Kelebantse Sebele II (1892 – 2 October 1939) was kgosi of the Kwena tribe in the Bechuanaland Protectorate (present-day Botswana).
Sebele quickly came into conflict with other members of his family and with the British colonial administration, which deemed him uncooperative and unstable.
The following year, he enlisted in the South African Native Labour Corps and fought in France during World War I.
[4] While the British colonial administration faced several dikgosi that they found insufficient, Sebele proved to be their greatest concern.
[7] Sebele developed a reputation among his opponents for being irresponsible as kgosi, and he was also seen as unduly harsh, earning him the nickname kgoma ya tlhaba (transl.
Sebele's father had already allowed Anglicanism to be practiced by the Bakwena, challenging the London Missionary Society's monopoly on Christianity in Botswana, and he reversed the tribe's rules against polygyny, rainmaking, and bogwera.
He set standardised building requirements, had landfills installed, ordered the use of graveyards, and oversaw the creation of roads and a British hospital.
[20] The colonial administration began planning the removal of Sebele as early as 1921, but chose to wait until enough of the population would support such action,[6] as he remained popular among commoners.
[1][15] Rey complained that Sebele was corrupt, refusing to preside over disputes or settling them based on favouritism and bribery.
[13] The local magistrate Howard Neale advised Rey that the native peoples were fatalists and would accept any change in leadership imposed by the administration.
[22] Rey received authorisation from the high commissioner to depose Sebele in October 1930, but this was overruled by the Secretary of State for Dominion Affairs that December.
[17] Rey found a pretext to remove Sebele in March 1931, when he had the tribe commence the traditional bogwera initiation ceremony.
[17][23] Rey's description of the events, which he had exaggerated to suggest participation was coerced, convinced the dominion affairs secretary to allow for Sebele's removal.
They arrived on 2 June 1931, at which point Sebele was informed that he was to be banished to Ghanzi, while Kebohula and Moiteelasilo would serve on an interim council.
[25] The official reasons given for Sebele's removal were "the embezzlement of £200 hut tax; his oppression and misrule of Bakwena; corruption in kgotla cases; seduction of the daughter of Corporal Moses; the assault of his principal wife Tlhalefang; and neglect of his duties".
[28] Rey decided to skip the line of succession and appointed Sebele's younger brother Kgari as acting kgosi.
Tribes in Bechuanaland and South Africa expressed their support for Sebele, demanding his return and raising legal funds.
[26] The colonial administration's official position was that it had not initiated Sebele's removal and that its only involvement was to facilitate support of an internal uprising.
[25] Historian Jeff Ramsay described Sebele's reign and subsequent removal as the point that the Bakwena began declining in influence.
[10][15] As resistance continued, Rey organised a ceremony to crown Kgari as the official kgosi on 1 September 1931, hoping to legitimise his rule.
[32] Sebele's removal fostered doubt about the Bakwena line of succession that continued for generations after his death.
[35] Supporters of Bonewamang Padi Sechele, another pretender, insisted that Susan never formally wed Sebele, which would make Moruakgomo illegitimate.
[3][36] Moruakgomo and Bonewamang were the subjects of a succession dispute after Kgari's death in 1962, which led to Sebele's brother Neale being chosen as kgosi.