Mother-Tongue Celebrations In Moleps

By Monkagedi Gaotlhobogwe
Staff Writer | Monday February 22, 2010 00:00

 

 The day started with cattle drawn chariot leading the procession from the Mafenyatlala shopping complex to the main Kgotla. With a whip, seme, a talented man could be seen directing the cattle with the seme, as few women rode on the chariot. 

The climax of the procession was when the Minister responsible for Culture Shaw Kgathi boarded the chariots, spotting a traditional hat. A traditional stool was fitted for the minister in the chariot, which had huge metal wheels.

During the procession traditional dancers led songs and danced, energising and revitalising the accompanying villagers. Two horses carrying the banner with the theme for the day also provided the spectacle on a day that started off nicely with a cloudy and cool atmosphere.

Then flowed entertainment like Tswana poetry, which was provided by  Kaone Mahube with unmatched eloquence. For a while,  Ntsuane Ramontshonyane, a segankure player, was not  playing for the Main mall crowd begging for  money.

He was honoured to present his talent in front of  Botswana culture officials and rewarded handsomely  as one of the high profile entertainers.

Dikatara music followers did not have to wait long before the talented Metsimotlhabe man, Sebongile Kgaila cerenated them with  his unique strings that saw him crowned the best traditional music player last year during the Heritage month celebrations.

Some entertainers came from as far as Salajwe, near kauduane. Showing off their Sesarwa dance routines, Salajwe's Lempu CJSS treated the gathering to some  unique Sarwa  dance repertoires, perhaps emphasising that Sarwa remains the leaders in this style of dance.

But  a  Mogoditshane group, Matona-a-Koma, seemed to save their best for last, as they decided to do the setapa dance as they exited the scene, causing the crowd to  scream for mo.

Drama group, Molelo Theatre seemed to promote Slizer's O Tswa Kae album for sometime, as they performed her title track, O Tswa Kae, and imitated her sexy dance routines. Somewhere they also mentioned Shumba Ratshega's music, as if they wanted to impress the Minister about their knowledge of some of his  home talent. Kgathi also hails from Bobonong like music stars, Slizer and Shumba.

If there is one interesting lesson the theatre group played out, that was when they showed that a lot of the so-called minority languages in Botswana  are often made to feel ashamed of themselves. That point was later to be emphasised by Minister Kgathi who said that when  he was growing up he was ashamed to reveal  his minority origin.

Molepolole College of Education had a very interesting rendition of the national anthem. When it is sung, is with a low tempo, medium tempo, or fast tempo?  Traditionally,   the national anthem is  performed  with a slow to medium tempo, but the  Molepolole College of Education Choir gave the gathering a much faster version, with the chorus, Tsogang, Tsogang, performed in low tones instead of higher notes.

Traditional snacks also shone brightly there.  Manoko, and Morama were served  to  adults and many who were sampling morama for the first time were wondering  what kind of  food it was. Side-by-side with the roasted  peanuts, the morama tasted just like them, although its bigger size  and  form stood out.

Then the  kubu snack , made from maize corns, followed, served in disposable glasses.

By the time more followed the Showtime already had a bag full. According to the programme, more traditional music, exhibition of cultural items, and food varieties were to follow that afternoon.