03 Jun 2014

In an effort to diversify tourism products in a country famed for its spectacular wildlife species, some Batswana have earnestly started to venture into cultural tourism to add variety.

This sector, if nurtured, can help to lessen the pressure placed on the environment by the many visitors who throng game reserves and national parks year in year out.

Cultural tourism promotes the way of life of communities around the country and already festivals such as Domboshaba, Dithubaruba, Son of the Soil and Zhizha cultural festivals have become a hit with locals and people from other countries alike.

It is against this background that the visiting mayor of the city of Ghenk in Belgium expressed appreciation of the Kalanga culture when he made a surprise visit during the Zhizha cultural festival in Marobela on May 31. 

The city of Ghenk has a twinning agreement with the city of Francistown. Zhizha is a Kalanga word for harvest (letlhafula) and the festival was organised to celebrate traditional food from the harvest after the good ploughing season which was preceded by good rains.

The festival, which was hosted at Kuminda farm, proved to be a hit with revelers as they enjoyed traditional Kalanga music from groups such as Bongolo Dza Ntogwa, a Hosanna dance troupe, Mindumbi cultural group and Ndingo Johwa.

Also, elders recited poems and explained the traditional way of life and values that make Bakalanga who they are.  Traditional games and food was also galore and the cherry on top was that the food was ploughed within the farm.  

The elders also had a good time with traditional beer which is becoming a rare commodity nowadays with the advent of exported brews. The Mayor of Ghenk, Wim Dries said in an interview during the cultural festival that it was crucial for Botswana to showcase her culture to visitors and show how citizens embrace their way of life.

“Botswana has a very rich culture from the little I have seen and it is important for the country to move forward with its culture,” he noted. As a developing country, Dries noted that Botswana should not leave its culture behind as some of its elements were important as they could assist in innovation, technological advancements to achieve real progress.

Consequently, he highlighted that the country can learn a lot from other countries who have used their cultures to industrialize and achieve economic growth. In addition, he urged Batswana to protect their culture in order to use it for future creativity. Culture, he also mentioned was a good tourism product.

Many people in Belgium, he said, knew a lot about South Africa and if they happen to come to Botswana do so for nature tourism. However, he urged the organisers of the Zhizha cultural festival to do more to market it outside the country’s borders.

The Zhizha cultural festival which is in its second edition hopes to stimulate cultural activism by developing a cultural education centre at Kuminda farm where they could host tourists by showing them local dance, music, food, poetry and storytelling. For her part, the organiser of the Zhizha cultural festival, Lucy Hichcliffe expressed happiness that this year, the festival was bigger and better than last year.

She mentioned that the objective of the festival was to promote Kalanga food, dance, music and way of life. “The inaugural event in 2013 was quite and most of those who attended were local people from Marobela,” she said. She was full of praise for the attendance which she said was pleasing and also highlighted that traditional Kalanga groups had increased this year.

Next year, Hichcliffe mentioned that she was hopeful of a better edition as the festival showed great potential going into the future. The event, she added, was very important to Batswana as it allowed the elderly to share and teach culture to young children who are growing up under different circumstances.
In future, she highlighted that she wanted the festival to include other tribes such as Basarwa who would also showcase their own cultures.

However, she decried lack of sponsorship as one of the challenges hampering the growth of the cultural festival. Also, she said that she wanted to see the festival as a precursor to the Domboshaba cultural festival and forming part of the activities that take place to raise awareness on Kalanga culture.

Consequently, Hinchcliffe mentioned that she has approached the culture department for funding last year but was not successful. However, she said that she was hopeful that in future she will partner with the Botswana Tourism Organization and the arts and culture department to grow the event.

“We are appealing to corporate organisations to partner with us because lack of sponsorship results in prices for the event being expensive. Also, once corporates are onboard this would give the Zhizha cultural festival the latitude needed for growth,” she said.

Furthermore, she stated that in future, the event should be bigger and attract even many people from within and outside the country. Ends