Short Answer
The Bakoma (singular Mokoma) is the hereditary royal council of the Balobedu (Lobedu) people of north-eastern South Africa. As the principal advisory and executive body of the Rain Queen (Modjadji), the Bakoma mediates between the queen’s ritual sovereignty and the daily governance of the polity. Its members guard the rain medicines, oversee succession, adjudicate disputes, and maintain the cosmological protocols that underpin Balobedu kingship. This article examines the council’s composition, ritual authority, legal functions, and enduring significance.
Evidence State: Documented, Oral, and Contested Reconstruction
Documentary and Ethnographic Record
The most influential written source remains Eileen Jensen Krige and J. D. Krige’s The Realm of a Rain-Queen (1943), based on fieldwork in the 1930s. Colonial administrative records, missionary correspondence, and later anthropological studies provide supplementary detail, but they often flatten the council’s ritual complexity into secular administrative terms.
Oral Tradition and Secrecy
Balobedu historical knowledge is transmitted through dikoma (initiation songs), praise poetry, and the guarded speech of royal elders. The Bakoma’s inner workings are deliberately esoteric; only initiated members know the full sequence of rain rituals and the location of certain sacred objects. This secrecy has produced gaps in the written record.
Contested Reconstructions
Scholars disagree on the antiquity of the council and its exact relationship to the queen. Some argue the Bakoma predates the female rain queens and was originally a male chiefly council; others see it as a later adaptation to female ritual sovereignty. These debates remain open, and contemporary Balobedu elders emphasise that the council’s authority derives from ancestral precedent rather than written charters.
Colonial Source Caveat
Much of what is known about the Bakoma comes from colonial-era ethnography. Missionaries and administrators often described the council as a ‘secret society’ or ‘kingmakers’, imposing European categories of monarchy and patriarchy. Such sources must be read critically, as they frequently misunderstood the complementary nature of Balobedu governance and the ritual basis of the queen’s authority. Where possible, this article privileges oral testimony and the interpretations of Balobedu tradition-bearers.
Origins and Mythological Foundations
Balobedu oral tradition traces the rain-making powers to the ancestral figure Dzugudini, a royal woman who fled her father’s polity with sacred rain charms and drums. Her descendants established a lineage in which ritual authority passed through women, while male relatives formed the protective and administrative core. The Bakoma emerged as the custodians of these charms, responsible for their safekeeping and for regulating access to the queen, whose body and person are themselves considered rain-bearing.
The Sacred Rain Medicine
Central to the council’s origin is the moraka (rain medicine), a complex of objects, substances, and incantations kept in sealed pots. The Bakoma do not control the medicine directly; rather, they ensure the correct conditions for its use, including the queen’s seclusion, dietary taboos, and the timing of public rituals.
Political Structure and Governance Systems
The Balobedu polity is a dual sovereignty: the Rain Queen is the ritual and symbolic head, while the Bakoma exercises executive, judicial, and diplomatic functions. This arrangement is not a diminution of the queen’s power but a deliberate separation of sacred and profane authority.
Composition and Rank
The Bakoma is composed of senior men of the royal house, typically the queen’s paternal uncles, half-brothers, and classificatory sons. Membership is hereditary within certain lineages, but personal seniority, ritual knowledge, and demonstrated loyalty also shape rank. The council is internally stratified, with an inner circle of elders who manage the most sensitive matters of succession and rain ritual.
Functions in Governance
| Office | Composition | Primary Responsibilities |
|---|---|---|
| Rain Queen (Modjadji) | Hereditary female sovereign | Ritual rainmaking, final moral authority, symbol of unity |
| Bakoma (Royal Council) | Senior male royals | Succession, law-making, dispute resolution, external relations, ritual oversight |
| District headmen | Appointed or hereditary local leaders | Land allocation, tax collection, local justice |
| Ritual attendants | Initiated women and men | Maintenance of sacred sites, preparation of rain medicine |
Succession and Inheritance Mechanisms
The Bakoma’s most consequential role is the selection and installation of a new Rain Queen. Succession is matrilineal in principle, but the council controls the biological and social reproduction of the royal line.
The Selection of the Heir
The heir is normally the eldest daughter born to the queen’s designated ‘wife’—a woman married by the queen who bears children on her behalf. The biological father is chosen by the Bakoma from among the royal male relatives, ensuring that the child carries the royal bloodline. The council deliberates in secret, consults diviners, and announces the heir only after the death of the reigning queen.
Royal Consorts and Gatekeeping
The queen’s sexual and reproductive life is heavily regulated. The Bakoma approves all consorts and may impose seclusion to prevent unsanctioned pregnancies. This gatekeeping is not merely patriarchal control; it is understood as protecting the rain medicine from ritual pollution and ensuring the legitimacy of the heir.
Rainmaking, Spiritual Authority, and Ritual Power
Rainmaking is the ontological core of Balobedu sovereignty. The queen’s ability to bring rain is not a metaphor but a lived cosmological reality, recognised by neighbouring Shona, Sotho, and Venda polities. The Bakoma’s authority derives from its role as guardian of the conditions that make rain possible.
