Barolong at sixes and sevens over Lotlamoreng�s resignation
Tumelo Mouwane | Wednesday June 17, 2015 16:42
Though he tried his best to explain the circumstances surrounding the resignation, Lotlamoreng’s successor, Botiki Motshegare could not fully convince the tribe. “Our Paramount Chief, Lotlaamoreng II recently called us as his uncles and advisors and told us that as the Barolong paramount chief he wanted authorisation to try other endeavours, where he will represent his tribe better than where he is now,” Motshegare began his address in a diplomatic tone. “It was not an easy dialogue. We discussed it at length, trying to figure out if it is certainly a good decision that the chief has decided to take.
“At the end we got defeated as he gave answers convincingly to each question we asked him. We gave him consent to go and venture into interests that he wishes to invest in.
“We had a separate meeting as the elders, uncles and advisors. We assessed if there were reasons that we could have left out in our process of advising him. At the end we agreed there were none,” he said. He said the community should take into consideration that the chief is still young and just like any other youth, he has his own personal interests that he wants to fulfill. He emphasised that they looked at this issue from an elderly perspective and as advisors. “We also told him that we will always be behind him as his subjects. If it happens that he fails, we will also stand by him,” Motshegare said. But those who commented during the meeting yesterday believe that gradually bogosi is fading away since educated paramount chiefs shun the institution.
As soon as he was done, a commentator from the floor asked: “We want to know where he is going. We love the chief.”
Former police boss Andrew Bosilong who was also in attendance said, “Our chief doesn’t want to tell his people where he is going.
“This is one of this kgotla’s biggest attendance in its history and people want to leave with full knowledge of what is happening with their leadership. “If he is interested in politics let it be clear and we also want to know who is going to be his successor.”
In response Lotlamoreng II said: “I have never said I am going into politics, If there is any development from here you will hear from there.” For his part Mosepele Malatena quipped: “I am glad that the chief has called us to inform us about his decision as compared to a situation where he would have taken the move without involving his people.”
Kgosientsho Marumolwa said: “It has long been foreseen that all the tribal leaders who went to school like him end up taking decisions similar to what he has decided. “I think there is someone behind this decision that the chief has taken and he is going to manipulate us because he is trained to use his words very well,” said Thabo Maselwa.
However Lotlamoreng maintained that his tribe would know about any decision that he would make about his life.
“Ga le a tshwanelwa ke go tshoga gore Kgosi ya lona ko e ka yang teng e tla rogwa ke batho. Ha motho a sena botho ga gona gore rona reka mo hetola jang. “Go tlhola go diragala gore batho ba bue ka rona kana ba re roge,” he said.
He said he has his personal life apart from being a chief and things that he would want to pursue. It has been reported that Lotlamoreng is likely to join politics and will be contesting under the Umbrella for Democratic Change (UDC) ticket during a by-election in his area.