Pedi people
The Pedi or Bapedi - also known as the Northern Sotho, Basotho ba Lebowa, bakgatla ba dithebe, Transvaal Sotho, Marota, or Dikgoshi - are a Sotho-Tswana ethnic group native to South Africa, Botswana, and Lesotho that speak Pedi or Sepedi, which is one of the 12 official languages in South Africa. They are primarily situated in Limpopo, Gauteng and northern Mpumalanga.
The Pedi people are part of the Bantu ethnic group. Their common ancestors, along with the Sotho and Tswana, migrated from East Africa to South Africa no later than the 7th century CE. Over time, they emerged as a distinct people between the 15th and 18th centuries, with some settling in the northern region of the Transvaal. The Pedi maintained close ties with their relatives and neighboring tribes.
Towards the end of the 18th century, the primary Pedi state was established, led by supreme leaders from the Maroteng clan. In the early 19th century, the Pedi state faced significant challenges from the Nguni, particularly the Northern Ndebele under Mzilikazi and the Swati. A pivotal figure in preserving the Pedi state was Sekwati I, the paramount leader who introduced reforms in the military and internal administration and welcomed Christian missionaries.
After Sekwati I's passing, his son Sekhukhune took control but reversed some reforms, including Christianization. From 1876 to 1879, the Pedi engaged in wars with the Boers and the British, resulting in defeat and the Pedi state falling under Boer influence. In 1882, Sekhukhune was assassinated by conspirators, leading to the dismantling of the monarchy and statehood. In 1885, the Transvaal government only allocated a small territory to the Pedi, with the majority of the people living outside of it.
In the 1950s, the Sotho language committee recognized the Pedi language as distinct from Sesotho.
Throughout history, the Pedi actively participated in the struggle against colonization and apartheid in South Africa, joining the broader movement of African peoples fighting for their rights and freedom.
Name and Terminology
Rev. Alexander Merensky, a German missionary, had an extensive understanding of the Bapedi tribe, surpassing that of any other European of his time. According to Merensky, Sekhukhune's people were a fusion of various tribes, with the most significant group identifying as the "Bapedi" or "Baperi," meaning the "Family of the King." This tribe had settled along the Steelpoort River nearly two centuries prior, and Merensky found the name of their kingdom, 'Biri,' on antique Portuguese maps.The origin of the Bapedi name is uncertain, but it may have come from an ancestral figure or the land they inhabited. What is significant is that the tribe founded by Thobela and its various divisions revered the porcupine as their totem and identified as Bapedi.
History
Early history
Proto-Sotho people are thought to have migrated south from eastern Africa in successive waves spanning five centuries. They made their way along with modern-day western Zimbabwe, with the last group of Sotho speakers, the Hurutse, settling in the region west of Gauteng around the 16th century. The Pedi people originated from the Kgatla offshoot, a group of Tswana speakers. In about 1650, they settled in the area to the south of the Steelpoort River. Over several generations, linguistic and cultural homogeneity developed to a certain degree. Only in the last half of the 18th century did they broaden their influence over the region, establishing the Pedi paramountcy by bringing smaller neighboring chiefdoms under their control.During migrations in and around this area, groups of people from diverse origins began to concentrate around dikgoro, or ruling nuclear groups. They identified themselves through symbolic allegiances to totemic animals such as tau, kolobe, and kwena. The Pedi people show a considerable amount of Khoisan admixture.
The Marota Empire/ Pedi Kingdom
The Pedi polity under King Thulare was made up of land that stretched from present-day Rustenburg to the lowveld in the west and as far south as the Vaal River. Pedi power was undermined during the Mfecane by Ndwandwe invaders from the south-east. A period of dislocation followed, after which the polity was re-stabilized under Thulare's son, Sekwati.Sekwati succeeded Thulare as paramount chief of the Pedi in the northern Transvaal and was frequently in conflict with the Matabele under Mzilikazi and plundered by the Zulu and the Swazi. Sekwati has also engaged in numerous negotiations and struggles for control over land and labor with the Afrikaans-speaking farmers who have since settled in the region.
These disputes over land occurred after the founding of Ohrigstad in 1845, but after the town was incorporated into the Transvaal Republic in 1857 and the Republic of Lydenburg was formed, an agreement was reached that the Steelpoort River was the border between the Pedi and the Republic.
The Pedi were well equipped to defend themselves, though, as Sekwati and his heir, Sekhukhune I were able to procure firearms, mostly through migrant labor to the Kimberley diamond fields and as far as Port Elizabeth. The Pedi paramountcy's power was also cemented by the fact that chiefs of subordinate villages, or kgoro, took their principal wives from the ruling house. This system of cousin marriage resulted in the perpetuation of marriage links between the ruling house and the subordinate groups and involved the payment of an inflated magadi, or brideprice mostly in the form of cattle, to the Maroteng house.
Swazi Campaigns
The Campaigns against the Pedi refer to a sequence of military operations undertaken by the Swazi in their endeavors to subjugate the Pedi people. Despite their persistent efforts, the Swazi forces faced significant challenges in conquering the Pedi's formidable mountain fortresses, which served as robust strongholds for the Pedi people. As a consequence of the Swazi's inability to completely overpower the Pedi, some Pedi fugitives successfully reassembled, allowing them to sustain their resistance against the Swazi forces.Sekhukhune Wars
Sekhukhune I succeeded his father in 1861 and repelled an attack against the Swazi. At the time, there were also border disputes with the Transvaal, which led to the formation of Burgersfort, which was manned by volunteers from Lydenburg. By the 1870s, the Pedi were one of three alternative sources of regional authority, alongside the Swazi and the ZAR.Over time, tensions increased after Sekhukhune refused to pay taxes to the Transvaal government, and the Transvaal declared war in May 1876. It became known as the Sekhukhune War, the outcome of which was that the Transvaal commando's attack failed. After this, volunteers nevertheless continued to devastate Sekhukhune's land and provoke unrest, to the point where peace terms were met in 1877.
Unrest continued, and this became a justification for the British annexing the Transvaal in April 1877 under Sir Theophilus Shepstone. Following the annexation, the British also declared war on Sekhukhune I under Sir Garnet Wolseley, and defeated him in 1879. Sekhukhune was then imprisoned in Pretoria, but later released after the first South African War, when the Transvaal regained independence.
However, soon after his release, Sekhukhune was murdered by his half-brother Mampuru, and because his heir had been killed in the war and his grandson, Sekhukhune II was too young to rule, one of his other half-brothers, Kgoloko, assumed power as regent.
Apartheid
In 1885, an area of was set aside for the Pedi, known as Geluk Location created by the Transvaal Republic's Native Location Commission. Later, according to apartheid segregation policy, the Pedi would be assigned the homeland of Lebowa.Culture
Use of Totems
Like the other Sotho-Tswana groups, the Bapedi people use totems to identify sister clans and kinship. The most widely used totems in Sepedi are as follows:| English | Pedi |
| Warthog | Kolobesodi |
| Lion | Tau |
| Crocodile | Kwena |
| Porcupine | Noko |
| Monkey | Kgabo |
| Buck | Phuthi |
| Pangolin | Kgaga |
| Buffalo | Nare |
| Elephant | Tlou |