RELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN CHIEF 
MOROKA OF THABA NCHU AND 
OTHER CHIEFS IN THE AREA
Sandra Bishop
Alm ost from the start of the Rolong settlement at 
Thaba Nchu in 1833, chief Moroka of the Rolong 
had to contend w ith  border problems and w ith  
the fact that other parties w ho became involved 
in the land and power struggle in the area did not 
recognise him as the autonomous chief he 
claimed to be.
Chief Moroka o f the Seleka Rolong.
M oshweshwe's kingdom, wh ich  was still very 
young, was constructed out of scattered and 
broken tribes, main ly Sotho, wh ich  he had taken 
under his protection. Moshweshwe was the 
most influential chief in the v ic in ity of the 
Caledon River, wh ile  Sekonyela was the other 
powerful Sotho chief in the area.
I n i t i a l l y  M o r o k a ' s  r e l a t i o n s h i p  w i t h  
Moshweshwe was very good, so much so that 
M oshweshwe came to Moroka's aid when the 
Rolong were attacked by the Kora (Koranna) in 
1836. However, cattle-raiding was a traditional 
pastime of young Sotho-Tswana men and 
constant cattle-raiding between the Sotho of 
M oshweshwe and the Rolong at Thaba Nchu 
began very early in their relationship. Already in 
1835 Moshweshwe complained that the sons of 
Tawana, the Tshidi Rolong chief, were a band of 
cattle thieves.
However, the seeds of the serious trouble 
between Moshweshwe and Moroka, wh ich  
w ou ld  even tua lly  em bro il all the black, 
"co loured”  and wh ite  communit ies in the area, 
Chief Moshweshwe o f the Sotho, sketched in  1833. were already sown at the very firs t contact 
between Moshweshwe and the Rolong. When
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the Rolong delegation were looking for land to M oshweshwe considered the 'payment' of stock 
settle in 1 833, Moseme, chief of the small Sotho to have been a 'present' to settle the agreement. 
com m unity  at Thaba Nchu and a vassal of The missionaries, however, considered that the 
Moshweshwe, arranged for them to meet land had been sold to them, while Moroka 
Moshweshwe and Sekonyela. The land deal took maintained that he was an independent chief 
place w ith  the Wesleyan Methodist missionaries and had never paid tribute to Moshweshwe.
acting on behalf of the Rolong and 'paying' 
M oshweshwe eight head of cattle, th ir ty -four Sekonyela and Moshweshwe, as the two most 
sheep and five goats for the territory of Thaba powerful chiefs in the area, were rivals of long 
Nchu. Later, in 1834, Moshweshwe signed a standing, so it was natural that Moroka, in his 
document offic ially ceding the territory to the struggle w ith  Moshweshwe, should w in  the 
missionaries. support of Sekonyela. In 1 837 chief Moletsane of
Chief Sekonyela o f the Tlokwa, painted by Charles Bell. Chief Moletsane o f the Taung, as sketched in old age.
M oshweshwe apparently did not realise the the Taung, who had been an enemy of Moroka in 
implications of w ha t he had signed. Among the the earlier years north of the Vaal river, settled 
tribes of southern Africa there was no such thing w ith  his people at Mekwalleny ami allied himself 
as landownership or the buying or selling of land. w ith  M oshw eshw e  aga ins t Moroka and 
A chief held the land in trust for his people and Sekonyela. The rivalry of the chiefs was further 
on l y  supe rv ised  its use. M o s h w e s h w e  intensified by the animosity  between the French 
apparently considered that he had only given the m is s io n a r ie s  se rv ing  M o s h w e s h w e  and 
Rolong and their missionaries the right to settle Moletsane and the English missionaries serving 
in territory under his paramountcy, as was the Moroka and Sekonyela. The Griqua, Boers and 
custom among the Sotho-Tswana tribes, and British were also soon to add to the turm oil in the  
that the territory thus remained under his territory, as w il l  be discussed in the next 
ju risd ic tion  w ith  Moroka becoming his vassal. Museum News.
B IB L IO G R A P H Y
KOTZE, C. 1938. Die G eskiedenis van die Baro/ong, vera! die Baseleka Barolong, 
to t 1851  UN ISA, M .A  thesis 
LE ROUX, C.J.P n.d M o ro ka  I I  en  d ie B aro long  van Thaba Nchu. Voortrekker 
M useum , V rys taa i No 6.
LYE, W.F. & MURRAY, C 1980. Transfo rm ation  on the  H ig h ve ld  The Tswana a nd  
S ou the rn  Sotho. Cape Town- David P hilip .
M O LEM A, S .M . n.d. (1952?) C h ie f M o ro ka : H is  Life, H is  Times. H is  C o un try  a nd  
H is  People. Cape Tow n. M e tho d is t P ub lish ing  House and  book Depot 
W ILSO N. M . &  THO M PSO N, L 1982. A  H is to ry  o f  S ou th  A fr ic a  to  187 0  Cape 
T o w n - David P h ilip .
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