An elder's account of Matshelagabedi's genesis

PATRICIA EDWIN & PINI BOTHOKO
Staff Writer&nbps;&nbps;Correspondent | Monday May 20, 2013 00:00

Matshelagabedi is located about 20 kilometres east of Francistown and is made up of several tribes such as Bahurutshe, Barolong, Bakalanga, Basarwa, Bangwato and Bazezuru.  Jacob Fox is the seventh son of Fox Mazowe who was the first resident of Matshelagabedi village.  Fox met with the Mmegi team at Matshelagabedi kgotla after he was summoned by his nephew, the Matshelagabedi Kgosi, Oganne Polsen, to relate the history of the village of Matshelagabedi.Though he is called letlhogoputswa (wise old man) and one would expect to see an old man walking bended with the aid of a cane and maybe sporting grey hair and a long white beard, the man who walked into the kgotla had none of those characteristics.He did not even look old, even though he has some grey hairs. He is fit and walks straight up.  He carried about him an aura of friendliness, wisdom and humbleness.

Once he grabbed his chair and came to where the reporters were sitting under the shade of one of the offices in the kgotla, he immediately delved into the matter at hand, the story of how this village came into being. He said that the history of the village was as brief as Matshelagabedi was a small village.   Fox said that the first person to reside there was his father Fox Mazowe in 1925. He originally hailed from Sebina (Tjizwina) Village in Central Bukalanga. 'He first came here to work for a white man in the Tati Company farms but by that time I was not born yet,' he said. He went on to say that it was in 1925 when his father was given permission to stay with his family in one of the camps. He said that what caused the area to eventually become a settlement of a variety of tribes was because his father was also a traditional doctor and people flocked to him from all corners of the country to seek his help. 'He healed people and most of the time these appreciative travellers would request to stay on and he would allocate them a piece of land where they would live with their families,' he said. Fox said that in 1960 the government started seeking tax and Mazowe was appointed headman of the village so that he could ensure that it was collected. 'He became the headman and later on the government moved us to the other side of Matshelagabedi stream close to Sekokwe village so that we could be able to access resources,' he said.  He said that a white man from Lesotho he only remembered as Melkirn named the village after the Matshelagabedi stream. 'We were staying in an area called Blackwater but there was another camp across the stream by the same name and it was decided to change ours to Matshelagabedi after a nearby stream,' he said.

Fox said that the village was eventually gazetted in 1986 when his brother, Philemon Fox, was headman.  'He retired and gave the throne to his brother Polsen Fox who then gave way to his son Oganne Polsen,' he said. Fox said that Matshelagabedi had experienced some challenges, but the most bothersome was the theft of donkeys and livestock that were trafficked into Zimbabwe. He said that they also experienced a problem of illegal immigrants who come from Zimbabwe to con the residents of Matshelagabedi. 'These are real issues of concern that we are fighting in this village including burglary and theft,' he added.  Perhaps the biggest challenge Matshelagabedi has ever faced is the killing of their livestock that has drove the villagers to poverty.  Cattle and goats in the village, which is in Zone Six, were killed in government's effort to eradicate Foot and Mouth Disease (FMD) in the area.Fox said the residents had lost hope and resorted to doing anything that can put food on the table.  He said the residents became emotionally and financially ruined when their cattle and goats were killed because it was their livelihood and some of them had given up ever rearing livestock because of that.  Fox went on to say that another thing that was of concern to the residents was lack of water, as it could take a whole day without a drop and no one would give any explanation as to why. However, Fox showered accolades on Tati Nickel Mining Company (TNMC) that he said was a Godsend for the villagers as it has helped them in many ways. 'They have put computers in offices in this village, at the clinic, the school and the kgotla. They built a creche and some stalls where people can open their own businesses,' he said.  He said that the mine was making a difference in the development of their village.