05 Feb 2015

At the age of 15, Gaofenngwe Sebolao was already fed up with going to school.

His heart was no longer set upon the good that would come from attending Kumakwane Junior Secondary School nor the future that would evolve out of that.

All he longed for was a daily carton of chibuku. To him, a daily sip of the brew would take his troubles away and complete his naïve world.

“I was raised up by my uncle who sold Shake-Shake at home,” said the 32 years old who now despises the brew as if he has never tasted it.“That’s where I started to drink, it was always available,” he said with a remorseful face.

Now depressed by what came out of the love for shake-shake, he wishes he could turn back the times.His desire would be to put on his school uniform, get hold of his books and rush back to school to beat the school bell.

Unfortunately, that remains a mere dream and if wishes were horses, he would surely ride on them back to school again. Nevertheless, the horses have passed by and all that is left is for him to let the sleeping dogs lie.

Hence he has rediscovered his other love, the love for poetry which has made him to be one of the most notable names in the village of Kumakwane. 

For instance, ask any resident of Kumakwane where to find Phoko Gobebe, they are most likely to direct you to one Sebolao. Renamed Phoko Gobebe by the villagers for his protruding beard and poetic skills, Sebolao is living to prove that Chinua Achebe was right when he said proverbs are the palm-oil in which words are eaten.

In one of his poems, Sebolao utters, “President Ian Khama ke nao lentsho, nao le makwapa wa molati o latile a lata sa gaabo,” to the president for having resuscitated Tswana culture.

Ever since the introduction of the President Day Arts Competitions, he has never looked back to the traditional brew, but rather coined words to make a living.

The now father of four, narrated that his life changed for the better after poetry was introduced in the president’s competitions about four years back.

“I knew I had talent I sat down and asked myself exactly what I was going to do to participate in the competition,” he said. In his wondering state, he started to recite poems and ultimately decided to register for the poetry category.

In his initial entry, he came first at the ward level winning himself P1500 and went on to settle for the second position at the constituency level, winning P2000 more.

For the first time in his life Sebolao abandoned chibuku and that was the first time he became a responsible man and did something sensible with his money.

It was the first time he had such a huge amount of money in his life and bought himself a fridge as a remembrance. And riding on cloud nine, Sebolao motivated himself to work hard in order to achieve better results.

He braced for the worst during performances and persevered knowing that only determination will defeat the rest. Henceforth, he would gatecrash many events such as parties and weddings and seize the moment to recite a poem.

Although he is sometimes rewarded with the lowest amount such as P20, in this he remains confident. Last year December Sebolao  gate crashed a donation by Kgale spar at Kumakwane main kgotla where he met with the charity project coordinator Kabelo Rampe

From there he was invited to perform at Ramotswa, Rasesa, Mochudi and Moshupa which he did and got to entertain some high ranking society leaders. Said the man nicknamed Phoko Gobebe. BOPA