ABSTRACT
Between 1829 and 1833 requests for missionaries proliferated. The Wesleyan Methodist Missionary Society struggled hard to launch a mission to the Rolong under Chief Sefunela. After the first station fell to Moletsanethe mission moved in 1826 to a place they called Plaatberg on the lower Vaal River. The London Missionary Society was a purely private organization. Neither Moffat nor Philip had the authority to ‘tell the white king’ anything. Lord Charles Somerset, who governed from 1814 to 1826, thought missions run by British subjects outside the borders of the British Zone were a constitutional anomaly. Mokgathla, the nominal regent of the Hurutshe, had already made his submission to Mzilikazi and was in no position to resist this act which signalled the last step in a gradual process of conquest. The contrasting experiences of Mzilikazi and Moshweshwe illustrate the way missionary chroniclers could make and break reputations.
