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Bakopa Clan — History & Meaning
Tswana clan · Setswana
Totem Bakopa are documented as a Bakgaga (Ba-Kopa) group that split from the Bakwena; the crocodile (kwena) association is linked to their Bakwena origin. A distinctive separate totem is not strongly attested, so the kwena (crocodile) link should be stated as derived from their Kwena ancestry rather than as an independently confirmed clan totem.
History & origin
The Bakgaga ba Kopa (Bakopa) are a Northern Sotho/Bapedi-area group whose tradition holds they split from the Bakwena. In 1860 the Bakopa, numbering some three thousand under King Boleu I, were settled on Rietkloof and helped establish the Berlin Mission station of Gerlachshoop (Thabantšho) north of the Vaal, west of Lydenburg. They came into conflict with the Boer republic: an 1861 Boer attack was repulsed, but on 10 May 1864 a combined Boer and Swazi force defeated the Bakopa, killing King Boleu I, much of his family and around 850 of his soldiers. Survivors split between Thabantšho (under Rammupudu) and Moganyaka/Leeuwfontein (under Matsepe). The community was forcibly removed in 1962 and resettled at Tafelkop.
Associated surnames
Surnames that share this clan: Kopa, Rammupudu, Matsepe, Boleu.
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.