The Orphan And The Ants Part 15 � The Howling Wind Of Tshosa

We last left the Bakwena, c. 1821-22, at a Letsholo or communal hunt outside Shokwane, where having already been warned by the head of the Maunatlala ward, Sejo Monametse, of a conspiracy to assassinate him, Kgosi Motswasele II had warned that if he was killed “my father’s ants will avenge me”.

On the fateful day, the Mokwena is said to have asked a supporter named Modisa to speak. But the latter was immediately silenced by Moruakgomo Tshosa. In the commotion Motswasele rose to leave the meeting but was followed.

Turning to see who was behind him, his neck was fatally slashed by the battle axe of Kalayamore. Much like the Roman senators who had killed Julius Caesar, Moruakgomo, and the other leading conspirators, including the Kgosi’s brother Segokotlo, then dipped their spears in the blood of the dying Motswasele to affirm their collective responsibility for the regicide. It is believed that each of these executioners were ultimately “eaten” by the prophesied ants. Motswasele’s corpse was buried where he fell. Thereafter his grave was marked by generations of passersby, who heaped rocks and branches on the site out of either fear and/or respect. In the aftermath of the event, the Bakwena were violently divided by the ambitions Moruakgomo and Segokotlo.

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