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→‎Sekhukhune Wars: Elaborated on some atrocities by some of the Boers during the Sekhukhune Wars, with reference to source materials such as 'The Life and Correspondence of Sir Bartle Frere' by John Martineu; and 'Cetywayo and his white neighbours' by Henry Rider Haggard.
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=== First Sekhukhune War ===
=== First Sekhukhune War ===
On 16 May 1876, [[Thomas François Burgers|President Thomas François Burgers]] of the South African Republic ([[Transvaal Colony|Transvaal]]) declared war against Sekhukhune and the Bapedi. Sekhukhune managed to defeat the Transvaal army on 1 August 1876. Bergers' government later launched another attack by hiring the services of the ''Lydenburg Volunteer Corps'' commanded by a [[Germans|German]] [[mercenary]], Conrad von Schlickmann (killed later that year in a Bapedi ambush), but it was also repulsed. On 16 February 1877, the two parties, mediated by [[Alexander Merensky]], signed a peace treaty at [[Botshabelo, Mpumalanga|Botshabelo]]. The Boers inability to subdue Sekhukhune and the Bapedi led to the departure of Burgers in favour of [[Paul Kruger]] and the British annexation of the South African Republic ([[Transvaal Colony|Transvaal]]) on 12 April 1877 by [[Theophilus Shepstone|Sir Theophilus Shepstone]], secretary for native affairs of [[Colony of Natal|Natal]].<ref>{{Cite web|title=South African Military History Society - Journal- THE SEKUKUNI WARS|url=http://samilitaryhistory.org/vol025hk.html|access-date=2020-08-12|website=samilitaryhistory.org}}</ref>
On 16 May 1876, [[Thomas François Burgers|President Thomas François Burgers]] of the South African Republic ([[Transvaal Colony|Transvaal]]) declared war against Sekhukhune and the Bapedi. Sekhukhune managed to defeat the Transvaal army on 1 August 1876. On 4 September 1876, President Thomas François Burgers presented the Volksraad with a scheme to hire mercenary services in order to harry Sekhukhune's Bapedi. The Volksraad approved of the scheme and thus hired the services of the ''Lydenburg Volunteer Corps'', which were constituted under the command of a [[Prussia|Prussian]] [[mercenary]] - Conrad Von Schlickmann. The ''Lydenburg Volunteer Corps'' primarily recruited from the [[Griqualand West]] diamond fields. In lieu of any salary or supplies from the Volksraad, the ''Lydenburg Volunteer Corps'' were instead expected to reimburse themselves by robbing whatever they could from the natives. Probably as a consequence hereof - the ''Lydenburg Volunteer Corps'' were notoriously brutal.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Haggard |first=H. Rider (Henry Rider) |url=http://archive.org/details/cetywayohiswhite00hagg |title=Cetywayo and his white neighbours ; or, remarks on recent events in Zululand, Natal, and the Transvaal |date=1896 |publisher=London : Kegan Paul, Trench, Trübner |others=University of California Libraries |pages=120}}</ref>

In a despatch to [[Henry Herbert, 4th Earl of Carnarvon|Lord Carnarvon]] dated 18 December 1876; [[Henry Barkly|Sir Henry Barkly]] reported with horror how, after the ''Lydenburg Volunteer Corps'' kidnapped two women and a 'child' near a native settlement at Steelpoort, Conrad Von Schlickman then ordered the execution of both the women and the 'child'. According to a letter from one of the volunteers, the ''Lydenburg Volunteer Corps'' had originally encountered three women, and the child was, in fact, a baby. Despite the protests of the author of the letter, Von Schlickmann's mercenaries had opened fire immediately upon encountering the group - reportedly shooting off the head of one of the women - and thereafter kidnapping the surviving two women and baby.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Haggard |first=H. Rider (Henry Rider) |url=http://archive.org/details/cetywayohiswhite00hagg |title=Cetywayo and his white neighbours ; or, remarks on recent events in Zululand, Natal, and the Transvaal |date=1896 |publisher=London : Kegan Paul, Trench, Trübner |others=University of California Libraries |pages=120 - 121.}}</ref> Von Schlickmann then followed-up the execution by raiding and massacring a nearby native settlement - in all probability the same settlement where the aforesaid captives had been kidnapped from. The ''Lydenburg Volunteer Corps'' reportedly took no prisoners - opting, instead, to slit the necks of any survivors.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Martineau |first=John |url=http://archive.org/details/lifeandcorrespo00frergoog |title=The life and correspondence of Sir Bartle Frere |date=1895 |publisher=London, John Murray |others=University of California |pages=176 - 177.}}</ref> Conrad Von Schlickmann was killed later that year in a Bapedi ambush, but the Bapedi were also repulsed. The leadership of the ''Lydenburg Volunteer Corps'' was then taken over by Alfred Aylward, a Fenian rebel.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Aylward, Alfred {{!}} Dictionary of Irish Biography |url=https://www.dib.ie/biography/aylward-alfred-a0289 |access-date=2022-10-10 |website=www.dib.ie |language=en}}</ref>

