King Moshoeshoe: The living testimony of his life as the first Pan-African

 A Model of Pre-Colonial African Leadership  

by MAX DU PREEZ (Research Fellow, Centre for Leadership Ethics in Africa, University of Fort Hare)

A proper modern analysis of Moshoeshoe’s life as a chief and king reveals a remarkable and complex leader with an unusual philosophy of leadership, a surprising grasp of the realities and challenges facing his and his people during the mid-1800s, and a vision equal to that of Nelson Mandela more that a century later. He was a nation builder, a diplomat, a strategist and a pragmatist at least on par with the best leaders in Europe, Asia and North America during his time. And in all his actions one could see the influence of Mohlomi. 

For anyone who has ever had a quiet thought that perhaps Africa is doomed to be unstable, undemocratic and chaotic, Moshoeshoe’s example is just the right medicine – especially because he formed all his philosophies and demonstrated his genius before he was affected in anyway by the white settlers or colonialism. He became chief in 1820 and he first met white people in 1833. It was only after 1836 that the Voortrekkers started invading his land and the British colonial authorities took notice of him. Which means his own environment and culture during the first 47 years of his life made him what he was. Today, 135 years after his death, Moshoeshoe still stands out as a model of African leadership. 

Moshoeshoe and his followers left his father’s jurisdiction in 1820 to establish himself as chief in the Botha-Bothe area further west. The first four years were peaceful; in fact, life was the same as it had been for many hundreds of years, But a revolution was taking place on the east coast, in what is today called KwaZuluNatal. Persistent drought, the first effects of colonialism to the north (Mozambique) and the south (the Cape Colony), the militarisation of society due to the slave and ivory trade further north, and the aggression of strong leaders such as Dingizwayo and Shaka (also born in 1776) led to violent upheavals and military conquests unknown to southern Africa. Groups fleeing conflict moved into the interior, uprooting others as they went along. It was a period of great instability and suffering. During the Lifaqane, tens of thousands died in the wars or of hunger, and more were constantly on the move. For a decade or so desperate groups even resorted to cannibalism.

 In 1823 the upheavals reached Moshoeshoe when one of the groups fleeing the conflict, the Batlokoa under the great female warrior Mantatisi, attacked him at Botha-Bothe. Moshoeshoe, in no mind to take part in this orgy of blood and revenge, decided to move to a natural mountain fortress further south. He fetched his parents and established himself on top of a virtually impenetrable flat-topped mountain. They called it ThabaBosiu, the Mountain at Night. 

Thaba-Bosiu, where Moshoeshoe spent the rest of his days, became central to his strategy: to defend rather that attack, to gather rather than destroy. Unlike those taking part in the conflict all around, he invited refugees and stragglers to join him and gave them food and protection. He even rehabilitated cannibals and gave them a home. On his trek from Botha-Bothe to Thaba-Bosiu, a band of cannibals caught and ate his beloved grandfather, Peete. Moshoeshoe’s councillors were adamant that the cannibals should be caught and killed, but the wise chief decided otherwise. Those cannibals were the living graves of his grandfather, he told them, and to kill them would be to desecrate his grave. So he had the cannibals lie down on his mountain and he purified their bellies with the stomach contents of a slaughtered cow, the traditional way to purify a grave.

The cannibals eventually joined his chiefdom and became productive citizens. Moshoeshoe’s clan grew rapidly as more and more individuals and groups chose to live under his protection, among them many groups of Koranna, San, Zulu and Xhosa speakers. By the mid-1800’s he started calling the new nation the Basotho. Shaka formed the Zulu nation by force and subjugation; Moshoeshoe founded his nation through persuasion, protection and prosperity. There can be little doubt that if Moshoeshoe had, like all other chiefs of the time, also taken part in the killing and conquest, the chaos of the 1820s would have spread to the Eastern Cape and the Cape Colony. This would surely have decimated the African population of modern South Africa and Lesotho and our histories would have followed a quite different – and bloodier – route.

Unlike Shaka and others, Moshoeshoe never insisted that the newcomers to his kingdom lose their language and culture. Besides Sesotho, he spoke isiZulu and isiXhosa fluently, and understood those cultures and traditions. This acknowledgement of diversity, quite rare in a time of rampant tribal chauvinism, helped the region and people under his jurisdiction.

Stability was a rare commodity in those days. Moshoeshoe knew it would be a secret to his success as a leader. He knew what the ingredients to this elusive stability would be: the centre of his new state had to be strong; he had to have sufficient resources to use in the execution of his strategies; his subjects had to be loyal and content; he had to neutralise external threats and aggression without becoming an aggressor himself. He remembered Mohlomi’s maxim that a chief is a chief by the grace of his people. 

So he established a form of government revolutionary for its time, and the closest to full democracy we saw in Africa before and even for a century after him. All the senior men in his chiefdom formed part of his khotla (court), and all important decisions had to be ratified by them. He made it clear that they were not his rubber stamp; he actually wanted them to oppose his advice when they didn’t like it. It is clear that in the end he mostly got his way, but his khotla members also felt it was their decision. Major issues about his people’s future were put to a pitso, a gathering of all men. He also encouraged lively debate in this bigger forum, because he knew that would be the cure for possible dissent brewing among his people.

