Donkars

Sandy Grant | Wednesday August 16, 2017 16:58

In a sense they are the successors of the primitive sledge and the cumbersome ox waggon. But when we do see them, do we perhaps wonder if they need to be licensed and indeed under which category they would fall? 

Much the same would, of course, apply to the donkey cart variation, the donkcar, with the former usually having two wheels and the latter four. But it is the sheer variety of donkars that adds to their interest.

 These vehicles may appear quaint, but they are utilitarian and highly practicable. At the moment, the favoured remains for donkars are old Toyotas, but that may be simply because there are so many of them on the roads.  The day may come, however when donkar Mercs and BMWs will outnumber those of the Toyotas. 

And what a dream opportunity that would create for the advertisers who could then proudly boast that their products are so durable that they are usable even after death! And that they provide both for the mostest in the land and for the leastest. But that claim would immediately prompt questions about the manufacturers of donkars.

Who are these producers, how many might there be, where they are they to be found and what kinds of equipment do they use? These questions are all speculative because none can easily be answered.

What is obvious, however, is that those who produce these vehicles are ingenious and clever. But all of them function below the official radar level.

Theirs is not a listed occupation nor is it a recognised skill. They have no representative leaders and are without a group decision-making capacity. But are they people who produce these vehicles as a permanent business and for sale or are they one off producers who provide for their own specific needs? Are donkars ever resold and if so, how would they be valued?

  Might it be feasible to think that Mogoditshane, the national capital of scrap vehicles, could also become a donkar production centre?  Marketing those donkars would be another matter. How would anyone assess demand and the areas of the country where donkars might be best marketed?

A first reaction might be that they would sell best in areas well away from the railway line and the more prosperous eastern strip. It could be, however, that where potential demand might be high, purchasing power is low. Thus the best bet could be places such as Serowe, Kanye and Molepolole. 

All this may appear whimsical and far-fetched but strange things are happening nowadays and who knows, it may not be too far off before somebody comes to believe that a donkar race across the Makgadikgadi could prove to be a tourism winner.