MOROKA II

Moroka II (b. circa 1795, in Makefing, South Africa. August 4, 1880, at Thaba Nchu in what is now Botswana) was chief of the BaRolong, one of the Tswana peoples of Botswana.

At the age of 30, he succeeded his father, Sefunelo (circa 1770-1829), at a time when the Rolong were living as nomads in the Vaal River region. His father had been helped by Wesleyan missionaries.

He followed them and settled at Thaba Nchu in what is now the Orange Free State, where the Sotho ruler Moshoeshoe had granted the Rolong land on which to settle in 1833. Many Griquas and Sothos, displaced by Shaka’s expansion, settled in the area so Moroka emerged as a key leader in the region.

Moroka treated Afrikaner trekkers in a friendly fashion and rescued some from an attack by Mzilikazi.

He supported the Afrikaner Potgieter in his hostilities with the Ndebele. As a result, many Afrikaners settled in the region. In the 1840s, Moshoeshoe challenged Moroka’s right to Thaba Nchu. The region, however, was annexed by the British governor Harry Smith from 1848-54.

When subsequently the Afrikaners proclaimed the creation of the Orange Free State, they permitted Moroka and the Rolong to remain. Moroka continued to back the Afrikaners in the Orange Free State wars that ensued.

KEITH IRVINE