Moshupa Revives Dikgafela

By Monkagedi Gaotlhobogwe
Staff Writer | Monday September 7, 2009 00:00

 

The festival is meant to appease the heavens to release the rains. It was a spectacle at the Moshupa Kgotla as elderly women carried pots of bojalwa, the traditional beer on their heads for villagers to drink. The women and men carried branches of the sacred tree, Moologa, a symbol of rain making among the Moshupa people. Kgosi Kgabosetso Mosielele II announced at the gathering, which also included school pupils and the Minister of Youth, Sports and Culture, Gladys Kokorwe that the Moologa branches are symbolic of faith and hope that the heavens will bring down the rains. 'These branches are an encouragement. They mean we must be a determined people especially in arable farming, because Dikgafela means we are receiving blessings of harvest in our cropping efforts,' he said. Mosielele said Dikgafela returns at an opportune time when cultural foods are being recognised for their value.

The women danced as they sang traditional rain songs before the tribal elders. The women's procession then delivered the beer to the courtyard at the other end of the Kgotla. The tribal leaders at the ceremony included Kgosi Seepapitso IV of Bangwaketse, Mosielele, Bakgatla leaders, Kgafela II and his brothers, Kgosi Puso Gaborone of Batlokwa and Kgosi Nyalala Pilane of Bakgatla ba Moruleng I South Africa.

Moshupa people say they abandoned the Dikgafela at independence. An elderly Moshupa woman, Keatlaretse Matlhare said Dikgafela ceremonies were abandoned immediately after 1965. 'Dikgafela celebrations marked the highlights of a people's happiness according to our culture. That is why the celebrations traditionally came in September, the same month when everyone is celebrating the harvests of the land. It was a thanks-giving moment, as we would gather at the Kgotla joyously to thank the heavens for the harvests. It was a time when people opened their hearts to God to say thank you; the celebrations were often followed by rains, as the heavens smiled back at us,' the old woman told the Monitor.

'Today's moment means a lot. We are celebrating our culture. We used to celebrate Dikgafela when I was growing up in this village. It was a sacred Tswana cultural ceremony. I think today, the celebrations are laced with modernisation,' explains the frail looking woman who needed a rock to sit on because her back is aching.

'Today I see a lot of fashion, people are wearing uniform as you can see and some sing dikhwaere songs. Back in the days, we used to parade with sensitivity, with calmness, singing rain songs. Sometimes we did not even wear anything. We would share the beer with dikgosi. After drinking beer here, we would go back to our homes to drink more beer,' she recalled.

Motlhare said traditionally, only married women participated in Dikgafela ceremonies, often led by one or two men.

For another elderly woman in the village, Yakomoso Mokgethwane, Dikgafela symbolises the happiness of the land as well as serving as a prayer for rain. 'It signifies to God we are glad with him especially after the harvest. It is prayer for rain, as well as prayer for the well-being of the people. I am hopeful that the rains will return, we will be healed of our afflictions,' declared Mokgethwane.

However, her assessment of the new look Dikgafela is different from Matlhare's. 'I think today's Dikgafela is number one.  In terms of dancing, and the way they have dressed, the manner in which they have brewed the beer, they are amazing. Today, almost the whole of Moshupa is taking part in Dikgafela; in the past not everyone would take part. I am confident we shall be delivered, and the rains will be plenty this coming cropping season,' declared the 78-year-old.

Another septuagenarian, Sekana Sewao declared the rains will come after the celebrations. 'E supa gore Setswana se a boela, pula di tlaa na (It is an indication that our culture has been revived, the rains will pour). I was a cattle herder. I used to fight with boys during those days and many of them could not face me,' she said.