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Seepapitso III

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Seepapitso III
Kgosi of the Bangwaketse
Reign1910–1916
PredecessorBathoen I
Successor
Born1884 (1884)
Died18 June 1916(1916-06-18) (aged 31–32)
Issue
  • Bathoen II
  • Mookami
FatherBathoen I

Seepapitso III (1884–1916; sometimes rendered as Seepapitso I or Seepapitso II) was the kgosi of the Bangwaketse from 1910 until his assassination in 1916. Becoming kgosi upon the death of his father, Bathoen I. Seepapitso implemented economic reforms and initiated development projects, giving him a reputation as a moderniser. Seepapitso had a strained relationship with his brother, Moepitso, which culminated in Moepitso shooting and killing Seepapitso. Seepapitso was succeeded by a series of regents until his son Bathoen II came of age.

Early life and family

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Seepapitso Bathoen Gaseitsiwe was born in 1884 to Bathoen I, the kgosi of the Bangwaketse, and Gagoangwe, the daughter of Sechele I.[1][2] His sister Ntebogang Ratshosa was born in 1882, and his brother Moepitso was born c. 1887.[3] He also had two older half-siblings on his mother's side: his half-brother Baitirile and his half-sister Maserame, children of kgosi Pilane of the Bakgatla.[3]

Seepapitso attended school at Lovedale and then worked under his father as he trained to be the next kgosi. He attended the church of the London Missionary Society each Sunday, where he played the organ.[3]

Kgosi of the Bangwaketse

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Seepapitso became kgosi upon his father's death in 1910.[4] During his reign, he was the most educated of the dikgosi.[2] Seepapitso's relationship with his brother soured at this time, and the two argued frequently.[5] The brothers came into further conflict in 1913 when Seepapitso discouraged Moepitso from marrying his bride.[6]

When he became kgosi, Seepapitso faced a religious dispute between the London Missionary Society and the Ngwaketse free school led by Mothowagae Motlogelwa. Bathoen I had ordered Mothowagae's banishment, worried that he may attempt to organise a coup to put Bathoen's brother in charge. Seepapitso ordered that the banishment be carried out.[7]

Seepapitso was loyal to the British colonial government, which held him in high regard, although it was wary of his tendency toward independent action.[2] He led regiments in World War I under General Dan Pienaar. On 1 January 1915, his regiments captured Boers loyal to Germany in Segwagwa. This earned him a strong reputation with the colonial government.[2]

Seepapitso is considered a moderniser.[4][2] With his secretary, Peter Kgasa, he created a bureaucracy to govern the Bangwaketse.[2] He had detailed records made to track government proceedings,[3] and he was the first Motswana kgosi to keep minutes at kgotla meetings.[2] Through his efforts to sink boreholes, Kanye became the first village with standpipes. He oversaw the creation of the Makgodumo dam.[2]

Seepapitso hired the trader Richard Montshiwa Rowland to organise his development projects and implement economic reforms.[8] Seepapitso managed an account with the Standard Bank on behalf of the Bangwaketse.[9] In 1911, Seepapitso implemented a law stipulating that citizens unable to pay taxes would "be sent away to work".[10] When ruling on court cases, Seepapitso determined that failure to appear was an admission of guilt.[11]

Assassination

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On 18 June 1916, Seepapitso was shot and killed by his brother Moepitso at a kgotla meeting. The two had been in a heated argument that morning, after Moepitso asked for money to which he felt entitled.[5] During their argument, Moepitso allegedly said what has been interpreted as a death threat: "I have always been speaking to you and now I will see what I will do".[12]

When the kgotla meeting began that evening, Moepitso and one other tribal leader in attendance spurned Seepapitso by leaving while he was speaking. Approximately five minutes later, Moepitso shot Seepapitso. The kgosi is reported as saying Moepitso a mpolaela eng? (transl. Moepitso, why are you killing me?) before turning to see who the shooter was. The headmen did not know what had happened, and Moepitso joined them in carrying Seepapitso to his home, where the kgosi died soon after. Moepitso was a suspect, especially as he showed no emotion beyond slight nervousness. The wife of Seepapitso's servant accused Moepitso of the killing. He was arrested when his glasses were found with the murder weapon.[13] Moepitso was hanged for the killing, which their mother endorsed.[2]

