Bogadi Mothulwe & Olivia Mothei (lead singers):
Tshwene!
Morafe:
Ke naiwa mmeleng
makopong
ga ke naiwe . . .
Ke Bahurutshe
In the morning hours of Friday, 25 November 2022, this totemic melody issued from the partly naturally rock-hedged kgotla of Manyana village immediately after ‘Fatshe la Rona’’, the national anthem was sung by all attending the kgotla event to kick-start the supposedly annual (‘supposedly’ because the advent of Covid-19 has meddled with the scheduling of such events) Culture Day of this branch of Bahurutshe boo-Motebejana.
To complete the Bahurutshe anthem boo-Manyana had to incorporate their traditional cousins’ praise (the Balete’s) into the song (we have also learnt that the longer version of this Bahurutshe anthem includes the Batlokwa praise song as well):
(Bogadi & Olyvia)
Diroba!
(Morafe)
Diroba-roba
matlhakola
tsa Mmadinare . . .
Ke Balete
Then Namane Moruakgomo, an apparently talented singer-dancer-poet finished off the communal rendition with some icing-on-the-cake moves, thus virtually creating a medley out of the anthem:
Ga ke thethe
Ke tsetswe jalo
Ke [nna] ke roroma
ditokololo
Fa o mpona
tsamaisa dinao
Se re
ke mabela . . .
The Bahurutshe were later to give a rousing response to their much revered leader, Kgosi Kebinatshwene Mosielele when he called out:
Batshweneng!
Bafurutshe!
The Culture Day’s programme, with the theme: ‘Tiriso ya Ngwao go rotloetsa bokopano le tshwaragano ya Bahurutshe botlhe (Dikokomana tsa ga Motebele le [tsa ga] Motebejana) go ya pele’; reflected diversity and inclusiveness as it featured, inter alia, various speakers like Guest Speaker (sebui sa tlotla), Kgosi Bokamoso Radipitse of Ba[k]hurutshe ba Tonota; Guest of Honour (molalediwa wa tlotla) Kgosi S Thobega of Mmankgodi; Tshwene-ya-Rotwe himself (Kgosi Kebinatshwene Mosielele); a speaker sharing information on transforming Manyana into a smart village; a Mokgatla traditional doctor and herbalist; and a researcher who is interested in Bahurutshe history (who also happens to be the author of this article and is herself a Mo[k]hurutshe oo-Motebele from Tonota). The crowd was also treated to some amazingly diversified musical performances such as the Hosana dance which is typically a Kalanga dance; Kwasakwasa dance; Dikhwaere; and the Khama-esque Polka dance.
The common message imparted by various speakers at this function was the importance of unity and solidarity among Bahurutshe in particular (which means both the descendants of Kgosi Motebele who are now known as Ba[k]hurutshe and those who trace their origins from Motebejana who have retained the original name Bahurutshe) and Batswana in general and the inculcation of such values in today’s youth. And when the Chairperson of the Bahurutshe Cultural Committee (dubbed Makatolole), Mr Kaelo Nkau, stood up to speak about his committee’s work it became evident that Bahurutshe really mean business especially when it comes to conducting serious historical research. Proof of the diligence with which the Bahurutshe Cultural Committee conducts the historical component of their mandate became apparently clear when Mr Nkau gave a synopsis of the historical background of several of the communities living in the vicinity of Manyana and particularly when he explained their connection to Bahurutshe. He also shared his committee’s grand dream of constructing some major infrastructural project (like a referral hospital) at Dimawe, a historically significant site famed for having been the place where a war between Batswana and the Boers occurred. According to Mr Nkau, the Bahurutshe Cultural Committee boasts of membership derived from the following places (the listed place names have been arranged alphabetically by the author of this article and has nothing to with any hierarchical formation):
• Bikwe
• Fikeng
• Manyana
• Mmankgodi
• Mmokolodi
• Mogonye
• Ramaphatle
• Tloaneng
Also historically speaking, the author of this article, in addition to other aspects of her presentation, shared information on the existence of an ancient Hurutshe cilvilisation as revealed by biographer Gaongalelwe Tiro in his work: Parcel of Death: the Biography of Onkgopotse Abram Tiro (published by Picador Africa in 2019). In this book, she said, the biographer informs us as to how around 1400 Bahurutshe created “the largest stone-built iron age city in [the territory that is now known as South Africa]” and that this Hurutshe capital city which was named Kaditshwene co-existed with another, smaller city called Tshwenyana. This author also told contemporary Bahurutshe that Tiro, the biographer explains how Bahurutshe of that ancient era were reported to have excellent skills for the mining and smelting of iron and copper from which they manufactured implements like pick-axes, knives, awls and various ornaments. She (Tumedi) further shared information on how in recognition of this glorious past the South African Heritage Resources Agency (SAHRA) in 2011 reportedly “declared the ruins of Kaditshwene a natural heritage site” and that the Kaditshwene ruins are just 22 kilometres from Zeerust.
On this note it is, perhaps, befitting here to mention that Manyana village happens to be uniquely located at a place that is amazingly surrounded by several historical sites of note. These sites include:
• The San rock paintings
• Dimawe
• Mmasechele cave
• The Livingstone tree
• Boswelakgosi
• Kolobeng river
In concluding this ‘bird’s eye-view’ of some moments of the Bahurutshe boo-Manyana’s cultural celebrations day one wishes to highlight the fact that one of the messages that rang very loud and clear as shared by Kgosi Kebinatshwene Mosielele and a couple of other speakers was that the constitution of Botswana allows any group of people to celebrate their culture if they so wish; and that this does not mean that by doing so they would exclude any other Batswana since Botswana has a unique culture whereby all of her people are inter-connected and inter-related.
Tshwene!
Ke naiwa mmeleng
makopong
ga ke naiwe . . .
Ke Bahurutshe
