The past fortnight has been a challenging one for the nation with first, the news your admission into the hospital and, next, your passing on. I was consoled by the fact that, instead of mourning, Batswana turned this period into a celebration of your life. Not surprising, speaker after speaker, from all political sides has had nothing but kind words for you; especially with respect to elevating the country’s rating from being one of the ten least developed countries in the world to a middle income status. To crown it all, international leaders descended into Kanye for your funeral; all singing from the same hymn book; with some of the speakers (local and international) revealing stories that some of us never heard of during your celebrated and much decorated life time.
Ba buile Rraetsho.
At your memorial service on the eve of your funeral, we in sport were represented by Rre Negroes Kgosietsile; the long serving president of the Botswana National Olympic Committee (BNOC), for whom you were a patron; perhaps the best disposed, given his length of service in sport, some of which span to the days when you were the state President. Rre Kgosietsile obviously had great things to say about you. Somebody else somewhere pointed to a relationship MmaGaone had with Special Olympics; something that I can attest to, having worked with her at that level and even travelling with her on related international activities.
Throughout the past week, the media has been scrambling for interviews with those that are said to have known you better to come and share what they know about you. Other than Rre Kgosietsile, some of the sports personalities that found themselves being dragged into such interviews were none other than Ashford Mamelodi, Dickson Gabanakgosi and yours truly. The voices of Mme Gertty Selolwane and her son Dipsy were also heard in one local radio station projecting what each one of them knew of your contribution to Botswana sport.
I had in the past been told of your passionate involvement in sport at a personal level; with stories pointing to your involvement with some team called Kanye Fight Forever. Rre Gabanakgosi suggests that, with time, the team transformed into what is now known as Tomela Highlanders. Gabanakgosi further suggests that RaKgosi (the late Kgosi Bathoen II) also played for the same team as goalkeeper. My earlier research indeed associated RaKgosi with Tomela Highlanders. Legend even has it that Highlanders were even dubbed ‘Tse tala tsa ga MmaLeema’ in honour of MmaLeema (Kgosi Seepapitso’s wife). It is suggested that whenever the team was on the receiving end, and they believed unfairly so, supporters would rush to the kgotla (about 200m away) to report the incident to the Kgosi Seepapitso who, in some cases would even drive over and park his car in the middle of the pitch to signal a match over. I have not been able to confirm these incidents with you; but it is possible that by then you were already in Gaborone for bigger and more demanding national assignments.
Legend further has it that, among your many post-college positions, you were also a chairman of the Bangwaketse School Sports Association; whatever that means. Notwithstanding, I have been lucky to see you outrun other parents at the Crescent School athletics competition in Lobatse during a short break from students athletics. Those who claimed to know you better suggested that this was just a tip of the iceberg. I was wondering where and when did they see you run. The next opportunity for me to see you was during the social football matches featuring cabinet ministers against parliamentarians where you played as an uncompromising central defender whose speed carried him all over the field. Such social matches continue to take place apparently, with President ‘Supersonic’ Khama the star of the show. He is obviously more skilled and better exposed to playing football more than you; having kicked about with the different battalions during his days at the BDF. Word has it that he was, at some stage, even considered for an active playing role at BDF XI during the times of Ben Streun (German coach who used to frequent Botswana in the early eighties) and the late Dick Chama a Zambian who had decent stints with Chipolopolo. Having seen him (President Khama) at these recent social football matches, I have always wondered how the two of you would fare if pitted against one another. Although Khama would be fitter and more skilful, I suggest that your speed could see you through; failing which I see you resorting to what earned you the nickname ‘Man Plus Ball’!
From a distance I have seen you attend many a football match at the national stadium. I still do remember your attempts at dancing at the end of some matches that you attended before you got whisked away by security officers in the presidential entourage. It is suggested that in your own admission, you were not a good singer. While I do not have an appreciation of your singing attempts, I can confirm that o ne o le setshururu when it came to dancing! I had always imagined you dancing to William ‘Mr. Everything’ Mthethwa’s ‘Rre Masire’, a song that he dedicated to you for your transformation of Batswana.
Apparently you come from far with the understanding of football. Thabo Mbeki suggests that, when they came through Botswana in the early sixties for military training in exile with Umkonto we Sizwe, they posed as footballers, but you found them out in no time! Rraetsho, this could just mean that there has long been a sportsman in you.
Of course I have also been lucky to enter the formal sporting system during your presidency; ignorant of the abhorrent and stinking politics that are a part of the sport make up. I may not have the hard facts, but I recall that on my second year at the BNSC, your government doubled our grant from the previous year. On the third year, the second year grant was also doubled. If I recall well, the same trend recurred in the fourth year. When I first came in, sport was under the Ministry of Labour and Home Affairs; a ministry then responsible for 12 to 13 departments; none of which was sport. Instead, sport was hidden in some obscure department called Department of Culture, recreation and Social Welfare Matters (DCRSWM). It is not very clear where sport was seated in this set up; whether it was a culture issue, recreation or a social welfare matter. Few years down the line, this improved to Department of Culture and Youth (DCY); leaving the same question about sport as part of culture or as part of youth. And then the Department of Sports and Recreation (DSR) was born; finally brining out sport to some level of recognition. All these evolved under your presidency. A simple analogy would mean that at the DCRSWM, you planted a seed. At DCY, the seed was germinating, while at DSR, the plant shot beyond the ground; meaning that by the time you left, the plant was ready to be transplanted into a Ministry of Sport; – a process that your successor presided Rre Mogae presided over. Taking into consideration other national calls, to me, you have made your mark in sport.
