Kgafela to miss another 'ancestral' May 21 deadline
Innocent Selatlhwa | Wednesday May 20, 2026 06:00
Sekai would not be dragged into discussing why Kgafela could not make it this year, only stating that it was what the Kgosikgolo had told him.
On December 11, 2024, Kgafela virtually addressed Bakgatla, who gathered in large numbers at the Mochudi Kgotla. He celebrated the downfall of the Botswana Democratic Party (BDP) and said he was happy that he would now be able to visit Botswana before the date he had announced in May 2024. At the time, he had said he would return in 2030.
Kgafela said he would visit Botswana, as he is a citizen of both countries, and would come and go as he wishes.
“The intention is to return on May 21, 2025, and go to the kgotla before visiting the graves of my parents and then going to my house, which I left on May 21, 2012.
“The 21st has been set by the ancestors, and I can't come on any other day than May 21. Because I left the country with people baying for my blood on May 21, 2012. It has been 12 years since I left,” he said then.
However, Kgafela said at the time that the condition for his return was that the new government pass a certain law to ensure he arrived without being bothered by anyone.
“The law must state that, as the new government, they respect Kgafela as Bakgatla Kgosikgolo and not Kgosi. That law must be made between January and April 2025, and I will definitely arrive,” he said ahead of his then return, billed for May 21, 2025, which failed.
Kgafela further said he had written to the new government, congratulating them on their victory, and pleaded with them to pass a law allowing his return.
He was, however, confident that nothing would stop him, adding that if there were any challenges, he would postpone the return by a year, as long as the day would be May 21 of that year.
Kgafela’s spokesperson, Lebogang Maname, speaking to this publication after the return failed last year, said Kgafela II wrote letters to the government and also sent delegations to attend the inaugurations of the current president.
'He sent the other delegation also to meet with the Justice minister, but unfortunately, the government made promises which they didn't fulfil due to reasons known to them, which we respect,” he said.
It is not clear what could have stopped Kgafela this time; however, there are indications that, besides a battle he is currently waging against his uncle, Kgosi Nyalala Pilane, for the throne in South Africa, issues between him and the government have not been ironed out.
In December 2025, Minister Ketlhalefile Motshegwa of Local Government and Traditional Affairs told Bakgatla that charges against Kgafela had been dropped and that he was free to return home.
Addressing Bakgatla in Mochudi, Motshegwa said the decision follows discussions with Kgosi Bana Sekai on the circumstances surrounding Kgosi Kgafela’s long absence.
However, Director of Public Prosecutions Kgosietsile Ngakaagae, during a media briefing, said there was no way charges against Kgafela could be dropped before there was reconciliation.
“Kgafela’s issue resolution depends purely on reconciliation. If there is no reconciliation, we will prosecute him once he returns to Botswana,” he said.