Simultaneous Boer [[War crime|war crimes]] were also reported on by Sir Henry Barkly. Abel Erasmus, the [[Field cornet|field-cornet]] of [[Krugerspos|Krugerpos]], was accused for 'treacherously killing forty or fifty friendly natives, men and women, [[Inboekstelsel|and carrying off the children]]'<ref>{{Cite book |last=Martineau |first=John |url=http://archive.org/details/lifeandcorrespo00frergoog |title=The life and correspondence of Sir Bartle Frere |date=1895 |publisher=London, John Murray |others=University of California |pages=176 - 177.}}</ref> in October 1876 - arguably in breach of the anti-slavery provisions of the [[Sand River Convention]]. Upon sight of Abel Erasmus' [[Boer Commando|commando]], the native peoples apparently fled from their settlement immediately. This, however, appears not to have deterred the commando from hunting them down and murdering them all. Though some of the victims were shot by the Boers; Abel Erasmus' was also constituted of a number of allied natives at the time, who reportedly used [[Assegai|assegais]] to perpetrate the majority of the slaughter. These native allies, identified simply as 'Boer Kaffirs'<ref>{{Cite book |last=Haggard |first=H. Rider (Henry Rider) |url=http://archive.org/details/cetywayohiswhite00hagg |title=Cetywayo and his white neighbours ; or, remarks on recent events in Zululand, Natal, and the Transvaal |date=1896 |publisher=London : Kegan Paul, Trench, Trübner |others=University of California Libraries |pages=121.}}</ref> were probably either Bapedi forces loyal to chief Mampuru, or Ndebele forces loyal to the Boers. One of the Boers, who had accompanied the Krugerpos commando and witnessed the massacre and kidnapping, subsequently complained of these crimes to Sir Henry Barkly. Barkly, in turn, wrote of these allegations in protest to President Thomas François Burgers; whom he petitioned to punish the Boer war criminals.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Martineau |first=John |url=http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/cbo9781139343954 |title=Life and Correspondence of Sir Bartle Frere, Bart., G.C.B., F.R.S., etc. |date=2012-06-14 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-1-108-05185-9 |pages=176 - 177.}}</ref>

On 16 February 1877, the two parties, mediated by [[Alexander Merensky]], signed a peace treaty at [[Botshabelo, Mpumalanga|Botshabelo]]. The Boers inability to subdue Sekhukhune and the Bapedi led to the departure of Burgers in favour of [[Paul Kruger]] and the British annexation of the South African Republic ([[Transvaal Colony|Transvaal]]) on 12 April 1877 by [[Theophilus Shepstone|Sir Theophilus Shepstone]], secretary for native affairs of [[Colony of Natal|Natal]].<ref>{{Cite web|title=South African Military History Society - Journal- THE SEKUKUNI WARS|url=http://samilitaryhistory.org/vol025hk.html|access-date=2020-08-12|website=samilitaryhistory.org}}</ref>


=== Second Sekhukhune War ===
=== Second Sekhukhune War ===

Revision as of 17:20, 10 October 2022

Sekhukhune I
King of the Bapedi
Reign21 September 1861 – 13 August 1882 (1861-09-21 – 1882-08-13)
PredecessorSekwati I
SuccessorKgoloko (regent for Sekhukhune II)
BornMatsebe
Unknown date, 1814
Died (aged 68)
SpouseLegoadi IV
IssueMorwamotshe II
HouseMaroteng
FatherSekwati I
MotherThorometjane Phala
ReligionAfrican Traditional Religion

