Lecheng pan: A place of diversity

RYDER GABATHUSE
Staff Writer | Friday March 11, 2011 00:00

The immediate impression about this 'wetland' is that it is a place of diversity. It's a place where the variety of animals, birds and human beings and plants meet everyday. For a first time visitor, one cannot help but marvel at the beauty of nature.

This shallow lake, or pan if you like, is an extension of the popular Tswapong Hills. Lecheng is among the villages set at the foot of the Tswapong Hills, with the surrounding area being a good source of water and grazing land for livestock.

With a population of about 3,000 people (2004 estimates), Lecheng village derives its name from this natural source of water.

The water springs out of a rock, from underground, before it steadily snakes its way through large and small boulders into the green and yellowish shrubs forming a pan that apparently supports a variety of life.

As the water spreads, swans enjoy themselves as they take cover from the invading cows and donkeys, which are among the main consumers of the water.

The flourishing variety of flora is seemingly the reason why there is abundant birdlife in the pan. The water reeds and other multi-coloured flowers are a major source of attraction.

Along the main road as one enters the village, one will be facing eastwards. Follow the dirty track going southwards off the main road and proceed for less than a kilometre and there you are now: You have arrived at the pan.

The job of herdsmen and herdswomen in the village has been simplified now as farmers from the village's three wards of Mmamadila, Maokwe and Modibedi water their animals at the pan.

Lecheng village is a combination of both rural and modern life set up. There are villagers who are still living in traditional huts and those who have been caught up by the progressive bug of modernity.

It is not uncommon for villagers to have kraals for cattle, sheep and goats behind their homes.

Subsistence farming is a common practice here, as there are fewer jobs in the rural areas. There is ample evidence that majority of f the able-bodied young people have migrated to urban centres in search of job opportunities as most of the people in Lecheng are the elderly and children of school going age.

Akanyang Kgwebe from Modibedi ward in Lecheng visits the pan almost everyday in search of either the donkeys or cows that water there.

Clad in oversized blue overall trousers that sweep the natural lawn growing around the pan and an already fading blue t-shirt, Kgwebe, who appears double his age, says after a good rainfall, the pan becomes a beautiful place.

He was however, quick to add that the pan and the entire village, is a place of the gods of Tswapong whom, he says are in full control and are extremely particular about how the pan is utilised.

'This is a place of the gods of Tswapong or badimo,' he says, 'but there were incidents in the past when lovers and party animals used to be attracted by the beauty of this area to hold their picnics here to the fury of the ancient gods.'

He says amongst others, the immediate reaction of the gods would be to render the area dry, 'in anger.'

Since the pan has natural lawn growing outside the water, it provides a natural resting place and it can be an ideal place for a family picnic or lovers wishing to spend a quiet time together, away from the prying eyes of the public.

Motorists used to drive in large numbers to park around this place to enjoy themselves after a hectic week.

'It seems some of these human activities have angered the gods here as they don't like noise and pollution of the area especially with all these things happening at night.'

Kgwebe says, as the place of gods or badimo, the pan has to be very quiet at night with no human activities.

'But with used condoms and empty beverage cans and bottles strewn all over the place, this will attract the wrath of the gods,' he declares. His view is that one does not need to be superstitious to embrace this belief. _

'To the gods, either you take it or leave it,' warns the 39-year-old herdsman. He blames human activity to have angered the gods to the extent that the pan no longer holds a lot of water the way it used to do.

'In the past around this time, there would be plenty of water everywhere because the gods were happy. I think, to a large extent, we are not caring for this place the way the ancestors did,' he concedes.

In the olden days, Kgwebe and his age mates used to hunt for the eggs of wild ducks, harvest wild berries, wild tomatoes and other edibles from the pan.

The pan was chiefly the meeting place after school as almost all the activities took place around this area. It provided an important rendezvous for the young whose village lacked recreational facilities.

It was a good place to meet a girlfriend undisturbed and from the prying eyes of the elders.

Born 63 years ago, Baboni Dikalanyane, who looks much younger than his age, looks back with a trace of nostalgia.

A Mmegi team caught up with him as he fetched water using his small bucket. In the other hand he was holding his catapult, which he admits is his weapon as he traverses the village.

He says the pan has multiple uses but most importantly it's a place where they water their cows.

'We used to harvest naturally growing tomatoes from the pan and this used to attract a lot of villagers,' he reminisces. He says, there were some elderly people who took advantage of the intermittent water supply and grew tobacco on a small scale.

