Moanaphuti Segolodi, “Ditso Tsa Batawana.” 1940. Original Setswana manuscript located in Botswana National Archives, Schapera Papers PP 1/2/9. Translation 11 July 1994 by Mmualefhe Raditladi. Edited by Barry Morton May 2015. Apart from his authorship of this document, Moana R Segolodi was not really known as a Tribal historian. However, by the time he wrote this account, Moanaphuti’s family had been at the center of Batawana politics for well over fifty years. Moanaphuti’s father Rampodu was a Mongwato missionary to the Batawana—who later became Moremi II’s secretary and then became an important figure in the Batawana kgotla for the rest of his life. Moanaphuti was groomed from early on to work for the Batawana administration. After being educated in Tsau by the Lovedale-educated Gaorakwe Ledimo, he became the Tribal Secretary for Mathiba II. After being expelled from the Reserve for theft and corruption, he moved to the Ngwaketse Reserve and married the Chieftainess’s daughter. A subsequent expulsion from the Bangwaketse Reserve led him to Serowe in the Ngwato Reserve, where he was eventually expelled by Tshekedi Khama for leading protests against “forced labor”. During this time in Serowe, Moanaphuti penned Botswana’s first known nationalist sentiments. During the 1930s Moanaphuti was allowed to return to Ngamiland, where he made money by selling muthi and wild animals into the South African market and building roads for the government. By the time this document was written he had been brought back in the Batawana Administration by Moremi III—collecting taxes and impressing war recruits in the northern sections of the Reserve. Moanaphuti was a prodigious writer of correspondence to the various sections of the Protectorate administration— which was alternatively amused or exasperated by his antics. The self-styled Moanaphuti typically referred to himself as “An Agent of Myself” and was constantly in attendance at kgotla—where he was never shy to express his opinions. He was eventually expelled from Ngamiland again for agitating against the rule of Elizabeth Pulane Moremi. Mmualefhe Raditladi views the Setswana in the original document as being particularly direct, free-flowing, and eloquent in style. Although the ending of the document is somewhat self-serving and inaccurate in many regards, there are fewer finer descriptions of Batawana history. Ditso Tsa Batawana When Tawana was brought by his father Mathiba to Kgwebe, the Batawana did not own land through war like the other merafe. This part of the country was occupied by Bayei and others, who were all peace-loving merafe. The Bakgalagadi were very friendly with the Bayei, and Tawana ruled these people and made them his friends. Tawana did not fight in the “Matabale Wars” [i.e. the Mfecane] because the invaders did not initially attack Ngamiland. Tawana went on living in peace. He already had his nine children, and his first-born son Moremi was already grown up. Tawana died by the Lake, and his son Moremi I ruled after him. The Story of Motswakhumo Moremi I’s reign was the beginning of many events in the history of the Batawana morafe, because it was then that Motswakhumo left the Batawana, and travelled west up to the present day. The following is the story of his departure. When he left he already had a son, Makgasane, who declined to accompany him, and stayed at his father’s brother, Moremi I. This departure of Motswakhumo occurred during the Matabele [Makololo] raid. Motswakhumo refused to attack because he had been denied goods and been deprived of property. He told the Kgosi’s batlhanka [either “advisors” or “servants”] that he could not fight anymore and that he was going. In fact he did go, carrying with him a number of people. They travelled far, and even passed Nyanganda—whose other name was Mashinke [into Angola], and they even went until they reached Chief Kapomboro’s tribe. Some people went back through stealth and rejoined Moremi I. Motswakhumo was given a rousing welcome by Kapomboro, and they became good friends. This friendship was short-lived, because during that period Pitsoabosigo, Motswakhumo’s son, spoiled the friendship. Pitsoabosigo was a young man who had his own mophato, and when seeing that Kapomboro had many, many cattle, he agreed in secret with his colleagues to loot these cattle without his father’s knowledge. Kapomboro’s village was surrounded by a large river (it was an island) but the cattle were kept on the sandy side across the river and were vulnerable to looting. Motswakhumo had settled that very side of the river. Pitsoabosigo soon put his plan into effect. One morning Kgosi Motswakhumo