Kgosi Kgari settles Thamaga bogosi dispute
Mpho Mokwape | Tuesday March 19, 2024 06:00
Kgosi Kgari Sechele's confirmation comes in the wake of the community being divided since the August 2021 demise of Kgosi Gobuamang II as to who was the right person to lead Bakgatla ba ga Mmanaana.
The late Kgosi Gobuamang is survived by three daughters namely Pinky, Bone, and Tebogo, who have faced unprecedented resistance from some of the royal elders in their pursuit to continue their father’s legacy. In a follow-up kgotla meeting on Thursday, Kgosi Kgari announced that the chieftaincy be given to Bone as the late Kgosi Gobuamang’s daughter and the rightful heir. “I have noticed in our previous meeting that the community has been divided as to who is the rightful heir. As for me, I know what the family dynamic is like, as to who comes first and so on.
“That is why I am making the announcement that the Chieftaincy be given to Bone Gobuamang,” he said. Kgosi Kgari Sechele said he had never heard Gobuamang’s daughter express a desire that she wants to give the chieftaincy to his uncle. He pointed out that it is the uncles who are hell-bent on trying to squeeze the throne from her without any agreement.
“This cannot be. If Bone desires for his uncle to be regent to the chieftaincy, she will indicate that and at this very moment, she has never shown that desire,” he said. Kgosi Kgari Sechele emphasised that as per the history book and knowledge, Kgosi Gobuamang II was the firstborn, and it is the norm that when one dies his children are considered for the ascension to the throne before his siblings are considered.
Meanwhile, Kgosi Kgari’s announcement follows a recent Kgotla meeting which he said was prompted by an instruction from the Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development to determine the rightful heir between Bone Gobuamang and Matshego Gobuamang, daughter and brother of the late Kgosi Gobuamang Gobuamang respectively. Bakgatla ba ga Mmanaana attended in good numbers to express their views.
Royal uncles had submitted Matshego’s name to the ministry, while Bone and her sisters Pinky and Tebogo believed the throne belonged to them. In a previous interview, the sisters explained their understanding of the customs and norms of bogosi, emphasising that, as the daughters of the late Kgosi, they had always known that one of them would take over the throne. The sisters said they approached the current acting Kgosi Segale Gobuamang and Bernard Gobuamang at the appropriate moment.
They asserted that both fully endorsed their intentions without displaying signs of resistance or ill intentions. Pinky emphasised that during this conversation, she conveyed to the uncles that, as the eldest daughter and direct successor to the throne, she wouldn’t be assuming the role but rather nominated the second-born, Bone, to be Kgosi.