There is ample evidence that Moshoeshoe was indeed opposed quite vigorously at these forums, but in the end a compromise was always found and most citizens left feeling they had been consulted. But he had another clever method to assure peace and respect for his authority: he married women from chiefdoms and clans in his region – among them San, Zulu and Xhosa speakers. The chief of a clan whose daughter was married to Moshoeshoe would think twice before attacking him. By the time he was 60, Moshoeshoe had more than 150 wives. He appointed sons born from these marriages as headmen and chiefs in the outer regions of his jurisdiction to ensure loyalty to the central authority. 

Moshoeshoe also realised that poverty and hunger were the main enemies of stability and a strong state. Within a few years after establishing himself at Thaba-Bosiu, he had built up vast herds of cattle. Unlike other chiefs, whose men spent their time and energies training for war, Moshoeshoe’s men spent their time being agriculturists. In those days, ownership of cattle determined a man’s standing, but Moshoeshoe used it for much more. He called his system mafisa: he gave cattle on loan to the poor among his subjects. They could use the fruits of these animals, like milk and offspring, but they remained his property. The poor were cared for and thankful, and he was assured of their loyalty – being disloyal could mean he would simply take his animals back. He also paid dowry on behalf of many young men who could not afford it, which meant that these men had to remain loyal because, technically speaking, the wives of these men belonged to their chief. 

In 1833, Moshoeshoe heard from a visiting Griqua hunter, Adam Krotz, that white Christian missionaries had brought some stability to the areas around the Orange River where they served. He gave Krotz two hundred head of cattle and said: “Go buy me some of these white men.” The cattle were stolen by San hunters, but when the French missionaries Eugene Cassalis and Thomas Arbousset heard of his interest, they went to join Moshoeshoe at Thaba-Bosiu. This had a major impact on the chief. Moshoeshoe’s interest in the in the missionaries was first to use them as a stabilising force – marauders were known to avoid areas where missionaries served, partly out of reverence but also, possibly, fear. But Moshoeshoe knew by then that he would soon have to deal with white settlers, and he wanted white men close to him so he could learn about their culture and mentality. 

Soon the young Cassalis became not only his best friend but his de facto minister of foreign affairs, writing letters on his behalf and advising him on how to deal with the British and the Boers. Moshoeshoe was wise enough to know and his people had to modernize and get to know new technology like literacy, but he never allowed this to undermine the natural wisdom of his people. Unlike any other chief in his time, he did not allow the missionaries to undermine the structures of authority of his people.

He modernized in other ways too. The first time he saw a Koranna hunter on horseback, he realised the horse’s military potential. He quickly started buying horses and launched a breeding programme, and within a decade he had the biggest cavalry in Africa, armed with firearms long before any other African army.

Yet despite his military capacity he preferred not to wage war. He made alliances with powerful kings such as Shaka and manipulated them to deal with his enemies than fight them himself. Thaba-Bosiu was attacked many times, by Sekonyela of the Batlokoa, by the warrior chiefs of Mpangezitha and Matiwane, by the Boers of the Orange Free State, by the Koranna, by Mzilikazi of the Amandebele, and by the British. Moshoeshoe was never defeated, because his mountain was virtually impenetrable and his military strategies were devised around that. After he defeated Mzilikazi’s mighty army, he famously sent a number of fat oxen after the retreating army with a note saying they clearly attacked him only because they were hungry – here’s some food for the road. An astonished Mzilikazi vowed never to attack Moshoeshoe again. After the British withdrawal from Thaba-Bosiu he sent them a note congratulating them on their bravery and sent his regards to their Queen.

So Moshoeshoe was a military strategist who thought like a diplomat. He preferred to outmaneuver his opponents rather than outshoot them. To this end he used appeasement and subterfuge, always based on proper intelligence. He had an extended system of ambassadors and messengers who kept him informed and made friends on his behalf all over the subcontinent.

After the threat coming from African chiefs had disappeared, Moshoeshoe was faced with a new adversary: the white settlers who had trekked from the Eastern Cape and were now establishing farms in his area of jurisdiction as chief and king. He spent the last 40 years of his life using all his diplomatic and negotiating skills to protect his people from being swamped by the Boers, who were mostly supported in their quest for land and sovereignty by British colonial officials from the Cape Colony. In the end he requested the ‘protection’ of the British Queen, which led to ‘Basutoland’ becoming a British Protectorate. But his real dream came true 96 years after his death, when Lesotho gained its Independence in 1966. Although completely surrounded by South Africa, the people of Lesotho were never subjected to apartheid – at least, not in their own country.

Moshoeshoe died at the age of 83, on 11 March 1870, and was buried on Thaba-Bosiu, which has since become the resting place of all Basotho Kings. He was the disciple of the great Mohlomi and can rightly be called the Nelson Mandela of the 19th century, the first embodiment of the African renaissance. After him, no African leader can have an excuse for corrupt, authoritarian rule.  


So here are Moshoeshoe’s leadership principles:
       • Tolerate dissenting views; make people feel part of decisions; get people to share your vision.\

       • Instability is the enemy of progress and growth. 

       • Don’t be afraid of change; embrace modernisation. 

       • Accommodate diversity; respect people’s differences; stay close to your constituency.

       • Base decisions on good intelligence; always make sure your information is reliable. 

       • Don’t unnecessarily antagonise adversaries – outsmart them rather than out-shout them. 


The spirit of the kings of Africa....