02 Oct 2016

Residents of Kopong took advantage of the independence celebrations to remind themselves of their journey thus far.

Hundreds thronged the kgotla on Friday where various speakers took to the podium to reflect on the achievement of this country.  

Of particular importance was Mr Victor Leshona, who narrated the history of the village, both pre and post-independence.

He said Basikwa (an ethnic group found in Kopong) were well known for their love and passion for agriculture.  

He said during the ploughing season, every family relocated to the lands the entire season and would only return to the village after harvest.  

He said this was evidenced by permanent structures they built at the lands.  

“They built fine homes at the lands than in the village.”

He also said they would only come to the village to sell their harvest and interestingly, there was no money in exchange of one’s harvest.  

The only shop in the village sold items by battering with bags of harvest with the farmers.  

The farmer would then get the value of his harvest written in a form called kutuforo and if the value is five pound, he or she would use the form to buy items until the funds are exhausted.

He further indicated that in the past there was a big portion of land that belonged to Kgosi called lesotla.  

It was ploughed  by morafe and the harvest was stored in the silos for tough times.

After independence Mr Leshona said that things started changing, infrastructural development trickled in.  Before independence, there was only one concrete house while the rest were thatched houses.

But after independence other developments like modern houses, roads, clinics and shops were introduced such that today the village has seen a tremendous growth.
In Metsimotlhabe people had come in numbers to celebrate independence in a more peaceful and civil manner.  

Lunch was served in on time and among the audience were the elderly who had come in large numbers, the middle aged as well as youth and children.

Ms Thatayaone Ontaetse , 37, said that celebrating 50 years was a blessing from God because it was not everyone who lived to see this moment. She commended the government of the day for availing free education to all.  

She also said that everyone had access to good health and free treatment in all government health facilities as well as access to free news through state media.  

Going forward, she urged all to go back to the roots, which is farming as she believes that it is through farming that Batswana can be self-reliant once again and stop relying heavily on government programmes.

Mr Ikageng Metswi said  that the 50 years were worth celebrating because Botswana was one of the countries that had enjoyed tremendous peace and stability.  Ends