Social media was this week abuzz with news of the untimely passing on of Orapa United and Botswana National football team player Lesenya Ramoraka on 4th of October 2022.
The 28-year-old left back, who has previously plied his trade at South African sides Highlands Park and TS Galaxy, perished following a car accident in the morning. Orapa United FC chairman Kagiso Mogocha confirmed the fatal accident. He noted that the incident occurred just before Mmashoro.
“We do not have the full details of what transpired which led to the fatal incident. But we do know that he was driving from his home to his workplace in Orapa when he met his untimely demise,” Mogocha said.
While the passing of Ramoraka came as a shock to his family, Orapa United and the entire football fraternity, it was perhaps the announcement of his death on social media which sent shockwaves across the country.
According to Mogocha, the saddest part of his passing was receiving the news via social media. He lamented that the news broke on social media even before his parents and his employer could be notified.
“His family and Orapa United F.C were notified of the sad occurrence in the afternoon while the news had already made waves all over social media,” he said.
As much as Mogocha admits that people of Ramoraka’s status as public figures live their lives in the open, he still believes decency is needed when dealing with sensitive issues such as their passing. He said as much as Ramoraka was a public figure, that still does not warrant his family and employer to hear the news of his passing from social media before they could be informed.
“Social media is depriving the concerned parties especially the bereaved their right to manage situations of this nature. Social media is a very good platform for communication. It resonates with the technological and environmental advancements. However, we as a Nation have embraced it to the extreme such that it has led to our values of ‘Botho’ being eroded,” said Magocha.
He added that; “With social media, we are no longer considerate, we lost our empathy. I am of the opinion that the authorities need to tighten the reigns in the enforcement of the Cybercrime and Computer Related Crimes Act.”
