heritage of this writer.
It’s here that the Makholokwe shared space with the great Queen of the Batlokwa Mofumahadi Manthatisi who fought bravely against the colonial invaders. She was supported by the Makholokoe. The Makholokoe also coexisted peacefully with the Batlokwa. Morena Wetsi ruled much of QwaQwa. King Wetsi was the leader of the Makholokwe in the 1800s. One of the great sons of the Batlokwa descent Mr. Monnafela Mota is venerated in this writer’s book A Goodbye To My Little Troubles.
In 1856 war broke out between the colonially invasive, racist and sexist Afrikaaners and the Makholokoe over their indigenous land and livestock wealth. The war mongering Afrikaaners wanted the land of the Makholokoe and their cows, horses and more. The Afrikaanners concocted a story that the Makholokoe were stealing their property and also taking their own land. So was the strategy that concocted accusations against King Cetshwayo of the Zulu Empire by the British that he was refusing to comply with an ultimatum that was based on fictitious reasons and therefore defying the sovereignty of the Queen.
The Makholokoe King was a powerful and proud man who loved his people and would do anything to defend them. He refused to bow to the Afrikaaners and fought back. In the ensuring battles the Makhokokoe strategically retreated to the defensive rock layers of the QwaQwa mountains where they mounted a stiff resistance and inflicted damaging blows to the Afrikaaners. This strategy of rolling bumpy rocks upon the invading Afrikaaners proved so effective that the Afrikaaners gained respect for King Wetsi and called the place Wetsishoek (meaning the fearful corner of Wetsi). The italicized adjective is mine. This was already known as “naha ya Morena Wetsi”translated “the land of King Wetsi”. Eventually the Afrikaaners captured the land and gave it to their Free State Government as a state property. This would later be divvied up among the Batlokwa, Bakwena and Mopeli Mokhachane people. The Mopeli people (from Lesotho) were elevated because of their allegiance to the Free State government. One of the direct descendents of King Wetsi lived outside QwaQwa near Goldengate and this writer met him in 1985 on a television assignment.
Another interesting observation is that the orthography has changed and this writer was not aware of that (having lived in Canada for most of his life) and this presents a research challenge. Most of the orthography in the historical records use Makholokoe or Lekholokoe, some use Makholokwe or Lekholokwe and now it’s Makgolokwe or Lekgolokwe. This shows why it’s so important to revert to the ancient African writing systems. In fact there are ancient writing systems that existed in Africa before colonialism, a topic for another time!
Check out the Facebook group Makholokoe and subscribe to it.
posted by Vusi Moloi at
12:57 PM
6 Comments:
I am of the makholokoe clan, but I must confess that I am a bit concerned that there is not enough information available out there.Theres lack of enough information regarding particularly my family.I blame my great grandfather for this because they'd go and work for white people and dessert their famlies. My grandfather therefore never had enough information to pass on to us .He only told me that his father came from the Transvaal but with lack of education he could not say which part of the TVL, east , north or what . He told us that we are those of Khoasi. My surname is Mphuthi . Anybody whith some info please help .
Dumela Lekholokoe leletle. Your comment is appreciated. The Makholokoes are among the most admirable and beautiful people. Let me make a few remarks as follows:
First of all, thank you for coming to the Zulumathabo on the Internet blog and I am glad that you found useful information here with respect to the great people of Makholokoe, the descendents of the great King Wetsi of Wetsishooek later renamed QwaQwa by those who sought to wipe out the history of the formidable and proud Makholokoe.
I agree with you that there is a lack of information. There are many reasons why there is a shortage of information some of which have to do with the colonial system’s policy of deliberately erasing the history of the African natives and supplanting that with Eurocentric history. In the case of the Makholokoe, this policy of erasing and suppressing historical memory was perpetrated mainly by the Afrikaner settlers who waged an unprovoked war against the Makholokoe King Wetsi in 1856 which resulted in the theft of the Makholokoe’s land and later renamed QwaQwa. What was then Naha ya Makholokoe became known as Wetsieshoek and later QwaQwa. I have already referred to the Mopeli family who contributed greatly to the erasing and suppressing of this history on account of their alliance with the invading Afrikaners.
Addressing some of the points you raised, I would like to say there is no need to blame your grandfather. I can understand why you would feel this way and those feelings are legitimate but not justified but as children of a conquered people we will never understand what our people went through. Your grandfather did what he felt he had to do. The structure of the economy at the time (and still today) rendered it nearly impossible for the African families to gather and preserve their historical records in order to pass them on to their children. These records, including the oral historians, were mostly destroyed and there was nothing to pass on. If you look at my new blog article The Great Xhosa Prince Meligqili, you will understand why this was the case. I count myself among the most fortunate because my folks took me to a traditional African society where I learnt from the traditional African experts of African civilization. In my book A Goodbye To My Little Troubles I pay deserved tribute to these great wisdom keepers.
I don’t agree with the statement of your grandfather’s lack of education because I think you are referring to a Western form of education. Today the only form of education that is recognized is that of Western schools. A lot of African people in those days and earlier acquired their education via traditional learning systems which were very impressive institutions of learning even though they were never recognized by the colonial authorities. It was part of the strategy of the conquerors to oppress and steal the mind of an African native by separating him or her from the indigenous learning systems. However, I understand how it was difficult in this case for information to be shared as it should have been.
Finally I suggest you join the Facebook group Makholokoe and you will meet other Makholokoes there.
Reyaleboha Lekgolokwe leletle.
Vusi
I am very pleased with your contribution on the Makgolokwe subject. It has raised my level of understanding and curiosity on the Makgolokwe genealogy and in particular the Moloi family. I would like to know more on King Wetsi's lineage and how the Moloi name came about.
Dear Lucky your feedback is appreciated. It gives me great joy when the sons and daughters of the Makgolokwe take interest in their historical origins. Stay tuned as I will be posting more info at sometime in the future. Please invite others to check out these pages.
Reyadithabela ditaba tseo Lekgolokwe leletle lahlaba kgoho kalemao!!!
Dumelang Makholokwe a matle.
My name Dineo Moloi, ke lekholokwe le hlaba kgoho ka lemao ka setonong,ke re morena ke hlabile.
Ke tsele ke tshela noka e phodile.
I am grateful to part of this clan, My grandfather said i should say setono not sebonong, hobane kgoho e nale setono.
Lekgolkwe! Lahlaba kgoho ka lemao! Kethabela hofumana tse tswang howena Lekgolokwe leletle. Your grandfather was right and I respect him greatly for imparting the cultural richness of Makgolokwe to you.
Renale mokgatlo obitswang Makholokoe hoFacebook. Ke eletsa hore okenelle hotla kopana leMakgolokwe a mang. Hape haselemo setlang sefela reikemiseditse hophutheha mmoho leMakgolokwe amang Gauteng.
Reyaleboha ngwaneso ka lerato laMakgolokwe.
Vusi
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