Sekhukhune I[a] [b](Matsebe; circa 1814 – 13 August 1882) was the paramount King of the Marota, more commonly known as the Bapedi, from 21 September 1861 until his assassination on 13 August 1882 by his rival and half-brother, Mampuru II. As the Pedi paramount leader he was faced with political challenges from boer settlers, the independent South African Republic (Dutch: Zuid-Afrikaansche Republiek), the British Empire, and considerable social change caused by Christian missionaries.

Sekhukhune was the son of Sekwati I, and succeeded him upon his death in 20 September 1861 after forcibly taking the throne from his half-brother and the heir apparent Mampuru II. His other known siblings were; Legolwana,[1] Johannes Dinkwanyane, and Kgoloko.[2] Sekhukhune married Legoadi IV in 1862, and lived at a mountain, now known as Thaba Leolo or Leolo Mountains[3] which he fortified. To strengthen his kingdom and to guard against European colonisation, he had his young subjects work in white mines and on farms so that their salaries could be used to buy guns from the Portuguese in Delagoa Bay, as well as livestock.

Sekhukhune fought two notable wars. The first war was successfully fought in 1876, against the ZAR and their Swazi allies. The second war, against the British and Swazi in 1879 in what became known as the Sekhukhune Wars, was less successful.[4][5]

Sekhukhune was detained in Pretoria until 1881. After a return to his kingdom, he was fatally stabbed by an assassin in 1882, at Manoge.[6] The assassins are presumed to have been sent by his brother and competitor, Mampuru II.[7][8]

Sekhukhune Wars

First Sekhukhune War

On 16 May 1876, President Thomas François Burgers of the South African Republic (Transvaal) declared war against Sekhukhune and the Bapedi. Sekhukhune managed to defeat the Transvaal army on 1 August 1876. On 4 September 1876, President Thomas François Burgers presented the Volksraad with a scheme to hire mercenary services in order to harry Sekhukhune's Bapedi. The Volksraad approved of the scheme and thus hired the services of the Lydenburg Volunteer Corps, which were constituted under the command of a Prussian mercenary - Conrad Von Schlickmann. The Lydenburg Volunteer Corps primarily recruited from the Griqualand West diamond fields. In lieu of any salary or supplies from the Volksraad, the Lydenburg Volunteer Corps were instead expected to reimburse themselves by robbing whatever they could from the natives. Probably as a consequence hereof - the Lydenburg Volunteer Corps were notoriously brutal.[9]

In a despatch to Lord Carnarvon dated 18 December 1876; Sir Henry Barkly reported with horror how, after the Lydenburg Volunteer Corps kidnapped two women and a 'child' near a native settlement at Steelpoort, Conrad Von Schlickman then ordered the execution of both the women and the 'child'. According to a letter from one of the volunteers, the Lydenburg Volunteer Corps had originally encountered three women, and the child was, in fact, a baby. Despite the protests of the author of the letter, Von Schlickmann's mercenaries had opened fire immediately upon encountering the group - reportedly shooting off the head of one of the women - and thereafter kidnapping the surviving two women and baby.[10] Von Schlickmann then followed-up the execution by raiding and massacring a nearby native settlement - in all probability the same settlement where the aforesaid captives had been kidnapped from. The Lydenburg Volunteer Corps reportedly took no prisoners - opting, instead, to slit the necks of any survivors.[11] Conrad Von Schlickmann was killed later that year in a Bapedi ambush, but the Bapedi were also repulsed. The leadership of the Lydenburg Volunteer Corps was then taken over by Alfred Aylward, a Fenian rebel.[12]