It is unknown why Moepitso killed Seepapitso.[2] He had a reputation for being erratic and violent, and he had allegedly made multiple threats against Seepapitso's life in the past.[6] Moepitso's displeasure with the allocation of his father's inheritance may have been a factor, or he may have been jealous of his brother's broader success in life.[14] He is also said to have wanted the position of kgosi for himself.[9] It has been speculated that Moepitso killed Seepapitso at the behest of Bangwaketse tribal leaders who felt threatened by the kgosi and his modernisation reforms.[2][15] Several headmen were deemed complicit in the killing and exiled.[16]

Legacy and succession

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Seepapitso's death was felt widely through the Bangwaketse and through oral tradition became a shared cultural tragedy. The year 1916 is traditionally associated with the killing.[5] The academic Yonah Hisbon Matemba has credited Seepapitso as the greatest kgosi of the Bangwaketse in the colonial period.[3]

Seepapitso had two sons: Bathoen II and Mookami.[4] Bathoen II was Seepapitso's heir, but as he was only eight years old, Kgosimotse became regent. Kgosimotse died in 1918 and was succeeded as regent by Malope until his own death in 1919. Tshosa Sebego served as regent until he was cast out and replaced by Seepapitso's mother Gagoangwe in 1923.[3] Seepapitso's sister Ntebogang became regent following Gagoangwe's death in 1924.[17] She continued many of Seepapitso's development and modernisation projects.[18] Bathoen II became kgosi with the end of the regency in 1928.[3]

Notes

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  1. ^ Morton & Ramsay 2018, Bathoen I (1845–1910).
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Morton & Ramsay 2018, Seepapitso III Bathoen Gaseitsiwe (1884–1916).
  3. ^ a b c d e f g Matemba 2002, p. 27.
  4. ^ a b c Williamson 1977, p. 11.
  5. ^ a b c Matemba 2002, p. 25.
  6. ^ a b Matemba 2002, p. 29.
  7. ^ Morton & Ramsay 2018, Mothowagae Motlogelwa (d. 1944).
  8. ^ Morton & Ramsay 2018, Rowland, Richard Montshiwa (1879–1945).
  9. ^ a b Matemba 2002, p. 30.
  10. ^ Massey 1978, p. 95.
  11. ^ Schapera 1977, p. 141.
  12. ^ Matemba 2002, pp. 25–26.
  13. ^ Matemba 2002, p. 26.
  14. ^ Matemba 2002, pp. 28, 30.
  15. ^ Matemba 2002, pp. 30–31.
  16. ^ Matemba 2002, p. 31.
  17. ^ Matemba 2002, p. 28.
  18. ^ Morton & Ramsay 2018, Ntebogang Ratshosa (1882–1979).

References

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  • Massey, David (1978). "A Case of Colonial Collaboration: The Hut Tax and Migrant Labour". Botswana Notes and Records. 10: 95–98. ISSN 0525-5090.
  • Matemba, Yonah Hibson (2002). "The Assassination of Kgosi Seepapitso Gaseitsiwe of the BaNgwaketse 1916–17". Botswana Notes & Records. 34 (1): 25–36.
  • Morton, Barry; Ramsay, Jeff (2018). Historical Dictionary of Botswana (5th ed.). Rowman & Littlefield. ISBN 978-1-5381-1133-8.
  • Schapera, I. (1977). "Contempt of Court in Tswana Law". Journal of African Law. 21 (2): 139–152. doi:10.1017/S0021855300008640. ISSN 0021-8553.
  • Williamson, David (1977). Burke's Royal Families of the World. Vol. II: Africa & the Middle East. Burke's Peerage. ISBN 978-0-85011-029-6.

Further reading

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