Mohale's Hoek is the capital city of
Mohale's Hoek District in
Lesotho
Lesotho, formally the Kingdom of Lesotho and formerly known as Basutoland, is a landlocked country in Southern Africa. Entirely surrounded by South Africa, it is the largest of only three sovereign enclave and exclave, enclaves in the world, t ...
. It had a population of approximately 40,040 in 2016.
[Lesotho Bureau of Statistics]
Census Pre Results
2006.
History
Mohale's Hoek had first been inhabited by the
San who were found there by the
Baphuthi around 1795. The Baphuthi settled in
Kubake, the small mountain fortress shaped like a castle, 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, which simply means the plural of a certain variety of a pumpkin. In singular it is Lephuts'e. This was found in plenty on the fertile bank of Maphuts'eng River. Some Baphuthi inhabited the area bordering
Senqu River,
Morifi and across the river into what is now
Quthing. After 1824, the area was inhabited by
Mohale, the younger brother of
Moshoeshoe around the 1830s.
On expansion of Moshoeshoe's kingdom into southern Lesotho,
King Moshoeshoe sent his brother
Mohale to administer the area where the Baphuthi and
Basotho
The Sotho (), also known as the Basotho (), are a Sotho-Tswana ethnic group indigenous to Southern Africa. They primarily inhabit the regions of Lesotho, South Africa, Botswana and Namibia.
The ancestors of the Sotho people are believed to h ...
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. 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 of 1880. Southwest to the town near the St Patrick's Cathedral are the
Motlejoeng caves which were used by the celebrated cannibal, Motlejoa during the
Lifaqane.
The town moved from Old Hoek to the present location because of a certain businessman of an English descent PB Jandrell.
Climate
See also
*
St. Camillus Centre
References
External links
*
Populated places in Mohale's Hoek District
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