In the late 1700's, King Thulare united the few remaining independent chiefs. This extended his control over the region, making himself the ruler of the "Pedi Kingdom". Contrary to the accepted custom of Sotho chiefs, he did not choose a natural stronghold for his mosate or great place, saying that a chief who is surrounded by brave men needs no walls of stone to protect him. It was with this sprit of bravery which made him so successful.

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Mfecane - Lifaqane - Difaqane

During the Mfecane, the Ba Pedi were were overwhelmed by the Matabele, an Nguni tribe closely related to the Zulu who, under their leader Mzilikazi rebelled against Shaka and fled Zululand.

Mzilikazi (Moselekatse) - King of the Matabele

The Matabele depopulated and subjugated a vast area, partially inhabited by the Pedi, before settling down in the south western part of what is today Zimbabwe. Mzilikazi took supplies and followers along his way. Thulare's empire was destroyed. The Pedi Kingdom fell into disarray and dislocation followed.

Thulare's son Sekwati rose to power. Boers settled in the region. Sekwati engaged them in numerous negotiations and struggles over land and labour. His success in these struggles, and later that of his heir Sekhukhune I, owed in part to the firepower enjoyed by his rule, purchased with the proceeds of early labour migration to the diamond fields of Kimberley.

             Sekukuni II - Paramount Chief of the Bapedi                        Chief Sekwati (Cousin of Sekukuni II)

The Bantu Tribes of South Africa

A. M. Duggan-Cronin

During this period, the power of Pedi was entrenched through the insistence that the chiefs of groups subordinate to the Pedi take their principal wives from the ruling dynasty. A system of cousin marriage resulted, which perpetuated hierarchical marriage links between ruler and ruled and which involved the paying of inflated bride-wealth to the Royal Maroteng kraal.

In 1861 the Berlin Missionary Society established the first mission to the Pedi, west of the Leolo Mountains.

By the 1870s, the Pedi represented one of three sources of regional authority including the Swazi and Zuid-Afrikaansche Republiek or (ZAR), which the Boers had established. Like the Pedi, the Boers were domestic farmers. In fact, they lived off the land much in the same way as the African societies.  It was only natural that they would compete for the same, limited resources.

A. M. Duggan-Cronin

Disputes started almost immediately. Boer farmers accused the Pedi of stealing livestock while the Pedi accused the Boers of stealing their children for farm labour. The inevitable confrontations led to minor skirmishes in 1838, 1847 and 1852. Sekwati eventually negotiated a land agreement with the Boers in 1857 that kept the peace until his death in 1861. After what may have been a violent power struggle, Sekhukhune assumed his father's throne, forcing his brother Mampuru to exile.
 

Matters between the Boers and Pedi declined soon after Sekwati's death. Sekhukhune respected his father's treaty, but was fiercely independent and sought to protect Pedi sovereignty. The first incident occurred in 1865, when he expelled the missionary Rev. Merensky from his lands, accusing him of subversion. Things got worse when Johannes Dinkoanyane, half brother of Sekhukhune and convert of Merensky, withdrew from the Christian mission and returned his people to Pedi land.
 

The situation grew even more complicated with the discovery of gold in Pilgrim's Rest in 1873. The enterprising Pedi immediately went to work in the mines. They accepted lower wages than the Europeans, causing yet another source of friction, then used their earnings to stock up on arms and supplies.

 
The real problem however was the Steelpoort River, demarked by treaty as the boundary between the Transvaal Republic (the Boer state) and the Pedi. Miners from Pilgrim's Rest were crossing the river in greater numbers to prospect for gold without first paying tribute or seeking permission, a serious insult in many Bantu cultures.

The situation enlaerged to a boiling point in 1876 when Dinkoanyane discovered a wagonload of wood on his property belonging to a Boer farmer named Jankowitz. Outraged at this trespass, Dinkoanyane confiscated the wood and forcibly expelled Jankowitz. By the time the "story" reached Boer President T.R. Burgers, the Pedi had "seemingly" stolen large herds of cattle and destroyed a German mission, both of which were false. Burgers immediately declared war.

Pedi Warrior

The Bantu Tribes of South Africa

A. M. Duggan-Cronin

In the summer of 1876, a Boer advance was stopped at Sekhukhune's fortress. The Boer soldiers fled across the Steelpoort River in the face of a Pedi charge, landing the aggressors a resounding defeat.

The British annexation of the Transvaal followed in 1877, partly spurred by the Boers' failure to subjugate the Pedi. Sekhukhune claimed he did not fall under British rule, while the British argued that as the new rulers of the Transvaal Republic, they were entitled to rule the Pedi. One year later, Sekhukhune was at war once again.

After a string of embarrassing defeats, the British gained the upper hand. In 1879, Sir Garnet Wolslely forced Sekhukhune to surrender.

Sekhukhune's half brother Mampuru, saw this as an opportunity to regain the throne as the rightful King. In 1882 he murdered Sekhukhune, then fled for the safety of King Nyabela of  the Ndebele.

As mentioned, Boers had united as the ZAR. They saw this as an opportunity to rid themselves of the Ndebele, enlisting Sotho help to overthrow Nyabela and bring Mampuru to "justice".
 

The Pedi and other Northern Sotho kingdoms eventually succumbed to Boer and British encroachments. Only natural obstacles such as the  lack of sufficient water, wild animals and disease, kept the Europeans from occupying Pedi lands in large numbers.

In 1913, the Northern Sotho were restricted to "native reserves" which had little to do with traditional lands and more to do with confining them into manageable groups, "in the interests of ethnic consolidation."

In 1959, the young Apartheid system of government established the Lebowa homelands in the Mpumalanga and Limpopo Provinces. By 1972, the planning had culminated in the creation of an "independent national unit" or "homeland". This was designed as a place of residence for all Northern Sotho speakers. Many Pedi had never before resided in the "reserve".

The homeland system was controversial throughout South Africa as Africans were often forcibly removed, then granted small tracts of unusable land. Moreover, homeland government officials were selected for their loyalty to the South African government, rather than for their bureaucratic skills. Few if any homeland officials had a legitimate claim to any African kingdom. Not surprisingly, life in the homelands deteriorated rapidly and the people grew restless. The homeland government did not hesitate to suppress dissent, as indicated by the discovery of mass graves in Lebowa in 1986.

Today, many Pedi and North Sotho live agricultural lifestyles while enjoying the benefits of a free government and economy. Others moved to live in the townships adjoining Pretoria and Johannesburg on a semi permanent basis.

A. M. Duggan-Cronin

The 1994 Land Rights Bill sought to restore some of the land confiscated by the Apartheid government providing some Pedi with the opportunity to determine their own economic future.
 

The present-day Pedi area, Sekhukhune-land, is situated between the Olifants River  or Lepelle and its tributary, the Steelpoort River or Tubatse. The area is bordered on the east by the Transvaal Drakensberg range and crossed by the Leolo Mountains.