A requiem for MK
Isaac Mabiletsa | Monday April 15, 2024 06:00
‘MK’ was such a principled political giant who was extremely down to earth and humble. He was well read and scholarly especially in the area of politics.
He was also a true revolutionary and patriotic of our beloved Republic of Botswana. In 1995, Dingake, and legislators Thebe David Mogami, Modibedi Robi (late) and I were privileged to go on a three-week study tour to learn about the American democratic system, under the sponsorship of the USAID. Our tour took us to Washington DC, Harrisberg, Pennsylvania, North Carolina Raleigh, Sacramento and San Francisco in California.
Each state we visited, we toured its legislative assembly and were briefed about the democracy and legislation systems.
It was a mixture of business and leisure. In Washington DC and San Francisco, we did a lot of walking to go and catch either a train or cable car for shopping or move to our next business appointment under the escort of our dedicated tour guide, a certain Paul Rappapour. ‘MK’ proved to have very strong stamina in walking.
He had brought his walking shoes and the adventure was quite an eye-opening tour. Whilst vice president of the BNF, I was the party treasurer generally serving in its central committee whilst Dr Kenneth Koma was the BNF president. I learnt a lot in terms of leadership and management skills from comrade Dingake because he was a shrewd administrator. He was also a no-nonsense person whilst at the same time, he was soft-spoken. He was also skilled as a writer as he regularly contributed a column in the Mmegi newspaper.
He wrote very good articles in both politics and economics. MK has rubbed shoulders with some of the prominent South African politicians whom he was incarcerated with on Robben Island during Apartheid South Africa, including the late Nelson Mandela and many others. He played a crucial part in the democratisation of South Africa after spending 15 years on Robben Island as an African National Congress (ANC) activist. When former SA president Mandela visited Botswana for the first time after his release from Robben Island, MPs were at the Sir Seretse Khama International Airport parading to welcome him.
The occasion turned out to be a happy encounter between Mandela and Dingake. Mandela happily addressed Dingake with his moniker MK as they hugged each other with great joy and excitement as former Robben Island colleagues. Privately, when I had taken holiday to Cape Town with my family in 2010, we had an excursion visiting Robben Island and were shown prison cells of both Mandela and Dingake.
That was quite a rewarding experience. I personally felt privileged and honoured to serve with Rre Dingake in various capacities in politics and in Parliament. Oh, what an honour serving with this amazing man, ‘MK’. I will forever miss his charming character and humility. May his soul rest in eternal peace. Hamba kahle ‘MK’!