Parallel to all these transformations, our sport also experienced some form of growth in the field of play. For instance in 1991, in Cairo, Egypt, under your presidency, Botswana won her first All Africa Games medal; a bronze medal by boxer France Mabiletsa. We were to wait until 1994 when the same athlete brought us the first Commonwealth games medal by a Motswana; still under your presidency. In 1999, we recorded arguably our best performance to that point; 5 medals at the All Africa Games in Johannesburg, South Africa. I argue that this was always in the baking oven, and was only dished out a year after you left!
Sir Seretse Khama, our first president, and yourself presided over the construction of our first national stadium that was opened at independence. I suppose you do remember how ambitious he was in his speech when opening the stadium in 1966; dreaming of his country snatching all the Olympic gold medals from the Russians and dethroning England of the football world cup! Sadly, the dream remains just that ÔÇô a dream, despite your efforts! Apart from normal maintenance works, the stadium was to receive a major overhaul only in 1985, ahead of the twentieth anniversary celebrations (TAICU) in 1986. Thanks to you. Those inside then suggest that you summoned Rre Mompati Merafhe, then commander of the BDF, and directed him to give the national stadium a complete facelift. How he does it, it was to be his problem. It is suggested that Rre Merafhe then assembled a team that, among others, included bo Rre Carthbert Motsepe, Ismael Bhamjee, Negroes Kgosietsile and Letsholo Letsholo to help him deliver the project. I remember the National Stadium Appeal that was modelled along the lines of the Botswana University Campus Appeal (BUCA). I still have fond memories of my P100.00contribution to the stadium appeal; with my name appearing up there in the Daily News alongside those of the big shots that in reality, but not in spirit, dwarfed my contribution. Whichever way we look at it, you revamped the stadium into a very modern structure of those years. I still remember you proudly seated up there among the thousands that watched the Zebras beat Malawi 2-0 for our twentieth anniversary celebrations; courtesy of the late Rio Maswabi’s first half penalty and Cornelius Matoni ‘Maradona’ Mudzingwa scorcher. Remember Sir? In a post-match interview, you wondered what more the reporter wanted from you when the ball was even trapped between the net and the supporting post following Mudzingwa’s goal, wiping out any doubt that there could have been. A successful and proud president we had, neh?
After the national stadium, there were developed multi-sports complexes in Masunga, Molepolole and Maun after your retirement. Few would recall that these were first conceived during your presidency. I recall a heated meeting at the then offices of the Department of Culture and Youth, where affected BNSC affiliates were called by a senior civil servant in your ministry to be presented with prototypes of these integrated sports facilities, triggering outbursts from the likes of Mme MmaTlhapane (May her good soul rest in eternal peace) from Tennis. The ‘Old lady of Tennis’ was lamenting proposed development of tennis courts in Gantsi and Tsabong as part of the integrated sports facilities, when there was more need of same in Gaborone, Francistown and Phikwe. I remember then, sports leaders questioning the inclusion of swimming pools as part of these facilities also in Gantsi and Tsabong, when nobody in those places could swim! I suppose the feedback is what then informed the current facilities, including the subsequent facilities that were developed in Lobatse and Francistown in the latter years. You deserve a good part of the praise for these developments.
It is suggested that in one of the many villages that you visited as president, a resident complained about their narrow road that he can easily jump over with one hop. In your response, I hear your admonished the resident for taking too long to come out as a capable long jumper when your counterparts in other parts of the world had their best athletes for international competitions.
One curse. Just one curse. For all these goodies, your own village continues to play second fiddle to other villages in sport. Sometime in the late eighties, Kanye Swallows, then featuring the likes of Bushy Basitang and Panyaza Sekelenyane, made it into the elite league, only to be relegated at the end of the season. The team has now disappeared into oblivion, with several other clubs mushrooming from all over the place with no tangible results to show. I pose this question directly to you: why did you fail your own village? You seem to have felt comfortable with Gabanakgosi next to you instead of deploying him back to Kanye to course that, like Mochudi, we have our own representation in the big league. I suppose as your children, we will take this as a challenge; especially with Serowe somehow always represented in the big league in the recent past; never mind the fact that Serowe clubs always go up and down divisions like a yo-yo. But aren’t they better…!
As reality creeps in, I also feel duty-bound to extend my heartfelt condolences and sympathies to your children, grandchildren and of course the Masires, Sealetsas and the Kgopos.
Robala sentle E khukhwa e e Mangole a Ditshipi…!!
