The Ballade Of Tswana Captain Magatoe The Babbler Poem by Gert Strydom

Resolute to murder out the Boers
Magatoe did not want to listen to Swartbooi for peace,
determined tot take away Schoemansdal and own it,
he believed that the Boers would loose against a mayor force

Chorus:
and with bodies glittering from fat
the Tswana impi dance a death-dance around their fires
where the moon hangs dim in the heaven
they dance around as if in a trance,

where the witchdoctor prepares the spices
a bull is cut alive into pieces,
in a hellish scene spirits are called
to get magic power for the impi,

enchantment formulary is said with a ritual
and when the babbler lifts his glowing assegai,
he tells the Tswana impi to destroy the white man
and bloodthirsty his words do carry great weight,

where the inhabitants of the town flee away
as against a major force they cannot face,
and they leave the church and houses with their belongings
but they do undertake to come back

and four thousand Boer citizens are called up on commando
to face the Tswana impi of Magatoe decisively
but first a great day of prayer is held,
as the babbler is entrenched in the mountains.

At first light the Boers do ride into the cliffs and mountains
and suddenly the Boers have got to avoid enemy gunfire
but general Joubert does pray and immediately fog sweeps in
and beyond rocks the Boers find shelter.

When later the sun does burn the fog away
the Boers know about the hiding places of the Tswana impi,
and general Joubert orders to open fire with the cannons,
while the Boers do fire shots with their rifles

and they rush at the kraal of the enemy on top of the mountain
whereupon Magatoe and his impi starts to flee
but here and there are a Tswana that do remain
and as targets the Boers are open,

when out of a hole a Tswana raises
and shoots a Boer in astonishment
but have nowhere to flee,
when many rifles shoot him down

and from then on the resistance is insignificant,
where with three casualties the Boers are victorious,
do ride into the destroyed Schoemansdal
and the babbler and his whole impi flee into Rhodesia.

[References:"Moselekatse" by Totius. The Field coronet J. J. Potgieter manuscript / Eric Swardt.Poet's note: After Mzilikazi's impi were driven over the Limpopo River by Chief-commandant Andries Hendrik Potgieter's commando in 1838 the smaller Tswana tribes did come and settle down in the Schoemansdal aria and agreed to be under government of the Boers but constantly captain Magatoe was in rebellion and after years had driven the Boers out of Schoemansdal and from the surrounding farms.Magatoe did not want to listen to Witbooi (a member of his tribe)to have peace with the Boers.The Tswana captain Magatoe was known as the babbler and for thirty years did harass Schoemansdal and the surrounding farms with his impi before the huge commando under general Joubert did drive him away over the Limpopo River into Rhodesia."A Voortrekker was a pioneer and it's a name given to the South African Dutch settlers, known as Boers or Afrikaners, in the Cape Colony (modern Cape Provinces)who migrated north into the interior of South Africa and away from Cape Colony and British rule in what became known as the Great Trek."An impi here does refer to a whole tribal army with different regiments making it up.Usually a kraal is a rural village but here it does refer to a large compound in which the Tswana captain Magatoe did live with some of his regiments of soldiers and his many wives. An assegai is a slender iron tipped spear of hard wood especially used by South African native peoples.]

© Gert Strydom