and his men awoke to find huge numbers of cattle belonging to Kapomboro at the entrance of the village, having been captured by Pitsoabosigo. When the Batawana saw this they were very cross at Pitsoabosigo, and the tribe angrily demanded that the cattle be returned ASAP, because Kapomboro, being a peace-loving person, did not have to be robbed. Kgosi Motswakhumo also said that, although he was not saying it from the bottom of his heart because cattle are a treasure, he would apologize to Kapomboro. He suddenly sent a number of men to Chief Kapomboro, saying, “The boys have messed things up, they have captured your cattle and brought them to me. Please do not blame it on me.” Yet Motswakhumo did not mean he was returning the cattle. Kapomboro wisely replied that he understood, and then kept quiet. With the friendship having broken down, Kapomboro started planning vengeance. He secretly ordered his tribe to start planting masotlhe [royal fields] with an assortment of different crops. He ordered them to plant fields which they would give to the Batawana. All these fields were ploughed, and when the harvest was ready, Kapomboro sent a message to Motswakhumo, saying, “Dear friend, I am giving you this field.” And his people likewise gave other Batawana their fields. To reach these fields the Batawna had to cross a big river, and this was where the trick lay. The Batawana, unsuspectingly and with great jubilation, without any thought as to any danger, left in great numbers, men, women and children, each to their respective fields. Here is the trick of vengeance. Kapomboro ordered that they be allowed to reap and collect the grain, and load it into mekoro that Kapomboro’s people were rowing. In the course of the journey the mekoro were to be deliberately capsized and sunk, with the men being left to drown. All the women and children were to be rescued and brought to Kapomboro. Indeed it happened just as Kapomboro ordered. Having got into the mekoro, which were sunk, all the men disappeared into the river, and the rescued women and children were sent to Kapomboro. This was the revenge for Pitsoabosigo’s act. There was great sorrow among the Batawana, and Kapomboro sent a message to Motswakhumo, saying that he, Kapomboro, had avenged an act perpetrated by Motswakhumo’s son. Although Bangwato tradition is to resist attacks, Motswakhumo and his morafe could not do this. What should have been the battlefield was a great mass of water which no one could cross, and the Batawana did not succeed in avenging themselves. Motswakhumo then left and went on until he reached where his descendants still live [in south-east Angola]. These Batawana do not visit their elder brothers, the Moremis, and their friendship is not real, and they live very, very far apart. Motswakhumo’s people who were captured by Kapomboro were captured for good and they became his subjects. Motswakhumo’s story ends here. Events During the Matabele Wars [the Mfecane] When Moremi I began to rule after his father’s death, the wars versus the Matabele [invaders] began. Moremi had fought previous wars versus the invaders when he was with his sons among Motswakhumo’s people. However, the fighting versus Mologotho and his people started up again after Motswakhumo left. This was the war that divided the Batawana, with some of them trekking to Tsoroga on the Zambezi River to escape Mologotho’s rule. But Mologotho remained in Ngamiland as one who had won the war. Mologotho’’s reign did not last long, because, soon after, Sebetwane arrived on his way to Hereroland. He got to Ngamiland and he killed Mologotho and his tribe, also capturing some Batawana who were Mologotho’s prisoners. He then proceeded to the Herero. Sebetwane had a son Kgwaanyane, the heir who was loved dearly by his father. This boy was not allowed to walk on his feet—he was being carried all the way as he was the son of Kgosi Sebetwane. This happened all the way to Hereroland, so that he should be shown by the father what victory looks like. In combat with the Herero he was hidden somewhere in the background, with the women and bodyguards, while the fighting was going on. The Herero war horn was heard from behind the main body of Sebetwane’s men, and was soon heard the place where Kgwaanyane was hidden. The men and women with him all fled, and because he was incapable of walking, let alone running, he just fell helplessly down like a cripple and the Herero killed him there and then. After this war Sebetwane returned to Ngamiland by the same route, but the Batawana were not there as they had gone to Tsoroga during the reign of Moremi. It was for a long time that Moremi