DEMOCRACY OR DEFEAT?

© Maragana Freedom te Kies 042017 THE TSWANA NEVER HAD A SAY – Time to Disaggregate the Monstrosity and Unveil the Deceptions

Mo Lehatshing la ga Mang (In Whose Land)?

A hypothetical map (by the Swedish artist, Nikolaj Cyon @ www.cyon.se) shown below, shows how the KHOISAN (so called) heritages have been wiped out of the face of the earth!

Cyon’s map and other data herein also show, without a doubt that failure by the Tswana heritage to respond to threats (internal and external) against it for over 200 years, borders on replicating the fate that met the heritages of the ‘KhoiSan’ family; an injustice comparable, among others, to that against the Aborigines of Australia, the Palestinians or the Native Americans. The data further shows that the Tswana never had a say on decisions made about their land! How do we imagine a racist-free humanity and a world of self-driving cars when we seemingly struggle with basic concepts of social justice and fairness?

I am Tswana; my people occupied this whole area before the white man came. These goldfields, that’s where we were. This fellow, van der Merwe, an Afrikaner archaeologist, has done work to show that villages, sophisticated societies in terms of those days, existed around the years 300 to 400 AD around this area; I have no doubt that with improved carbon dating methods, he will in fact show that we were here in 400 BC, not AD”, The late Dr Nthato Motlana; in The Mirror at Midnight – A South African Journey by A Hochschild.

But even against this rich archaeological backdrop, the immense Tswana towns of South Africa stand out as unique…Most were eventually devastated during the catastrophic difaqane wars…, Archaeologist Mark S Anderson in Marothodi: The historical Archaeology of an African Capital.

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The Prophecy of Doom!

Tswana: Singing Praises for ‘Democracy’; Ignoring the Prophecy of Doom?

Dintšwa ke nyena (izinjagini) tsa lotso lwa bophirima, lo ya go otlhaelwa tiragalo e. Lo tla duela ka madi a nyena le a bana ba nyena, go bo lo amile barongwa ba ga Mzilakazi ka diatla tsa nyena tse di kgamathetseng. Madi a Matebele ga tshologele mo mmung ntle le khutsako ya loso le tshenyako. Mpolaeng ka diatla tseo tsa nyena tse di hutsitsweng; nyena dikokomane tsa lotso lo lo kgopo. Mme lo itse fa lo jwetse peo ya nyelelo ya nyena; a le a nkutlwa? - Morongwa wa ga Muzilakazi mo pading ya Mhudi - Tšhekisho Solomon Plaatje.

Mo phigisanong ya tswelelopele ya merafe, go tla sala go phela ba ba itshwenyang, mme ba ba sa itekeng ba tla nyelela – Letlhaku Le Legologolo: Rre P Leseyane

Read on; the Land Claims Collapse may help you as it helped me to begin to grasp the seriousness of the above prophecy!

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© Maragana Freedom te Kies 042017 LAND CLAIMS COLLAPSE ETC: One Case of A Real Raw Deal!

In Long Walk to Freedom (LWF), the great Nelson Mandela, paying statesmanlike tribute to James Moroka (ANC President General 1952), among other things, says: …His great-grandfather had been a chief in the Orange Free State, and had greeted the Afrikaner Voortrekkers of the nineteenth century with open arms and gifts of land, and then been betrayed.1 The betrayal that Nelson Mandela is referring to was not isolated. Everywhere the Tswana heritage and sovereignty was violated at every turn NOT only by whites; in fact, the Voortrekkers merely continued what Mzilakazi had started! Now, it is about time we ask the question whether the ‘land claims collapse’ etc., is not part of the continuation of the violations and betrayals! Read on…

Land Claims Collapse? Who Benefits? A Heritage under Siege: What Options left?

The notes herein explore the questions; decode the deceptions and provide logical option.  

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No doubt everyone knows about the May 2016 ConCourt Order to President Zuma to PAY BACK THE MONEY But how many people took note of the July 2016 ConCourt ruling (in favour of ‘Movement for Rural Democracy’) that froze 100 000 new land claims and declared the Restitution of Land Rights Amendment Act unconstitutional; ‘until 20 000 outstanding claims from before 1998 were dealt with…’

But note, the ConCourt did not say 20 000 claims must be dealt with (not the brief) but only that ‘until the 20 000 claims have been dealt with…’

The ruling was made against a background of heightening consciousness about the land; for example one community had even lodged a claim for ‘ownership’ of the soil hosting the administrative capital of South Afrika – Pretoria; and already one key claimant had been murdered under mysterious circumstances Also, reports said the ConCourt reasoned that the Amendment Act was made ‘for political expediency’ (Manipulation?)

Dikgang Moseneke too (in post-retirement interviews as Deputy Chief Justice - before the judgement) blamed the land shambles on ‘lack of political will and ‘lethargic bureaucracy’! ? Did we hear any institution, a polotical party or any eminent person say these matters (polotical will’, ‘bureaucratic lethargy’ and ‘polotical expediency) are very serious and must be investigated in the name of ‘democracy’

Hurutshe Land…

1 Page 108.

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© Maragana Freedom te Kies 042017 Hurutshe Land Claim: A Telling Example of how the Tswana were Dispossessed !! Hurutshe land claim in the North West is one of those claims from 1998 that were now buried under the 100 000 new claims while the State2 remained silent about unresolved 20 000 land claims 

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The claim had been modest and not pursued a long held belief by the ‘tribe’ that the border with the Dutch Boers was fixed along where lies Pardekraal Hospital in Krugersdorp Instead Matlhogotshweu had concentrated the claim on the immediate reaches of their erstwhile historical capital, Tswenyane including Kaditshwene and the areas of Madikwe (Groot and Klein Marico – now reported to be a diamond prospect for de Beers diamond company) Matlhogotshweu who lodged the claim are almost all dead now.

