25 Apr 2022

Macheng area residents want the constitution to recognise them as Bangologa and not Bakgalagadi.

According to their representative at a consultative meeting held by the Presidential Commission of Inquiry into the Review of the Constitution in Hukuntsi on Monday, their area should then be named Ngologa and be detached from the greater Kgalagadi region.

In an interview later, Mr Phodiso Mokgethe explained that while the Macheng area, which comprised Hukuntsi, Lehututu, Lokgwabe and Tshane, was home to related tribal sub-groupings, the Bangologa were the most dominant hence the area should be named after them.

On whether that would not perpetuate the tribal inequality that some minority tribes were complaining of in different parts of the country, Mr Mokgethe indicated that contrary to what was happening in other areas where he alleged major tribes had forcefully subdued other tribes, theirs was a case of unparalleled peaceful co-existence.

“This area (the Macheng area) has been characterised by peaceful co-existence.

We have discussed this as the four villages and it is our resolution as the different tribes that live together in the area that we should identify as Bangologa and our area be called Ngologa,” he explained.

Further, Mr Mokgethe stated that originally the people residing in the Kgalagadi area were not called Bakgalagadi but the name was used to demean residents as it was associated with servitude.

“Leina le re ntse re le amogela fela ka meno a maleele, ga le re fe seriti gotlhelele ka gore gantsi le dirisiwa go sotla le go supa bolata le nyenyafatso. It diminishes; it devalues; it belittles our identity as a tribe in Botswana, therefore were request for the protection of the law against this,” he said. Raising a different issue, Mr Mokgethe advocated for the customary court system to be made similar to that of the common law courts.

He said it was amiss for cases from the Customary Court of Appeal to end up being referred to the High Court.

Kgosi Merapelo Tshweneyagae had earlier indicated how it did not auger well that after being heard by the Customary Court of Appeal, appellants had to turn to common law by seeking further recourse at the High Court.

“Fa go duwa mo lekgotleng la Setswana la boikuelo, go iwa kwa High Court kwa melaong ya Sekgoa, jaanong ra re a melao e ya Sekgoa le ya Setswana e lekalekane.

Dikgosi di itse molao wa Setswana go gaisa baatlhodi ba High Court,” he said, indicating how due to their sound understanding of customary law, dikgosi were better placed to hear appeals from the lower structures of the customary courts system. Representative for Zutshwa, Mr Motshobedi Matlakala suggested that murder suspects be denied legal representation as lawyers often helped them escape the hangman’s noose.

On whether that would not be tantamount to trampling on their right to a free and fair trial, Mr Matlakala said the residents’ view was that murder was a serious offence against which stringent measures needed to be put into place.

From Maake, Mr Samuel Motlhaope proposed that the appointment of the secretary to the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) should be done by the Judicial Service Commission instead of the president.

This, he said would enhance public confidence in the position and ensure that its holder discharged their mandate for the public good and not for the pleasure of the president.

Mr Motlhaope indicated further that the date for the general elections should be determined by the IEC and that it should be communicated at least two months prior.

Mr Poitshego Kumako spoke against same-sex marriages and asked that those seeking to be allowed to engage in such be subjected to the death penalty.

He said same-sex relations were a taboo and should not be allowed to take root in society. Similarly condemning same-sex relations, Mr Lesedi Mothibamele said as it was shunned even by the Bible, the practice should be abhorred and should not find place in society.

Mr Mothibamele spoke in opposition of calls for the direct election of the president, saying the practice was likely to breed dictatorships in the case in which the majority of

Members of Parliament were not from the same political formation as the president. ENDS