Where is King Mamphoku Makgoba's skull?

The great-grandson of a Limpopo king who was beheaded 116 years ago is planning to exhume his remains and send them for DNA tests in a bid to locate his missing skull.

The chairman of the Makgoba royal house, Kgoshi Mokopa Makgoba, 66, has for decades been searching for the skull of his great-grandfather, King Mamphoku Makgoba.

The king was killed by a group of Swazis on the instructions of the ZAR (Zuid Afrikaanse Republiek) and Boer leader Piet Joubert in June 1895. The Swazis decapitated him and took his head to Pretoria as proof that he had been killed, according to historical documents.

A few years ago the Makgobas heard that the missing skull was in the Natural Cultural History Museum in Pretoria.

They approached the museum, which commissioned Professor Maryna Steyn from the University of Pretoria to conduct tests on more than 110 skulls.

Those examined were mostly of Khoisan and Negroid descent, including some of young children and teenagers.

Gender was determined by studying features like jaw shape which differ in men and women, while characteristics such as cranial and facial morphology were assessed to determine race.

Steyn's search was confined to finding a black male matching the age and profile of the late chief.

She found that one of 10 skulls of unknown black men closely matched Makgoba's photograph and concluded: "Although it is not possible to say with 100% certainty that the skull is that of Makgoba, there is no biological evidence to suggest that the skull is not that of the deceased."

The museum's catalogue inscription, dated December 1901, labelled the skull as TM21 with the description: "Complete skull of Kafir. Top of skull sawn off. Xosa."

But Kgoshi Makgoba said on Friday: "My great-grandfather was not a Xhosa so we can't accept that skull. I still feel very, very offended that the K-word was used to describe the skull."

Kgoshi Makgoba said he would now consult the tribe to get approval for exhuming the grave.

He said the king's remains were believed to be buried on the farm Baccarat in Magoebaskloof.

"We are aware of the whereabouts of the grave. The old people used to pay homage to it. If DNA tests are conducted on the remains, it will prove conclusively which skull is his."

Joe Makgoba, a member of the Makgoba tribe who has also been involved in the search for the skull, said the king should be buried properly. "Only then will the Makgobas rest."

He said the tribe would commit "a grave injustice" if they acknowledged the skull identified by the scientists from Pretoria University as that of Makgoba.

Makgolo Makgolo, the chief executive officer of the Ditsong Museums of South Africa, which footed the bill for the study by Pretoria University, said his department would assist if requested by the family. "If they are looking for an archaeologist, we will consider such a request. But we will not be able to assist financially because we are working on a stringent budget."

He said some family members believed the skull may not even be in South Africa.

Steyn, director of the forensic anthropology research centre at the University of Pretoria, said sending the remains for DNA analysis was a "viable option".

"One can do a DNA extraction from both the skull and the bones to see if they are the same. Obviously we will have to destroy some of the bones to get DNA out of it."

Steyn was involved in a project earlier this year which involved conducting DNA tests on the remains of King Goodwill Zwelithini's mother, Queen Thomo.

Queen Thomo, the second wife of Zwelithini's father, King Cyprian, was secretly buried at a cemetery in Mayville, Durban, after her death in 1959. She had earlier been kicked out of the royal household by the king.

The queen was given a state funeral in May.