And the last sentimental generation that invested personal resources and time in the claim hoping for land-justice also now await their death ? Do we expect the future generations to fight the battles of their degenerates The Hurutshe land claim effort never attracted a polotical party, a president, a premier nor the media; and not even a mayor Yet, one Premier of NW provincial government and a senior ANC official found cause to meddle in Hurutshe chiefly) succession shenanigans at the time ? Why should polotics decide who should be ‘chief’ (meddle in tribal affairs) while not interested in the tribe’s land matters ? And how is this meddling different from apartheid meddling and the control of chiefs

How Did the Tswana Lose the Land to Begin with?

A Summary: King Shaka’s corrupt general, Mzilakazi violently invades and violates Tswana sovereignty and imposes himself on the Tswana and chases them out of their land with unprecedented brutality. The Boers appear on the scene (unleashed by the British?) at the same time. The Tswana ask the Boers for help 3. Mzilakazi gets evicted. The Boers take advantage, turn against the Tswana and impose themselves on Tswana lands. The British appear on the scene (events conspiring without a causa?) and supported the marauding actions of the Boers; The British ultimately unified the divided Boers (while systematically dividing the Tswana) and ultimately handed total power to the Boers to protect both the stolen land and British business interests (diamonds, gold and industry in the land of the Tswana).

Industrial migrants brought into the land of the Tswana (by whites) and then we heard that, ‘The land belongs to all’!

2 I hold a strong view that the State is in fact a ‘Deceptive State’!

3 As an example, Mokgatle of Bafokeng is mentioned in the book, Murder in Morija seen hiding and on a mission seeking help to evict Moselekatse.

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© Maragana Freedom te Kies 042017 Had it not been for Sir George Grey’s Common Native Policy, fuelled by apartheid and by ‘80 years of protracted struggle’, polotical4-migrants would not have had the opportunity to declare ‘The land (of the Tswana) belongs to all’!! Apartheid oppressed blacks; but that was not all; apartheid (tool of colonialism of a special type) was also an alibi that legitimized and enabled the ‘liberation project’ and its clones to gain control over the land of the Tswana; take advantage and undermine Tswana historical rights and heritage (just as Muzilakazi and the Voortrekkers did)! This probably explains the reason why Mangȏpe shunned Mandela in 1994; mogolo ‘Bantustan leader’, knew it all!), while I remained liggelowig. 

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And thus the Hurutshe and the rest of the Tswana lost the land through a conspiracy of events that began with groups from the coastal areas (Mzilakazi, the Trekker Boers and the British) beginning in the 19th Century When Mzilikazi was finally defeated and evicted, he was occupying Hurutshe soil at the then interim ‘capital’, Mosega (the capital Tswenyane – her ruins to this day still White owned, remains a silent yet salient testimony to her erstwhile magnificence – had been ransacked and raised to the ground by other marauding hoards).

The Trekker Boers justified land grab and the dispossessing of the Tswana on the claim that ‘the land was empty’ and that they alone defeated Mzilakazi (a claim ‘experts’ have backed and peddled without shame) The declaration of the Transvaal as The South African Republic (Boer land) in 1852/3, became possible because of the defeat and eviction of Muzilakazi from Hurutshe lands: An event that was to shape S Afrika as we know her today ! South Afrikan polotics and its heroic leaders never acknowledged this history (let alone the right of the Tswana heritage to determine its destiny without interference) the violations, the devastations and the losses suffered by the Tswana as a result; as if oppression of blacks by whites gives blacks the right to annul the rights of other blacks! What sort of logic is this; Holocaust logic? ! If such annulment of others’ historical rights can be just, then it means some black groups are incredibly lucky indeed (to have been oppressed)

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Consequently, the struggle project, its narrative and dispensation never imagined, let alone commit, to a fair and just stake for the Tswana in their historical lands

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The invaders of course; but is it as simple as that? ? Did not the learned fraternity implicate polotics; simply put; the very polotical parties and the narrative that the Tswana vote for Meanwhile, the very polotics use government housing and other programmes to accommodate millions who have been relocating to the interior from the coastal areas since the invasions by Mzilakazi and the Voortrekkers

4 By polotical-migrants it is meant economic-migrants who end up overpowering their hapless host.

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? Are not some of these millions buying out the very properties and farms that are theoretically part of land claims in the interior? Are they not being empowered to do so by the laws of the very polotics and thereby benefiting from the evil deeds of Muzilakazi, the Trekker Boers and Apartheid ? How is the above different from what polotical Zionism did in Palestine? ? Is not the so called #Occupy the land rhetoric merely a reckless disguise targeting land in the interior for the entitlement of millions with no historical rights to the interior while at the same time disentitling historical natives? How is this different from the agenda of Mzilakazi and the Voortrekkers?

Is not the so called land confiscation without compensation merely targeting the interior without due consideration of historical rights in the interior?

It is clear that what Mzilakazi failed to achieve through vice has now been achieved through a deception called African nationalism It’s been argued that the struggle élite were (polotical) migrants with no property to defend. Can we be faulted to charge that they therefore negotiated access to money to enable them to buy stolen property5 (not surprising that one of the key demands of the so called African Claims of 1941 was for migrants to be allowed to buy land in the interior) ! What do they do with millions who cannot access money then? Simple; rob Peter to appease Paul under the mantra of blackism and the deceptions of the so called Africanism ? How is all this different from excuses used for the occupation of West Bank

(! When Hitler kills you, you go dispossess the Palestinians) (! The British oppress the Boers; the Boers can go dispossess the Tswana) (! Afrikaners oppress blacks and blacks can be compensated with the land of the Tswana – because we are ‘all blacks’ and ‘The land belongs to all’?) ? In fact, should we not even wonder if the historical land of the Tswana is not a sacrificial lamb to settle coastal colonial scores of dispossessions and wars – the so called ‘hundred years of kaffir wars’, blood river, the battle of Ulundi, etc., in the same way that Palestine has been made a sacrificial lamb for the horrors and guilt of the Holocaust 

