Mookane Village�s P1m Party
Monkagedi Gaothobogwe | Monday September 26, 2016 15:55
It was in mid-October last year at a prize giving ceremony for the local primary school that Setlalekgosi had adopted, where she proudly announced her plans for BOT50 festivities for the village of Mookane. At that event, Setlalekgosi told the gathering that Mookane village’s BOT50 festivities will be like no other, that even Gaborone,’s own festivities, would pale into insignificance compared to the Mookane extravaganza.
True to her words, Setlalekgosi’s over P1 million BOT50 party for Mookane shall see 10 cows slaughtered for the celebrations. Of these, she has donated four beasts, with others coming from local residents, Tselathata Tshipana, Boitshoko Dichabeng, Simone Matho, the Joba family and Galeitsiwe’s.
Mookane’s festivities have been scheduled to run for two days, from September 29-30, although there is an extra day exclusively for the village’s elders on October 1, which shall see Setlalekgosi sharing a giant BOT50 cake with them.
The winner of the 2015 presidential meritorious award of service, Setlalekgosi, is also bringing the ageless Mahotella Queens band to Mookane for BOT50, where they will perform for three hours.
Her explanation for the choice of Mahotella Queens tallies well with her love for the elderly in her village. Mahotella Queens, being a band of women in their 70’s, inspired Pinkie to get the band to inspire her own elderly residents that old age does not mean fun has to stop.
“These Mahotella Queens performers are over 70 years of age, but the way they still dance on stage can be an inspiration to their agemates back home,” enthused Pinkie.
No doubt, Setlalekgosi has a soft heart for children and the elderly in the village with her interventions geared mostly toward these respective groups.
Early in the year, Setlalekgosi took an elderly motivational speaker, Emeldah Molokomme to offer the elderly residents wellness lessons at an event where Setlalekgosi distributed food hampers to the needy and elderly of Mookane.
Mookane show grounds, which Setlalekgosi prefers to call, “Our Stadium”, will have been given a professional touch by various experts hired to ensure that it is in the desired shape.The stage and lighting for the festivities will also be top notch. In fact, by Friday last week when The Monitor visited Setlalekgosi’s office, she and her team members were putting final touches to the logistics of importing the stage and lighting system from South Africa.
In as far as fun is concerned, there will be everything for everyone with Mookane -born DJ Ting4ng scheduled to entertain the youth, while lovers of traditional music will be entertained by a Tsutsube group from Zutshwa, as well as performances from the local school.
The Mookane stadium, to borrow from Pinkie, will also be decorated with giant television screens for live screening of the BOT50 main event from the National Stadium in Gaborone.
“Everyone in Mookane will get the President’s Bot50 message live and direct, from our own stadium’s live feed. We will be enjoying our own BOT50 without missing on the important activities at the National Stadium”, added Pinkie.
Setlalekgosi said they have hired a mini-bus that will be transporting the elderly and disabled to and fro the Mookane BOT50 activities. “The idea is to make it a memorable event for our first citizens. We will be giving them the VVIP treatment that befits their stature as the builders of this nation.”
The village’s activities will also have a Balekane-ba-Botswana parading and marching from 6:30am, with the local pupils on the Independence Day.
The younger sister to the founding citizen Catholic Bishop for Botswana, the Rev Boniface Setlalekgosi, Pinkie has a Mother Theresa calling in as far as caring for the less-privileged is concerned. In fact her Christian name is Theresa. “Helping the less -privileged, especially children and the elderly. gives me emotional satisfaction. I see them as our blessing if we reach out to them because they did not put themselves in those difficult situations”, added Pinkie ahead of the mother of festivities in Mookane.