Simultaneous Boer war crimes were also reported on by Sir Henry Barkly. Abel Erasmus, the field-cornet of Krugerpos, was accused for 'treacherously killing forty or fifty friendly natives, men and women, and carrying off the children'[13] in October 1876 - arguably in breach of the anti-slavery provisions of the Sand River Convention. Upon sight of Abel Erasmus' commando, the native peoples apparently fled from their settlement immediately. This, however, appears not to have deterred the commando from hunting them down and murdering them all. Though some of the victims were shot by the Boers; Abel Erasmus' was also constituted of a number of allied natives at the time, who reportedly used assegais to perpetrate the majority of the slaughter. These native allies, identified simply as 'Boer Kaffirs'[14] were probably either Bapedi forces loyal to chief Mampuru, or Ndebele forces loyal to the Boers. One of the Boers, who had accompanied the Krugerpos commando and witnessed the massacre and kidnapping, subsequently complained of these crimes to Sir Henry Barkly. Barkly, in turn, wrote of these allegations in protest to President Thomas François Burgers; whom he petitioned to punish the Boer war criminals.[15]

On 16 February 1877, the two parties, mediated by Alexander Merensky, signed a peace treaty at Botshabelo. The Boers inability to subdue Sekhukhune and the Bapedi led to the departure of Burgers in favour of Paul Kruger and the British annexation of the South African Republic (Transvaal) on 12 April 1877 by Sir Theophilus Shepstone, secretary for native affairs of Natal.[16]

Second Sekhukhune War

Although the British had first condemned the Transvaal war against Sekhukhune, it was continued after the annexation. In 1878 and 1879 three British attacks were successfully repelled until Sir Garnet Wolseley defeated Sekhukhune in November 1879 with an army of 2,000 British soldiers, Boers and 10,000 Swazis.[17] On 2 December 1879, Sekhukhune was captured and on 9 December 1879 he was imprisoned in Pretoria.[18][19]

Aftermath

On 3 August 1881, the Pretoria Convention was signed, which stipulated in Article 23 that Sekhukhune would be released. Because his capital had been burned to the ground, he left for a place called Manoge. On 13 August 1882, Sekhukhune was murdered by his half-brother Mampuru II, who claimed to be the lawful king. Mampuru was captured by the Boers, tried for murder and hanged in Pretoria in 21 November 1883.[20]

Legacy

After his death, Bopedi (Pedi kingdom) was divided into small powerless units conducted by the native commissioners. His grandson Sekhukhune II in an effort to rebuild the Bapedi kingdom launched an unsuccessful war against the South African Republic. The defeat marked the end of Pedi resistance against foreign forces.[21]

The London Times, which at the time was not known to report on the deaths of African leaders, published an article on 30 August 1882, acknowledging his resistance against the Boers and the British:

“… We hear this morning … of the death of one of the bravest of our former enemies, the Chief Sekhukhune… The news carries us some years back to the time when the name of Sekhukhune was a name of dread, first to the Dutch and then to the English Colonists of the Transvaal and Natal…”.

— The London Times

The Sekhukhune District Municipality in Limpopo Province was named after him in 2000; the area is also known as Sekhukhuneland.

Sekhukhune I had many children apart from his heir Morwamoche II, he fathered Seraki, Kgobalale, Kgwerane, Kgetjepe, Moruthane and more of others who were lost in the battle field.

