16 Nov 2020

For many centuries, Sehunou settlement has been home to people of San origin commonly known as Bushmen, which has attracted numerous tourists and foreign visitors to admire their traditional way of life.

Visitors are exposed to their unique cultures and their natural talents and skills in art, craft work, their production of interesting leather items, wild-food gathering, and particularly, their talents in dance, game-hunting and game tracking.

Poverty remains a predominant local problem and the community members are putting in much effort into creating opportunities for a better standard of living through, for example, government empowerment schemes.

Despite the potential for economic development, the community has been devastated by the COVID-19 pandemic. On April 2, government declared a six months State of Emergency and initiated a lock-down for 28 days with an extension of another 22 days.

However, the lockdown regulations have been difficult to implement in the community. This is due to the fact that most poor Sehunou people live in dire poverty, in overcrowded and small dwellings.

Their lifestyle and cultural practices are communal, with the sharing of food, utensils and other goods being both a necessity and a strong cultural norm.

Many of the people, particularly the elderly, are not formally trained and the community is plagued by malnutrition and alcohol abuse.

In an inteview Kgosi Madala Gabagopolwe of Sehunou said although he acknowledged lockdown importance, it negatively affected their lives as pastoral farmers.

He said they could not even look for cattle that went astray or even sell their livestock although they needed money.

Kgosi Gabagopolwe however advised his fellow residents to minimise risk by avoiding unnecessary trips.

He said the latest lockdown was a clear indication that Batswana needed to strictly adhere to COVID-19 protocols adding that they could not freely undertake their daily activities.

Mr Bathobakae Barulaganyi, herd boy at Lesoko cattle post also said it was difficult to source medication and other products from other zones as it was not easy to get permits.

He however was hopeful that the current situation would pass and life would return to normal.

All the herdsmen that BOPA saw in the area wore their masks and water and soap were availed to everyone who had come to the borehole to water their cattle.

Most farmers at Thabala, Mogorosi and Motshegaletau, stated that at first the coronavirus did not really catch their attention, saying they lived on the other side of the world from where it had appeared.

Mr Tau Kgosikoma of Thabala felt terrible about the lives that were being lost and the challenges people were going through but was not concerned about safety. ‘’Now I was overwhelmed with all the changes that were happening,’’ he said. Ends