A village like no other

ONALENNA MODIKWA
Staff Writer | Monday May 16, 2011 00:00

Alcohol is strictly prohibited here hence there are no bars and no electricity. Females are not allowed to put on trousers or leave their heads uncovered and residents speak with a Sekgatla not Sebirwa accent. It is a Bakgatla village located in Bobirwa in the Mashatu Game Reserve. With its restriction, there is nothing attractive in the village for visitors with a different world-view. In their milieu, the villagers co-exist with wild animals and privately owned ranches and lodges. The village is accessed through a gazzetted entrance into the game reserve and a drive through the rough terrain, possible with wild animals like elephants and lions in sight.

Once in the village a visitor reports first to a place known as 'Kgorong'. The place is believed to be the main entrance to the village. Whenever a visitor comes to Lentswe-Le-Moriti, he/she is directed to this place first. Once here an elder will perform church rituals known as 'go shoma'.  Thereafter, the purpose of the visit is fully explained to the church elder. The elder that The Monitor found was so strict with the church principles. He demanded that The Monitor journalists should go back and follow the proper procedure by writing a letter to inform the village elders that they would like to visit. The letter will be passed to Bishop Lazarus Lekganyane in South Africa to grant permission for the visit. 'Re laolwa ke mong wa lefelo le, eleng lekganyane. Le itsile jang ka motse o, le gone le ka bo le boditse ko ZCC ya Phikwe pele,' he said after performing the welcome church ritual by sprinkling the holy waters on my face, hands and feet and the car. After a lengthy discussion, he referred us to a senior pastor, Lebotse Matshego who gladly assisted and explained the village rules.

First he  explained why a woman should not wear trousers or leave her head uncovered. 'Once you enter Rome, simply do what Romans do. Here we are guided by the bible and there is no way in the bible that says women should wear trousers. Covering a head and bowing in respect is a sign of total submission to God,' he said. He explained that even in Setswana culture, a woman cannot just look at a man on the face. She looks at the feet of the man to show utmost respect. 'It is a sign that a woman is subordinate to man and so is a man to God. It is the same when praying to God, you cover your head and bow.'

Though the village does not have entertainment spots like bars because of its strict religious values, residents appear to lead a normal and complete lifestyle. It is a life of dresses and head-scarves and three church services a day which appear to be the only form of entertainment. Even public officers who work in the local primary school and health post are said to be members of the church because of circumstances. They end up joining the church because there is no transport for them to go and socialise in the nearby villages and come back. Even if they were to do drive to bars outside the village in their own cars, the bad state of the road will pose a major problem.'There is nobody who would ever dare coming to open a bar or sell alcohol here. This is a privately owned ranch and we strictly abide by the expectation of the owner. We strictly do not allow alcohol here. Though we do not control public officers here, they are forced by the situation to abide by the village rules. It just would be embarrassing to see only yourself among all the villagers wearing a trouser as a woman,' said Matshego.

The fact that there is no electricity makes the village extremely rural. The government has to seek permission from the elders who would then seek the go-ahead from Lekganyane before any developments takes place in the village.

Matshego laughed at the prospects of another church setting up in Lentswe-Le-Moriti. 'That will not happen as long as we still live here. Where will that church derive its members from? Even our ZCC counterparts will not be allowed to settle here with us. Lentswe-Le-Moriti is like a mission house,' he said. It goes without saying that non-residents of the village cannot get land. 'Golo fa go laolwa ke mong wa lefelo le,' Matshego said.

There is no traditional leadership in the village and no kgotla where consultation meetings are held. The church elders perform duties of traditional leaders like land allocation, disciplining wayward villagers and conducting customary marriages. Loud noises are only allowed during wedding ceremonies.

Residents have cattle-posts and farms in the Tuli Block area, particularly in the Mashatu Game Reserve. Some old residents say they were born here and have no association with Babirwa or their neighbours from South Africa.

'Rona ga re Bakgatla re ma-sione,' one of them said. Villagers are however able to access government services like Ipelegeng. The population is estimated to be around 500 hundred. During Easter holidays majority of villagers travel to Moria for church activities. They hire buses and travel via Martins Drift border gate. 

Residents travel to Bobonong and Selebi-Phikwe to access facilities not available in the village like hardwares and mortuaries. Though the residents have adapted to co-existing with wild animals, there have been incidences of human-animal conflict, especially elephants. A few years ago, an elephant trampled a young mother to death leaving her baby alive next to her body. Elephants walk around the village and homes especially at night. During The Monitor visit, a group of elephants stood in the middle of the road and refused to budge until soldiers came and scared them with their land rover. A village elder volunteered to escort us outside the village and explained that elephants usually become hostile when injured with a bullet or when their babies have been killed by wild animals.