A Tlhaping chief and his wife, as observed by John Campbell at Kuruman in the 1820s, before life was disrupted by the Difaqane.
During the Difaqane, the Pedi leader in what is today Mpumalanga used similar strategies to the Sotho societies to the south. Around 1828 Sekwati took over the paramountcy by force and established full control over the region by 1837. Like Moshoeshoe to the south, Sekwati built his power and chiefdom partly through diplomacy, by establishing alliances with neighbouring chiefdoms to increase his military and productive capacity. The practice also enabled Sekwati to create a network of relationships of patronage and clientage, which boosted his position as ruler. At the same time, he kept a close eye over local rivals. Refugees fleeing from warfare in southern Mozambique, and from Swazi raids on communities of the lowveld and escarpment, all headed for the relative security of Sekwati’s Pedi kingdom. Stripped of their economic and social support, such as cattle and networks of kinship alliance, these refugees entered into relations of close dependence with the Pedi paramount chief through loans of cattle.
Thaba Mosega, the hill at the heart of Sekwati’s Pedi capital. Sekwati became chief in about 1828 and had established full control over the area by 1837.
The establishment of a lasting security for Sekwati proved arduous, largely because of the expanding sphere of raids by the Swazi. In about 1838 a Swazi army sent by the regent, Somcuba, attacked the Pedi stronghold at Phiring, but was repulsed with limited loss of life and stock. But perhaps the worst victims of Swazi raids were groups located between the Swazi kingdom and the Pedi, such as the Koni, the Pai, the Pulana and the Kutswe.
Later the Pedi faced an even more formidable external enemy. In 1851 a Zulu army sent by King Mpande made two attempts to storm the Pedi stronghold – to no avail, thanks to the use of guns they had recently begun to acquire. Pre-empting a further Zulu attack, Sekwati sent gifts of ostrich feathers to Mphande and perhaps continued to pay him tribute regularly.
