Yes, Barwa/Baroe were hostile to Bakalanga.

And so the Tswanas/Sothos are junior to the Kalangas, after all. The official Graham Hancock website, describing how the Two Lands of Upper and Lower Egypt were possibly weighed and divided (as the Egytians themselves claim)  in order to achieve peace between their gods Seth and Horus respectively, notes that:

“…In the First Time peace had reigned, before the dispute in which the visionary young Horus was blinded by his uncle Seth, while Horus castrated the worldly, virile older male. For the Egyptians, from at least the time of the Pyramid Texts, this dispute was a mythic equivalent of the opening of Pandora's Box, by which troubles came into the world…”

The Graham Hancock website quotes  an inscription on the Shabaka Stone:

“He judged between Horus and Seth; he ended their quarrel. He made Seth the king of Upper Egypt in the land of Upper Egypt, up to the place in which he was born, which is Su. And Geb made Horus King of Lower Egypt in the land of Lower Egypt, up to the place in which his father was drowned which is "Division-of-the-Two-Lands." Thus Horus stood over one region, and Seth stood over one region. They made peace over the Two Lands at Ayan [location immediately to the north of Memphis]. That was the division of the Two Lands….Then Horus stood over the land. He is the unifier of this land, proclaimed in the great name: Ta-tenen, South-of-his-Wall, Lord of Eternity. Then sprouted the two Great Magicians upon his head. He is Horus who arose as king of Upper and Lower Egypt, who united the Two Lands in the Nome of the Wall, the place in which the Two Lands were united.
Reed and papyrus were placed on the double door of the House of Ptah. That means Horus and Seth, pacified and united. They fraternized so as to cease quarreling in whatever place they might be, being united in the House of Ptah, the "Balance of the Two Lands" in which Upper and Lower Egypt had been weighed.”

Of great significance in the above quote is the word “Ta-tenen”, which is a corruption of the Kalanga word “(Ba)Tatennini”, meaning a paternal uncle, i.e. one’s father’s younger brother. So to the god Horus, the god Seth was Batatennini, meaning that the people of Su were considered junior to the people of Lower Egypt. But who were these people of Su?

From the Southern city of Su, we have BaSuThu, i.e. “People of Su.” These are the Baroe/Barwa, whose god Seth (Sotho?) was an uncle “Ta-tenen” i.e. Batatennini in Kalanga language, to the god Horus of the people in the Northern city of Memphis. So Horus, son of Osiris, was the god of Kalangas in Lower Egypt.

Now we know what the name “Mosu”, a village where Khama III is said to have been born, means – a person from Su. I recently read an article by Michael Dingake in which he warned Bangwato not to attempt to re-impose their oppressive Mephato (regiments) on “subject” tribes. Dingake remembers that Bangwato used to call his father “Rangwane” i.e. junior uncle. Imagine the cheek of rangwane calling rremogolo “Rangwane”!  Unless Bangwato occasionally put on their Bayela (Kalanga) mantle to tamper with their BaSuThu roots, it makes no sense that they would refer to a Mbikhwa (Dingake) as “rangwane”. 

Still on Palette of Pharaoh Narmer

I intend to “live” on the Narmer Palette until I am convinced that I fully understand what it is, and what it is saying. The reader is therefore advised not to despair when I occasionally seem to contradict myself. Always consider the later opinion to be derived from a more enlightened view whenever an earlier view seems to be contradicted. 

I start off my analysis with the topmost register on the palette where “Narmer” is in a procession of officials, with ten decapitated bodies just in front of them.  

Starting with the ten decapitated bodies on the right: I think it is an exclamation, meaning “put your heads to the ground!” – BIGANI MIHOLO PASI in Ikalanga language.

The standards follow thereafter. First, the two falcons: It’s generally accepted that that means “two kings”. I would add a “one”, to make it “two kings in one!” – BOHE BABILI

After the falcons comes the lion – (ZHI)SHUMBA

Next comes the (inverted) stomach - GULU

Then comes the officer with an inscription “tshet”. This is inverted. It should be “tetshi”,meaning “master” – TETSHI

Then comes the figure of Meno himself, wearing the two crowns. His name is inverted of course – MENO or MENGWE.

The rear official, a figure after Meno has an inscription in the form of a Flower/Flowers – MALUBA; and carries two shoes –HANGU MBILI.

