Motheo Tsiako: A soldier dies in his boots

Staff Writer | Friday November 26, 2010 00:00

Kgwatha venerated the Nare (Buffalo), which made for a happy coincidence with Ba-Ga-Malete.

Motheo underwent primary school education in Ramotswa after which he emigrated to South Africa to work in Cape Town (Stellenbosch) before settling in Soweto (Dobsonville, Roodepoort) where he lived for many years.

Motheo married Itumeleng Magdeline (Meiki) Keebine in 1949.  They were blessed with three children, namely, Linah Mohohlo, Lulu and Douglas. Meiki died on November 11, 1963. To-date, those who knew her do not tire to refer to her beauty and breeding. Five years after Meiki's passing (1968), Motheo and Nanie Margaret Lekabe were joined in holy matrimony from which followed three more children - Pinkie, Stella and Taylor.

The given name of Motheo captures the essential qualities of his character. For he was a man of unshakable firmness that formed a strong foundation upon which structures are built and will forever stand. But if Motheo was about firmness of character, his middle name was an affirmation of that resoluteness - the Rock upon which the Church of Christ is built: Pierre la Roche, Peter the Rock or Motheo wa Tumelo.

That is how Motheo thought of himself when he indulged his ego and vanity, which he often did. Yet it was not without reason Motheo had this image of himself, given that once he decided to embrace the Christian Faith, he became an enthusiastic proselytiser who unabashedly referred to those who resisted the Word as 'heathens', which was a rather judgemental attitude unworthy of a Christian, but one that was quite common among converts of the time.

The Lutheran Church dominated Motheo's life at a number of localities and congregations, which he served as choirmaster, lay preacher and church elder, particularly in Dobsonville and his native Ramotswa where he conducted a few generations through their 'rites of passage' as a catechist. Many will remember him as a firm - even stern - teacher of tenets who prepared them for confirmation in this regard.

His children remember their father's sprightly figure hunched over the dinner table in their matchbox house at 1053 Mokhesi Street in Dobsonville, writing staff notation on endless sheets of brown paper with blue and black felt pens. Or the lean and athletic figure of a man always prim and proper in a tailored suit, white long-sleeved shirt and black fish-net tie conducting the church choir in accordance with the season of the almanac - suitably sorrowful or exuberantly spirited in song, especially on Easter Sundays in celebration of the Triumph of the Lord over death.

But if Motheo made a mark as a Lutheran who believed in Salvation by Grace, he also made an imprint on history by helping to bring to an end one of the most serious threats to civilisation in the 20th Century - Nazism. Motheo saw service twice in the Second World War, recruited first in South Africa's Union Defence Force at the age of 21, and later by Botswana's (Bechuanaland Protectorate at the time) High Commission Territories Corps.

He was stationed in the Middle East on both tours, for the most part in Egypt. It is little surprising then that his first child, Linah, should answer to a name that is distinctly Arabic/Middle Eastern in origin; and one full of palm trees and tenderness in meaning.  In between these assignments, Motheo worked as an instructor at a police training college in Welkom, South Africa.

It was during one of these assignments that Motheo broke a serious taboo by flooring a white man who had had the temerity to interrupt his sick leave. This is how it happened: Motheo had nonchalantly walked into Lieutenant Peter Estoph's office with his hands in his pockets, prompting an angry demand that he take them out. Motheo had complied, but not without protest. Whereupon Lt. Estoph grabbed Motheo by his jacket lapels, yanking him towards himself. Motheo responded with a swift and 'pretty hard' punch to Lt. Estoph's face, sending him to the floor in a heap!

Inevitably, this unparalleled incident stirred up a little sensation on the Suez front. However, after an inquiry and a little time in the cooler, a more senior officer, Lieutenant -Colonel Allen Horn, dismissed the case on the grounds that Motheo had acted under provocation!

Motheo often regaled people with this episode that set him on course to become a low-key member of the underground resistance movement of the African National Congress (ANC) on South Africa's Witwatersrand/West Rand; for he could not reconcile the fight against Nazism and the continued heresy of apartheid in South Africa.  In this, he often worked alongside the likes of Motsamai Mpho, who was - the two men happily discovered - only 10 days older than the Rock.