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And like Mzilakazi and the Voortrekkers, they unashamedly erect their monuments everywhere in the historical lands of the Tswana including that of racists such as Ghandi and even of someone who became president after being acquitted of rape of a woman young enough to be a daughter. ! Mzilakazi must be grinning in his grave; it is mission accomplished Revolutionary lesson in humility: ‘No personality cult monuments in my name’, Fidel Castro Fortune seekers and self-aggrandizers in the name of liberation polotics; they never heard of the name Jose Mujica6

5 The right to buy land was one of the key demands of the so called African Claims of 1941/2 (LWF p92)

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© Maragana Freedom te Kies 042017 A Well-Orchestrated Siege: A Chronology At the beginning, other blacks, (esp., in the coastal areas) lost their lands bravely; fighting projectiles of mass destruction like guns and cannons with spears. The time-line below (by no means comprehensive) questions, considers and casts some light on how the Tswana lost the interior through invasions by and the dictates of the coastal forces. The time-line shows that it is not only the land but the entire Tswana heritage that is under siege; the forced severing of bloodlines, Tswana history, language, core values, our artistic talents, our dignity and identity (e.g., ‘Tswana is a meaningless label created by whites in the 19C!’ or the diminution of the Tswana heritage by classifying it as Sotho or as the so called western Sotho when such a label is baseless) and sense of security as a people, our pride and our confidence. The timeline lays it bare: 

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1994 : Afrikaner Interests Secured and Consolidated: time for tactical retreat Anti-apartheid negotiated settlement is reached in the historical lands of the Tswana o None of the negotiating parties ever sought mandate from the Tswana nor expressed concern that the Tswana heritage was not represented o While bloody covert operations were continuing and deals with the ‘enemy’ being cut in the dark and under the tables, the Tswana decided instead to save the ‘democratic process’ by staging an ‘Arab Spring’ against (themselves) the only Tswana (‘Bantustan’) leader in the entire history of the Tswana in South Africa to have tried to set the agenda) and made a crucial appointment with the supremacist (AWB) and stopped them in their tracks o Yet the capture of Bophuthatswana institutions such as Bop TV done without any guarantees for the Tswana heritage and language (lip-service promises now long forgotten) o The land reform agreements made without any regard to Tswana history nor to the implications of the long trail of disproportionate mass migrations into the interior resulting from 19C invasions and economic migrations facilitated by White meddling in the interior ? How is this different from the betrayal of the forefathers by the ‘Afrikaner Voortrekkers of the 19 Century’ that the Great Nelson Mandela refers to7 1955 ‘The land belongs to all’ o Above declaration made in the historical lands of the Tswana regardless of Tswana historical sovereignty and regardless of how events had and were to undermine that sovereignty. The majority8 of the people who made the declaration in

6 Ex-President of Uruguay who saw his presidency as a way ‘to serve the people of his country and neither to enrich nor elevate himself’’.

7 Mandela on James Moroka about the time Moroka was President of the ANC - Long Walk to Freedom (LWF).

8 Between 1936 and 1946 Johannesburg population increased from 229 122 to 384 628 (The Collected writings of Anton Muziwakhe Lembede, p14.

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question, were polotical-migrants brought into the historical land of the Tswana (as economic migrants) by the white establishment (Marikana is a very good recent example of migrant and white establishment relationship in the interior) o The declaration disregarded the fact that the Tswana have no historical claims to lands in for example Kwa Zulu, Eastern Cape or Western Cape; nor do the Tswana have any presence to speak of in the said provinces: o According to Census 2001 there were only 2,000 Batswana in Eastern Cape and a combined total of only 5,000 in Kwa Zulu and Western Cape compared to hundreds of thousands and even millions of perpetual migrations into the interior o For all intents and practical purposes, it is clear that the declaration of the Freedom Charter that ‘the land belongs to all’ (common Native Policy in progress), in fact targeted historical Tswana lands for occupation by, among others, millions from coastal areas black and white! o And the above declaration is etched in the body and soul of the so called liberation polotics in South Africa ? Does this not ultimately provide the reason behind the ‘political will’, bureaucratic lethargy and ‘political expediency’ and therefore the Land Claims Collapse 1900 to 1910 British Interests Secured and Consolidated: time for tactical retreat Britain finally defeats the Boers in 2nd Anglo-Boer war and thru the treaty of Vereeniging, made the Boers an offer they could not refuse in return for:

‘A responsible government’ (this would ensure smooth plunder of gold and diamonds in Tswana country) o Co-operation towards amalgamation of English and Boer interests (finally achieved through the Union in 1910 when all colonial power was transferred to the Boers (this safeguarded British interests and delegated responsibility to the Boer to deal with Sir George Grey’s common Native Policy as they pleased) o The Union marked a windfall for the Boers; formal state power and a lucrative kitty in a growing economy to realize their ‘covenant with ‘God’ o And the Natives? Simple; they all look the same and so lump them all in one big black pot and stir long enough (bȇrȇkolola) until from the pot out pops the likes of our beloved great Nelson Mandela (‘…the black elité that Britain sought to create in Africa’; LWF p91) to legitimize and lead common Native Policy (all blacks united – ‘one South Africa one Nation’ for a ‘responsible government of the future’ and continued scramble to and for the gold-mines (perfect disarming polotics of aggregation). ! Voila, should we not wonder if the entire policy of the ‘struggle’ and therefore the outcome weren’t effectively conceived of and dictated to in 1858 by ‘the trouble-shooter’ supremacist Sir George Grey with his common Native Policy? o