See also

References

  1. ^ "THE SEKUKUNI WARS PART II - South African Military History Society - Journal". samilitaryhistory.org. Retrieved 2020-09-04.
  2. ^ "Bapedi Marote Mamone v Commission on Traditional Leadership Disputes and Claims and Others (40404/2008) [2012] ZAGPPHC 209; [2012] 4 All SA 544 (GNP) (21 September 2012)". www.saflii.org. Retrieved 2020-09-04.
  3. ^ Du Plessis, E. J. (1973). 'n Ondersoek na die oorsprong en betekenis van Suid-Afrikaanse berg- en riviername: 'n histories-taalkundige studie [An Investigation into the origin and meaning of South African mountain and river names: a historico-linguistic study] (in Afrikaans). Cape Town: Tafelberg. p. 187. ISBN 978-0-624-00273-4.
  4. ^ "King Sekhukhune". South African History Online. 13 February 2018. Retrieved 4 March 2019.
  5. ^ Kinsey, H.W. (June 1973). "The Sekukuni Wars". Military History Journal. 2 (5). The South African Military History Society.
  6. ^ "Bapedi Marote Mamone v Commission on Traditional Leadership Disputes and Claims and Others (40404/2008) [2012] ZAGPPHC 209; [2012] 4 All SA 544 (GNP) (21 September 2012)". www.saflii.org. Retrieved 2020-08-08.
  7. ^ Delius, Peter (1984). The land belongs to us: the Pedi polity, the Boers and the British in the nineteenth-century Transvaal. Heinemann. pp. 251–252. ISBN 978-0-435-94050-8.
  8. ^ Delius, Peter; Rüther, Kirsten (2013). "The King, the Missionary and the Missionary's Daughter". Journal of Southern African Studies. 39 (3): 597–614. doi:10.1080/03057070.2013.824769. S2CID 143487212.
  9. ^ Haggard, H. Rider (Henry Rider) (1896). Cetywayo and his white neighbours ; or, remarks on recent events in Zululand, Natal, and the Transvaal. University of California Libraries. London : Kegan Paul, Trench, Trübner. p. 120.
  10. ^ Haggard, H. Rider (Henry Rider) (1896). Cetywayo and his white neighbours ; or, remarks on recent events in Zululand, Natal, and the Transvaal. University of California Libraries. London : Kegan Paul, Trench, Trübner. pp. 120 - 121.
  11. ^ Martineau, John (1895). The life and correspondence of Sir Bartle Frere. University of California. London, John Murray. pp. 176 - 177.
  12. ^ "Aylward, Alfred | Dictionary of Irish Biography". www.dib.ie. Retrieved 2022-10-10.
  13. ^ Martineau, John (1895). The life and correspondence of Sir Bartle Frere. University of California. London, John Murray. pp. 176 - 177.
  14. ^ Haggard, H. Rider (Henry Rider) (1896). Cetywayo and his white neighbours ; or, remarks on recent events in Zululand, Natal, and the Transvaal. University of California Libraries. London : Kegan Paul, Trench, Trübner. p. 121.
  15. ^ Martineau, John (2012-06-14). Life and Correspondence of Sir Bartle Frere, Bart., G.C.B., F.R.S., etc. Cambridge University Press. pp. 176 - 177. ISBN 978-1-108-05185-9.
  16. ^ "South African Military History Society - Journal- THE SEKUKUNI WARS". samilitaryhistory.org. Retrieved 2020-08-12.
  17. ^ "'Sekukuni [sic] & Family' | Online Collection | National Army Museum, London". collection.nam.ac.uk. Retrieved 2020-08-12.
  18. ^ "THE SEKUKUNI WARS PART II - South African Military History Society - Journal". samilitaryhistory.org. Retrieved 2020-08-12.
  19. ^ "General Foreign News.; the Kafir War in South Africa. the Attack on the Transvaal Province by Secocoeni--the Government Unprepared--Apprehensions of Attack from the Zulu King Cetewayo--Fighting the Gaikas Under Sandill--the Frontier Very Restless". The New York Times. 1878-04-12. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2020-08-23.
  20. ^ "Bapedi Marote Mamone v Commission on Traditional Leadership Disputes and Claims and Others (40404/2008) [2012] ZAGPPHC 209; [2012] 4 All SA 544 (GNP) (21 September 2012)". www.saflii.org. Retrieved 2020-08-12.
  21. ^ Malunga, Felix (2000). "The Anglo-Boer South African War: Sekhukhune II goes on the offensive in the Eastern Transvaal, 1899-1902". Southern Journal for Contemporary History. 25 (2): 57–78. ISSN 2415-0509.

Footnotes

  1. ^ sometimes spelled Sekukuni
  2. ^ historically spelled Secocoeni

Further reading

  • Gemmell, David (2014). Sekhukhune: Greatest of the Pedi Kings. Heritage Publishers. ISBN 978-0-992-22883-5..
  • Mabale, Dolphin (18 May 2017). Contested Cultural Heritage in the Limpopo Province of South Africa: the case study of the Statue of King Nghunghunyani (MA). University of Venda. hdl:11602/692.
  • Motseo, Thapelo (22 August 2018). "King Sekhukhune I colourfully remembered". sekhukhunetimes.co.za. Retrieved 4 March 2019.
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