Sesotho sa Leboa is a Sotho-Tswana language group spoken in the northeastern provinces of South Africa, most commonly in the Mpumalanga, Gauteng and Limpopo provinces and Botswana It is also known by Pedi or Sepedi and holds the status of an official language in South Africa.
The South African Republic, also known as the Transvaal Republic, was an independent Boer republic in Southern Africa which existed from 1852 to 1902, when it was annexed into the British Empire as a result of the Second Boer War.
Polokwane, also known as Pietersburg, is the capital city of the Limpopo Province in South Africa. It is the country's largest urban centre north of Gauteng. It was one of the nine host cities of the 2010 FIFA World Cup.
Artifacts indicating human activity dating back to the early Stone Age have been found in the Kingdom of Eswatini. The earliest known inhabitants of the region were Khoisan hunter-gatherers. Later, the population became predominantly Nguni during and after the great Bantu migrations. People speaking languages ancestral to the current Sotho and Nguni languages began settling no later than the 11th century. The country now derives its name from a later king named Mswati II. Mswati II was the greatest of the fighting kings of Eswatini, and he greatly extended the area of the country to twice its current size. The people of Eswatini largely belong to a number of clans that can be categorized as Emakhandzambili, Bemdzabu, and Emafikamuva, depending on when and how they settled in Eswatini.
The Boer republics were independent, self-governing republics formed by Dutch-speaking inhabitants of the Cape Colony and their descendants. The founders – variously named Trekboers, Boers, and Voortrekkers – settled mainly in the middle, northern, north-eastern and eastern parts of present-day South Africa. Two of the Boer republics achieved international recognition and complete independence: the South African Republic and the Orange Free State. The republics did not provide for the separation of church and state, initially allowing only the Dutch Reformed Church, and later also other Protestant churches in the Calvinist tradition. The republics came to an end after the Second Boer War of 1899–1902, which resulted in British annexation and later incorporation of their lands into the Union of South Africa.
The Trekboers were nomadic pastoralists descended from European colonists on the frontiers of the Dutch Cape Colony in Southern Africa. The Trekboers began migrating into the interior from the areas surrounding what is now Cape Town, such as Paarl, Stellenbosch, and Franschhoek, during the late 17th century and throughout the 18th century.
Tzaneen is a large tropical garden town situated in the Mopani District Municipality of the Limpopo province in South Africa. It is situated in a high rainfall fertile region with tropical and subtropical agriculture taking place in a 20,000 square kilometres (7,700 sq mi) region. It is Limpopo's second largest town after Polokwane.
The Lobedu or Balobedu(also known as the BaLozwi or Bathobolo) are a southern African ethnic group that speak a Northern Sotho dialect. Their area is called Bolobedu. The name "balobedu" means "the mineral miners," lobela or go loba, - to mine. Their ancestors were part of the great Mapungubwe early civilization. They have their own kingdom, the Balobedu Kingdom, within the Limpopo Province of South Africa with a female ruler, the Rain Queen Modjadji.
Queen Modjadji, or the Rain Queen, is the hereditary queen of Balobedu, a people of the Limpopo Province of South Africa. The Rain Queen is believed to have special powers, including the ability to control the clouds and rainfall. She is known as a mystical and historic figure who brought rain to her allies and drought to her enemies. She is not a ruler as such, but a powerful rainmaker and a traditional healer (ngaka).
The Sotho-Tswana, also known as the Sotho or Basotho, although the term is now closely associated with the Southern Sotho peoples are a meta-ethnicity of Southern Africa. They are a large and diverse group of people who speak Sotho-Tswana languages. The group is predominantly found in Botswana, Lesotho, South Africa, and the western part of Zambia. Smaller groups can also be found in Namibia and Zimbabwe.
Blacks are the majority ethno-racial group in South Africa, belonging to various Bantu ethnic groups. They are descendants of Southern Bantu-speaking peoples who settled in South Africa during the Bantu expansion.
The Venḓa are a Bantu people native to Southern Africa living mostly near the South African-Zimbabwean border. The Venda language arose from interactions with Sotho-Tswana and Kalanga groups from 1400.
During the Napoleonic Wars, the Cape Colony was annexed by the British and officially became their colony in 1815. Britain encouraged settlers to the Cape, and in particular, sponsored the 1820 Settlers to farm in the disputed area between the colony and the Xhosa in what is now the Eastern Cape. The changing image of the Cape from Dutch to British excluded the Dutch farmers in the area, the Boers who in the 1820s started their Great Trek to the northern areas of modern South Africa. This period also marked the rise in power of the Zulu under their king Shaka Zulu. Subsequently, several conflicts arose between the British, Boers and Zulus, which led to the Zulu defeat and the ultimate Boer defeat in the Second Anglo-Boer War. However, the Treaty of Vereeniging established the framework of South African limited independence as the Union of South Africa.
The Gaza Empire (1824–1895) was an African empire established by general Soshangane and was located in southeastern Africa in the area of southern Mozambique and southeastern Zimbabwe. The Gaza Empire, at its height in the 1860s, covered all of Mozambique between the Zambezi and Limpopo rivers, known as Gazaland.
The Pedi or Bapedi - also known as the Northern Sotho, Basotho ba Lebowa, bakgatla ba dithebe, Transvaal Sotho, Marota, or Dikgoshi - are a Sotho-Tswana ethnic group native to South Africa, Botswana, and Lesotho that speak Pedi or Sepedi, which is one of the 12 official languages in South Africa. They are primarily situated in Sekhukhune in Limpopo.
Louis Trichardt, informally shortened to LTT, is a town at the foot of Songozwi, in the Soutpansberg mountain range in the Limpopo province of South Africa. It is the centre of the Makhado Local Municipality, which comprises 16,000 km2 with a population of 270,000 (2001). Louis Trichardt is located in a fertile region where litchis, bananas, mangoes and nuts are produced. The N1 National Route runs through the town. Louis Trichardt is 437 kilometres from Johannesburg and one hour's drive from the Zimbabwean border at Beitbridge. Louis Trichardt was known for a time as Makhado, but it was changed back to Louis Trichardt. Vleifontein, Elim, Tshikota, Madombidzha, Makhado Park and Dzanani surround the town in all directions.
Ga-Molepo is a town in Capricorn District Municipality and Polokwane Local Municipality in the Limpopo province of South Africa.
Schoonoord is a village in Sekhukhune District Municipality in the Limpopo province of South Africa.It is one of first villages to develop early in Sekhukhune. The name Schoonoord is Dutch, it is imposed on the natives of this area by Berlin Missionary Society. Schoonoord is the center of the Sekhukhune District in Limpopo. Another name for it is Sekhukhune
The Soutpansberg Military Area (SMA) Headquarters was situated in Messina in the Northern Province of South Africa. The size of the area for which the SMA was responsible for was approximately 4,040 square kilometres (1,560 sq mi).
Maselekwane Modjadji I was the first Rain Queen of the South African Balobedu nation. Maselekwane reigned from 1800 to 1854. She was succeeded by Rain Queen Masalanabo Modjadji II.