I believe this is a play on the sounds of words, like in a dream. “MALUBA HANGU MBILI” sounds like “MALOBA HANGO MBILI”, meaning “the one who (or you) defeated the two lands”

The same official has a kettle in his right hand. This could represent the Nile – GUNGWA, i.e. the drinking one.

Next to, and just above the rear official is a rectangle, with a triangle (or pyramid) on it. The rectangle is the (Egyptian) federation. The triangle is a pyramid – BUNDO. This could mean “united into one federation of ka-Mabunde, i.e. the Bundes federation” – KAMABUNDE.

Thus, the register declares the following in Ikalanga  language: BIGANI MIHOLO PASI; SHE WABO SHE, ZHISHUMBA GULU, TETSHI WENYU MENGWE, MALOBA HANGO MBILI DZAKA SENGA GUNGWA (nile) KA DZI HANGANYA KA BAKA KA-MABUNDE, WOYO!

The closest translation I can render in English is as follows: "Bow down your heads to touch the ground; Welcome Mengwe, King of Kings, the biggest lion, your master, the one who defeated the two lands that carry the Nile and united them into one Federation of MaBunde".

That this register makes declarations in Ikalanga language reinforces the view that Mengwe was not a Baroe King, but rather that he was a Bazwina (army) general who united the Baroe (Upper Egypt) and BaKalanga (lower Egypt) into one federation. If Mengwe had been a Baroe King, his palette would have been written in the Baroe (i.e. Sesotho/Setswana) language, and not in Ikalanga language as it undoubtedly is.

Why Kgafela must win

To understand Kgafela’s gripe with the Botswana Government, one has to go back six thousand years; back to Mapungubwe; back to the time when Bakgatla were called BeHakata.

Hakata, as you will recall, are divining bones (Ditaola in Setswana). BeHakata were powerful people. The Nshakashongwe (King) ruled through them. Indeed, even today, hakata play a crucial role in the lives of our people. If a traditional doctor claims that his hakata have identified person A as the culprit in the disappearance of a child, then person A will need police protection, else he may be run out of the village, or if he resists, may even be killed. Such was the power of BeHakata at Mapungubwe. Their language was Chindebele, the same language that was called Ikalanga in the Middle East.

Then from Egypt and North Africa a people arrived, who spoke various languages. Some spoke Ikalanga, others spoke Chirwa (Setswana/Sesotho), and yet others spoke Nguni languages. These people did not know, and had never been subjected to the power of, Hakata. When they saw hakata in the hands of BeHakata, they quickly understood that those divining bones were the means by which society was controlled (“go laola” morafe in Setswana). Hence they called hakata, “Ditaola” in Setswana language. The new immigrants from North Africa, the majority of whom spoke Ikalanga, merged with the local people, who spoke the same language under a different name – Chindebele. All  lived under the social control of BeHakata.

The arrival of the British colonialists dislodged power from its traditional custodians the BeHakata, and threw it onto the lap of three Chirwa (Setswana) speaking Bayela (Greeks) from North Africa.  It was these three Setswana speaking Bayela chiefs who were chosen by the British, to go seek “British protection” at the dawn of colonial occupation of our country. From then on, these three Bayela chiefs were transformed into veritable “foot stools of Imperialism”, to borrow Julius Malema’s words. Our country was divided, by the British, into essentially two main regions – the first region being British possessions, i.e. crown lands and British Company farms, and the second region being subdivided among the Bayela chiefs. No one else mattered, except the BeHakata, who were too powerful to be ignored. Consequently, the BeHakata got a sizeable share of the land as “Bakgatla Tribal territory”.

But on departure, the British ensured (with Seretse Khama’s help) that power was left firmly in the hands of the Setswana speaking Bayela tribes. They concocted a fraudulent constitution to that effect, which constitution the BeHakata King Kgafela Kgafela II now seeks to expose and to trash. So, Kgafela  as the direct descendant of the Mapungubwe traditional medicine leader, owes it to all the Batebele, to  win this legal challenge and trash the fraudulent constitution. All peace-loving citizens of this country Botswana, should support him. 

