'Face to face with the man who tried to kill me'
Sharon Mathala | Wednesday February 4, 2026 09:36
Bakganedi, mother of two, and the man accused of assaulting her, Tebo Molebeledi, had lived together for 11 years and have one child between them, an eight-year-old girl, who now lives in fear. She is currently without both of her parents, as one is in prison, whilst the other is in Gaborone, in and out of the hospital.
In the courtroom, with its stiff silence and formal language, Bakganedi says she was not ready to face him, but she had no choice. She had been called to testify, to explain why he should not be granted bail.
When The Monitor team visited her at her home over the weekend, Bakganedi was still emotionally recovering from the court appearance. The physical signs of what she survived are hard to miss. A large scar sits at the back of her head, an imprint of the day her life would drastically change. She is still unable to walk properly to work because of the injuries she sustained, her life feels like it has been placed on pause, and painful in ways that are both physical and emotional.
Her story begins with what sounded like an ordinary invitation. Last September, she says her then-boyfriend, Molebeledi, invited her and her siblings for a braai session at his village, not far from where she lives. They joined the braai, unaware of what lay ahead. After the braai, the group decided to continue the day by going to watch a local football tournament. It was meant to be a relaxed outing, but Bakganedi says a simple request changed the mood.
“Whilst there, he asked me if I could accompany him so he could change cars. I refused and asked him to go get the car and find us by the football ground, which would be my worst mistake,” she recalled as her voice shook.
She said when he returned, he was visibly angry about her refusal to accompany him. The anger, she explained, was familiar, the kind that makes her calculate her words and measure movements because she had endured physical abuse from him before.
“When he returned with the other car, he refused to let me go with them, so instead of arguing with him because I know how he gets when angry, I decided to head for the bus stop to catch a ride,” she shared.
Her siblings followed her to the bus stop, hoping to catch a ride together. But he followed too. Bakganedi said she remembered exchanges of words, then a sudden, violent moment that erased everything.
“After a few exchanges, I honestly don’t know what happened. He hit me with something strong on my head, and I fell to the ground and fainted. I woke up at the hospital two weeks later,” she said.
For two weeks, her family did not know whether she would survive, whether she would wake up, whether the woman they knew had already been taken away. She was in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU). For Bakganedi, waking up was not the end of the ordeal. It was the beginning of a new life shaped by pain and limitations. She says she can no longer do the things she used to do for herself. The independence she once had has been replaced by dependence. Her sick leave at work has elapsed, and she worries about what happens when a survivor’s healing does not fit into the timelines of employment policies and daily responsibilities.
Her children have also not been spared. Bakganedi said the painful part is not only what happened to her, but what her children now live with, and the questions are too heavy to carry for their age.
“The painful part is that my children are afraid of this man. They tell me all the time that they don’t want him to come back to our lives,” she said.
The man has since been charged with assault occasioning actual bodily harm, but Bakganedi and her family say the charge does not match the violence she survived. To them, this was not a simple assault, but it was an attempt on her life. Her brother, Osiile Katai, said the family is deeply disappointed by what they see as a justice system that is failing to treat the case with the seriousness it deserves.
“As a family, we are disappointed with the system. They even charged him with assault. To us, this is attempted murder. This should be a harsher charge,” he said.
Katai added that what troubles them further is what they describe as a lack of urgency and thoroughness in the police response and investigation. He claims that on the day of the incident, the suspect was not even handcuffed. He recounts a chilling series of events after Bakganedi collapsed.
“Remember, after assaulting her, the sisters cried for help. They then put my sister inside the car and drove to the police station. When he got there, he told the police that he had killed someone, but the police told him that they do not receive dead bodies, but rather that he should take the body to the clinic. We all thought she was dead,” he said.
The family alleged that even the weapon used to strike Bakganedi has never been recovered, something they believe points to an incomplete investigation. They said this deepens their sense of being failed, not only by the violence itself but by the process meant to protect survivors and hold perpetrators accountable.
Adding to their fear is that the accused has been calling them even from inside prison. Katai said the calls have left the family terrified of what could happen if bail is granted.
“If he were able to access a phone inside prison and contact us, what more can he do when he is outside? My sister will not be safe at all,” he said.
The family could not contain their fears and tears when they shared their story; their only hope is for the law to take its course. WATCH THE VIDEO INTERVIEW ON MMEGI FACEBOOK PAGE