The Bakgatla Baga Mmanaana

The fifth branch who will be the focus of this series, the Bakgatla bagaMmanaana, reside almost exclusively inside Botswana. They are nonetheless sub-divided in a number of locations, notably including the villages of Moshupa (Mosopa) and Thamaga and the Gamafikana section of Kanye village. The dikgosi presiding over each of these motse all trace their descent from great nineteenth century leader, Kgosi Mosielele I.

All five Bakgatla branches are said to claim "kgabo ya molelo le phologolo", that is both fire and the monkey, as their totem. According to BagaMmanaana traditions, past Bakgatla warriors were praised as the "flames" because they consumed their enemies like wild fire. The monkey was then adopted as a totemic homograph for flame.