had ruled, and he had an older son named Sedumedi who was entitled to boswa. But when they were at Tsoroga, the Mohumagadi had already been married and there was a legitimate heir called Letsholathebe. Sedumedi was eager to rule during his father’s lifetime and he made efforts to connive with his uncles the Mogalakwes, Maotos, and other village elders to have his father killed so he could rule. The people refused and he angrily left and formed his own breakaway kgotla. During this period, he went hunting and according to custom was supposed to hand the heart and eyes of the game to his father— but he did not do so. Instead he cooked the heart and eyes in his own kgotla. Yet men of the tribe went to Moremi’s kgotla in the hope that they would be eating this food, but it was not there. In the evening, when the hearts and eyes were cooked at his kgotla, Sedumedi selected young men and women to take them to his father after he had poisoned the food. Everything was carried to MmaLetsholathebe, and Moremi saw them brought into the courtyard of the kgotla. Moremi had long heard of the plot, and when the groups with the cooked hearts came he hurriedly went to the courtyard and found the Mohumagadi, MmaLetsholathebe, sharpening a big knife, carving eland fat into the dishes. Moremi asked his wife why she was sharpening the knife and what she was going to do with it. He asked if she was aware that Sedumedi was killing them, and the wife said, “Let him kill us. He has always been on our trail.” And thereupon she cut a piece of eland meat, ate it, and cut another, and did the same again. There and then Moremi asked people to take the meat to the kgotla to be eaten by the men. The following morning MmaLetsholathebe reported that she was unwell, and during the day she developed smallpox. Before sunset she was dead. The following day, in his sorrow, Moremi ordered that a poisonous root be pounded and this was done. Her ordered his mantona [loyalists] to swear an oath they they would die with him by eating the root. Many of them ate it and died, and he did as well. Then Sedumedi began to rule, when Letsholathebe was still a child. By tradition, Letsholathebe was awarded to his uncle Mogalakwe. When Sedumedi began to rule, he was hostile to all his uncles who had refused to get involved in the plot to kill Moremi. The following morning he assembled his uncles at the kgotla and lashed them himself. There was a huge hubbub. After that they dispersed, and MmaSedumedi, seeing Mogalakwe going past, asked him why there was so much noise. Mogalakwe replied, “Your son has been lashing us.” MmaSedumedi wanted to know if Sedumedi had done it himself. He said, “Yes, we have been lashed by him.” MmaSedumedi asked to see the marks, and Mogalakwe undressed and showed her his bleeding back. MmaSedumedi shouted, “Woe betide my son, why has my son killed himself?” She wept like that because she knew that Sedumedi had brought a curse upon himself by lashing his uncles. Sedumedi ruled only a few days after this event. One evening when people were not expecting anything and dancing was going on of a type called sakatsie, Sebetwane arrived on his way from Hereroland. That very night he attacked and surrounded the Batawana village. Very early in the morning he ordered someone to announce to Mogalakwe that he had declared war and wanted to know when Mogalakwe would also declare it. Confusion set in, and Mogalakwe called on all his people, men and women, during the night. Under these unpleasant circumstances, there was no way to escape as Sebetwane had surrounded the village. Mogalakwe knew that although the Matabele [Makololo] were brave warriors, they were not experts at throwing assegais. They were good at short-range stabbing, and Mogalakwe ordered groups of young, healthy men and women to stand on the flanks and behind the main line and use their assegais with vigor when the Makololo attacked. In this way, they would kill many of the attackers who wanted to kill at short range. Meanwhile, the young men and women on the flanks would also establish an escape route so that the rest of the morafe could get away. Indeed, it happened as planned. The Makololo attack was thwarted, and Mogalakwe helped many to escape except for the very old who were killed off. Sedumedi also escaped and at sunrise the morafe was standing in the open, free, although Sebetwane had devastated their village. The tribe escaped safely, but Sedumedi, for unknown reasons, was very annoyed. As the people stood looking at the battlefield from afar, they saw Sedumedi just walking back towards Sebetwane’s forces. The people tried to stop him but