Kgosi Sekonyela (c. 1804 – 20 July 1856) was a chief of the Batlokwa people. He effectively took over the chieftainship from his mother queen Manthatisi in 1824 settling in Jwalaboholo in modern day northern Lesotho. He regularly engaged in cattle raids on neighbouring tribes, often to the detriment of his own people. In late 1853, Sekonyela's Tlôkwa Chiefdom was defeated by the army of Basotho king Moshoeshoe I. Most of his tribesmen were subsequently dispersed or absorbed by the victors. Sekonyela moved to Herschel where he died three years later.
After the Battle of Berea on 20 December 1852, Taaibosch and Sekonyela attacked the Bataung of Tolo in Winburg and the Kgolokwe under Witsie in the Harrismith District. In the battle of Khoro-e-Betloa against the Basotho, which ensued towards the end of 1853 (between October and November), Taaibosch was killed at Dawidsberg. After the death of Taaibosch, the Basotho army overwhelmed the Batlokwa and drove Sekonyela out of Jwalaboholo. Following that defeat, Sekonyela fled to Winburg with very few of his people. The bulk of his people joined Moshoeshoe I; and others relocated to the Eastern Cape with a small portion fleeing north to integrate with Batswana. He later moved to a plot given by George Russell Clerk – at Wittenberg Reserve in the Herschel District of Eastern Cape.
