Iron Lady leads Basarwa to Promised Land
Leinanyana Tsiane | Thursday April 30, 2015 16:12
Only progressing up to Standard 7 in education is a lifelong hindrance to many. However, Nana Mothibi has battled the ups and downs and is today the councillor of the small settlement of D’Kar.
Mothibi is a strong willed woman whose upbringing was anything but wonderful. She was born in D’Kar, a church-run settlement of about 1, 000 residents who are almost exclusively Basarwa of the Kuru tribe.
The settlement, located 35 kilometres from Gantsi, began as a farm.
Mothibi did her primary education at D’Kar Primary School but was unable to proceed to Form One as she fell pregnant just before sitting for her Primary School Leaving Examination. That early misstep marked the beginning of her miseries.
“My upbringing was a very sad one,” she explains. “I grew up with my aunties and when I fell pregnant, I had nobody to stand up for me. I was withdrawn from the exam room and I did not complete my primary education.”
The soft-spoken Mothibi recalls how she tried in vain to seek assistance from various schools to write her examinations. Eventually she had to look for a job to sustain herself and her unborn child.
“I was a maid for all my aunts and was tossed between them to help with the household chores and also to tend to their children. This experience was an eye opener for me and I decided I should look for a job,” she explains.
In 1991, Reverend Bram of the Dutch Reformed Church, which owns D’Kar settlement, came to Gantsi with a group of visitors and Mothibi was engaged to translate English to Sesarwa for the group.
“I was able to speak a little bit of English which I learnt from school and I was able to translate,” she says.
With her first taste of ‘employment’ Mothibi’s resolve was strengthened. Soon, the church started a sewing project and machines were bought for Mothibi and others, with which they designed and tailored dresses and skirts for sale. Mothibi is still unhappy that the revenues raised went into church coffers instead of the pockets of the weary workers.
“This irked me because we did not get a penny after making all the items. We also did tie and dye and patchwork which was very popular, especially with the tourists who visited D’Kar.”
In later years, Mothibi found employment at the last Anna Voster’s shop as a shop assistant. It was during this stint, in the late 1990s, that the political bug bit.
“I told Mma Voster about my intention to campaign for the council candidacy for D’Kar and she encouraged me to do so,” she said.
Campaigning under a Botswana Democratic Party ticket, Mothibi scooped the D’Kar council seat in 1999 and retained it in 2004, before losing in 2009.
“I did not lose hope when I lost in 2009,” she says. “I was confident that I would be back in 2014 and that is what happened.”
Mothibi says being a councillor and working in a male dominated arena has hardened her a lot. She is now able to stand up and speak for Basarwa, who form the majority of people found in D’Kar. “I do not allow them to gatelela (oppress) me because if I do, my ward could end up being under-developed or undeveloped,” she says.
According to Mothibi, Basarwa are a marginalised group who need leaders from within their ranks, who know their culture and way of living and are prepared to stand for their rights.
The councillor is eager to tear down stereotypes about Basarwa, such as the perception that they are unwilling to be formally educated or a generally ultra-conservative.
“I advocate a lot for them and will continue to do so,” she says.
“I also encourage them to attend school so that they can be able to sustain themselves in the future and not rely solely on government.
“Basarwa are an understanding tribe. You need to talk to them and make them understand what you want them to do.
“You should do this with caution, failing which they are likely to resist everything you say.
“They are not difficult as some people think.” Mothibi spends a lot of time talking to her constituents about the available government programmes so that they can be self-reliant by supplementing their meagre incomes.
From little education, Mothibi is now the face of D’Kar and was at the forefront of relief efforts when floods recently besieged the settlement. “Being uneducated is no hindrance for me at all because I understand English and can even speak a little bit of it,” she says.