Note Well

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That the process leading to the Union of South Africa in 1910, not only united British and Boer, but most importantly unified the 5 divided Boer republics (Potch-Pretoria, Lydenburg, Soutpansberg, Utrecht and Vrystaat) that were at loggerheads. By contrast the British divided the Tswana at will; severing the core Tswana (groups representing ¾ majority occupying the richest land in gold and diamonds) from the ¼ that then became Botswana. Note well that protracted bloody wars notwithstanding, the British still respected the Zulus and the Xhosa and never divided them like they did the Tswana Route to British and Boer Union in 1910 (Tswana land as Centre)

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1820s Mzilakazi (with utter contempt) invades, ambushes and violates Tswana sovereignty with one mission; destruction of the Tswana heritage o Unprecedented destabilization, and confusion with unprecedented ruthlessness prepared ground for Voortrekker imposition and plunder o Tswana lands rendered empty as communities ran for dear life o Historical and cultural sites (capitals and village-towns) ravaged and destroyed o Food plundered; children and juveniles captured, made to starve of hunger and then fed the plundered food to turn them against their very families and heritage o Since 1994, has there been any co-operation between ¾ Batswana in South Africa and the ¼ Batswana in Botswana for the development of the Tswana heritage? ! We have seemingly mastered the art of boycotts and now we are boycotting our own heritage and families ? How is the above different from Mzilakazi’s policy and practice of separation of mother and child ? The Voortrekkers, their descendants and fellow conspirators benefited from the destabilizations by Mzilakazi; today who benefits from those destabilizations?

Note Well: That the same Mzilakazi ruthlessness was also the violator of the erstwhile Rozvi ‘state’ of Great Zimbabwe (ruins). 

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1834 The trekker Boers from the coastal areas enter the fray to take advantage of unprecedented destabilization and havoc caused by Mzilakazi and thus subjected the Tswana to the twin horror of horrors in the 19 century, MfeTrek9 1837 Mzilakazi is finally evicted from the Hurutshe country at substitute capital, Mosega with involvement of Voortrekkers o Voortrekkers take advantage of the situation and unprecedented loss of land and life by the Tswana through aggression and betrayals o Voortrekkers proclaim land north of the Vaal (Transvaal) their land o ‘Historians’ don’t even acknowledge Hurutshe involvement in the expulsion of Mzilakazi (except in obscure and half-hearted ways such as in the New Dictionary of SA Biography!!). Fact: The Boers were on a mission of revenge against

9 Ultimately, Mfecane and Trekkers had the same devastating impact on the Tswana at the same time and the two should therefore never have been seen as separate events. Hence the introduction of the term ‘MfeTrek’.

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Mzilakazi while the Hurutshe and the rest of the Tswana were on a mission to reclaim their land and hence the eviction of Mzilakazi 1852 Sand River Convention (British Empire) for the first time gives legitimacy to plundering policies and actions of the Boers north of the Vaal and then annexed the Transvaal in 1877 leading to 1880 war and the convention of Pretoria that introduced pass laws for the natives; naturally to enable future labour scramble to the gold mines in the historical lands of the Tswana 1853 Voortrekkers declare Transvaal ‘Zuid Afrikaansche Republiek’ based on the defeat and eviction of Mzilikazi; a move supported by the British 1858 White-supremacist policy gains ground through Sir George Grey’s Federation Schemes as he formulated common Native Policy based on the supremacist belief that ‘the native question is one, and indivisible’ 1871 Keat Award (the British) cedes the diamond fields to Waterboer (Mafik’izolo) of the Griqua (on the basis of the so called 1838 - Ramah-David’ Graf-Platberg Line) against the Tswana of Rolong/Tlhaping who had been in the area for centuries10 o The English then took back the diamonds fields and unprecedented plunder of diamonds carried out; Cecil John Rhodes became the plunderer in chief o Earlier in 1834, Sir Benjamin D’Urban at the insistence of LMS, had signed a treaty arming the Griqua with 200 guns and supply of ammunition (‘to secure the Griqua’!). How were the Rolong/Tlhaping to be secured?

1884-6 The Gold Establishment proclaimed in Gouteng and spreads to the South-West o Unprecedented number of migrant labourers brought into Tswana country unilaterally o Institutionalization of occupation of historical Tswana lands in places such as what became Pretoria and Johannesburg and their leafy suburbs o With these developments, no doubt substantial archaeological (heritage) records destroyed 1885 Tswana Divided (into 3 Segments) to Enhance Plunder o The powers that were, finally undemocratically and arbitrarily fragmented the Tswana heritage into at least British Bechuanaland, Bechuanaland Protectorate and the Transvaal Tswana with the British and Cecil Rhodes as commanders in crime (? If Bophuthatswana ‘Bantustan’ was not acceptable, why is the above dictated fragmentation of the heritage acceptable) o No ethnic group in South Afrika (not the Pedi, not the Venda not the Xhosa not the Zulu etc) has ever been forced into divisions like the Tswana; obviously for the gold and diamonds in their land o Reinforcement of division by, among other things, disturbing continued tendency by self-appointed spokesmen presenting Tswana heritage as a collection of unrelated and loose groups not meant to cohere or as the so called ‘heterogeneous nature of Tswana societies’, a confederation (amorphous without a federation) and even peddling a lie that the name Tswana itself is a creation of whites in the 19

