There may be friction between the South African based Kgosikgolo Kgafela II Foundation and Advocate Dr.Sidney Pilane but certainly when it comes to Kgosikgolo’s late parents, Kgosi Linchwe II and Mohumagadi Mmarakau Kathleen Nono Kgafela who was buried in Mochudi on January 29, fifteen years after her husband’s death, the advocate remains a person of considerable intellect. Even in death, they know and envy him for being one of the most formidable intellects of his time. To them he was smart. Never in the history of their existence did he disappoint them. He did to them, what they required him to do.
But at the weekend, the foundation was fuming and publicly chastising Pilane, describing him as a liar. Judging from the wording of the statement the foundation issued, Pilane committed a sin by saying at a press conference in Gaborone that he did not know why Kgafela would not be attending his mother’s funeral. The media conference was on the eve of the funeral of MmaSeingwaeng. The foundation was so quick to react that on the funeral day, their statement was already circulating on social media. The foundation wanted him to have said that the Kgosikgolo would not be attending because he would be arrested because the warrant which was issued for his arrest in 2012 was still enforceable. They said the “whole nation knows” that Kgosikgolo wouldn’t be attending because of the impending warrant of his arrest.
Although the foundation claimed that the whole nation knew why Kgafela would not be attending his mother’s funeral, some people went on social media in Botswana asking if the Kgosikgolo would be coming for the funeral and if not why. Others discussed the issue at bars and a variety of answers emerged as bar patrons tried to explain why. Others even went to the extent of claiming that Kgafela’s health was the one which would prevent him from travelling. This shows that contrary to the foundation’s statement that the “whole nation knows” reasons for Kgosikgolo’s inability to attend his mother’s funeral is incorrect.
Furthermore, the foundation claimed that Advocate Pilane had not been delegated by anyone from the royal family to be their spokesperson. If indeed he was not delegated by the royal family to speak on their behalf, why did Mmusi Kgafela who is a government minister and MmaSeingwaeng’s sister, Mmapula Nkomo who also addressed that media briefing allow Pilane to gate-crush their event? How did Pilane know that there was going to be such a press briefing if he was not part of the team assigned to do the exercise? Did he emerge like a bolt from the blue? The little that I know concerning Pilane is that he was formally informed of the passing on of Mohumagadi MmaSeingwaeng by a family spokesperson a few hours after news of the queen mother’s demise was made public. In doing so, the family spokesperson was aware of the good relationship that existed between the advocate and Kgosi Linchwe’s house. It was a relationship that had been tried and tested. In fact Kgosi Linchwe and Mohumagadi trusted him more than a few individuals that the couple also trusted and confided with. This includes me even though I had been the couple’s confidant for more than 30 years.
While the foundation was busy discrediting Pilane, the advocate was busy preparing to read out to the family with or without Kgafela’s presence, a Will he drew for Kgosi Linchwe and MmaSeingwaeng way back in 1992. He was their legal advisor. He read out the Will on Sunday, a day after the burial of MmaSeingwaeng. In terms of the Will, Kgosi Kgafela is now the new owner of the palace on top of the Phuthatdikobo Hill. That is where both Kgosi Linchwe I and Kgosi Linchwe II lived. Kgosi Molefi is the only kgosikgolo who opted to stay elsewhere. Kgosi Linchwe’s estate included boreholes at different places in Kgatleng, a business entity at Pilane Station and a house in Gaborone.
Looking at the behavior of all royal uncles during the period of mourning the loss of MmaSeingwaeng, one can safely conclude that there is light in the tunnel that it was possible to restore peace which has been elusive in Mochudi since 2012 following the decision by Kgosi Kgafela to relocate to South Africa. MmaSeingwaeng’s funeral was all inclusive. It was not like at last year’s funeral of Kgosi Linchwe’s sister Tshire Pilane where all except Kgosi Sekai were hands-on. That time, Kgosi Sekai was isolated and looked totally disorientated at the funeral. He played no significant role at that funeral. This time it was different. He featured everywhere. This is commendable. The existence of factions within the uncles is undeniable. It played itself in the public domain.
