Ausi Dineo needs to buy her husband Dumelang Saleshando shoes!

Keletso Thobega | Tuesday May 13, 2014 16:46

 

The Saleshandos come across as ambitious, civil and dignified. They are also evidently in love. I have seen them hanging out together on several occasions; chatting and laughing. With some couples, you wouldn’t know that they are married; you just hear people saying, kana so-and-so is so-and-so’s husband or wife! Dumi is probably a natural good boy, but I suspect his wife Dineo played a role. A man is as good as the woman by her side. Look at the Obamas. Barack may be a globally respected leader but we all know who really wears the pants in that union. Imagine if he had married some uneducated primitive ghetto hoochy-mama!

Saleshando made an excellent pick when selecting a wife. Dini is smart, pretty, classy and her husband’s biggest cheerleader. She also doesn’t embarrass him. When it comes to marriage, that’s the most important thing to any sensible man...A wife has to be someone you can proudly walk into people with, not only based on her looks, but also confident that she will conduct herself well; be amiable and able to partake in intelligent conversations. She also shouldn’t attract negative attention.

Even if she berates, or reprimands you, it must be in private. Public show-downs are a no–no. Dini and her types, are a breathe of fresh air, in an era where “modern” married women think nothing of dragging their husband’s names through the mud, airing their dirty laundry or taking their shenanigans to newspapers, while others openly cheat on or compete with their husbands.

Saleshando’s campaigns are usually quite interesting; well-thought out and intelligent. The alternative and opposing voice you would take seriously, even if you don’t agree with them. While his wife is often behind the scenes, it appears this year she has decided to be more visible to the public. About two weeks ago Dini wrote an article for a local newspaper praising her husband. She shared tit bits about her husband, convincing us why Dumi can lead our country.

This affirmative article was a delightful read. I enjoyed it until I got to the part where she mentioned that when she met him, Dumi had one pair of shoes. She continued to insinuate that he still wore one pair of shoes. Uhu! Maybe she took advantage of the fact that we won’t trek to their home and fling the cupboards open? She may have been trying to drive home the point that Dumi is selfless but politics of “selflessness” don’t work here.

Batswana are materialistic and sometimes shallow. If they hear a politician has one pair of shoes, they are going to laugh at him. They won’t consider that it’s by choice; some of our people suffer systematic thinking; they think their perception of life, is shared by everyone. Remember that Kenya official’s wife who was put to task when her husband was sported wearing socks with holes in them? Aha! It may have seemed like a trivial matter but some people take these things seriously. Feminists were up in arms and infuriated but that’s just how it is.

Being a wife comes with responsibilities you aren’t taught in school...Like sometimes being stuck with a co-dependent, partly potty-trained entity who leaves a dirt ring in the bath tub. One might wonder if that Kenyan didn’t notice that his socks have holes, or what if he wanted fresh air? Whatever the case, once a woman commits to a man she has a duty to care for him and always ensure that he is presentable.  If a man is unkempt or tardy, his wife will be judged as a bad wife. With that in mind Dini should do what Masitara did and say she was joking. We city people may get her point but once it reaches the rural areas, ko teng-nyana kwa, it would have changed.

They will say, gatwe moeteldipele wa BCP ga a na ditlhako! Also, knowing our people’s habit of copying, the next thing other politicians will ask their wives and baby-mamas to write articles praising them. Seeing how they politicians like to outdo one another, we might read strange claims of how one eats a single meal per day, how another has one pair of socks, or God forbid, how yet another wears one pair of briefs!