Thamaga royal daughters fiercely fight for throne
Mpho Mokwape | Tuesday May 16, 2023 06:00
Thamaga royal daughters of the late Kgosi Gobuamang Gobuamang have faced unprecedented resistance from some of the royal elders just as they got ready to take over their father’s throne in the hope of continuing his legacy like he had envisioned for them before his demise in August 2021.
Following numerous media reports of the turmoil about the rightful heir, The Monitor caught up with the three sisters who are referred to as the ‘legitimate’ heirs to the village’s chieftainship. Pinky, Bone, and Tebogo Gobuamang opened up about the many glass ceilings they have faced since the day they indicated to the royal elders that they are ready to take their father’s throne.
“We have lived with the belief that one day one of us will finally ascend to the throne following the passing of our father, but we have never imagined we will be here today facing any resistance,” they state. Setting the mood and opening the interview, Pinky, the eldest of the three and a direct successor to the throne appears very calm and composed as she narrates how it has been since the passing of their father. Pinky explained that as the daughters of the late Kgosi, they have always known that there will be a time when she will take over the throne as per the customs and norms of bogosi.
“As the eldest, there has always been an expectation for me to take over and that time came five months after the passing of our father. Realising that it was time, me and my sisters called our uncles to tell them of our intention to take over the throne,” she said.
She said they called the current acting Kgosi Segale Gobuamang and Bernard Gobuamang who she said fully supported their intentions without showing any sign of resistance or ill intention. Pinky also pointed out that in that conversation she told the uncles that as the eldest daughter and direct successor to the throne, she won’t be taking over but instead elect the second born, Bone to be Kgosi.
“My uncle Segale who was our father’s assistant at the kgotla was also in agreement with us and only requested that we wait until our mother completes her mourning period and the cleansing to be done first, though we did not understand why since our mother was not part of bogosi and rights of the next heir have always been performed even during the mourning period. We still agreed to wait,” Pinky said.
Pinky in a saddening tone said after the mourning period for their father, two months down the line they lost their mother which forced them to retreat for a while on taking the throne as they wanted to mourn and heal first. She narrated that to their surprise, during that period, the uncles called them and informed them about a scheduled meeting in around November 2022. “That first meeting, Kgosi Kgabosetso Mosielele of Moshupa was heading the meeting and to our surprise, we were told that our uncle will be the one to take over the throne. They just came to inform us as it seemed that the decision was taken in our absence,” Pinky said. Chipping in, Bone, the second daughter and the elected heir to the throne said they were taken by surprise as they were never called before that announcement and that the villagers were also never consulted.
She noted that being told about the next heir when they have already indicated their intention to take over the throne gave them a clue of what lay ahead. Pinky added that they noticed that the fact that they were all women was used as a tool to deter them from ascending to the throne that belonged to their father. The last born, Tebogo said that acting Kgosi Segale was the one in that meeting who clearly said, "Mosadi ga a kake a etelela morafe pele ka ga a na Mophato." She said this prompted them to ask their uncle Bernard why he said he would give them support during their initial meeting to which he responded that at the time it was not a proper meeting therefore he was just having a mere conversation.
The sisters in agreement said during that meeting they told the elders that they will not agree to their announcement and that being women will not be used against them. “They blatantly told us Bakgatla do not want a female leader, to which we responded that we will want to hear from them as they had not been consulted yet,” the trio said.
The sisters said that’s where the back and forth with the tribal elders aroused but without any doubt, they fiercely pointed out that they will not allow anyone to deny them what is rightfully theirs.
“Lantlha ba rile re basadi, yare re kopa thuso ko go Rre Uyapo Ndadi a bo a ba kwalela ke ga batla ka kgang jaanong ya gore Bone o monnye. Ga ba bona re sa dumalane, a bo ba re bogosi jwa Thamaga ga bo jewe boswa. Ka gore re basadi ba akantse gore re tla itlhoboga a bo re tlogela bogosi, mme seo ga se se re tsileng go se dira,” vowed the sisters.