20 May 2014

In a small village called Matlhako in the Tswapong area, there is a pensioner who is so passionate about weaving such that he is unwilling to let go until his last days.

Eighty-eight-year-old Abotseng Japie, of Letlapeng ward said he had been weaving since 1990 after learning the craft, though belatedly, from his grandfather.

Japie said his desire was to preserve the culture of weaving by passing his skill down to the next person but unfortunately, to date, no one had shown interest in learning how to weave.

Some people who used to earn a living by making and selling ancient utensils such as baskets, pounding mortars and pestles were running at a loss as such utensils were gradually disappearing.

Today, most Batswana used modern equipment and machineries for household purposes instead, the old man said, adding that in the past most people maintained their families by selling ancient utensils.

“Nowadays people have forgotten how to sort pounded sorghum or maize using a traditional utensil called loselo because they no longer pound. Instead they buy readymade sorghum or maize meal packages from shops.

Sometimes they use milling plants for grinding,” he says. Japie says nowadays traditional utensils such as beautifully finished baskets are used for decoration purposes.

In the past traditional tools were used on a daily basis for different purposes depending on what each was designed for and, at the time the demand was very high.

The octogenarian, who can hardly hear, says he uses straws from mogwana tree for weaving, adding that because of his ill health, he now takes two to three days working on one product.

He further says that weaving is done by carefully crossing the material used over and under each other hence the need for the weaver to be very patient and careful.

 “My business is not doing well at all. Apart from low demand, I do not have a suitable place for it. There is also the lack of transport which means I only sell my products within Mathako and sometimes at Machaneng if a Good Samaritan has offered to take my products,” says the pensioner.

He urges people to socialise and preserve culture, adding that through their heritage, they can earn a living. Ends