Despite the massive growth that has occurred in Tonota, or Donotha as some still call it, elderly people remember Leshongwane as the zenith of Bakhurutshe ‘civilization’. I use the term civilization loosely as this appears to be the first area they settled and managed to establish flourishing town complete with trading stores and a London Missionary Society church which also served as a school. At Leshongwane, Bakhurutshe lived in splendour and even managed to employ some Bakalanga as their herd boys. Several discussions I have randomly held with elderly Bakhurutshe from Tonota and Makaleng villages on their life at Leshongwane helps paint this picture despite the fact that they never stayed at Leshongwane. They relate with pride the old good days when rains were good. Bakhurutshe traditions also show that ploughing fields yielded good harvests while cattle herds increased significantly. Bakhurutshe women had plenty of wild berries to gather from areas around Leshongwane.
Fast forward the hands of time to Tonota, the undeclared Bakhurutshe capital in Botswana, you will notice changes brought over by the passage of time. These changes and developments are however, the subject of another day. While the present day ‘town’ of Tonota comprises many different groups of people, Leshongwane was a predominantly Bakhurutshe town. You should not be fooled to think that the town description of Leshongwane suggests the presence of concrete buildings with well-defined buildings, streets and electricity as is the case with present day towns. Leshongwane was a traditional Tswana town. An elaborate picture of the town during its prime time is given by Catrien van Waarden’s guide book to “Places of historic and other interest in and around Francistown.’ This book provides essential information on how to visit historic places such as Leshongwane and provides etiquette and necessary precautions when one visits the area.
In this encounter, I intend to take the reader through this renowned traditional Bakhurutshe town of Leshongwane and why the place was considered important by Bakhurutshe. It is well established that the group stayed around this area several times and each time they were forced to move away by circumstances that were beyond their control. Conflicts in the ruling family, Ndebele raids and pressure from the Tati Company which claimed a large chunk of the land in which Bakhurutshe and their neighbouring Bakalanga lived are some of the reasons that advanced migrations of Bakhurutshe from the areas of Leshongwane. If you are interested in visiting the historic town of Leshongwane, it is advisable to start your journey from Francistown. Directions provided by Catrien van Waarden’s guide book indicate that you have to take the Monarch road past the BDF and State Prison and cross Ntshe River. From this point, you take a left turn and drive for about 33 km to the BDF Ranch. From the ranch follow a track into the farm and cross Ntshe River and proceed to the farm house. Customary etiquette requires that you pass by the farm house to let them know that you intend to visit Leshongwane.
The hill visible to the north of the farmhouse was occupied by Bakhurutshe several times. The hill is named Mmadinoga since many snakes living in these hills had to be killed before they could settle near them. Oral traditions of Bakhurutshe suggest that powerful diviners were sent by their chief to charm and kill cunning snakes known as noga potsane that lived in these hills. Medicine men displayed their magic and medicine, poisoned the snakes and cast away others with powerful spells and rendered the hill a safe place to inhabit. Once this was done, Bakhurutshe began the enormous task of building their traditional Tswana town of Leshongwane. In those days, communities were highly organized and had a lot of respect for their chiefs. When you walk through the ruins of Leshongwane, you will notice that this town was divided into wards. The wards consisted of a number of family compounds which belonged to closely related people.
The chief’s compound was built closest to the hill and surrounded by his closest family members. From the chief’s compound, the town stretches further north, west and to the south of the hill. If you look closely, you will notice that each of the compounds was made up of several houses which were usually placed in a horse shoe shape with all entrances facing the centre of the compound. A recent visit to Leshongwane by archaeologists from the National Museum validated Van Waarden’s observations made in the 1990s that Bakhurutshe women built lolwapa courtyards for most of the houses. Stones were usually used to build the base of the malwapa to strengthen the foundation, prevent collapse due to waterlogging and even decrease amounts of clay required to build the walls. Granaries were then built behind the houses on small stone platforms. Pots were also stored at the back of the houses near the granaries as reflected by some pieces of pottery fragments.
Another striking feature of Leshongwane is the presence of square shaped houses, use of unfired daga bricks and plastering the interior and exterior walls of the houses. This building technique suggests the influence of European building styles among the Bakhurutshe of Leshongwane. Van Waarden’s guide book suggests that there was a fence of poles around each compound. The compounds had two entrances as it is still done among the people of north eastern Botswana. The main entrance at the front served as a public one while a private one at the back was used only by family members. As was custom during that time, there was a small kgotla near the public entrance where elderly men of each compound usually gathered to discuss matters of their clan and Bakhurutshe at large.
It is highly probable that goats, sheep and few cows were kept near homesteads in small kraals. The custom of the day did not allow livestock in general to be kept in the town of Leshongwane. Cattle were kept at cattle posts and at the lands which were across the Ntshe River. This river served as the major source of water for the town of Leshongwane. During the dry season, men dug wells in the river sand to water domestic animals and for domestic purposes. It is interesting to stand in the middle of the Ntshe River and imagine Bakhurutshe women doing their laundry and displaying it on the warm river sand to dry while young men ran around the water wells dividing up large herds of cattle for drinking purposes. On certain days, a pack of oxen could be chosen from the herd for purposes of establishing an ox wagon span to traverse the countryside to trading towns of Francistown.
While Bakhurutshe were still living around Leshongwane, the Ndebeles of Mzilikazi arrived in north eastern Botswana and seized the land, cattle and threatened to attack Bakhurutshe. It is said that during their stay in Leshongwane, Mzilikazi sent his induna named Mpukane to govern them. During these times, raids were very common. It is said that Mpukane befriended the Bakhurutshe and usually warned them of impeding Ndebele attacks in which their flourishing cattle herds and grains were taken together with young Bakhurutshe boys to form the Ndebele armies. Bakhurutshe are known to have developed a strategy of stealing young boys from neighbouring groups to pass them on as their sons. Some elderly Bakhurutshe point out that neighbouring groups soon moved away resulting in the loss of Bakhurutshe children to the Ndebeles. This is believed to be the sole reason that led them to move away to Shoshong and seek protection from Bangwato of Kgosi Sekgoma I.
It is said that Bakhurutshe returned to Leshongwane under the leadership of their celebrated leader kgosi Rauwe in 1897. This was after the Ndebeles were defeated by the British. During their stay at Shoshong, their land was sold to the Tati Company by the Ndebeles and were forced to pay cattle and hut tax. It is also remembered that while they were at Leshongwane, a serious conflict broke up among Bakhurutshe. Kgosi Rauwe wanted to marry a second wife as he had no son to succeed him. The London Missionary Society in Leshongwane forbade polygamy among its members including Kgosi Rauwe.
The LMS Reverend Gould, stationed at Leshongwane, condemned Rauwe’s decision to take a second wife. An amalgamation of these pressing matters forced Rauwe to move his village to Kalakamati Drift in 1908 where he adopted the Anglican church attended by his second wife. Kgosi Rauwe later on moved his Bakhurutshe from the Tati area due to overpopulation and overgrazing. He crossed the Shashe River south of Francistown and settled in Bangwato territory at Tonota where he died in 1918 with no son to succeed him.
