Jeremane rules at the Son of the Soil 2012 festival

Thalefang Charles
Staff Writer | Monday February 27, 2012 00:00

 

This was evident at the 2012 Son of the Soil (SOTS) which was an all leteisi affair. Themed 'kapari ya setso', (traditional attire) the event proved that leteisi (German print) is a commonly accepted Setswana traditional attire.

The theme turned SOTS into a traditional fashion show, complete with a ramp - where the selected few strutted their attire to the cheering crowd. Women arrived in various eye-catching designs of leteisi.

It was a case of 'if it is leteisi it is traditional attire' since some women came in skirts - some long some very short, dresses and even trousers.

The event also revealed that there is still no consensus on the traditional attire for a Motswana man. But the leopard vest, famous also among the Zulus, (best ya nkwe) is making a serious contention for it to be adopted as traditional attire for the  Motswana man.

Guest speaker historian and culture activist Rogers Molefhi tried explaining why the Motswana woman adopted the German print as a traditional dress instead of her coloniser's dress. Molefhi says because the Germans arrived before the British in East and South-West Africa their heavy material dress won the hearts of Africans.

However the fashion pomp at the SOTS nearly killed the spirit of the event where every attendee is a participant.

The traditional elegance of most women made them shy away from joining other participants in labour intensive duties such as cooking and they could not even skip rope in the koi or saife games nor were they quick enough to duck the ball in a game of dibeke.

The event also saw the South Choir emerging yet again triumphant over the North Choir in the famed Dikhwaere Competition.

The northerners vehemently contested the results but they later accepted defeat and joined everyone around a fire for mainane (storytelling) and folksongs with traditional beer (mokuru, phafana, chibuku, morula) while waiting for the cow heads to cook.

Son of the Soil is an annual event organised by Bana ba Mmala Culture Group and this year was held at Masimo Gateway in Rasesa in Kgatleng District.