Who was Pharaoh Narmer

Among the latest people to arrive in Southern Africa from Egypt were the Banyai (irrigators), also called “Badila-unnda” (irrigators). These are the followers of King Mengwe of Maitengwe, and their totem is Moyo (heart). A little earlier than the arrival of the Moyos, Southern Africa had welcomed yet another group of Banyai, the Chuma or Nkomo group. The Banyai are sometimes referred to in Setswana (Chirwa) language as Baswina, a name also used by Kalangas to refer to Shonas. The name “Baswina” is wrong. The correct name is “Bazwina” i.e. “the gatekeepers”. The Bazwina played the gate keeping (military defence) role in ancient Egypt.

Northern Egypt (the Nile delta) was home to a federation of Kalanga speaking peoples, stretching all the way north past Mesopotamia. South of the delta the Kalanga speaking Federation deployed its Defence Forces, composed of Bazwina, (gatekeepers). Further south of Bazwina were Barui (fighters in Shona language). The latter later became Baroe, now called Batswana/Basotho. The language of Barui was, and still is different from Kalanga. What is not clear at this stage is whether the Barui (fighters) were part of the Kalanga Federation army, and therefore were an extension of the Bazwina,  or whether they were considered a threat to the federation, hence the deployment of the Bazwina against them.

What can be said with considerable certainty is that General (later Pharaoh) Meno/Mengwe led the Bazwina group, just as King Meno/Mengwe leads the Banyai/Bazwina today.

And here we come to the Narmer Palette. I submit that the Narmer palette is a celebration of a MILITARY COUPE by General Meno against the Egyptian Federation. One powerful pointer to this supposition is that on the palette, the hieroglyph for Meno’s name is written upside down, resulting in it being read as “Narmer” instead of Meno or Mengwe. Mengwe wanted it written that way to celebrate “overturning” the Government.

Mengwe’s name is not the only thing that is upside-down on the palette. The whole procession of standard bearers in front of Mengwe loudly announces his arrival at the inspection of the decapitated bodies. Just infront of Mengwe is a long haired official. The hieroglyph next to him is said to mean “Tshet”. I submit that it is also upside-down, and the correct meaning is “Tetshi” i.e. “master” in Kalanga language.Thus the official was announcing the arrival of the new “master”, Mengwe. The “Tetshi” official is preceded by four standard bearers. The first two are falcons, proclaiming that Mengwe is bigger than just a king. The next bearer carries a dog or possibly a lion. A lion is a symbol of greatness in Africa. The last standard bearer is the most interesting – he carries a stomach, “gulu” in Kalanga. Well, the word “gulu” also means “big/biggest”. So, I submit that the four standard bearers announce the arrival of “king of kings, the biggest lion” Mengwe at the inspection of the decapitated former government officials!

The bull (Nkomo) in the lowest register is trampling on the vanquished IN AN ENCLOSURE, again suggesting a military coupe rather than an invasion from a foreign force. Within the enclosure is something that could be mistaken for a fort, but I think it is a pot WHICH HAS ALSO BEEN TURNED UPSIDE-DOWN, i.e. overthrown.

Thus General Mangwe, leader of the army (Bazwina) overthrew the Government and installed himself as Pharaoh of Egypt, and commander in chief of the armed forces. On top of his army cap (supposedly the white crown of Southern Egypt) he now adorned himself with the state’s crown – the red crown of lower Egypt.

Oh, just behind Mengwe on the palette is an official carrying his sandals and a milk container. This is yet another shouting of praises for Mengwe – “Manngula ne nkaka beti vula ina manyungula”, which means “the one who would rather wash with milk, because there may be tadpoles in water”.

Infantile anti-socialism

In the Weekend Post of 17^th December, 2011 the column “Opposite Poles” by one Sameosi Mokgethiwa, declares:

It only goes to show that given a chance, these latter-day communists and socialists in the BNF (from whence Modubule came from [sic]) and BCP will easily ditch the socialist rhetoric for the gravy train only found in capitalism. That is what the Eastern Block countries did and China is following suit.

Well, I don’t know about what the Eastern Block countries did or are doing, but what the writer alleges China is doing, seems way off the mark.

When Chairman Mao Tse Tung posited that in order for China to win a world war, it only has to let a division of the Red Army surrender, very few people understood what he was talking about. Many thought he was talking about a military war, but only a few understood that he was talking about an economic war. Well, you only have to look at the world today to see what Mao meant. A division of the Chinese economic army has “surrendered” to capitalism. Now, who is winning the economic war?

Bakalanga and Baroe (Basotho, Batswana) – a deadly embrace!

