SEKWENA SOCIAL STRUCTURE AS REFLECTED IN MAKGOTLA, PRESENTATION FOR THE DITHUBARUBA SYMPOSIUM ON “THE SPACE AND PLACE OF THE KGOTLA AMONGST THE BAKWENA” (original) (raw)
The following slides provide a snapshot of the makeup and organizational structure of recognized “Makgotla” and “Ntlha”, otherwise here listed as “Wards”, of the Bakwena Tribal Territory that were recorded as having existed during the reign of Kgosi Kgari aSechele II (1931-62), with some further reference to their historical origins. Together they provide a historical baseline for further appreciating the evolution and contemporary relevance of Sekwena Social Structure. Here it may be noted that the names reproduced in this document appear as they were recorded eight decades ago. In a few cases, the preferred spelling of names were either inaccurately transcribed and/or changed. With such qualifications in mind, it could be worth exploring how closely the following 1940s data would dovetail with a potential new survey that attempted to map the Makgotla relationships of today’s Molepolole or more widely the Kweneng District. Such a study should reveal the extent to which changes over the last eight decades in the area’s demography, political administration, and residential patterns have reproduced and/or altered past patterns of social structure. While some of the Makgotla listed can trace their roots to the Bakwena bagaKgabo prior to the reign of Sechele I (c.1833-1892) it is clear that the morafe was significantly reconstituted under him. While the morafe may have numbered some 10,000 during the reign of Motswasele II (being comparable to the Bangwaketse of Makaba II), due to the severe dislocations of the 1820s (“difaqane”) Sechele’s initial following in 1833 was about 300 rising to a core population of 2,384 plus another 1,236 Bakaa at Dimawe-Kolobeng by 1849. In the aftermath of the Batswana-Boer War of 1852-53 the population of Sechele’s Kweneng expanded to as much as 60,000 through the influx of “Baagedi” many of who were absorbed into Bakwena Makgotla.
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