Mohale's Hoek is the capital city of

Mohale's Hoek District Mohale's Hoek is a district of Lesotho. Mohale's Hoek is the capital city or camptown, and only town in the district. In the southwest, Mohale's Hoek borders on South Africa, while domestically, it borders on Mafeteng District in northwest, Mase ...

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 Chief may refer to: Title or rank Military and law enforcement * Chief master sergeant, the ninth, and highest, enlisted rank in the U.S. Air Force and U.S. Space Force * Chief of police, the head of a police department * Chief of the boat ...

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 Quthing, also known as Moyeni (Sesotho for "place of wind"), is a constituency and 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 s ...

. After 1824, the area was inhabited by Mohale, the younger brother of

Moshoeshoe Moshoeshoe may refer to: * Moshoeshoe I (-1870), paramount chief of southern Sotho; founder of Basuto kingdom (later Basutoland, then Lesotho) * Moshoeshoe II of Lesotho (1938-1996), king of Lesotho See also * Letsie I Moshoeshoe of Lesotho Letsie ...

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 Old or OLD may refer to: Places *Old, Baranya, Hungary *Old, Northamptonshire, England *Old Street station, a railway and tube station in London (station code OLD) *OLD, IATA code for Old Town Municipal Airport and Seaplane Base, Old Town, Mai ...

(the present day

Ha Ts'epo Ha may refer to: Agencies and organizations * Health authority, a former type of administrative organisation of the NHS in England and Wales * Hells Angels Motorcycle Club * Highways Agency (renamed ''Highways England'', now ''National Highways'' ...

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 The cornet (, ) is a brass instrument similar to the trumpet but distinguished from it by its conical bore, more compact shape, and mellower tone quality. The most common cornet is a transposing instrument in B. There is also a soprano corn ...

- after the

Makhaleng River The Makhaleng River is a river of western Lesotho. It rises in the Maloti Mountains, flows generally in a southwesterly direction to join the Orange River at the border with Free State in South Africa. Course The river originates northwest of t ...

. 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 The Basuto Gun War, also known as the Basutoland Rebellion, was a conflict between the Basuto and the British Cape Colony. It lasted from 13 September 1880 to 29 April 1881 and ended in a Basuto victory. Following Basutoland's transformation int ...

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

References

External links

* Populated places in Mohale's Hoek District {{Lesotho-geo-stub