Folklore giants lock horns in katara duel again

MONKAGEDI GAOTLHOBOGWE
Staff Writer | Wednesday July 14, 2010 00:00

The event starts at 7pm and the winner is expected to walk away with P10 000 prize money.  This time around the dikatara festival will see 10 folklore giants - Olebile Motlamme, Andries Bok (Hukuntsi), Solly Sebetso, Sebongile Kgaila (Gaborone region),  as well as Stiga Sola (Maun), Sumorayana Kamanakau (Gumare), Gaoabue Tapson (Maun) - battling it out.

From the Central District, Ramagwaigwai Kuchelela, Abae Ranamane and Otoetswe Makasu have also made it to the national finals.

Last year's winner was Solly Sebetso of Molepolole (P9, 000), while Sebongile Kgaila (P8,000) of Metsimotlhabe and Olebile Motlamme (P7,000) of Tsotshaa finished behind him. 

While giving lovers of dikatara music a rare treat, last year's event also left disappointment on the faces of many when a number of outstanding performers were awarded low marks.

Evergreen players like Stika Sola of Maun, Andries Bok of Hukuntsi kept the audience on their toes with their irresistible tunes, but the men regarded as the godfathers of folklore guitarists did not get top honours.

Out of the 10 competing folklore musicians, Bok finished sixth, pocketing P5,000 in the process.

But there is no  doubt  the ageing Bok was one of the folklore guitarists who kept the audience enthralled with his skills on the night, as  he played the highest number of songs - four short and sweet melodies - starting with two gospel hymns before taking the audience down memory lane with his 1970s' hits.

Award winning Stika Sola, also known as Stika Molefe, of Maun, finished fourth despite a superb performance, while  crowd favourite Sebongile Kgaila, who also has a library of folklore songs playing on Radio Botswana (RB), also was awarded low marks.