Custodians of Rain Medicine
The council maintains the calendar of rain rituals, oversees the preparation of sacred pots, and regulates the queen’s contact with the outside world. During periods of drought, the Bakoma may advise the queen to perform additional rites or to withdraw into deeper seclusion.
Ritual Seclusion and Mediation
The queen’s body is considered so potent that her direct speech or touch can disrupt rainfall. The Bakoma therefore acts as her voice in public affairs, receiving petitions and relaying her decisions. This mediation is a source of the council’s power, but it also binds the council to the queen’s ritual authority.
‘The queen is hedged about with taboos; her council acts as the intermediary between her sacred person and the profane world.’ — Eileen Jensen Krige, The Realm of a Rain-Queen (1943), paraphrased.
Legal Authority, Adjudication, and Law-Making
The Bakoma functions as the highest court of the Balobedu, hearing appeals from district headmen and adjudicating disputes over land, marriage, inheritance, and accusations of witchcraft. Its decisions are pronounced in the name of the Rain Queen, but the council drafts and enforces customary law.
Land Tenure and Resource Management
The council allocates residential and agricultural land, regulates access to sacred forests, and manages communal resources. In the precolonial period, it also controlled trade routes and tribute from subordinate communities, channelling surplus to the royal court and redistributing it in times of need.
Dispute Resolution
Cases are heard at the khoro (council place), where elders deliberate publicly. The queen may attend in seclusion or send a representative. The council’s rulings are binding, but they are framed as ancestral judgements, reinforcing the link between law, ritual, and the dead.
Gender Dynamics, Matriarchy, and Complementary Rule
The Balobedu system is often mislabelled a matriarchy. More accurately, it is a complementary dual-sex polity: female ritual sovereignty is paired with male executive authority. The Bakoma is not a check on the queen’s power but its necessary counterpart.
Complementary Sovereignty
The queen embodies the rain and the land; the council embodies the law and the word. Neither can govern alone. This complementarity is expressed in ritual, where the queen’s silence is answered by the council’s speech, and in succession, where the queen’s body is fructified by the council’s chosen consort.
The Queen’s Agency and Constraints
While the council controls many aspects of the queen’s life, she retains ultimate authority over rain ritual and can withhold her participation, thereby delegitimising council decisions. Historical accounts suggest that strong queens have dismissed or reshaped the council, though such acts are rare and ritually dangerous.
Ceremonies, Festivals, and Public Rituals
The annual rainmaking ceremony is the most important public event in the Balobedu calendar. The Bakoma prepares the royal enclosure, assembles the sacred drums, and coordinates the participation of district headmen and neighbouring chiefs.
The Rain Ceremony
During the ceremony, the queen appears veiled or behind a screen, while the Bakoma presents offerings of beer, grain, and black cattle. The council leads the assembled community in songs that invoke the ancestors, and the queen’s ritual gestures are interpreted by the inner council.
Public Audiences and Royal Festivals
At other times, the Bakoma organises audiences where subjects may present grievances or tribute. These events reinforce the queen’s visibility as a sacred figure and the council’s role as her public voice. Drumming, dancing, and the recitation of praise poetry are integral to these gatherings.
Legacy and Modern Political Influence
The Bakoma has survived colonial conquest, apartheid-era forced removals, and post-apartheid legal restructuring. Its role has shifted from precolonial governance to cultural custodianship and, more recently, to formal recognition within South Africa’s traditional leadership framework.
Colonial and Apartheid Transformations
Under colonial and apartheid rule, the council’s judicial and land-allocation powers were eroded by state courts and native commissioners. However, it retained authority over succession and rain ritual, and it became a site of quiet resistance to external interference.
Post-Apartheid Recognition and the Council’s Enduring Role
As of 2025, the Balobedu Queenship is legally recognised by the South African government, and the Bakoma remains central to the contested regency arrangements for the young Queen Masalanabo Modjadji VII. The council negotiates with provincial and national authorities, manages cultural heritage projects, and continues to safeguard the rain medicine. Its endurance demonstrates the resilience of Balobedu political philosophy, in which sacred and secular power are held in deliberate, dynamic balance.
FAQ
What does 'Bakoma' mean?
Bakoma is the plural of Mokoma, a term for the senior male royals who form the hereditary council of the Balobedu. They are often translated as 'kingmakers' or 'royal council', but their role is better understood as the executive and ritual counterpart to the Rain Queen.
Is the Rain Queen an absolute ruler?
No. The Rain Queen is the supreme ritual and symbolic authority, but she governs through the Bakoma, which manages law, succession, and external affairs. This complementary system separates sacred and profane power rather than concentrating it in one person.
How are members of the Bakoma chosen?
Membership is hereditary within certain royal lineages, but seniority, ritual knowledge, and demonstrated loyalty also determine rank. The inner circle of elders is selected through secret deliberation and divination.
Does the Bakoma still exist today?
Yes. As of 2025, the Bakoma remains active in the Balobedu royal court, overseeing succession, cultural heritage, and negotiations with the South African state, particularly regarding the young Queen Masalanabo Modjadji VII.
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