he refused, and when the morafe saw him do this they followed suit and went to surrender to Sebetwane. Now when they were gathered at Sebetwane’s, amidst a lot of corpses inside the village, Mogalakwe stood up and walked around examining the bodies to see if he could identify Letsholathebe’s. He did not find it. Sebetwane took all the Batawana tribe as his prisoners, and went to the Zambezi/Chobe River. Now it would be realized that although Sebetwane was a victorious man he did not have a real home. After settling in the Linyanti valley, and attempting to attack the Barotse, he was beaten by the river. He then devised another plan and attacked and defeated them. After that he ruled them, although eventually the Barotse reneged on him, and after his death only Sekeletu, his son, remained. At this stage the Batawana were Sebetwane’s prisoners, and we will see how they came to reoccupy the land that they were given by their father Mathiba. When Sedumedi, the other headmen, and the rest of the morafe were prisoners there was still bad blood between Sedumedi and Mogalakwe. Throughout this time Sedumedi was telling Sebetwane that Mogalakwe was trying to poison him, so that Sebetwane would kill Mogalakwe. Sebetwane did not take this information very seriously, as he loved people very much even if they were his victims. Conquered peoples were not differentiated from his own people. Now there was a Kololo warrior who was friendly to Mogalakwe, who had previously, before the war, visited Ngamiland regularly and was usually Mogalakwe’s guest. It was he who gave Mogalakwe a tip-off that Sedumedi was conspiring to have Sebetwane kill him. The Kololo warrior also told Mogalakwe that Sebetwane’s own people were urging him to kill all the Batawana leaders so that only Sebetwane’s own people would remain. But because Mogalakwe loved Sedumedi he told him so, and advised him that in order to survive they should run away. Sedumedi did not heed his uncle’s advice, and the plan to kill them was already at an advanced stage. Mogalakwe asked permission from the King for the children to go gather berries and asked to accompany them. The King granted permission, not knowing what was behind it all, and so all the Batawana boys and girls went to gather berries, using it as a chance to escape. They escaped in big numbers. Let us remember that Sebetwane was ruling them in Barotse territory. When Sebetwane and his people realized what had happened, the Batawana had already gone. The Kololo warrior who had helped Mogalakwe escape was very happy, and argued that the Batawana should not be pursued. After Mogalakwe’s departure, Sedumedi and all the other Batawana leaders who had refused to take his advice were killed for fear they would escape. Sedumedi thus died. On this journey Mogalakwe was with his brother’s son, Motswakhumo’s son Makgasane. The expedition crossed rivers and sand veldts on their way to Ngamiland. On their way they found two Basubia, called Matlhabakane and Ditshwaane, gathering berries. Because this journey was in a war situation, they thought of killing them. But Matlhabakane asked Mogalakwe for mercy, saying that they had three children who could be Batawana. Among them was a boy wearing an ivory necklace, the same as they used to see worn in the tribe during Moremi’s reign, and they asked permission to bring these children to the Mogalakwe expedition. The two men said that if these were not Batawana children they would agree to be executed. Mogalakwe agreed, and accompanied them with Maoto, Makgasana, and others. It was a canoe journey, and they spent a night before arriving and having Letsholathebe and another girl brought to them. The third one, a fairly elderly person, refused to come and decided to live with the Basubia. Maoto then handed Letsholathebe over to Mogalakwe. How Letsholathebe escaped death during the war with Sebetwane is unknown, for he himself could not explain it as he was very young. To Mogalakwe this was great luck, because he had found Letsholathebe, the Kgosi e Kgolo of the Batawana. He became Letsholathebe’s guardian. Now the journey became pleasant, and Mogalakwe turned to Makgasana and said, “Here is your brother’s son, look after him.” Makgasana however, was not happy about this event, as he was seeing someone who outranked himself, but he accepted it all the same. Probably, in more favorable circumstances, he would have killed the boy, but he feared Mogalakwe’s influence. Mogalakwe discovered this, and began to look after the welfare of Letsholathebe on the journey, watching what was being given to him under Makgasana’s custody. The Return to Ngamiland The