09 Mar 2022

Some people are born leaders, while some learn how to lead overtime.

Kgosi Gokgathang Moalosi of Sankoyo, a small village in the North West District, close to Moremi Game Reserve and the mighty Okavango Delta, is arguably a born leader.

Among his many leadership traits is charisma, jolliness, haaving his peoples’ interests at heart.

Through these virtues, Kgosi Moalosi has always played a key role in driving developments such as a primary school, a health post and tribal offices in Sankoyo.

Those who are not close to ‘Tymax’, as he is affectionately known; view him as a dictator, because he does not believe in failure and does not expect others to.

They describe him as a smart leader, who is always eager to help and ensure the improvement of his community’s livelihoods.

Ms Leuba Galebonwe, who is the vice chairperson of Sankoyo Tshwaragano Management Trust attests to Kgosi Moalosi being instrumental in driving village developments and ensuring that members of the community have dignified lives.

Ms Galebonwe, who started working with  Kgosi Moalosi in 2005, said, in a recent interview, that the gentleman has distinguished himself as a true leader, who believes in perfection and will always set the tone and bring an attitude that motivates public servants and community leaders to work hard.

Kgosi, she said, plays a key role in motivating and guiding others.

He facilitates the problem-solving and decision-making processes innovatively to benefit the community.

She recalls that residents benefited from village electrification because of Kgosi Moalosi’s efforts, as he was always vocal in every District Development Plan consultative meetings.

Kgosi Moalosi’s friend and a cousin, Mr William Dikgosana concurred that Tymax was indeed a born leader, saying he was not only extremely intelligent, but always endeavoured for perfection in everything they did together in their childhood.

Mr Dikgosana says Kgosi Moalosi has made a weighty contribution towards the implementation of developments in his village.

Because of his capabilities, Kgosi Moalosi has held high posts in different tourism companies, where he worked as a supervisor and manager, he revealed.

Kgosi Moalosi strongly believes that developments need the combined efforts of all and that good things can be achieved when people join hands and work together.

He revealed that he had created a conducive environment and an ‘open door policy’ for all public servants to report to him on their achievements and failures as well as challenges they meet at work.

He has clearly communicated his vision to motivate those around him in order for them to work toward a common goal.

Kgosi Moalosi has a clear vision for the village and to achieve that, he ensures that public servants and other community leaders are kept on their toes to deliver services as expected.

He explained that when he took office in 1999, his vision was to see the dusty village of Sankoyo developed and members of the community living dignified lives.

His dream, he said, was also to help the community to benefit from the Community Based Natural Resource Management (CBNRM) programme, which aims at achieving biodiversity conservation and rural development, especially improved rural livelihoods.

Kgosi Moalosi said people should understand that dikgosi’s role was not only to settle disputes, but they had the responsibility to drive developments and help improve the well-being of their communities.

He said he prided himself in that the community understood his vision, as they always ensured ‘things get done’.

He recalls that five years back, he received a report from health officials that some members of the community were reluctant to test for HIV and he convened a kgotla meeting to explain the importance of testing.

After the meeting, he led the testing campaign because he wanted to practice what he preached and the majority of villagers have now developed interest in testing.

Kgosi Moalosi said he also made it easy for his team to stay focused, feel safe to speak up and confidently share their challenges, so that they could join hands to find solutions.

He is of the view that when team members feel personally and professionally fulfilled, they are more effective and more likely to produce great work.

He said he did not easily take ‘no’ for an answer and if he was not happy with something, he engaged relevant departments.

He is also time conscious, thanks to his many years of working in the tourism industry.

“I have decided to apply the concept in my village to instill the spirit of accountability, responsibility and urgency in every activity undertaken,” he said.

Kgosi Moalosi said he had created a strong bond between public servants and the community as they always discussed matters of concern and come up with interventions.

The partnership, he said, was working wonders, citing the sterling performance of the village primary school.

He also revealing that all key partners in the education sector were involved.

In the 2021 Primary School Leaving Examinations, Sankoyo Primary School obtained 100 per cent overall pass. It was among the top 10 schools in the country and in position one in the North West District.

Kgosi Moalosi also said criminal activities in the village had been reduced through teamwork, while the village clinic was recently refurbished through collaboration between an investor, health officials and the village leadership to ensure the community accessed quality  health services close by.

Previously, residents accessed health services in the nearby villages such as Shorobe and Mababe

“Currently I am pushing for the community benefits from the Community Based Natural Resource Management programme.

I want to see them [com munity members] benefit economically from the resource management and lead dignified lives,” he added. ENDS