26/11/2025
The Queen who Helped Shape Qwaqwa, South Africa: Queen Manthatisi, she was a strong woman leader of the Batlokoa people about 200 years ago. She became the leader when her husband, Chief Mokotjo, died in 1813. Her young son Sekonyela was too small to rule, so she ruled for him from 1813 to 1824. During this time there was a lot of war and hunger in Southern Africa (this period is called the Difaqane). Queen Manthatisi led her army herself to protect her people and find food and land. She was brave and clever in battles.
After many fights, Queen Manthatisi brought the Batlokoa people to the eastern part of today’s Free State in South Africa. They settled in the mountains around the area that is now called QwaQwa. The place where they settled is near the town of Harrismith and Phuthaditjhaba.
The Batlokoa became the main group living in those mountains. Because of her leadership, thousands of Batlokoa families made this area their new home.
Later, during the apartheid years (1970s–1990s), the South African government made QwaQwa a “homeland” for South Sotho speaking people. Most of the people living there were Batlokoa and other Sotho groups who had been living in the area since Queen Manthatisi’s time. So, today when people in QwaQwa (Phuthaditjhaba and surrounding villages) say they are Batlokoa, they are remembering that Queen Manthatisi brought their ancestors to that land more than 200 years ago. She is the reason the Batlokoa have a strong connection to QwaQwa.
That is why schools, roads, and events in QwaQwa still carry her name proudly, like Manthatisi Secondary School in Tsheseng. She is seen as the mother who gave the Batlokoa people the land we now call QwaQwa.
