CHOBE DISTRICT (5)

Jeff Ramsay | Tuesday September 21, 2021 06:00

In our last instalment, we had noted that the emergence of the Malozi kingdom coincided with the break-up of the Vekuhane monarchy. Toward the end of Sipopo's reign in 1876, Munitenge Liswani II, along with most of his followers, fled from his long-time residence at Impalira Island to the Gammangwato polity of modern Botswana.

The Bangwato ruler, Kgosi Khama III, settled the Vekuhane refugees at Tsienyane on the Boteti River near Rakops. At the time Liswani II is said to have feared that Sipopo planned to have him assassinated and replaced by either Chika or Maiba, sons of Liswani I. After Liswani II's flight, his sister Ntolwe remained as a sub-chief at Isuswa. Her son was Mwanamwali succeeded her as the senior Vekuhane ruler in the Malozi kingdom, resettling at Sesheke. Following Liswani II’s flight, competing claims to the position of Munitenge were fuelled by the community's shift from matrilineal to patrilineal descent, which apparently came about due to both internal and external pressure, as well as the emergence of colonial boundaries. Despite Liswani II's suspicions, both Maiba and Chika settled with him at Tsienyane until on or about the time of his death in 1901.

Maiba then went to Isuswa in the Eastern Caprivi, where he absorbed those followers of Ntolwe who remained there after Mwanamwali relocated to Sesheke. For his part Chika moved to Mahabe before settling at Munga, where he sought to establish his own claims as Munitenge, now calling himself Liswani III. While Chika/Liswani III’s authority was accepted by many Vekuhane, it was rejected by Liswani II's two sons Mafwira II, who then ruled over a Vekuhane section at Tlhale near Gumare, and Sinvula Nonkwena, as well as the followers of Maiba and Mwanamwali. Following Chika's death, Sinvula Nonkwena was called to take over at Munga.

Some members of the community, however, migrated to Satau under Chika's son Chika III, who from 1927 to 1954 was recognised as the senior royal at Parakarungu as well as Satau. After Chika III's death, Satau came under the authority of Sinvula Nonkwena, but the rulers at Parakarungu continued to assert their independent dynastic claims. Sinvula Nonkwena died in 1968 and was succeeded in January 1969 by Moffat Maiba II Sinvula, who has since ruled from Kavimba. While most of the region's 19th century European visitors were either British or Boers (Afrikaners), other nationalities were also represented. The earliest prominent German "explorers" in the area were August Hammar and Aurel Schultz, who journeyed along the south bank in 1884. Detail of their journey can be found in their 1897 publication "The New Africa.

A journey up the Chobe and down the Okovanga [sic] rivers. A record of exploration and sport.” In the same year, Dr Emil Holub, who had previously visited the region as a private traveller, arrived at the head of a semi-official 1884-86 Austro-Hungarian expedition. Accompanying him, in addition to his recently married wife, were six Austro-Hungarian military officers on furlough. Dr Holub also brought a prefabricated metal pontoon, which had been supplied to him by the Austrian military. The boat had been transported overland in three parts, before being assembled at Kazungula. After first using it to travel to Mosi-oa-tunya, Holub sold the pontoon to Westbeech. Thereafter, it became the first metal vessel to serve as a ferry at Kazungula. Previously ferrying in the area had been done exclusively by mekoro.

The Kazungula Ferry continued to operate after Westbeech’s death. In 1907 Bechuanaland Police Captain Eason would thus observe that: “The first and only wagon road from Lushuma to the North is the present one said to have been cut by Westbeech, which follows down the valley to a spot on the right bank of the Zambezi opposite the village of Kazungula.

This is about a quarter-mile below what appears to be the true junction of the Linyandi and Zambezi Rivers and is where the Kazungula Ferry has always been and is about 27 yds, east of a large “Mzungula” tree standing on the right bank of the Zambezi....” As part of the imperial scramble for Africa between 1885 and 1890, the British and German pressed overlapping claims in the region. Their territorial dispute was settled by the wider 1890 Anglo-German Treaty, which recognised British authority over Ngamiland and Chobe, while conceding the Caprivi Strip to German South-West Africa.

Before the partition, maps from both countries showed Bangwato controlling the south banks of the Chobe and Zambezi to Mosi-oa-tunya. Along with the rest of Southern Africa, in 1896 the Chobe area was rocked by the arrival of Rinderpest from East Africa, which within a few months killed about 90% of the region’s livestock, along with large numbers of wild ungulates. While this resulted in an immediate decline in hunting and pastoralism, it also had the short-term positive effect of reducing the prevalence of tsetse fly, which opened up new areas for grazing.