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Bahananwa Clan — History & Meaning
Tswana clan · Setswana
Totem Tshwene (baboon); some traditions also note veneration of the springbok alongside the baboon in their early Blouberg history.
History & origin
The Bahananwa (also Hananwa, and known after their famous chief as the Maleboho/Malebogo people) are a Northern Sotho-speaking community of the Blouberg ('Blue Mountain') area in northern Limpopo Province. Tradition records that an ancestral group under Motebele moved north to Blouberg, where the baboon (and springbok) were venerated. They are best known for the Bahananwa (Malebogo) War of 1894 against the South African Republic (Transvaal Boers): after Chief Maleboho (Malebogo) refused relocation from the mountain and refused to pay hut tax / take part in a census, the republic laid siege to the Blouberg stronghold, eventually defeating and capturing Maleboho.
Associated surnames
Surnames that share this clan: Maleboho, Malebogo, Hananwa, Seleka.
We publish the full diboko (clan praises) only once we can verify them against documented tradition — for this clan they are still being confirmed. If you can share an authoritative version, corrections are warmly welcomed.