20 Oct 2022

Patayamatebele in the North East District will be a beehive of activity tomorrow as Catholic pilgrims descend into the village on a spiritual journey to touch base with the ruins the church abandoned in 1884.

There is a narrative that Patayamatebele, located about 81 kilometres from Francistown and with a population of over 500 inhabitants, was at some point cradle of the gold rush in Southern Africa before the discovery of the gold and mining boom in South Africa.

So popular were the gold mines in the tiny village, also referred to as Old Tati, that some Europeans termed the place; The Mines of Solomon who the scripture describes as amongst the richest people to have ever lived.

Father Monnamongwe Letsatle relayed in an interview recently that the idea to start the annual pilgrimage was birthed in 1999 after  church members were made aware about the history of the  Roman Catholic Church in Botswana.

However, the church held its first spiritual excursion in 2016.

The arrival of the church in Patayamatebele, according to Father Letsatle, followed the Vatican church’s mission to evangelise the southern hemisphere in 1877 where a group of Catholic priests was put together and sent to the then Bechuanaland.

As was common then, the 11 missionaries called the Zambezi missionaries reached Shoshong, the then capital of Bangwato in 1879 where they introduced themselves to Kgosi Khama III and his siblings.

However, Khama the Great, a Christian himself, felt a sizeable chunk of his tribal territory was adequately evangelised by groups of missionaries from other denominations and gave the ‘new group’ green light to traverse further north. 

The journey landed the 11 in Patayamatebele where they settled the same year.This is where the priests started a mission and dedicated it to Mary; something that Father Letsatle attributed to the peace and tranquillity that Botswana continued to enjoy to this day.

The mission served settlers and people who worked in the gold mine. A school, christened Our Lady of Good Hope was also established.

The place is imbued with history about the establishment of the setting up of first Roman Catholic Church in Botswana and there are ruins that have been established such as burial sites of the two priests who pioneered the church in Patayamatebele namely Fathers Fuchs and Anthony de Wet.

“Father Fuchs was the first to die of unknown ailment and his successor Father Anthony de Wet passed on shortly thereafter after falling off the horse mount,” Father Letsale stated, adding all these together with the burial sites of the first Motswana Catechist made the pilgrimage worthwhile and a perfect destination for a spiritual retreat.

All these sites, he said, were identified courtesy of assistance from the department of tourism as well as the National Museum and Art Gallery.

Unfortunately, the church has had a two-year hiatus without engaging in this spiritual journey due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

“The pilgrimage has brought a lot of spiritual revival and growth and we had mind-boggling testimonies of healings from pilgrims in the past,” he said, adding they expected between 3 000 to 5 000 people to embark on the spiritual excursion. ENDS