27 Jan 2022

The Bakgatla queen mother, Ms Kathleen ‘MmaSeingwaeng’ Kgafela, has been described as a great woman of valour.

Mourners who spoke  during a memorial service to honour her at the Bakgatla royal home in Mochudi on Wednesday, remembered MmaSeingwaeng as a remarkable woman.

They said she strived to see others succeed, thus touching the lives of many in Kgatleng, especially women, with whom she had great affinity.

Mochudi East MP, Mr Mabuse Pule described her as a unifier, who welcomed everyone to the royal house, and was the pillar of the Bakgatla community as she managed to touch everyone’s life.

Mr Pule encouraged other women to emulate MmaSeingwaeng by supporting each other.

A representative of an organisation that supported Kgatleng District families, children and youth during the ravages of HIV as far back as 1998, ‘Bakgatla Bolokang Matshelo’, Ms Stella Raphotho said the queen mother had a witty character.

She said MmaSeingwaeng, who was part of the group that founded the Bakgatla Bolokang Matshelo, was very optimistic, which optimism made her the pillar of the group. She said the queen mother also gave hope to the many home-based care patients that they supported.

“She had a never despair attitude, faith and hope, believing that there was no room for failure,” she said.

Ms Tebatso Menyatso also described MmaSeingwaeng as a woman with a combination of good qualities, a think tank - who was driven and impassioned to see women prosper.

Ms Menyatso said MmaSeingwaeng taught women, who were in the habit of keeping and giving away their farm produce, to instead sell it to fight poverty, which was indeed a clarion call for most women.

Through her tenacity, MmaSeingwaeng managed to bring together Kgatleng women to initiate empowerment projects, which made them purposeful and financially sound, she said.

“She was able to cascade the resolutions of the famous Beijing Conference here in Kgatleng,” she stressed.

Another speaker, Women High Team representative, Ms Vanilla Modimakwana said MmaSeingwaeng helped them to cherish and preserve the Sekgatla culture across the district, through their unique dress code.

Kgosi Segale Linchwe, who represented Kgatleng Meropa Task force, said through Mmaseingwaeng’s prowess, Bakgatla’s unique earthenware pottery and drums were listed under UNESCO’s intangible cultural heritage list.

Ms Lebogang Malebye of Metlhaetsile group said the queen mother was instrumental in the formation of the organisation, that was meant to help women with their social issues and to realise their rights and capabilities in society.

She said MmaSeingwaeng brought women from Phokeng, South Africa to coach Bakgatla women on how to break the chains of poverty, through empowerment initiatives that made them independent.

She regretted that the group’s mandate was never fully realised, but it remains a constant reminder that women should stand up for themselves.

MmaSeingwaeng, who would be buried at the royal cemetery in Mochudi on Saturday, will remain in the annals’ of Bakgatla as the icon, who saw the best in every one she came into contact with. BOPA