In the cosmo-vision of this balanced believer who had emerged from bogwera as a Leipofi in 1940, apartheid was as much of a scourge on human civilisation as Nazism had been - possibly worse. Similarly, in conversations with his eldest son Dougie and his good wife Molly (nee Selelo) over the last few years, Motheo often expressed the view that as a political philosophy, Zionism was not inspired of God.

But if he made a mark on world history, this humble man also had a part to play in the making of the Republic of Botswana. He happened to be with his friend Kgosi Mokgosi III when Seretse arrived to begin his short life in internal exile in Ramotswa. In fact, he told his sons proudly, 'Mokgosi asked me to go and get bed and bedding for Seretse. I got them from the Indian traders.'

A keen footballer in his day, he used his 75th birthday to complain to the small audience gathered at his homestead for the occasion that the Botswana Football Association (BFA) had not renewed his referee's licence.

Regrettably, his delightful daughter Lulu and grandson Katlego could not be in Ramotswa to see him off. But she captures her father's fondness for football in a heartfelt message she sent from Canada to where she and Katlego recently expatriated:  'Ke tla go gopola thata ka nako ya soccer, ka re ne re e lebelela mmogo.'

To his last day, Motheo's memberships remained with the Lutheran Church, Kaizer Chiefs, the ANC and the Botswana National Front (BNF), among others.

A nurse by profession, Lulu was Motheo's personal 'Nightingale' to the end, accompanying him to Sunhill, the private health facility in Sandton, Johannesburg, where he was thrice admitted, the last time being in April this year.  It has been a countdown since then; for the doctors there told the family that Motheo's prognosis was nil.

Even so, Motheo returned from Sunhill with a little more verve. While there, he shared his room with a white patient and had noted that this was a far cry from apartheid South Africa. After establishing that his exact location overlooked Liliesleaf, he said, he was happy to share with his roommate the pivotal place in history of the farm below that had served as the headquarters of Umkonto We Sizwe and Nelson Mandela's living quarters in the early 1960s. 'To liberate both black and white,' he said.

His regrets?  One that looms large - and was often expressed - is that neither of his two sons, Douglas and Taylor, became a soldier. It was because of this fighting spirit in their father that Motheo's children penned this verse and read it out during the funeral:

If we weep and mourn,It is because the bond was deep and strongBetween you and us - each and every one of us.And not because you should not have passed on;For that be the way of all mortals.

If we sing and dance,It is because we cannot be sorrowed

When we celebrate your gladness of heartThat belied the sadness that often encircled us And the relief that concluded Your painful passage in your last days.

From 70, you taught us that Life on Earth was but evanescent and thatThe soul must eventually escape To explore the cosmic circles in yonder realms, And then find a restful repose in presence of God.Ntate, we will always remember you counsel:'A soldier dies in his boots.'

By this, we have understood you to mean We should never tire in the pursuit of our goals - Good goals, of course.

Mourning and merriment are sweetly married In your passage to the Concourse on High.

But merriment we shall abide by because Your life was a wellspring of faith In the hereafter. Allah'u'Abha!In his own estimation, Motheo has lived much longer than the days of valediction between Sunhill and November 13. He always said how each and every day after his 70th birthday was a benevolent gift proceeding from the wellspring of God's grace.

Motheo succumbed to ill health during the course of 2009 and was bedridden - for the first time in his life - for several months before surrendering his spirit to God in the morning of November 13, 2010 at the age of 89 years, 8 months and 9 days. He is survived by his sister, Mrs Mamphang Setilo, the last born of his siblings, his beloved wife Mrs Nanie Margaret Tsiako, four daughters, two sons, eight grandchildren and the only great grandchild so far, Teto Linah Moremong.

Thousands came to bid him farewell at Disaneng in Ramotswa on Saturday November 20, 2010. Fare thee well, soldier. Allah'u'Abha!