The Assistant Minister of Agriculture Oreeditse Molebatsi was yesterday (Tuesday) expected to trek to Tobane, with hat in hand, to apologise for the scathing insults that he hurled against Tobane residents during a recent kgotla meeting.
The Public Relations Manager in the Ministry of Agriculture, Boikhutso Rabasha, confirmed that Molebatsi was due to address the Tobane community on Tuesday. She, however, could not say if Molebatsi was going to apologise for his recent utterances.
“All I can say is that Molebatsi will address a kgotla meeting. I do not know anything about an apology,” she said.
But reliable sources from Tobane, who were part of the delegation that launched a complaint against Molebatsi, have revealed that Molebatsi has been ordered to apologise to the Tobane community.
“We expect him here on Tuesday at exactly 8 o’clock, and we expect a fully fledged apology for the insults that he hurled at our parent,” they said.
Molebatsi recently left Tobane residents reeling in shock after openly insulting them and accusing them of being stingy as they did not give him presents.
“You are not like the people of Bobonong; they gave me two bags of sorghum, and you gave me nothing. You failed to decorate this place when you knew I was coming. I want bottled water, not the dirty water that you put for me in a dirty jug,” he is reported to have said.
He then turned on Councillor Leonard Mosweu and village chief Nametsego Motlhasedi, slamming them for not adequately advertising his kgotla meeting.
He then accused the villagers of harbouring Zimbabweans and smuggling meat across the border in tattered underwear.
Angered by Molebatsi’s disrespect, Tobane residents then petitioned President Ian Khama and Agriculture Minister Christian De Graaf, demanding that they take stern action against Molebatsi.
