The rock of jasper that was Log Raditlhokwa
Baboki Kayawe | Wednesday February 4, 2015 10:38
In heartfelt eulogies, various people who have interacted with Log attested to his acumen, ability and brilliance.
Gloria Jacques, one of the longest serving lecturers in the UB Department of social work said she met Log in 1990 while he was a student. He struck her as an academic, an intellect and a very caring man. Perhaps the highlight of their union was when an inquisitive Log asked Jacques who was just cutting her teeth in the lecture theatre about the relationship between Adam Smith’s book, The Wealth of Nations and social work.
Describing the Log she knew outside the professional and academic circles, Jacques said he was humorous. “He could laugh, and laugh,” she reminisced. She said Log was part of societal richness.
Bidding her former student and colleague goodbye in Shakespearian terms, she said: “Good night, sweet prince. And flights of angels sing thee to thy rest!”.
Acting dean of Faculty of Social Sciences, Professor Mogotsi hailed Log’s academic prowess that earned him a place at UB as a Staff Development Fellow after graduating top of his class in 1990. “He was not just an ordinary student. Log was very special,” she said.
Mogotsi said it was due to his exceptional academic record that he was recruited by UB, and later sponsored for further studies in Ottawa, Canada where he got a MA in Social Work. Upon his return, he started to engage in public debate, tackling issues of gender disparity and an array of social ills through public media.
“The Log that we knew here on campus was a prolific writer, he has produced three books. He may be resting but his work will never rest,” she said. “Death has robbed us of intellect, humility, philanthropy; these are his key attributes. He shared knowledge with everyone, that’s the Log we have lost,” she said.
Head of the UB Academic, Senior and Support Staff Unit, Sethunya Mosime, hailed Log for finding an appropriate balance between social work and Christianity. She said Log dedicated his life to the critical assignment of transforming Botswana into a productive nation of achievers. “He stood for re-working, re-thinking and re-structuring the family to achieve its full potential,” she explained. Perhaps misunderstood by many in his critical writings, especially those highlighting the significance of presentation in the political realm, Log envisaged political institutions run through the pillars of dignity, humility, integrity, people focused as well as result oriented. “He didn’t become a professor in his lifetime, but he became a professor to a lot of lives,” Mosime said.
Dr Godisang Mookodi of the Sociology Department, who served with Log in the UB’s Gender Policy and Programme Committee, said the deceased was an unwavering soldier of social justice and a believer in equality. “Log was a staunch feminist,” Mookodi said.
She described him as the face of the university with regard to gender issues. She said he was a man who never shied away from voicing his opinions on the subject. Mookodi said Log took the gender disparity war beyond UB, though she acknowledged that the institution was lagging behind in gender equity.
A family representative, Ramodisa Raditlhong reiterated the greatness that resided in Log in the form of humility, leadership as well as academic excellence. From a tender age, he said Log was an avid reader who had dedicated his life to acquisition of knowledge. “One day, I discovered a stack of the Daily Newspaper under his bed - and that was how he managed to out-perform fellow students. He was married to education,” Raditlhong said. “He has done, he has lived and his work speaks for itself,” he said. He narrated how his brother-in-law grew up herding cattle in Mankgodi, as it was typical of all Batswana boys. Log managed very well the two-tiered life of a respected academic and son of the soil.
Constantly likening him to the biblical rock of jasper, Raditlhong said Log was indeed a phenomenon. The very rare, and over-priced jasper that Log was, whose outstanding characteristics include being able to take a high polish and was used in ancient times as pillars, vases, and other interior decorations was celebrated in style.
Through song, literary quotes, mimics, the gospel and citation of his most controversial and outstanding writings; the rock of jasper was celebrated and remembered in the overflowing lecture theatre, where he transformed many lives.