13 Jan 2014

Grootlagte is a typical rural settlement situated far from modernity in western Botswana, some distance of 86 kilometers from Ghanzi Township.

The small village is home to 850 mainly Basarwa people who generally eke out a living by humble means. Not-so-fanciful donkey and horse carts are common means of transport within and out of the small village, which makes it a unique place in this day and era of fashionable automobiles.

Those who are not blessed enough to own a cart are not worried; at least they have their own donkeys and horses to ride from one place to another, and thus life goes on. Walking long distances is also a bold and integral part of life here. And as the residents move about care freely, they seem not perturbed by what is happening around them, and one gets the impression that they are the kind of people who mind their own business.

Strangely, there is not a single bar or Chibuku depot in Grootlagte, something that is a common feature in every village around the country. And the residents say a homebrew known locally as tjontjobina has become just what the doctor has ordered for those who take alcohol.   Imbibers usually swam any place where tjontjobina would have been brewed to guzzle the traditional beer and interact freely. Frequenting tjontjobina holes is so certain for some of these people that it is now an important aspect of their lives.

Blasts of music are always available to add flavour to the excursions and at the height of any feast dancing and chattering are let loose as revelers outdo each other on the dancing ground generating clouds of dust. Yet peace and calmness always prevail as the guzzlers dance passionately and Sergeant Ditiro Kejele of Grootlagte Police Post has attributed this to the fact that Grootlagte is a place of peace and joy.

“Alcohol related problems are very minimal in this area,” he says, adding that crime rates are incredibly low in the village, and this is possibly owing to the absence of bars here. He says police in villages that team with bars and depots have sleepless nights because they have to deal with all kinds of alcohol related problems such as fighting and disorderliness.

“Grootlagte is peaceful and this makes it unique,” says the police sergeant, adding that the only problem they used to encounter was the selling of alcohol beyond stipulated hours by home brewers. “But now they comply,” he confirms with a stress-free facial expression.

“All they want is peace, and even if there can be squabbles during a tjontjobina feasting, such misunderstandings never reach the police because they would always be addressed at family level,” proclaims Sergeant Kejele.

He says this year no serious offence was recorded. “In fact, the last major offence was a rape incident in 2010, and the culprit is serving ten years behind bars,” he adds with a grin.

Amid this tolerant atmosphere, the police have chosen not to bask in the bygone glory; as such they have seized the opportunity to protect and maintain the remarkable record they have built. He says they have engaged clusters to teach the community on crime prevention strategies because there is always the need to impart new strategies.

“We are particularly targeting those involved in home brewing with the new prevention strategies,” he says.

Ms Kaenanyame Qushe, 47, is one of the tjontjobina brewers. She says brewers cooperate with the police because they do not want any fights in their homes.

“I do not sell at night because that is the time when drinkers often start fighting,” adds the mother of seven children who also takes care of three orphans.

The beer seller says she is in the process of obtaining a license to start the first ever formal depot in the village to sell modern alcohol. “And will not soil the peace that prevails at Grootlaagte even after acquiring a depot license,” she says. The responsibility to safeguard peace in the settlement lies with each and every resident including alcohol dealers, she asserts.

“In my opinion alcohol should serve to lighten up community moments and where it incites violence, it is not acceptable,” concludes Qushe.  ENDS