10 Chief Montshiwa of the Rolong is said to have fought a lone and losing battle trying to have a stake

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© Maragana Freedom te Kies 042017 century or the presentation of the Kgatla ‘border division’ as if its unique when the whole Tswana heritage is affected ? How is all this not part of a calculated systematic assault to destroy the Tswana heritage and how is it different from Mzilakazi’s agenda? ☼ HUMILIATION AND BETRAYAL OF TSWANA ‘ROYALS’ 1800 TO PRESENT It is a mine-field: Exclusion of Upper House of Chiefs in 1943 by the ANC; Royals not represented in the negotiated settlement and so on! Humiliation by Moselekatse is well documented. (The fact that Tswana bickering and pettiness continued after such humiliation --by an intruder- is even more humiliating). How some of us could afford ‘watermelon smiles’ (curtesy of Borris of Brexit) posing for selfies with the great Nelson Mandela defies delusion! It seems the Tswana valued making enemies within than without: Here is two perfect examples: ☼1869/71, Kgosi Kgamanyane of the Kgatla publicly flocked (jaaka mosimane) by Paul Kruger (at Moruleng – Rustenburg) in the presence of his people; the former is ‘exiled’ to the Kwena in present day Botswana with a segment of his ‘tribe’; two centres of power created between Moruleng and the resultant Kgatleng in Botswana 

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Following the above mentioned humiliation, the shenanigans (Kgatla seeking independence from their host!) that involved the heirs, among them, Molefi-aKgafela and his host (Sechele in Botswana) and the British as dishonest broker, completely ignored the root cause and the implications of the Kgatla division; in recent times, the shenanigans have returned in new disguise and have haunted ‘Kgosikgolo’ Kgafela (Kgamanyane’s grandson) into an unceremonious ‘exile’ back to Moruleng!

The Humiliating Question: Did ‘Kgosikgolo’ Kgafela apply for a refugee status; is he a foreigner among his people in the land of his forefathers?

There is even talk that some people wanted to do their ‘Kgosikgolo’ a ‘Hong Kong is not China’ perhaps in a similar manner that Manyane was toppled and humiliated.

And as the drama unfolds in the courts about basimane ba kgosing at Moruleng, the ‘common Native Policy’ pact is thoroughly entertained in a similar fashion that the white section (of SA parliament) get entertained by the ‘black drama’ that forever unfolds in those corridors until it reaches the climax during the SONA ! Go siame fhela go fetolwa bo-matlola-diterata (borders that even deny us the right to bury our dead) while everyone else and all manner of economic migrants roam free mo hatshing la borraetsho

☼ Pogiso ‘Ramotshere’ Abram Moiloa, a senior Hurutshe kgosi deposed by apartheid state in 1957 during peasant women opposition to passes was then exiled to Botswana. The great Nelson Mandela had high regard for this chief (see p217 – Abram Moilaw (sic) in Long Walk to Freedom). Mandela even built a secondary school (named after himself) as a ‘thank you to Abram and his people’. Well Ramotshere’s legacy and integrity counted for naught when claimants tussled for his throne in Dinokana; the North West Provincial government under 11

© Maragana Freedom te Kies 042017 Thandi Modise had no problem subverting its very transparent process (in a form of a commission chaired by a retired judge) set up to resolve the impasse and instead ‘did their own private investigations’ that approved their preferred chief!! And there was silence!

That is not all, Ramotshere’s posthumous integrity as a kgosi has been compromised by divisive polotical symbols that desecrate his tomb amidst the silence! ☼ About kings and Queens – 1994 o o

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South Africa’s law on traditional leadership made it possible for every conceivable indigenous ethnic group to attain kingship or queenship status (in the 21C!) The above law and by implication the new dispensation, has not accorded the Tswana the confidence to claim a kingship status like other linguistic ethnic groups; to the extent that some Tswana royals (as if feudalism was not archaic enough) allow themselves to be referred to (by the media and its consumers) as kings; in other words, they are kings through the back door; at best, informal kings; at worst unrecognised kings/bulls in the same kraal The Tswana and their royals (as it has become a custom), they are all silent on the issue probably because they seemingly don’t even know who is rremogolo/mmemogolo and who is rangwane/mmangwane – Tlotlang kgosi-ekgolo banna!

Did we hear proponents and defenders of equality ask question?

Be that as it may, the ‘land claim collapse’ is not isolated from the generational humiliation of royals by the making of South Afrika. After all, the chiefs lodged land claims as representatives of their people while the ‘acquired land has been put under the control of the UNDEMOCRATIC so called Community Property Fund (CPAs) operating under CPA Act No 28 of 1996 Le fa go twe dilo di a tshwana, if this is not deception and humiliation, go raya go re motho o tlhotse sota E re go bona di jele maaparankwe, nyena mahutsana lo itlhoboge

Never Mind We have ‘Democracy’: The current narrative of democracy neither concerns itself nor has it compensated any of the polotical, social and economic rapes reflected in the above time-line; on the contrary, this narrative of democracy has legitimized the rape and we are silent! Simply put, the Tswana consent to rape?

Now what kind of mind, aware of rape on such a scale, should indulge in excuses and cheap rationalizations; and sink into the deep-end of apologism and historical fatalism 11? How do we explain the reality that the empowered Tswana (intellectuals and educated, the rich and the powerful, etc.) seem to live with a clear conscience regardless? How is it possible that they have not used their empowered status to challenge the rape and the narrative that spawns 11 In the context of unliberated Cuba, Tad Szulc writes in Fidel: A Critical Portrait that ‘historical fatalism’ consisted of a belief that Cuba could never make decisions about her destiny without the dictates of America.

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© Maragana Freedom te Kies 042017 it? Is it because rape and silence are synonymous? Or could it be that the narrative has so perfected (with Tswana complicity), a culture of obsequiousness and creepy crawling; and a state of anxiety to please even one’s nemeses masquerading as messiahs? Or is it another case of history repeating itself as the forefathers did with Mzilakazi?

According to eye witnesses12 and other sources, Joe Modise, the then ‘Commander General’, among other things, schemed and complained (about perceived ‘Nguni Nostra’ in the ANC) outside the structures and behind the backs of his comrades! Silence means content; and consent too! Ngwana o sa lleng o swela tharing. And none of Modise’s comrades ever stepped forward in his defence!!