I have been prompted to write this, by an article written by Jeff Ramsay in the Sunday Standard of December 11-17, 2011, entitled “Builders of Botswana 1; Children of the Mambo”. Jeff Ramsay’s focus is on events that occurred starting from around the 17^th Century.  He writes:

The Bakwena royal names “Sechele” and “Sebele” for example, are apparently of Ikalanga origin. Does this mean that the Bakwena royalty were once Bakalanga? Absolutely not! They are rather the true descendents of Masilo a Malope, if not Matsieng of Lowe…

Right there JR, is the distinction between Bakalanga and BaTebele. A significant percentage of Bakalanga are descendants of Malope, while BaTebele descended from  Lowe. Lowe, as we know by now is Mapungubwe mesa in South Africa, but what is Malope?  Malope is the continent of Europe. The name Malope is a corruption of the Kalanga word “Malopa” meaning “Blood”. The current name “Europe” is a Roe (Sotho/Tswana) influence on the word Malopa to produce “Uropa”, which is a later reference to the European continent. Bakalanga (specifically Bayela) in Botswana are North Africans and Europeans who re-emigrated back into Africa, after wiping out the Neanderthal in Europe, hence “Blood”. The Neanderthal must have put up a fierce resistance to the Human incursion into Europe from North Africa.

On re-entry into Africa, the Europeans (Bayela) first settled in Sudan/Nubia (Taka dwa ku Bunyubi), before heading down south.

So there are three main categories of nations in Botswana today:

1.            Bakalanga (from Egypt and Nubia), among whom we count BaYela i.e. BakaHabangana, Bakwena, Bangwaketse, Bangwato, Batawana;  Banyayi i.e. the Moyo, the Chuma ; Bakaa and possibly others.

2.            BaTebele (from ancient Mapungubwe in South Africa), among whom we count Bahurutshe, BaRolong, BaKgatla, Batlokwa, Balete, Bahumbe, Barotsi and possibly others.

3.            Part-BaKalanga and part-BaTebele (initially from Mapungubwe/Lowe, but later from Egypt and environs), among whom we count Baperi i.e. BakaNswazwi, BakaMasunga etc.; Bakhurutshe.

There are very few Shonas in Botswana, if we exclude the Banyayi. It is instructive to note that Bangwato refer to Batalaote/Banyayi as “Baswina”. In Ikalanga language, the Shonas are referred to similarly, i.e. as “Baswina”. So who are these Baswina? In actual fact they are “Bazwina”, meaning “gate keepers” or “shields”. These are the people who used to act as a buffer between Bakalanga in lower Egypt (the North), and Baroe/Badawi in Upper Egypt (the South), until Pharao Mengwe (Narmer), a king of Baroe, broke loose from the south and conquered the north. It is this role of “Bazwina” that is now erroneously, attributed to the Bakaa, of Sebina/Tjibizina (allegedly Tjizwina) today, with claims that they were used as a shield by She Mengwe of Maitengwe. In actual fact the people whom Pharao Mengwe (Narmer) used as a shield, on his Northern flank, were indeed called Bazwina, i.e. the Shonas. They acted as a buffer between his (Mengwe’s) Baroe in Upper Egypt and the Bakalanga in Lower Egypt. That is why Shona language sounds like a hi-breed between Ikalanga and Chirwa (SeSotho, SeTswana).

Ikalanga and Chirwa - deadly language embrace

Ancient Egypt, just like present day Botswana, was afflicted by a love-hate relationship between two languages, namely Ikalanga language in Lower Egypt, and Chirwa language around the city of Meroe and Medawi. In present day Botswana, Chirwa language has assumed the name of Setswana language.

I looked up the meaning of the name ARAB. You see, in Setswana the word ARABA means "to answer".It turns out that the word ARAB (in Arabic) means something like "answering audibly". Considering that the ancient scribes omitted the last vowel, this is the same meaning of the same word in Setswana. But what I find even more interesting is that the opposite to ARAB is AJMA, meaning "one who answers inaudibly".

Now, in Ikalanga language, the word ASHAMA means "to open one's mounth". There can be little doubt that AJMA (vowel omitted between J and M) derives from the Ikalanga word ASHAMA. So here we are, the Arabic language has adopted a Setswana word "ARAB/ARABA" and an Ikalanga opposite word "AJMA/ASHAMA" - a right deadly embrace!