10 Mar 2021

Saint Teresa of Calcutta (Mother Teresa) once described humility is the mother of all virtues; purity, charity and obedience.

“It is in being humble that our love becomes real, devoted and ardent...”

According to various interpretations, humility is a virtue which centres on low self-preoccupation or unwillingness to put oneself forward.

This seems an apt description of the late Mohumagadi Kwenayagae Sechele who died on March 6 aged 74.

Mmakgari, as she was affectionately known and mother of Bakwena chief, Kgosi Kgari III, will be interred in a royal crypt at Kwa Ntsweng next to her husband, Kgosi Bonewamang Sechele tomorrow.

Bakwena, particularly women, feel robbed of not only a mother but a pillar of strength.

With grief evident on their faces and some shedding a tear, they  reminisced about Mmakgari’s humility and narrated how she positively impacted their lives.

According to those who spoke about her, among them church mates, former colleagues in the teaching profession, friends and family, her life mirrored the description in Philippians 2:3 which says “the humble woman is more concerned about those around her than herself.

She does nothing from selfish ambition or empty conceit, but with humility of mind regards others as more important than herself”.

Others said if one did not know MmaKgari, you would not recognise her in a crowd because she made sure she blended in and did not want to be given special treatment.

They also described her as someone who retained relationships, particularly among family members as well as women she worked or interacted with, she made difficult decisions with ease, she was a good listener and she put other people first.

For her daughter-in-law, Mohumagadi Mma Tumagole, wife to Kgosi Kgari III, Mmakgari was not only her mother-in-law but a friend.

She was meek and down-to-earth, lived a simple life and was welcoming.

The two of them, she said,  worked together on various initiatives or projects during the course of which the deceased would share ideas on developing women as well as the village.

She said MmaKgari had left a legacy that she promised to preserve.

One such collaborative project  was ‘Greening Molepolole’ which entailed planting trees around the village.

They were looking into encouraging women to start planting fruit trees in their homes, she said.

Family spokesperson Kgosi Kgosikwena Sebele, informed mourners during bereavement prayers Tuesday that Mmakgari fell sick on March 5 and was admitted at Scottish Livingstone Hospital where she died the next day.

He said because she died of COVID-19, the tribe would not be able to attend her funeral as was customary.

A funeral befitting a royal person would suggest her body lay in state at the kgotla for the tribe to pay their last respects but that would not be the case, he explained.

He said the family would do everything possible to have it aired on social media for the tribe’s benefit.

Born in Serowe on January 9, 1946, Mma Kgari married the late Kgosi Bonewamang Sechele in 1972 but he died only six years later.

The couple is survived by four children, Kgosi Kgari, Ms Ruth Batshobanyane, Ms Barulaganye Masire and Ms Dintle Keolebogile as well as 10 grandchildren.

As a teacher, she worked in various primary schools in Molepolole including Bokaa Primary School where she retired in 2006.

Her love for the profession was also extended to Sunday school at UCCSA where she worshipped.

MmaKgari led a group of women under the banner of Mokgatlho wa Bahumagadi which encompassed the four main wards of Tshosa, Mokgalo, Ntloedibe and Maunatlala in supporting dikgosana (their husbands) in advocating for Bakwena cultural issues.

She was also involved in the village’s Gender Based Violence Committee which addressed issues affecting both women and men.ENDS