But to be fair to Joe Modise, the Tswana have always complained in low tones (note for example, Dr Motlana’s humble declaration – in The Mirror at Midnight – but no one ever cared to listen! Those that tried to be loud like SP Matseke (1930s), Ramohanoe (1940s) or John Pule Motshabi13 in exile and even Sol Plaatje himself or kgosi Mangȏpe met the juggernaut of those who came to eat and stayed. Did not Mzilakazi treat the forefathers similarly? o

However, it is not rocket science, the greater Tswana heritage in SA has been let down by pettiness, lack of vision, co-operation and co-ordination

o

MOST IMPORTANTLY, HISTORY SHOWS AND MAKES ONE REALISE THAT SINCE THE DAWN OF THE 20C, THE TSWANA IN SA (CONCERING MAIN STREAM POLOTICS), AS INDIVIDUALS (SP MATSEKE TRIED IN 30s) AND AS A GROUP NEVER LED; ONLY UNQUESTIONINGLY SUPPORTED INITIATIVES AND UNAVOIDABLE IMPOSED AGENDAS OF THOSE THAT MIGRATED INTO TSWANA HISTORICAL LANDS! MANDELA’S SCATHING ATTACK OF DR MOROKA 14 IS AN INDICTMENT NOT ON MOROKA BUT ON THE ENTIRE TSWANA AS A COLLECTIVE AND ESPECIALLY ON THE PATRIARCHY OF THE COLLECTIVE WE HAVE BEEN TOO CONTENT WITH BEING NOTHING BUT CHAIRMEN AND CHEER LEADERS OF SUPPORTERS CLUBS; MERE SHOCK-ABSORBERS; AND FOR SOME REASON BECAME DELUSIONAL THAT SUCH STATUS MADE US PART OF THE BODY CORPORATE

o

o

Kgosi Mangope tried the co-ordination (and the development of the Tswana when no one cared, e.g., provision of education (he even built a university for the Tswana only in 1979 when the Eastern Cape for example, had had a university since 1916) and even secured some land that was occupied by Afrikaners and accommodated ‘God’s threatened animals (excluding the alien holy ones of course); creating enduring tourism; but was toppled and humiliated (at the

12 For example, Thula Bopela and Daluxolo Luthuli in their book, Mkhonto We Sizwe.

13 Truth revealed in Steven Ellis’ Comrades in Exile…and yet omitted in SA history online!

14 In Long Walk To Freedom.

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o

o

o

o

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instigation of polotical-migrants15) on the grounds that he was running a ‘Bantustan’ Yet, those that toppled Kgosi Mangope have not provided an alternative to coordinate the Tswana heritage? Today the Tswana heritage is worse off than under the ‘Bantustan’; left stranded without leadership or guidance!

The groups and all those who have made the historical Tswana lands their home have no reason nor should they be expected to care about the plight of the Tswana heritage.

The achievement of Sir Seretse Khama had a simple message; in modern times, a family in disarray has no hope in hell of ever taking care of the welfare of its children, let alone accommodate economic migrants. ? Have we, the subsequent Tswana generations ever grasped Seretse Khama’s vision? ? Do we see the dangers lurking; in fact, how long will Botswana survive given South Afrika’s population explosion INSTEAD WE CONTINUE INVESTING IN UNCRITICAL SUPPORT FOR POLOTICS AND AGENDAS THAT NEVER HAD ANY INTEREST IN THE PLIGHT OF THE TSWANA HERITAGE AND THIS OVERRESPECT AND UNCRITICLAL SUPPORT IS ALSO RESPONSIBLE FOR THE NATIONALIZATION OF CORRUPTION AS WELL AS THE ARROGANCE THAT MAY WELL SEE THE COUNTRY SLIDE INTO YET ANOTHER FAILED AFRIKAN STATE

Bopelonomi jwa ga Mmamasilaanoka The Tswana heritage, despite making do with much harsher environment in the interior (far less rainfall and no rivers to rely on for subsistence farming) for centuries and centuries; the heritage mainly made enemies within than without. It extended as it had always done, a hand of friendship, piece and the accommodation of all (apparently even the idea of the Freedom Charter, with its questionable land declaration, came from Z Keodirelang Mathews). Memory tells us that the Tswana heritage never chose wars and bloodbaths; belligerents had freedom of their trade; the Tswana response was, Gaabo boi ga go lelwe. Yet, the above time-line shows that the heritage of our forefathers paid and continues to pay a heavy price for its hand of Botho.

We should by now have learned that accommodation without strength is tantamount to suicide. Regroupings after scurries we did but there is not a shred of evidence that we ever learnt!

Our forefathers were ambushed with a spear, the Mauser and with literacy. And us, what excuses do we have on offer; democracy, class struggle, internationalism or white-monopoly capital? 

‘Mo phigisanong ya tswelelopele ya merafe, go tla sala go phela ba ba itshwenyang; mme ba ba sa itekeng ba tla nyelela’, P. Leseyane, Letlhaku Le Legologolo.

15 Polotical-migrants: It is meant economic migrants who usurp polotical hegemony in a host geo-space

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AS IF IT WERE NOT ENOUGH The time-line has shown that the Tswana heritage has been betrayed and violated in the 19C

by Mzilakazi, Voortrekkers and the British. The Tswana heritage has been betrayed by the ‘struggle’ and ultimately by the 1994 negotiations. Now, there are ominous signs for yet another catastrophic betrayal; a mother of all collapse. Check this:  

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Merely twenty years into democracy, and we are told the state has been captured! And after over 200 years we still have patience?

