In the sixties, a certain South African musical group composed a song which implied that in modern day democracy, a person does as he pleases. This song was popular in Botswana especially after the country had gained independence. The release of that album /record coincided with Botswana’s independence. It was the only country then which had just attained independence. They had just been freed from the yoke of colonialism. It is unfortunate that today, some people do as they please even when the Corona Virus pandemic is killing people in large numbers. People are dying in large numbers, never seen in this country since independence. Yet there are some who still sell home brews at the back of their yards. Furthermore, there is a case pending before the High Court of people wanting the unbanning of alcohol sale. The question is do these people, the seller/buyer think they are immune from convid? There are stories of what people called “Three Dag” and small pox pandemic. Those two may not have been on the large scale than covid 19 is.
What is disappointing is that this time around, there is the national government which has put measures in place to reduce the spread of the pandemic. The measures include social distancing, wearing of face masks and washing of hands or sanitizing. Wedding celebrations are to be attended by 16 people while funerals are to be attended by 50. The number of church goers has also been prescribed. All these measures, though not difficult to be implemented, continue to be flouted. The sale of alcohol has been prohibited but some people continue to drink. This is the disappointing side of the story. There is the positive side which needs to be approached with sober minds even by the country’s conservative lot. Brilliant minds have established what is called Molefi Secondary School Alumni. It was established by former students of that school which is based in Mochudi. It is legally registered under the Societies Act. It can sue and it can be sued in its own name… The alumin is headed by former Member of Parliament for Kgatleng East Isaac Mabiletsa who enjoys the support of every member because of his outstanding leadership qualities.
It consists of people who are knowledgeable on a variety of issues. They have previously held top positions in government. They are learned. Within it you find professors, PhD holders, advocates, ambassadors, journalists, former permanent secretaries and former cabinet ministers. One of them was Brigadier Ndelu Seretse who has just died in Gaborone. Everybody knows that he had been Minister for Lands and Housing Development before becoming the country’s Minister for Defense. This alumni does not exist for fun. Its main task is to assist their former secondary school where possible. They get hurt when they hear reports of students at that school indulging in alcoholic drinks, drug abuse or bulling teachers. They bought the school a photocopier after being told by the school management that it was one of their needs. Right now, their plan is to deliver motivational talk to students.
They are just waiting for Covid-19 to decline. As recently as three weeks ago or so, the alumni discussed at length through its plat form, the need for changes in the customary, traditional and cultural systems which they see as one of the super spreaders. I did not ask for permission from the chairman of the alumni to use those discussions in a national newspaper. For that reason, I will refrain from mentioning names of those who took part in the discussion. Even if it could be argued that discussing that issue in the alumni platform was in the public domain, asking for permission to name individuals concerned remained necessary. The discussion started with one member posting a message calling on influential members to approach the traditional leadership in Mochudi with a view to disengage Diphiri from the digging of graves until perhaps after the pandemic subsided. The member was of the view that digging of graves by Diphiri was the pandemic super spreader.
Diphiri are boys who volunteer their services to dig a grave. They started the job from time immemorial. The mover conceded that Covid -19 has brought about what it has now come to call the new normal. She said this has to apply to the way “we manage our funerals/burials”. “On occasions w hen I had no choice but attend a funeral or death of a close relative, friend or neighbor, I have seen family struggling and striving to dig up graves and fill/ close them (graves) up afterwards with a lot of pain and anguish”, she explained… She also suggested names of some members saying they should “engage” Kgosi Sekai Linchwe, council chairman and council secretary to discuss the possibilities of “making exemptions to our cultural funeral protocols and taboo and the council to dig up graves by JCBs in as many Kgatleng villages as possible to reduce high risk pre-burial activities like grave diggings”. It is hoped that such pro-activeness by the council and “magosi-a-rona” will minimize the time spent by grave diggers and or family members and it might just as well cut the chain of covid-19 super spreaders. Several members spoke in favour of engagement of JCBs as opposed to Diphiri digging graves.
One member from Mahalapye advised that Kgatleng councilors be approached. He said he had done so in Mahalapye and got positive response from a village councilor and the local Kgosi. The JCBs are at work digging graves at Ramotswa. Another member cited Gaborone and Phakalane saying Diphiri have long been replaced by the JCBs in the digging of graves there. However, the situation in Gaborone cannot be comparable to rural areas such as Kgatleng because urban areas tend to be made up of an amalgam of people who do not necessarily share similar cultural/customary beliefs.
A woman from Mabalane Village in the Kgatleng District was at pains explaining how it was so difficult for Diphiri to dig graves in that area because of rocks. She said occasionally it takes the whole day or more to complete the job and wondered how in these days of Covib-10 people could be expected to crowd exchanging digging tool. “This method of engaging Diphiri is outdated and is a super spreader in itself”, adding that the problem “with due respect, is that we have stubborn dikgosi who are resisting change”. What is now being said has been said before.
The previous opposition led council which was chaired by Mpho Morolong was highly progressive. They are the originators of this idea. They were led down by the community they tried to help. It seems to me that they had gone as far as formulating a bye-law empowering the council to take over the responsibility of grave digging from Diphiri. When they thought they had done a thorough job, they addressed headmen. They came back empty-handed. They arranged a kgotla meeting, but the tone of the kgosi who welcomed them at the kgotla set the pace for rejection. Mpho Morolong recalls that the Kgosi started by telling the morafe that “here is the council chairman, he has come to address you on the subject of digging of graves. He has addressed us as dikgosi” and it is now your turn “ipolaeng”. This was a clear message to the community to reject the JCBs. It was clear that it was a call on the community to reject the suggestion. Mpho Morolong presented the issue in the best way he could master but it was rejected. He told the community that the district council had bench-marked at Kopong where digging was done in a very systematic way. He said in Kopong the bogosi was involved in that people go through the kgotla which insured that unutilized space was not left in between the graves but the community in Mochudi remained adamant that it wanted Diphiri to continue being in-charge for no apparent reasons.
Yes, the present district council in Kgatleng can revisit the issue. There was no Covid-19 then. In Machiavelli’s book, “The Prince”, we are told that a man who never changes his position on an issue even when conditions for making the decision no longer applied is a wrong one. Perhaps they will find a dynamic leader in the person of Sekai Linchwe. I am told he has recently been of great help in providing motivational talk on request by Ntshinoge Clinic. He takes Covid-19 pandemic seriously because he has seen how it destroys families in his community. Mochudi has five main traditional wards which records deaths every week. These wards have been expanded into 12 politically demarcated wards. There is no one from these wards who can claim to have not seen sufferings either in their families or relatives, friends or neighbors. It was a good thing to allow dikgosi to remain as the custodian of culture. However, I do not think that it was ever a thought that amongst them, there would be those remaining unaware that culture was something that evolved. It is not static.
