Who is a Motswana? What does it takes to be a Motswana? These are questions that US-based , Botswana-born actor and writer, Donald Molosi, who President Ian Khama refers to as his father, is actually pondering over and investigating for his next off-Broadway show in the USA.
“My first show was a love letter to my country history but my third project is a critical love letter to my country,” said Molosi.
His one man show, Blue, Black and White, has earned him respect from President Khama who refers to him as his father.
“When I am with the president, he would say ‘hallo come here; let me have a photo taken with my dad’,” said Molosi.
Molosi did a one man show as the first president of Botswana.
In his third project, titled Motswana, the artist reveals how he intends to fearlessly tread on the subject of ethnicity, which has been treated as a sacred topic.
Molosi finds it odd to call a Kalanga, Wayei and Basarwa tribes Batswana.
“It started with my idea when I looked at my passport; it referred to me as a Motswana but there was some sought of discomfort with that. I find it odd. We use Motswana to refer to eight Tswana-speaking tribes, such as Bangwato, Bangwaketse and others. But they are separate tribes and people who reside in these areas and are referred to as Batswana. But they are not Batswana,” Molosi explained.
He said that they are those who are Wayei and Kalanga but are referred to as Batswana while they are not Batswana ethnically.
“This show is all about Africa because I am investigating the idea of a Motswana. Ke mang yo o kareng ke Motswana. Le gore ke mang o o kareng ga se Motswana. Who could say that is a Motswana and who would say that he is not a Motswana?” said Molosi.
He stated that Basarwa, for example, are referred to as Batswana in the passport but they are Basarwa, not Batswana.
He believes that those tribes that found themselves living along territories that belong to such tribes such as Bangwato should not be called Batswana because they found themselves trapped in those territories when the land was demarcated to eight Tswana speaking tribes.
“As a Mongwato, I could claim that I am Motswana in a passport and ethnically but Basarwa can be Batswana in a passport but not ethnically. But in my ideal world we could have something different,” added Molosi.
He believes that other tribes should not be referred to as Batswana.
Molosi said that his first off-Broadway show is one of his first works to be titled in a language that is not English.
He believes that using Setswana in one of his shows is all about the language and the rebellion.
The actor writer recently performed Blue, Black and White Show in the country. He hopes to do more shows. Molosi says that he was happy to pay tribute to president Khama’s father.
“I was talking about his marriage but, in a way, there was lots of my feelings towards my own history that was involved in the show,” he said. “Though Seretse was a statesman, when he was talking about his wife there was a lot of poetry and there was an emotional. I am going to expand the show and this will become apparent.”
He is happy that people embraced his motives and were open when he was doing his research.
“As young people, we should make use of resources and history locked up in older generations.”
Molosi, who is currently studying and pursuing his career in the USA, wrote and performed a number of one-man shows, which premiered off-Broadway, including the noted Today It’s Me (2010) about the first African to publicly declare he had AIDS, and Blue, Black and White” (2011), which earned him both a Best Actor Award at the Dialogue One Festival and a Best Solo Award off-Broadway.