Nearly 10 million (40% unofficial/official 28%) people in SA facing irreversible unemployment and situation worsening and no national consciousness visible of long term implications of the global spectre of automation (let alone the solution) despite repeated Statistician General warnings about ominous prospects for future youth employment (youth unemployment 39% and dubbed a national crisis); WE CAN ONLY HOPE THAT NDP30 PROMISES OF 11 MILLION JOBS WILL NOT END UP IN SMOKE LIKE THE NOW FORGOTTEN JOB CREATION ELECTION PROMISES OF THE ANC! State has no solution to economic migrations involving millions who come to compete for livelihoods in an economy already failing its people. State seems to be resigned to the idea that only immigrants will save the situation and create jobs Open border policy (reported population in SA now 56 million) evokes fears of the beginning of yet another phase of colonisation (of a special kind this time? 16) and land dispossession The (top-down) African Renaissance of Thabo Mbeki (that promised to galvanise the neighbours such as the DRC), has gone silent like the holy night…

S Afrika’s public debt (2016) reported to stand at 2 trillion while consumer debt is reported to be 1.6 trillion Reports say government wage-bill is now over 50% of the public purse (brace yourself for the so called austerity measures) Only about 5 million (out of population of 56 million) earners are reported to fall within the taxable income bracket Rampant corrupt practices supported by the so called ‘State Capture’ dominate media front pages casting doubt on stability and the future of governance The chaos at tertiary level education is simply a microcosm of a deeper crisis facing education as evinced by dismal showing in the physical sciences and the crisis facing skills base (just look at who controls the multi-billion cell-phone repair industry and

16 Harold Wolpe’s Colonization of a Special Type posits a problematic where colonial power is transferred over to a racial settler minority to safeguard the bourgeoning capitalist relations (and to manage the native problem to its discretion). Now we suggest that were the current chaotic waves of economic migrations to result in another state of colonization (as white colonial settlers also began as economic migrants), without direct involvement of any state or government, it would repeat a similar state of colonialism though not of a special type but perhaps of a special kind! I am of the opinion that Jane Rosenthal’s futuristic novel Souvenir, broaches the prospects and may be prophetic without painting a gloomy future.

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even Spaza shops), lack of confidence in township schools; and cadre deployment, seen by some as ‘the capture of the education system’ Rising racial inequality and racial tensions seem now permanent features of the monstrosity left alleviation by activities such as Mandela Day and sport With the world financial markets ever dangerously unstable, the “landless Bantu proletariat” will be left with no means of subsistence – SA is sitting on a time-tsunami

☼Breaking News: The dreaded downgrading of South Africa’s credit rating to junk status by rating agencies S&P Global Ratings and Fitch Ratings finally descended and seems only to be the beginning. Are we on the road to yet another national suicide as we did with disinvestment campaign (10 million people unemployed today)?

SUMMARY Evidence shows that the making of South Afrika, through the polotics of aggregation and generalization, raped the defenceless and meek yet humble Tswana heritage into submission.

And as Christianity and ‘civilization’ were perfect alibi for the rape of the African continent, similarly the struggle against apartheid, the outcome and the race-card (black vs white) are perfect alibi for the continued rape of the Tswana heritage. The rape of historical Tswana land and heritage resulted from a succession of imposed periods of misrule on the Tswana by Mzilakazi, the Voortrekkers, the British and the Afrikaners. And now there is compelling evidence of a real prospect of yet another period of subjection of the diminishing Tswana heritage to misrule under the mantra of ‘democracy’!

No self-respecting and conscious human-being should ever allow consent to rape, let alone rape on such a scale, to burden the sub-consciousness of future generations!

THE RIGHT (AND TIME) TO CHOOSE The time-line has shown that: 1. Mzilakazi made a choice; invaded and ‘colonised’ the Tswana and caused mayhem and prepared the ground for Trekker Boer take over 2. The Voortrekkers too made a choice; invaded and ‘colonised’ the Tswana and stole the land 3. The British made a choice; colonised, lorded over the Tswana, took advantage of squabbles, imposed divisions and then unleashed apartheid (Sand River Convention, etc.) on the Tswana!!!)

4. Apartheid oppression was a choice by the Afrikaners in the land of the Tswana and they also made choices about their heritage 5. The great Nelson Mandela and the rest of other blacks (not native to the interior), exercised their choice and came to the land of the Tswana assisted by the very white establishment and made a choice to fight the very white establishment for more Rights

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© Maragana Freedom te Kies 042017 6. The ‘Bantustan’ leader kgosi Mangȏpe, believed (like Seretse Khama did in Botswana) it was his right and responsibility to exercise choice in the interest of the heritage of his forefathers in his native land – the interior!! ! But our beloved great Nelson Mandela (originally from the coastal areas and not related to Bakone17) backed by communists, white liberals, verligtes, rest of the blacks (all not historical native to the interior) said, ‘NO’ 7. And thus Sir George Gray’s common-NATIVE-POLICY was finally brought to its logical conclusion in the interior (by effective use of the dictatorship of Mzilakazi, dictatorship of Trekker Boers, dictatorship of the British, dictatorship of apartheid and lastly, thru the dictatorship of ‘the tyranny of the invader majority’)

17 Bakone is a generic name for the historical natives of the interior (of South Afrika) – Tswana, Pedi and Sotho

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THE LOGICAL OPTION: Contest Elections Independently18

9.

The Tswana never had a say in the making of South Afrika. The Tswana faced dictatorships of and betrayals by Muzilakazi, the Trekker Boers, the British, the Afrikaners and apartheid and lastly the dictatorship of the coalition of those who invaded or migrated into historical Tswana country in pursuit of silver and gold and the land. And when ultimately negotiations took place at Kemptonpark, the polotical migrants met with the oppressor, cut deals and shared the spoils among themselves; for the TSWANA? Humiliation and defeat; we celebrated!

10. We ignore the prophecy of doom at our own peril!

11.

Today the Tswana are a mere minority in their historical lands 12. The land question is cloaked in a web of deceptions.

