Mohale's Hoek
Encyclopedia
Mohale's Hoek District
Mohale's Hoek is a district of Lesotho. It has an area of 3,530 km² and a population in 2006 of approximately 174,924. Mohale's Hoek is the capital city or camptown, and only town in the district.-Geography:...
in Lesotho
Lesotho
Lesotho , officially the Kingdom of Lesotho, is a landlocked country and enclave, surrounded by the Republic of South Africa. It is just over in size with a population of approximately 2,067,000. Its capital and largest city is Maseru. Lesotho is a member of the Commonwealth of Nations. The name...
. It had a population of approximately 24,992 in 2006.
History
Mohale's Hoek had first been inhabited by the SanBushmen
The indigenous people of Southern Africa, whose territory spans most areas of South Africa, Zimbabwe, Lesotho, Mozambique, Swaziland, Botswana, Namibia, and Angola, are variously referred to as Bushmen, San, Sho, Barwa, Kung, or Khwe...
who were found there by the Baphuthi around 1795. The Baphuthi settled in Kubake near the present Likuena High School while some settled at Thaba-Ts'oeu. Chief Moorosi of the Baphuthi is said to have been there during the journey to this new home. They later settled below the foothills of Thaba-Linoha, north of the present Bethesda mission and the area was later called Maphutseng. Some Baphuthi inhabited the area bordering Senqu River
Senqu River
The Senqu River is a river located in the rural highlands in the district of Mokhotlong in the country of Lesotho in Southern Africa. Its tributaries include the Senqunyane River.-Wild life:...
, Morifi and across the river into what is now Quthing
Quthing
Quthing is the capital city or camptown of Quthing District in Lesotho. Quthing was established in 1877, abandoned in the Gun War of 1880, and then rebuilt at its present site – the southernmost town in Lesotho. It has a population of approximately 15,000 .Quthing district is home to a diverse...
. After 1824, the area was inhabited by Mohale, the younger brother of Moshoeshoe
Moshoeshoe I
Moshoeshoe was born at Menkhoaneng in the Northern part of present-day Lesotho. He was the first son of Mokhachane, a minor chief of the Bamokoteli lineage- a branch of the Koena clan. In his early childhood, he helped his father gain power over some other smaller clans. At the age of 34...
around the 1830s.
On expansion of Moshoeshoe's kingdom into southern Lesotho, King Moshoeshoe
Moshoeshoe I
Moshoeshoe was born at Menkhoaneng in the Northern part of present-day Lesotho. He was the first son of Mokhachane, a minor chief of the Bamokoteli lineage- a branch of the Koena clan. In his early childhood, he helped his father gain power over some other smaller clans. At the age of 34...
sent his brother Mohale to administer the area where the Baphuthi and Basotho
Basotho
The ancestors of the Sotho people have lived in southern Africa since around the fifth century. The Sotho nation emerged from the accomplished diplomacy of Moshoeshoe I who gathered together disparate clans of Sotho–Tswana origin that had dispersed across southern Africa in the early 19th century...
enjoyed a rather fragile friendship. After living for a while at Lifateng, Mohale established a substantial village at the place now known as Old Hoek (the present day Ha Ts'epo village) a few kilometres north of the present town. This village was destroyed in 1867 during the Seqiti War and was subsequently abandoned. In the year after the proclamation that made Lesotho British territory, an assistant commissioner was appointed to administer what was then called Cornet Spruit District - after the Makhaleng River
Makhaleng River
The Makhaleng River is a river of western Lesotho. The river flows southwest from the Maluti Mountains past the towns and villages of Molimo-Nthuse, Makhaleng, Ramabanta and Qaba, flowing into the Orange River at the international border...
. This would make Mohale's Hoek the second oldest of all the district headquarters towns in Lesotho, except that the town was completely destroyed during the Gun War
Gun War
The Gun War also known as the Basuto War was an 1880-1881 conflict in the British territory of Basutoland in Southern Africa, fought between Cape Colony forces and rebellious Basotho chiefs over tribal rights...
of 1880. East to the town near the St Patrick's Cathedral are the Motlejoeng caves which were used by the celebrated cannibal, Motlejoa during the Lifaqane.