Bogosi in Limpopo, South Africa: Exploring Political Sovereignty from Its Underside

This chapter explores how the annual event to celebrate Kgosi Matsebe Sekhukhune I becomes instrumental in creating a sense of solidarity among the Bapedi community in the Limpopo province of South Africa. The chapter examines how the event provides a narrative that establishes a focal point for anchoring solidarity among the Bapedi people and their “kingdom.” In so doing, the Bapedi community extends the understanding of local governance, power, and limits and provides for the re-imagination of the state. This chapter further postulates that by invoking the past, correctly or incorrectly, the Bapedi create a sense of “shared” memory to consolidate solidarity among the Bapedi, which is premised on notions of common struggles against colonialism, apartheid, and contemporary South African state which is cast as undermining the Bapedi “kingdom.” In democratic South Africa, the state is perceived as nullifying the history and sovereign prerogatives of the Bapedi “kingdom.” Moreover, the Bapedi solidarity is contrasted with the South African state’s forms of solidarity, which is seen as antithetical to the very existence of the Bapedi “kingdom” and solidarity.