Molapowabojang turns 100
Chippa Legodimo | Friday March 28, 2014 15:04
This year marks the village’s 100 years of existence. Although the merciless conqueror of the Mfecane era inhabited the area a lot earlier than the village came into being, this piece of history will forever remain part of it.
Just two kilometres north of the village, across the road from Kanye to Lobatse stands a small hill called Mosenekatse - a name derived from Mzilikazi. It was here that a group of Amandebele under the leadership of Mzilikazi sought temporary shelter. The hill is strategically located and the Zulu break away group stayed at its top to spot the enemy from a distance.
The effects of Mzilikazi’s conquest are well documented in various history journals and other media. He only did not take possession of his victims’ cattle. He also incorporated some of the captives into his group to enlarge his nation.
Interestingly verbal accounts in Molapowabojang reluctantly point to losses suffered during that time and that “he stayed atop that hill before he proceeded up north”. Physical evidence of human habitation is demonstrated by some old merako (stone kraals) on some parts of the hill. The area is now protected under the national monuments act by the national museum and art gallery.
The modern history of events, which led to the birth of the village are as interesting as Mzilikazi’s occupation of the area.
Oral accounts indicate that in 1914 the Bangwaketse ruler Kgosi Seepapitso III, worried about the Boers’ encroaching into his Ga-Ngwaketse territory, sent four brothers to guard the land.
Initially five men from Ga-Sebako in Kanye, Pitso, Pitsonyane, Ratsoma, Kekopakgomo and Kebakuele were identified. It is, however, reported that Pitso died before the expedition could commence hence his son Mpapalla accompanied his uncles in 1914. The area they settled in was initially called Ga-Mogatsa Suwe, according to chief representative Michael Ratsoma. Because they were all sons of Letshabo, they decided to name the new settlement Goo-Raletshabo. The five men identified a stream on the southern part of the village where they would draw water for survival. This river later came to be called Molapowabojang.
Mpapalla and Kebakuele later returned to Kanye. At the time the stubborn Boers would use every opportunity to stamp their authority and greedily capture the available land. It is interesting that Seepapitso III had the confidence that five men were enough to secure such a vast piece of land against the Boers known for using their guns recklessly during those years.
“I believe my grand parents were very tactical in approaching this issue because there were no reports of bloodshed or conflict between them and the Boers. They succeeded in keeping them away. The whites were moving from the south and wanted to incorporate land belonging to Batswana,” Ratsoma told Arts & Culture.
Ratsoma is proud of his forefathers’ achievements saying, “Marope a bagale a bonwa ka melora (Great men leave behind a good legacy)”.
The Mosenekatse hill and the Molapowabojang river are perhaps two most prominent monuments in the village. But there is another hill of historical significance in the village. Located on the eastern side and overlooking the village cemetery, Chichi hill looks like just about any other geographical feature. Yet it could have a significant history. Many of the elders in the village fail to make the connection between the hill and the naming of the junior secondary school (Chichi Hill) in the village.
One elder has remarked that the name Chichi is Ndebele, according to him translating to fast. Ndebele meaning fast is rather Chicha.
Ratsoma said, “I believe it is also of some historical significance, I do not think naming the school was just random”. From 1914 the village’s population has grown from merely five men to a record 9,500 people. It boasts two primary schools and secondary school among other infrastructural developments. In fact, it is rated as the third biggest village in the southern district after Kanye and Moshupa, respectively. “The first store was established in 1950 by Sebetso Letshabo and still remains today. In 1959 the first school built by the tribe through voluntary service, was completed with a big thatched gaise,” Ratsoma said.
The Letshabo dynasty and its influence became stronger as the villager grew hence the first teacher at the school was one Loratang Letshabo.
Three more classes were built later. The institution was later taken over by government with the establishment of the modern Molapowabojang Primary School. Education was key in the development of the village and as the population grew anther school named Pitsonyane was later built.
The high number of students graduating from these schools necessitated for the establishment of Chichi Hill Junior Secondary School later in the ‘80s. “We should all be proud of the legacy left behind by those five men. We should also be proud of the way we held on and carried the baton forward in their demise and above all Molapowabojang has played a big role in keeping the marauding Boers from taking more land from Batswana,” Ratsoma said. On August 30, the village kgotla or Goo-Raletshabo as it is popularly known, is expected to be abuzz with action as guests from afar field, personalities and residents will be celebrating the village’s centenary.
This history will be narrated, old traditional Tswana songs sang in jubilation and poems recited to give the day its true meaning.
“We are lucky to have reached this milestone and we need to share it with the whole country and perhaps even other tribes from outside. We have not yet sent out invitations, but after all stakeholders like Kgosi Malope II and others are consulted, we would then be able to roll out the same programme,” Ratsoma said.