16 Jan 2017

Famous for its brilliant performance whenever it takes on stage, Mafitlhakgosi Traditional troupe is excited about its prospects for this year.

In an interview, the group coordinator, Joseph Ikopeng explained that this year each member of the group would release a solo album as a way of celebrating their individuality.

He said they realised that the group consists of individuals gifted in their own special ways and even different music genres and as a result they found it fit to let each express themselves freely.

“This year will be the year Batswana will experience the other side of us apart from performing as a group as we are all gifted in different ways. Others can sing hip hop, others kwaito while others can even do poetry or contemporary dance,” he said.
Ikopeng said that this change does not mean that the group would no longer be together, but rather just a way to help its members grow in the entertainment industry.

He said as a group they were already a brand that had endeared itself to Batswana and cannot let themselves break-up.

The group, which consists of more than 40 members ranging from as young as five years of age up to 60 years has over the years been taking the traditional music in a storm.

Having graced many big corporate events lately, it has established its presence as one of the best traditional groups around.

Its strength lies in its high level of energy, enthusiasm and charm of especially the child-dancers as well as its diversity in dance moves that range from setapa, phathisi and hosanna.

Although it is one of the most favourite groups around, Ikopeng said they met many challenges, the major one being lack of funds to honour different activities they were often invited to.

“We are sometimes invited to peform in other countries, even overseas but because of lack of funds we often fail to go. If only we could secure a sponsorship it would be a good opportunity to showcase our culture in other parts of the World because as it is, we are obviously in demand,” he said.

He added that the challenges affected and demoralised the group so much, especially the little ones as they do not grasp the reality of why they cannot perform or showcase their skills whenever they were needed.

“Sometimes I get scared that this will drive them to quit the group. We desperately need sponsorship to continue being the stars that we are,” he said. Ikopeng said the main reason he formed the group was to help keep the community away from vices like drugs, alcohol abuse and theft.

“Our neighborhood, Naledi is known for bad things like high rate of crime and the youth here mostly tend to indulge in  alcohol and drugs at a tender age so that is why I included people of different ages in the group so that they encourage and inspire their age mates to live positively,” he said. BOPA