Batawana arrived in Ngamiland and the ruins of their forefathers’ domains, something that they had not dreamt of seeing. As the saying goes, “You can go home, but not to your mother’s womb.” Now Letsholathebe was a young man. Since Makgasana was not honest enough to raise him properly, people did not think he would make a suitable regent. Mogalakwe then started to rule on behalf of Letsholathebe during his minority. A smattering of Batawana who had fled during the Matabele wars, along with the Bayei, heard the Chieftainship was being rebuilt from ruins, and they came back in great numbers to build a largely Batawana village. Mogalakwe ruled the morafe just like Tawana, his father, had, and was not keen to conquer other peoples. He eventually handed over the Chieftainship to Letsholathebe. When Letsholathebe ruled he had a younger brother, Meno, still at Sebetwane’s. Meno and Letsholathebe were both Moremi’s sons from different houses. Sebetwane heard that Letsholathebe was ruling, but was already very old. Because he loved Meno very much, he told him, “Go back to your home before I die because after my death Sekeletu will not treat you as a son like I have done.” And indeed Meno went back and found that Letsholathebe, now in control of the Bayei, was ruling. After this, news came that Sebetwane had died, and Matima regiment started singing about him. Meno tried to stop them but they went on singing. Then a Mokgalagadi went and told Sekeletu that Letsholathebe was singing about his dead father. Sekeletu was outraged and declared war. They attacked the Batawana in Ngamiland and the Batawana fled to Makgabaneng. Sekeletu captured all their sheep and went home to Barotseland with them, crossing at Lekaweng. He used a bridge made of tree branches for the sheep to cross, and then took them home. After a long time Sekeletu died and Mpololo ruled, and he started killing all the elders. He killed most of them in a crooked fashion, calling them into his backyard and making them think he was calling them for consultation. As they entered, assassins stabbed them from hiding spots. These killings weakened the might of the Makololo and the Barotse realized that their rulers had lost their dignity. The Barotse rose up and killed the Makololo. A headman called Lebuse had already fled Mpololo’s killings with a number of people, and he arrived in Ngamiland seeking refuge. When Letsholathebe heard that Lebuse was in the Mababe Flats, he went to meet him and they encountered each other at Chuqumo. Letsholathebe ordered Lebuse and his party, who were not warriors but refugees, to leave their weapons behind and come to him unarmed. They did so. Letsholathebe had told the Batawana that when the Makololo sat in front of him he would ask Lebuse to stand up. He would then say, “There cannot be two bulls in one kraal,” whereupon the Batawana would massacre the lot. Indeed, when Lebuse stood up, the signal was given and the Makololo were all killed. Lebuse managed to escape but he was caught and executed at Mochabeng, a place still known as “Mochaba-waga-Lebuse.”. In the meanwhile, the rest of the Makololo such as the women and those driving the cattle, were captured. A section of them soon fled, led by Ramadingwane, and they went into Bangwato territory to seek refuge with Kgosi Sekgoma. Sekgoma gave his son, Khama, the authority to rule them but Khama declined, saying he did not want to own the “Mapatlhana”. As Ramadingwane could not make peace anywhere, he went back to Ngamiland hoping to yield to Letsholathebe. When he got there Letsholathebe killed him. Tensions with the Makololo remained high until Lethsolathebe died. He left Makaba, Nthoo, Makagowe, and Moremi, the children of the main house. When Letsholathebe died Meno, his brother, became Regent for a very short time, since Moremi II was already grown up enough to rule. When his desire to rule was known, Meno informed Mogalakwe that Moremi should become the kgosi, which he did, a year after Meno’s term of office began. The Rule of Moremi II When Moremi II began to rule, the Matabele wars restarted. Mzilikazi’s attacks were known to be coming from Bangwato territory, because Rampodu Segolodi wrote Moremi a letter telling him the Matabele were on their way there. Initially, nobody took heed of this warning. Soon after, a man named Kebekilwe visited the Boteti River on canoe, and on his return he saw a cloud of dust by the riverside and a large group of people soon descended to the river. He concluded that it was Matabele warriors. He left his canoes and hurried back home to report that the Matabele had arrived. After his arrival Rampodu’s message was