The man of Zola bridge
Nnasaretha Kgamanyane | Monday September 22, 2014 16:58
Some say the skinny middle-aged ‘Zola’ bridge man has been occupying this spot for close to 10 years.
Tales about his loitering are as legendary as the man himself. Some alleged he lost his marbles after killing a girl in a passion killing rage, and was thus bewitched by the deceased’s family. His family denies this.
In fact the man who loiters around the Old Naledi bridge has never killed anyone in his life. The family explains that Mosala’s loitering is as a result of the psychological effects of losing his mother as a child.
It would seem the bridge, the place where as a child Mosala would wait for his mother to come and take him by the hand and walk home, has become a spiritual home. It would seem it is a place his ‘lost’ mind symbolically represents his mother’s presence, love and care. They say it is like when under the bridge, he is taken back to his childhood and relives the mother’s nurturing.
His brother Akanyang Teko explained that they have tried everything to take Mosimanegape away from under the bridge. They have in the past taken him to places like Thamaga and Jwaneng, to keep him away from the bridge, but the very next day, he would be back, standing at the Old Naledi bridge in the mornings, until late at night.
Akanyang suspects that Mosimanegape is acting strangely because he was their last-born child, and was still very young when their mother passed away.
Akanyang opined that lack of parental love and care could have caused his brother to “wait” for their mother to come and take him home.
The man’s uncle, Kabelo Senwamere said Mosala was a normal child and only started acting weird after his mother died, over 35 years ago.
“We have taken him to the psychiatric hospital where we were told that there was nothing that could be done as part of his brain was affected by excessive drug use. Even though he is given medication the situation does not change. He keeps on going back to the bridge,” said Senwamere.
He said while they try take care of Mosala, by providing clothes, food and shelter, their efforts to convince him to stay home have not borne fruit. He added that Mosala sometimes refuses to bath or change his clothes.
“One of the things that makes him return to the bridge is that people give him money. We appeal to the public to stop giving him money as he doesn’t use it for anything useful but buys alcohol and cigarettes,” he added.
Teko explained that his brother has lost his Identity Card and that they need help in making him a new one. Teko said that their attempts to seek help from social workers did not succeed. He added that his brother needs special attention and that they do not know if there is a home where he can be taken care of as they have run out of ideas on how to take care of him and remove him from the bridge.
He said the family feared for his life as being at the bridge at awkward hours puts him in danger. He said that they would be very grateful to both the community and government if they could help the family find ways to get Mosala off the bridge as it also poses health hazard to his body as he is exposed to both sunny, cold or rainy days.
The ‘bridge man’ is a picture of calmness and peace to those he interacts with. When The Monitor team paid him a visit on Friday he posed no threat. With a broad smile, Mosala, whose family village is Thamaga, some 50 kilometres south of the capital, explained his loitering as duty.
“Ke spana fa. Sa le ke spana fa bogologolo. Ke tla fa ka 8am ke bo ke chaisa bosigo ka bo 10pm. (I work here. I have been working here for ages. I come here at 8am and knock off at 10pm),” he said confidently.
The skinny, dark looking man said his employer is a company called ‘Move Dollar Hyper’. While family says he is ‘waiting’ for his departed mother, Mosala explained that he is holding the bridge spot waiting for the ‘boss’. Mosala said he could not take leave as he was waiting for his bosses to bring his pay. According to a street vendor who sells not far from the bridge, who has known Mosala for years, said he is very calm and always acts like a normal person. “This man is harmless. He never goes anywhere. He comes here in the morning and leaves late at night. I have tried on so many occasions to ask him to go home or sit under a tree to protect him from this painful sun but he refuses,” she said.