The original saying points the other direction: kgosi ke kgosi ka morafe. In these words are stored the wisdom of our people; the very cornerstone of our modern democracy. The words recognize that one who leads, does so on behalf of the people. The adage is really not a statement exclusively about bogosi; it is about leadership. It is only that in traditional Setswana society political and administrative leadership is vested on the dikgosi.
I have in this submission turned the maxim on its head and stated it as morafe ke morafe ka kgosi.
I return to this matter momentarily. But first let’s start here. The subject of this column is inspired by the fundraising event of Ntlo ya Dikgosi that I attended on November 3rd, 2012. It was held at the Botswana Craft in Gaborone and supported by Orange Botswana. It is in very rare occasions that you see dikgosi that relaxed; chatting, drinking and being merry. I observed as Kgosi Malope II of the Bangwaketse exchanged countless jokes with Kgosi Lotlaamoreng II of the Barolong. All around the mood was incredibly jovial. I was struck by how young the dikgosi are.
Kgosi Puso Gaborone, who is the head of the Ntlo ya Dikgosi was born in 1974 while Kgosi Lotlaamoreng was born in 1975. Kgosi Maruje III of Masunga is even younger! But it is the young Kgosi Maruje who impressed me greatly. He appeared at the Cultural Day with his beautiful tiny wife, Mbakisanyi Masunga. Kgosi Maruje is an articulate young kgosi who though modern, lives the traditional values that he cherishes. The fact that he brought his wife along to the Culture Day struck a chord with many dikgosi and my conservative side. They are newlyweds, only married at the end of May 2012. I believe a kgosi must be married. I believe that demonstrates that the kgosi believes and cherishes the morafe ÔÇô as the morafe comprises families. There is a traditional belief found amongst many Tswana merafe that one who is not married is unfit to instruct the married ones.
A married kgosi therefore has a moral standing to speak to the morafe families as well as the unmarried persons with greater authority. Therefore to the unmarried dikgosi I have a word of encouragement: Ke lo eleletsa dilo tse dintle beng-bame; A go nyalweng marena a me!
The current crop of dikgosi is fairly well educated and youthful. Interacting with them, it became very clear that dikgosi need the support of the morafe for them to execute their roles with excellence. This in many ways requires the morafe to change their thinking. Instead of looking to the chief and saying You are nothing without us, the morafe must change its thinking and say We as a tribe are nothing without you kgosi. A morafe without a kgosi is weak. It is like a ship without a rudder, left to be tossed around by the choppy waters of individual opinions. A morafe with a weak kgosi is equally pathetic. O tletse nyatsego. The kgosi therefore needs all the support he can get to rule excellently. If the morafe realized that its survival and dignity depended on the superb work of the kgosi, they would ensure that the kgosi was well-advised and resourced. The kgosi exists not for himself but for the morafe. It is perhaps apt that the dikgosi should have met under the theme: Ntlo ya Dikgosi: mirror of the nation. A kgosi mirrors the tribe. Morafe o kgaba ka kgosi ya one. Fa kgosi a nonofile; morafe o a nonofa e bile o tlelwa ke serite. Mme fa kgosi a le bokgola; a tshabelelwa ke go borolala; morafe o a nyatsega; o latlhegelwe ke tlotlo le maatla.
The time has come for many across our villages, towns and cities to rethink their positions to their merafe and to their kgosi. No amount of wealth, education or fortune should cause us to undermine the institution of bogosi. To undermine bogosi, is to undermine ourselves since bogosi is part of who we are. We as a morafe are stronger with our kgosi. When the cultural resuscitation was being preached in Mochudi, the Bakgatla were a strong morafe because of their Kgosi. Now that their kgosi’s image has been tarnished and is he is now portrayed as a fugitive in a foreign land; the Bakgatla’s image has been tarnished as well. The bottom line is this: morafe ke morafe ka kgosi. Without a kgosi, le batho ba se le ba ingamolela dihuba mo morafeng.┬á
I must complete this column by paying homage to the Batswana artist who performed at this Culture Day fundraising event. The Setswana renaissance must always be seen as something holistic. Our focus must never be on language only, music only, theatre only, or bogosi. We must accept that in restoring our lost values, culture and language; different contributors will have to emerge forcefully. I was therefore delighted that Tswana performers were at their best in this event. Two Mokwena poets of note, Mr Moroka Moreri and Mr. Kaone Mahuma electrified the crowd with their performances. On the musical front was the young and highly talented Ntirelang Berman who delighted the crowd, in particular Kgosi Mosadi Seboko and her entourage, with his great songs about Ramotswa. I was also delighted to see Machesa performing at this event. These Kora award winners have been away for a while. They are older and mature now. Their music is also refined. I was most impressed by their song Chalobeke, which I believe will still be heard in our airwaves 10 years from now. When I thought I had heard the best in Machesa, then came the live band Seragantswana.
When Duncan Senyatso passed away, I was worried that we will not have another outstanding live band playing the Setswana music with great passion and beauty. I was wrong. Seragantswana is that band.
They use mbira, segankure, marimba, a bass guitar and a drum set live on stage. They reminded us that you don’t have to do music in English for it to be beautiful, captivating and electric. I parted ways with dikgosi with a renewed confidence that our culture was not dying; but growing in strength.