remembered. Immediately some scouts were sent, Tokoro being the leader. They met the Matabele scouts and wiped them out, carrying back their weapons. The Batawana now realized that it was war, and they removed all women, children, and cattle from the vicinity. The Matabele arrived and started capturing cattle in their path, because there had not been enough time to remove them all. As they took the cattle, the Matabele killed all the herders at the cattleposts. The war flared up, and the Batawana, being ill-prepared, lost many cattle, but they defended their land and the tribe remained intact because the Batawana are great warriors. The Matabele had 8,000 troops, but the river was an advantage to the Batawana because it impeded the Matabele from attacking at strategic points. Of the Matabele 150 were killed, and the Matabele became nervous about the Batawana on horseback, but as they had captured many cattle and prisoners, they turned back. In this war, some of the minor tribes that had been under the Batawana voluntarily gave themselves up to the Matabele, thinking they would be happier under them. When the Matabele retreated, they built a kraal for these people, shut them in, and killed the lot except for the children. The Matabele leader was Gambo, and they went back home in the belief that they had a narrow escape through the will of God and were glad not to have to attack again. This figure of 150 constitutes the number who were killed in actual combat, not including those who died of other causes. When the Matabele war was over, the Batawana returned to the swamps where many of them had hidden, going to Sethebe’s, and then staying at Tshimoyapula. Now they had suffered so much from war that they remained vigilant and kept their ears open. After Gambo and his group returned to Mzilikazi, he spoke of the trouble he had had and how the Batawana should not be attacked again, because if they were organized in defense they would be very difficult to defeat. Though few in number, the Batawana were great fighters. Mzilikazi believed Gambo’s story fully, for he was an old warrior who had won battles and defeated many different merafe. There were young men who looked down on Gambo, saying he was speaking out of cowardice, for he had left Mzilikazi’s cattle in in the open. They were going to recapture those animals. Because Mzilikazi believed Gambo so much, he told the young warriors that if they recaptured the cattle from the Batawana he would give them all those cattle to eat, and he would eat his dog, which he pointed at. Thus, due to the spirit of the Batawana, another 4,000 men under Lotshe went out to attack them again. Rampodu again warned Moremi from his home, as it had been heard in Gammangwato that Mzilikazi was going to re- attack the Batawana. Now this time, Rampodu’s words were received by the Chief with great pleasure, and preparations were made in time. Cattle were driven to a safe hiding place through one entrance which would decoy the enemy. Shortly after this the Matabele were heard approaching the swamps. The Batawana had crossed the Sokametse River. There were regiments on either side of the river, and one entrance was left open with the Batawana lying in ambush in the reeds. When the Matabele arrived they were frightened and surprised because they saw an island surrounded by deep water—but the tracks of the cattle showed that they had crossed over to it. Although nobody was in sight, they feared a Batawana ambush and feared entering the swamp. While in this state of confusion, they heard the cattle lowing on the island. Their induna shouted in a high-pitched voice, “You told the King you had come to capture the cattle, and here they are. The cattle bellowed showing that they are here. So go an fetch them. Let those with guns go in first, and those with spears will follow. Go towards where the cattle are.” Hearing this, they threw themselves into the water, while the Batawana waited until the Matabele had almost crossed. When the front ranks approached the bank, the Batawana attacked. All the Matabele were drowned, and though they tried to advance, they drowned man by man. As they struggled through the water, bullets were passing through three men at a time. As this was going on, One Matabele man was screaming, “Dear God, we are burning!” In their attempt to retreat as they ran in deep water, they all drowned in the water and died. It was all dark red in the water, while the cattle bellowed loudly in the swamps. The Induna was filled, and as the Matabele remnants retreated they lost even the cattle that they had brought at provisions. When the Matabele returned home, they were decimated. 