13. State Capture, rampant corruption and unemployment spell doom 14. Tswana historical rights in the interior have been annulled without consultation nor compensation 15.

16. If it made sense for the land of my forefathers to be stolen!

17. It makes no sense for my VOTE to be stolen under the mantra of blackness!

18.

19. We must Vote Independently to secure a GENUINE SAY and a GENUINE STAKE 20. A polotical party of 5 million Tswana can reverse the humiliation and defeat 21. And we must be DELIBERATE about it! It is a legitimate right!

22.

23.

24. The Right to organise is INALIENABLE. And this time, it is even in the Constitution: Section 18: Everyone has the right to freedom of association 25. Section 19: Every citizen is free to make political choices which includes the right – 26. (a) To form a political party 27.

The Tswana MUST use their 4 to 5 million votes to:

28. 1.

2.

29. 3.

Demand a referendum Contest National Election independently Form and forge principled and honest alliances with heritages facing similar siege

30.

31.

32.

33. There is no ethnic group in South Afrika (other than the ‘KHOISAN’) that has been humiliated and defeated like the Tswana!

34. The land of my forefathers may belong to all 35. My vote does not and shall not belong to all!

36.

18 The logical Option can be read in full under the label of the same title: freedomtekies.blogspot.co.za

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© Maragana Freedom te Kies 042017 37. Some of the Sources that Helped me to Apply my Mind 1. A short history of the Bakgatla ba ga Kgafela of Bechuanaland Protectorate by I Schapera (1942) – Online 2. 500 Hundred Years: A History of South Afrika edited by CFJ Muller (1969) 3. The Making of the Union of South Afrika by MS Geen (1946) 4. Death of the Last Republic by Peter Gibbs (1957) 5. The Path of Blood by Peter Becker (1962) 6. New Dictionary of South African Biography – HSRC (1995) - Online 7. Identity and Cultural Diversity in Conflict Resolution in Africa – African Journal on Conflict Resolution - Online 8. Jihad vs McWorld by Benjamin R Barber (1995) 9. O’Marley Interview with kgosi LM Mangȏpe (1993) - Online 10. A Place for All (Speeches) by LM Mangȏpe (1978) 11. ‘A chief is like an ash-heap on which is gathered all the refuse’: the faunal remains from the central court midden at Kaditshwene by J.C.A. Boeyens (2011) 12. Kaditshwene: What’s in a Name? by J.C.A. Boeyens and Desmond T Cole (1995) 13. The Late iron Age Sequence in the Marico and Early Tswana History by J.C.A. Boeyens (2003) 14. The Tribes of Groot Marico: An Ethnological Publication by PL Breuds (1953) 15. Silas T Molema and Solomon T Plaatje Papers: Collection A979 - Online 16. The Influence of botho on social space in Botswana since Independence by Gerald Steyn – SAJAH (2012) - Online 17. The history of the Barolong in the district of Mafikeng: a study of the intra-Batswana ethnicity and political culture from 1852 to 1950 (A Doctoral thesis by Malose Daniel Ramoroka 2009) - Online 18. Chiefly power in a Frontline State: Kgosi Linchwe, the Bakgatla and Botswana in the South Afrikan liberation struggle, 1948-1994 by Louisa Catwell (2015) - Online 19. When Rustling became an Art: Pilane’s Kgatla and the Transvaal Frontier 1820 – 1902 Fred Morton 2009 - Online 20. Kgatla Conspiracies, Pedi Plots; African Nationalist Politics in the Transvaal in the `Dead' Decade of the 1930's by Philip Bonner - Online 21. Fred Morton’s Review of Popular Politics in the History of South Afrika, 1400-1948 (Paul S. Landau) - Online 22. The evolution and contemporary significance of the Bophuthatswana –Botswana border landscape (James Drummond and Anddrew H Manson) in The Geography of Border Landscapes - Online 23. The Tribes of Groot Marico: An ethnological publication by PL Breudz (1953) 24. Comrades Against Apartheid: The ANC & the South Afrikan Communist Party in Exile

by Stephen Ellis and Tsepo Sechaba (1992) – Online

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© Maragana Freedom te Kies 042017 25. Freedom for my People - The Autobiography of ZK Mathews: Southern Africa 1901 to 1968 (A Memoir ed. by Monica Wilson - 1981) 26. The Boer War Diary of Sol T. Plaatje: An African at Mafeking by Sol Plaatje, edited by John Comaroff, 1976 27. Freedom in Our Lifetime: The Collected Writings of Anton Muziwakhe Lembede, ed.

Edgar and ka Msumza, 1996 28. Long Walk To Freedom: The Autobiography of Nelson Mandela (1994) 29. Mkhonto We Sizwe: Fighting for a Divided People, by Thula Bopela and Daluxolo Luthuli (2008) 30. Marothodi: An African Archaeology of an African Capital by Mark Anderson (2013) 31. Letlhaku Le Legologolo: by P. Leseyane (1963) 32. A Day Lasts More than a Hundred Years by C. Aitmatov (1983) 33. Lepatata (The first ever fully Tswana Play to be staged at the Market Theatre Aug 2015), Written by Moagi Modise and directed by Makhaola Siyanda Ndebele 34. BOTSWANA: A Short political History by Anthony Sellery (1974) 35. ‘Bophuthatswana and North West Province: From Pan-Tswanaism to Mineral-Based Ethnic Assertiveness by A Manson and B Mbenga (2012) 36. African Origins of Humanity: Cheikh Anta Diop – YouTube 37. Paradise or Oblivion: documentary created by the Venus Project – YouTube 38. www.sahistory.org.za 39. www.cyon.se (for artistic representation of a hypothetical Tswana state in a world sans colonialism).

40. Dear Mr Malema: An article by Rian Malan responding to a speech made by EFF leader outside the Newcastle court – Politicsweb, 140916 38.

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