19 Jan 2016

Residents of Sehithwa in the North West District came in droves to welcome  the roving torch in their village. The event was characterised by songs, traditional dance, poems and ululations typical of Batswana during such important celebrations.

The torch was from Kareng and stayed over night in Sehithwa before it was handed over to Bodibeng and Bothatogo residents. Kgosi Boitiro Dithapo of Sehithwa urged Batswana to take pride in the roving torch that symbolised unity, stability, peace and harmony in the country.

Despite their ethnic differences, he said, Batswana remained a united and proud nation. Kgosi Dithapo also urged residents of Sehithwa to cherish the legacy left by their forefathers and former dikgosi who played a pivotal role in maintaining law and order amongst communities.

He said three tribes; Batawana, Bakgalagadi and Ovabanderu were the first to reside in the village and they lived peacefully as they remained tolerant. He also stated that dikgosi contributed towards attainment of independence and development of the village.

“As we welcome this torch as a nation, we should look back and appreciate the good things implemented by our visionary leaders,” he added. Kgosi Dithapo urged the communities to safeguard and maintain peace in the country.

When narrating the village’s history, he explained that the village was established before independence around 1960 and by then developments were scarce. He further pointed out that the then dikgosi and leaders worked as a team and in harmony to bring developments to the village.

Kgosi Dithapo noted that water was a serious challenge as it hindered development implementation but the leaders managed to convince government to come up with an alternative. He said government came to their rescue and drilled a borehole with the assistance from the Germans who pledged P176 000 towards development implementation.

Kgosi Dithapo said around 1988, a primary school was built through volunteerism with the assistance of the Village Development Committee and catered for eight villages. He said then some offices such as land board and police were also built.

The village elder, Mr Kaorongana Kandu explained why the village was named Sehithwa. He revealed that around 1898 during the war, a group from Namibia who found refuge in Botswana settled at Sehithwa and by then it was a bush.

He said the name Sehithwa is in Ovanderu language and means “to arrive or go tsena in Setswana.” ENDS