14 Jun 2018

Kgosi Malope II of Bangwaketse last Saturday led over 200 young men born between 1976 and 1980, down the ancient path to their second birth.

In this year’s group were former BOPA award winning journalist and written word smith Mr Rebaone Tswiio and Radio Botswana’s Kabo Garechaba

The young men had already huddled together in the traditional kgotla shelter, visibly waiting on the wings for Kgosi Malope to just say a word.

After a word from Kgosi a little later, they left the main kgotla in single file, down the old rugged road, they meekly followed elders among them Mr Ontiretse Letlhare, a towering figure who seemed to keep the same pace while many of the young fellows were already panting.

But they followed singing and chanting like soldiers perhaps fired up by a desire to drink from the ancient calabash of wisdom so the oil skin of the tribe could also be rubbed into their skins. Or they sang to still their souls, since it was not clear yet whether or not the age old and scary rite; circumcision would also be performed on them.

The songs and chants however naturally died out when they approached Mmakgodumo dam, as the young men seemed to obey some unspoken command. One could only hear the gurgling sounds of the water and the footfalls of the boys as they made their way past the dam, which is feared to have a big snake with mystic powers.

They only seemed to lighten up when they were a safe distance away from the dam down a path through a labyrinth of bush thorns and creeping plants.  One of them was even overheard saying he had feared they would be dipped into the dam to initiate them into manhood.

Fatigue had obviously taken a toll on most of them when there suddenly appeared another group of repositories of the tradition ahead, among them Kgosi Leero Gaseitsewe, who ushered the curious looking young tribes men to a sacred grove, where they would converge and have ancient secrets of the tribe vouchsafed to them.

As to why they picked that particular spot for the ceremony, none of the boys might ever get to know but that was neither here nor there for them. And there stood behind them, bold as brass, a huge monyena tree before which the rest of the greenery around seemed to bow and scrape.

Kgosi Malope explained that the tree was very dear to Bangwaketse, adding that for ages they used it to manufacture household furniture.

He instructed the boys, who would soon become men according to the time old tradition, to each chop a log from the lofty tree and carry it back where the journey had started.

But the moment they had all been waiting for came when Kgosi Malope, with a slight tremor in his voice named them ‘Malosankwe’.

They suddenly found their tongues and roared in affirmation, a sense of pride evidently rising within them. It felt like a re-birth or they were being launched by Kgosi Malope to conquer the world outside.

Many of them have ostensibly achieved a lot in their chosen areas of personal endeavor, but their achievements seemed to pale in comparison with what meaning to a man’s life the timeless rite would give.

The spirit of camaraderie had suddenly zapped them and they started referring to each other as ‘lere’ which loosely translates to mate. They also took ‘selfies’ with Kgosi Malope, to capture the fleeting moment in time. The scales of a thousand years had suddenly fallen from their eyes and they now viewed one another as coming from one source. They also saw the mission ahead as bigger than the sum of their narrow, personal considerations.

Kgosi Malope shared that the name was once used in 1805 by a Bangwaketse regiment, but fell into disuse along the passage of time. He said he chose the name to inspire the men to save the leopard, revealing that the regal cat faces the threat of extinction.Kgosi Malope further challenged Malosankwe or ‘those who fight for the leopard’ as that might imply to marry and comport themselves responsibly at all times, adding they were now regarded as men and worthy before the eyes of the tradition.

He dispersed the men, each with a log slung on their shoulders, but this time against a cruel force of gravity. They trudged on, this time without song, and the logs made them all the more powerless against the steep slope they would ascend ahead.

But a good number of them, even with the best will in the world, could not stick it out to the end. They were ferried in trucks but funny enough, sooner had they alighted from the trucks than they started singing victory songs. They wanted to reach the main kgotla on foot, lest they might be viewed as weak, especially by young women who were seen along the way, going about their daily chores.

As for Moabi Metseesele and Wonder Semumu, gutsy fighters there was no better way to earn the name than to complete the stretch, which seemed never to end without cutting corners.

They climbed the energy sapping hill, apparently seared by memories of giants who came before them in times gone by. They believed the task was intended to inspire patience they would need to untangle the maze called life.

Upon arrival at the main kgotla, the men piled the logs by the kraal in an order that only the elders could decipher, but none of them dared ask what they would be used for or the significance of having to carry them uphill.

Elders, men only, including former Minister of Local Government and Rural Development Mr Peter Siele took turns to give the men a word of counsel. Mr Siele encouraged those who were single to get hitched and raise children in wedlock.  He also advised those who imbibed spirits, to do so in moderation.

Mr Ketlhagahetse Mmolaatshephe said they were now regarded as men and thus illegible to take part in traditional functions. Mr Mmolaatshephe likewise encouraged the men to marry, adding it was not God’s plan for a man to be alone.

Kgosi Malope, whose late grandfather Kgosi Bathoen II, through regiments constructed Matsaakgang and Maisantwa primary schools among others to exhibit how much men could achieve, bound together by a common purpose, advised Malosankwe to come up with development initiatives.

He also appointed Kgosi Thatayaone Makaba, one of the few who earnestly finished the lap, the leader of the regiment. He would be assisted by Mr Thabo Mathiba.

Kgosi Malope shared that a regiment leader according to the custom, could only come from Gaseitsewe, Segotshane, Sebego, Bome, Mathiba or Telekelo families ENDS