'We used to hunt for eggs of wild ducks in the water reeds,' he says echoing Kgwebe's sentiments.

On a good day, he says they played tennis on the natural lawn growing on the sides of the pan.

'This place used to have huge boulders whereupon we would sit and bathe without any disturbance. But, now because of communicable diseases, we are prohibited from bathing herein,' he says.

Dikalanyane raises similar sentiments as Kgwebe that the gods of Tswapong Hills prefer the pan to be a quiet place especially at night.

'Look, in the past the area where the water springs up used to be fenced with wires and that did not please the gods to the extent that thy dried up the area forcing the village leadership to intervene,' he explains.

The village leadership had to take up the matter to Goo-Moremi; the main abode of the villagers' ancestral spirits where upon an instruction was issued that the villagers should perform a ritual to appease the gods.

Once the gods were appeased the sabotage will ease and water started flowing again rendering the area green once more. 'The wire fence was then replaced with cut branches which are still visible even today,' he points out and says that is when water started flowing again. He also related another incident in which some whites out of ignorance of villagers' beliefs cemented the area where water springs up only to be meted out with the harsh reaction by the gods, which ended up with water no longer flowing.

'This is a sensitive wetland and people ought to give it the respect that it deserves,' he says. But, warns, 'at night it is not easy to pass through this area because one will always hear strange voices if people talking without seeing the actual people involved in conversations.'

He declares that other sensitive areas of badimo in Tswapong include Goo-Moremi, Malaka and others.

He further warns that there is a big snake, which runs through the village from the hills into the pan mostly in the wee hours. 'This snake produces a huge light and can be scary and dangerous if one disturbs its path in any manner.'

Elderly person, 56-year-old Letshophe Keeditse, the sister to Modibedi ward headman, says in the years of yore, they used to enjoy life at the pan.

Amongst others, she says as young girls, they enjoyed a variety of games with their male counterparts. Most importantly, he enjoyed the harvest of wild tomatoes with their peers.

Today, she wonders where the tomatoes are gone and quickly blames human activity to be accountable for the extinction of the wild tomatoes.

A highly superstitious woman, Keeditse says at the pan, it is where the gods bathe and the place has to be quiet especially at night.

'Sometimes when some village elders are sent to Goo-Moremi on a mission to communicate the troubles of the villagers, they are sternly warned against polluting the waters of the pan.' In particular, Keeditse points her fingers at the village's youth for disregarding some of the instructions from the gods just because they don't believe in the practice.

'Picnics are a menace to the gods,' she stresses and pleads with the new generation to oblige.

Keeditse cites two past incidents in which badimo sabotaged some projects in the village. One was a pipeline transporting water from boreholes in Lecheng to the neighbouring villages of Goo-Tau, Goo-Sekgweng and Manaledi. A company known only as Pioneer apparently did not consult badimo through the village elders and went ahead with the project. Just when they thought they were making progress, pipes started breaking up until some of their employees advised the company bosses to report the matter at the Kgotla.

The matter was taken up to Goo-Moremi, whereupon instructions were issued to appease the gods and the matter was settled after the ceremony and the project was on course again.

Another project that was disrupted because the gods felt they were not properly consulted relates to the power line to the village boreholes. The company doing the project was frustrated as their project reportedly revolved in one place with some invincible forces undoing the good work done all the time. They also followed the same path of appeasing badimo just like Pioneer and the project succeeded.

Keeditse remembers at that midnight in the village Kgotla in full view of everyone, the gods arriving and the interpreter simplifying everything in the common language.

Modibedi ward headman, Malebogo Keeditse, insists that the villagers could not replace badimo with anything.

'We have to appease the gods so that they are with us in everything that we do,' he says. 'That is the reason why we had to stop nocturnal activities around the pan such as picnics and lovers doing their things there.'

He warns that the gods visit the pan at night and they will feel insulted should they find anyone there at that time. 'The gods also bath late at night and they would like to bath undisturbed without any human activity in the vicinity.' He observes that although he does not communicate directly with the gods, there is a deliberate arrangement to look for rain from the gods.

The headman is one of those who are charged with the responsibility of relaying the villagers' concerns to Goo-Moremi where an interpreter communicates directly to the gods.

'As of now, there is plenty of water flowing at the pan because the gods are happy,' says the headman who hopes that the village youth will not disturb the peace.