1,500 had perished and no booty had been captured whatsoever. The story goes that the King killed them because they had failed to fulfill the vow that they had made. This was the last Tawana-Matabele war. The Batawana now, having suffered at the hands of the Matabele, did not return to the place where they had first settled. They went to Digogwaneng, but water problems forced them next to Kamokaku, where they established a settlement and Moremi ruled. After two years Moremi visited Khama III of the Bangwato, and a spirit of brotherhood ensued between them. In their conversation Khama advised Moremi that if a Boer called Raubase [Hendrik Van Zyl] stayed in Ghanzi, then the Nama would keep settling there and they would take Moremi’s land. Khama thus told Moremi to chase Raubase from Ghanzi because this was Moremi’s territory. Moremi took this advice, and when he got back home he sent two regiments, Maalela and Maemelwa, to go and dismantle the Nama and Raubase in Ghanzi. They captured cattle and goats and brought them back to Ngamiland. Ngamiland was a vast territory, and all the tribes along the river to the west were loyal to the Batawana as far as Mohapu. Nyangana was also welcome as a friend and was assured of protection, but he had the habit of killing Whites who went to his territory. White people did not trust him for that reason, and also thought that since Moremi was the Paramount he was also responsible for killing whites in Angola. The Story of Rampodu Segolodi Kgama—When the Batawana were at Digogwane, Rampodu arrived, having run away from his home in Gammangwato after being molested by his regiment the Maalola due to the hatred created towards him by Ratshosa Motswetle. Rampodu had suffered damages, but Kgosi Khama III did not try the culprits since Ratshosa had married Bessie, Khama’s daughter. Rampodu had held a high position in his home village as a school teacher and a court clerk and adviser to Kgosi Khama III, which sparked Ratshosa’s hatred, ending in Rampodu’s flight to Moremi’s. Being an old friend of Moremi’s he was welcomed heartily and was immediately given the position he had held previously at his home in Serowe, namely that of advisor and loyal servant to the Chief. Rampodu was given the Hambukushu and the Bakgalagadi by Moremi, and he ruled in their area, which runs from Mowaneng to Mohapu. Because the Hambukushu loved him so much they gave him the name “Ku-makina”, which means “the place where cloth is gathered.” This was because he gave them cloth to make wrap-arounds. When Moremi ruled at Kamokaku, then arrived White men of a Chartered Co., known by the name British Trading Association Ltd., who were prospecting for gold at Kgwebe. This company found Rampodu as secretary to Moremi II, and an agreement was made between the Chief and the Company, and a Concession was agreed on for £400 a year, which was also received by Kgosi Sekgoma Letsholathebe afterwards. This was indeed a great event, though the money was not paid to Moremi. Great gifts of honour were given to the Kgosi, and other gifts were given to the Digkosana and the headmen; these showed how pleased the Company was with the Batawana. Moremi died in 1892, with two younger brothers of different houses, namely Sekgoma and Sekgathole. Moremi’s issue was as follows: Maria, Mathiba, Letsholathebe from the first house; where following his death Wetshootsile, son of Dithapo, raised seed and had the following children, Gaetsalwe, Mantswe, Montshatsapa. And from the second house the only child was Moshuga. Even though at Moremi’s death his younger brothers were already big men, the one following him, namely Sekgoma, could not take the Chieftainship unless it was conferred upon him by his father’s brother, according to Ngwato tradition. Through this arrangement Dithapo ruled at Kamokaku and even transferred the village to Nakalatswe. Dithapo ruled for 1 ½ years. From Kgosi Letsholathebe’s reign up to the reign of Moremi, Europeans were now coming in as traders/hawkers to Ngamiland. They were buying cattle and ivory and trading for whatever they could find. All this time up to Moremi’s reign, even though the Europeans were trading, money was not known, not even the £1 Sovereign piece. When cattle and ivory were sold, prices were only mentioned without evaluation and it devolved upon the seller to state a fair price. Again, when Moremi died, it was already rumored that the English had the power to protect many tribes that were leaning toward an alliance with them. Rampodu told Moremi that the Matabele will no longer attack the Batawana because the English had decimated them.