29 May 2023

Batswana have been advised to embrace some cultural practices that have the potential to mould them into responsible citizens.

Speaking during cultural day celebration at Ketlogetswe Primary School in Kanye recently, Former Minister of Agriculture, Mr Patrick Ralotsia explained that culture was a way of life that guided people on how to lead responsible lives.

He said it was therefore important to impart cultural knowledge to new generations, noting that employing some of the practices would decrease most of the social ills in the country.

Themed: Our Culture, Our Heritage, the event showcased  different cultural products and practices.

“In the past, children were raised by the community but that is not the case today. Children understood that they could be disciplined by any parent in the community if found engaging in unacceptable behaviour and that was a positive way of grooming future responsible leaders,” he added.

Today, he said, children were only disciplined by their parents and to a certain extent.

He said culturally, everything was done for a good cause, citing as an example, selecting wives for sons as it was done in the past, adding that a lot was taken into consideration such as conduct of the chosen wife and the kind of family she was from.

“This was done to select the best possible wife for the son, who would assist him build a responsible prosperous family,” he said.

The former minister said if culture was to be revived, he would like to see corporal punishment returned, adding that prisons would not be full as some inmates were locked up for petty crimes.

“In some of the cases, corporal punishment should be administered to avoid sending such offenders to prison. When they get to prison, they are mixed with hardened criminals and upon their release they would have learnt from such criminals,” he added.

Senior teacher, Sports and Culture at the school, Ms Maitseo Tamajobe highlighted that the purpose of the event was to revive culture, impart and instil knowledge to learners and the community at large.

“The event also intended to share different cultures in Botswana. Some practices are the same while others are different. It is therefore vital to understand different local cultures as that would avoid conflicts during interactions of people from different cultures,” she said.

Kgosi David Kerekang of Mafhikana ward said the day was very important as a remembrance of how the past generations lived and to teach the new generations about the importance of culture.

Kgosi Kgabosebele Kgatlane of Gakebuang ward said the importance of the day was to revive culture, that the people abandoned hence increased social ills.

“Today, we have children with unruly behaviour, they control us and there is nothing we can do since we no longer practice our culture. We are focusing on foreign cultures where children could not be disciplined by corporal punishment as that is regarded as abuse,” he said.

He said it was therefore important to go back to the drawing board and retain some of our cultural practices which could assist in building a prosperous nation that other countries could look up to.

Kgosi Kgatlane thanked the organisers of the event, noting that such was a good platform to teach the youth about culture. ENDS