The King, the Missionary and the Missionary's Daughter

In 1881 the Pedi king Sekhukhune and the German missionary Johannes August Winter were drawn into a close relationship which included a wide-ranging discussion of their beliefs and values. It also involved their families. Indeed, the most startling outcome of their interactions was the planned betrothal of Sekhukhune to the missionary's infant daughter, Anna. Their developing alliance was cut short by tragedy but their brief encounter provides telling glimpses into the worlds that they inhabited. It also sheds light on the wider intersection and cross-fertilisation of European and African forms of family, gender, religion and, more broadly, the nature of power in a colonial context. Their relationship reverberated through the decades that followed, both within their families and in the conflicts that simmered and sometimes erupted in the region.