15 Oct 2015

Batswana have been practicing the spirit of botho among their societies hence one of the national vision 2016 pillar of 'A loving and caring nation.' 

“It is not that the government initiative of poverty eradication starts now. 

It is only that it has been developed to suit the dynamics of modern day life”, said a 60 year-old Mathangwane born man Mr Mbiganyi Mashungwa.

Speaking in an interview with BOPA recently, he said there is a Tswana proverb that says 'Setshwarwa ke ntsa pedi ga se thata,' literary meaning that when people are cooperating to carry out a task, they will succeed, hence the construction of the granary to meet the needs of the community. 

Mr Mashungwa clarified that during the olden days, there were some initiatives that were carried out to assist the needy and those who did not have better harvests. 

He elaborated that matter when he was explaining the usage of the granary in Mathangwane, which he said was built in 1944. 

The elder pointed out that the granary in the heart of the village was built to preserve sorghum to be used to assist the community during periods of drought. It was also to assist the needy, those who did not get anything from their fields during harvest time and also to assist those who were attacked by natural disasters such as floods and fires.

He explained that there was a field that belonged to the Kgosi, which was known by the name Hunde, where during the ploughing season, the regiments with the help of the community would set a day for ploughing. 

Mr Mashungwa pointed that everyone in the village was supposed to take part and failure to do so one would be punished by taking one of their cow to be killed for consumption of those who would be at the field. 

To ensure participation, the Kgosi would dispatch the regiment to move around the village to ensure that those who were fit to participate have gone to the field, and if anyone was found out to have stayed behind without a valid reason, they would be punished. 

He noted that  the purpose of such was for the community to understand that the initiative was not based on individualism, rather for the benefit of the society, hence the need for them to cooperate.

Mr Mashungwa pointed out that the usage of the granary was halted immediately after Botswana gained its independence around 1966 and 1967. 

He clarified that the reason was that the government pointed out that there were  some initiatives to tackle such problems since some members of the community were complaining that their rights are being abused by being forced to plough at the Kgosi's field.

One of the village elders, 82 year-old, Mr Moraka Molefe pointed out that the granary was of importance to the community and stopping its usage was a blow to them. 

“Go riana  mo nkabo ke sa diile jaaka ke diila jaana, ke itse fela gore ke ya kwa kgosing ke ya go kopa selalelo, gompieno o ka fiwa ke mang?”, meaning if the granary was still in usage they would be not suffering because he would be sure the Kgosi would be meeting him half way.

Kgosi Batisani Moeti of Mathangwane village explained that they have registered the granary with the Department of National Museums for it to be protected and listed as one of the heritage sites. 

He said this would enable the coming generations to know about the history of their village and also pointed out that as village elders, they are in discussions on taking back their kgotla next to the granary site as this is where it used to be and moving it there would ensure the protection of the granary. Ends