Long-time friends and associates of former district commissioner, former deputy clerk of the National Assembly, former chairperson of the public service commission, former deputy permanent secretary and perhaps former other things unlisted, Keorapetse Boepetswe woke up on Sunday to the said news of her passing at the age of 65. She had just reached that age last month. News of her death reached several places minutes after she had been pronounced dead at the Princess Marina Hospital where she had been undergoing treatment, courtesy of social media.
All those who knew her and were acquainted to her were heartbroken upon hearing the sad news via whatsapp and Face book pages. A few of them knew she had been unwell for sometime but did not regard her illness as life threatening. A week before she died, the congregation at UCCSA was given news update suggesting that she was on her way to recovering speedily. They were taken aback when it was announced a few days later that she was no more. Many expected that with a medical bulletin being favourable, she would soon be on her feet wearing her usual beautiful smile. That was not to be as God had other plans to the contrary. They have mourned her greatly. Several people took to social media expressing their sorrow, among them, former Speaker of Parliament, Margaret Nasha, former permanent secretary, Segakweng Tsiane and former Director of Information Services, Kebareng Solomon.
All these people have had distinguished career in the public service and had at some stage got on well with her. It was therefore befitting for Nasha to say the deceased “was one of district commissioners who knew what she was doing”. She added, “it’s a loss.” Nasha had been a minister responsible for district commissioners at some stage. So when she says, Boepetswe was one of those who knew what she was doing, she knows exactly what she is talking about. Kebareng Solomon posted the following message in the whatsapp page, “a gentle soul. Humility personified. Learnt a lot from this woman. Am certain she is resting in the bosom of Abraham”, she concluded. This is a message which is capable of soothing the bleeding hearts.
Unlike the many ladies in the government enclave, Boepetswe did not dress fashionably. She preferred simple attire. The way she conducted herself was amazing. She would at time be seen “a thula dikgeru” in the government enclave on her way from the main mall back to the office. You would see her eating fish and chips in the main mall. Who could do that among the City’s elite? Keorapetse Boepetswe was a different type of animal. She was certainly an accomplished public officer having worked at various levels in government yet she did not regularly make headlines. She was seldom in the news. Shev was the first woman to become chairperson of the public service commission, a highly valued body. Initially her appointment to the membership of the commission was for one month. However, the appointment had to be renewed for a period of three years effective September 2020. She was a well rounded retired civil servant who had an extensive knowledge.
Boepetswe joined the public service in 1982 as assistant district officer until 1985 when she was sponsored to Pennsylvania, United States to study for a masters’ degree in public administration . She was deputy clerk from 2001-2007 and later appointed coordinator of civilian personnel at the Botswana Defense Force (BDF) charged with transforming the civilian employees from 2007-2011. It was her deployment to the army offices that caused consternation among her associates. They feared that she was being thrown at the deep end. She was quoted in a local newspaper as saying parliament was a dynamic place and serving politicians was challenging at the same time interesting because now and then bills were made and some of them attracted a lot of public interest like the one on constitutional amendment regarding the tribal groups of Botswana which resulted in the introduction of expanded membership of the then House of chiefs and transformed it into Ntlo ya dikgosi in early 2007. She described her redeployment to the BDF as something which caused her headache for months as she did not understand how a strange work place in her career could bring any positive results. But she quickly adapted to the place and made a significant contribution in transforming the management of the civilian employees in the army.
Although she regarded her assignment at Parliament as the greatest because she was in the proximity of legislators, in my view, it was her posting to Kanye that she was able to exhibit her prowess in an environment which was difficult. At the time she was posted to the Southern District, Kanye and Mochudi were regarded by some people as the belly of the whale because of the aggressive nature of the two dikgosi there, Linchwe II and Seepapitso 1V. Kanye was even worse than Mochudi because there it was either you swam or sunk daylight. But Boepetswe survived. She survived because she was level headed, obedient and did not look down upon bogosi. She knew that as the face of government in the area, she was a top public officer. She pocketed far larger than everybody including the Kgosi. But she did not use that as a yardstick to undermine Kgosi Seepapitso. Instead she applied her technique to harness the Kgosi who was otherwise known to be a very difficult tribal leader. Many are still alive to tell the story of that tribal leader.
I was in stationed in Kanye as bureau chief and also as a member of the district development committee which Boepetswe chaired.
In watched first hand as the district commissioner harnessed Kgosi Seepapitso. I also happened to be one of Kgosi Seepapitso’s choice of those he occasionally confided with. In that way, I was able to know the type of chess game being played. Former radio personality, Rebaone Mookodi would say Boepetswe was given proper parental upbringing by her parents judging from the way she respected Kgosi Seepapitso and the entire chieftainship institution. This would mean that she owed her success to the good her parents had given her. She was the only district commissioner who I knew had no quarrels whatsoever with Kgosi Seepapitso. In fact Kgosi Seepapitso gave her unlimited support.
They visited each other’s offices occasionally for briefing purposes and sometimes just for tea. When Boepetswe was transferred from Kanye to Gaborone, Kgosi Seepapitso became instrumental to the success of her farewell party. He spoke and danced at that party to the delight of everybody attending. If there was any district commissioner who did not have quarrels with Kgosi Seepapitso whatsoever, it was Boepetswe. She served for some years in Kanye and left the place unscathed while many of her predecessors did not see eye-to-eye with the kgosi. She was down to earth and highly obedient to the Kgosi even though she was her senior. She forgot all her egos.
When Seepapitso decided to remarry with her second wife, Mohumagadi MmaWeno, the marriage was conducted at the Kgosi’s residence instead of the offices of the district commissioner. It was an honour she bestowed on the Kgosi. A handful of people had prior knowledge of the remarriage plans. Kgosi Seepapitso had told me of the impending event well in advance but had stressed that he was informing me not for news purposes. The other person in Kanye who could have been made aware was Leach Tlhomelang. He commanded respect among Kanye’s elite. The tribe was informed at a kgotla meeting when the two had already remarried. Following Boepetswe’s transfer, things slightly changed in Kanye. She had been succeeded by Geoffrey Serebolo. Kgosi Seepapitso was to become the country’s ambassador to the United States. The district council had plans to construct a shopping centre for the village. The area earmarked was the removal of certain wards in the centre of the village. Kgosi Seepapitso was opposed to that.
On the eve of his departure, he told a kgotla meeting that no attempt should be made to relocate existing village wards to the disbelieve of council leaders. Both the council and the land board were not in talking terms with the tribal administration then. I had prior knowledge of what the Kgosi was going to talk about at the meeting. Peter Siele was the council chairman and I was very close to him as well. Because I knew they cared less of issues taking place at the kgotla, I impressed upon him the need for the council to be represented at the following day’s kgotla meeting telling him that it was “in the council’s interests to hear” what the Kgosi would tell the people. Siele did not disappoint as he attended that meeting and heard it from the horse’s mouth. According to the deceased’s brother, Kanene Boepetswe, the funeral was to take place in Serowe on Saturday.