For instance, a few years ago, death occurred in Serowe among the in-laws of Kgosi Kgafela. Bakgatla were represented at that funeral by two warring factions, one led by Kgosi Sekai and the other led by MmaSeingwaeng. That funeral was scheduled for Sunday morning. The Sekai led delegation which included a few ordinary tribesmen arrived on a Saturday unaware that MmaSeingwaeng would also arrive. They were treated as the official delegation. In the Sunday morning, MmaSeingwaeng’s powerful delegation arrived also unaware of the presence of another delegation representing Bakgatla and the royal house. Hers consisted of her three children, Seingwaeng, Bakgatle and Mmusi, Kgosi Mothibe and the wife of the late deputy kgosi, Phulane Pilane, Ntebo Pilane. They were received by Mokhutshwane Sekgoma, deputy kgosi in Serowe and they became the officially recognized delegation from Mochudi. To maintain that spirit of togetherness, all the royal uncles and the royal brothers must have together at a neutral venue.
MmaSeingwaeng came to Mochudi in 1966 as mother of the nation by virtue of her marriage to Kgosi Linchwe II. Kgosi Linchwe had been the father of the nation for three years when he tied the nod. The first leg of the wedding was celebrated in Johannesburg. The second leg was in Mochudi where the celebration lasted for days. The wedding was blessed by the powerful head of the Zion Christian Church (ZCC), Bishop Edward Lekganyane. He came all the way from Moria, the church’s headquarters in South Africa for that purpose. He was accompanied by the church’s celebrated Brass Band which took Mochudi by storm. They left a mark in Mochudi and when they left after four or five days, Mochudi returned dull but memories remained. MmaSeingwaeng came from the village of Rranaka in the Tshwane province of South Africa. Her parents belonged to Bakgatla ba-ga Mmakau, another splinter group of the main Bakgatla tribe. She came from Mmakau’s royal family and got married to a kgosi. This means their off-springs have double royal blood.
In a document prepared by the publicity committee for the coronation of Kgafela II, MmaSeingwaeng says when she arrived in Mochudi, she was introduced to elderly women who proffered marital advice and counseling. They told her not to befriend women within the village to avoid being dragged into village gossip. They impressed upon her that as a royal wife, one of the most important rules was to maintain her exclusive status and to gain respect of the people who look up to her. She says that piece of advice helped her sustain a marriage with no scandalous stories. In the same document, she discusses life in the diplomatic circle.
When Kgosi Linchwe was appointed ambassador of Botswana in Washington DC in 1969, they travelled together to the US. One day she toured the US educating Americans on Botswana. She found that many people she met knew nothing or very little about Africa. Most kept asking her if she knew the famous Kwame Nkrumah from Ghana. She enjoyed sharing knowledge about the traditional life of people of Southern Africa and Botswana in particular. Some were amused by her hair and wanted to touch and feel it because it was kinky. They were so shocked to find out that a very different person like her had actually met President Richard Nixon and danced with him at events. Living in the US was a great opportunity to travel. One such travels which she never forgot was going to Florida to watch the launch of the Apollo Ten and getting to wake up in Iowa, Pennsylvania and Canada.
MmaSeigwaeng has been an influential figure in the affairs of Bakgatla ever since she assumed the role of mother of the nation in 1966. She had been supportive to her husband until God did them apart. Her most notable thing was during the influx of refugees from South Africa into Mochudi in the 70s until the end of the apartheid era. She and her husband took risky decisions in the name of ending apartheid in South Africa. They offered refugees sanctuary in Mochudi and made their home and cattle post of Mfetlhedi accessible to those refuges. That was risky because the apartheid regime would have bombed their home with easy had they wanted. The family was vulnerable for attack by the Boers at any time. However, that did not deter them from giving support to the refugees for the eradication of apartheid. She was also popular within the Bakgatla people although there were a handful of people who at one staged were out of order.
