To the uninformed, Mookane is just another Ngwato village but those in the know will tell you that it was a home to one of the greatest sons of the soil, the legendary praise-poet Ponatshego Mokane and multitudes of people are gathering at the Kgotla to pay tribute to him.
When he walked this earth, Mokane was a true messenger of the gods and his oratory skills won him many admirers. Like a wild horse, the flamboyant poet did not like being bridled as that choked his artistic abilities and he did not mind embarrassing top government officials by 'forgetting' to praise them in his poems. A proud orator, Mokane was in love with himself and liked to heap praise upon himself:
Ke letsitsiropi, ke legwatagwata
Ke lehututu le le tlhogo e khibidu, ke mmantswitsidi ke kgalapotsane
Ke noga ya maje ke loma bosigo
Nna ke setse ke nkile ka bolela kare ntwa ga e lowe ka bokima fela
Le ba ba sesanyane ba a e leka.
Ke bonye ke roba motho mokwata:
Ga botsana difofu le ka digole.
Although the praise-poet describes himself as a terrible and monstrous snake that inhabits the hills (kgalapotsane) in his poems those who knew him say he was a soft-spoken and lovable person. However, this must not come as a surprise since exaggeration is a common factor in traditional praise-poetry. The poet's family members, who fondly call him Rra Kgosi, remember him as a loving person.
George Mokane, the artist's younger brother says that Mokane was like a father to him. "Although he was my older brother, he loved me like his own son. The very first trousers I wore in my life were bought by him and before then I wore loincloths," he says. Watsie Mokane, the poet's widow does not want to speak to this reporter. She despises government officials and thinks this reporter is from government.
"They (government) have forgotten about me. My husband is working now and I am not getting anything from them," she complains.
After much cajoling and assurance that this reporter is not from government, Watsie Mokane opens up.
The widow believes that the government of Botswana is cheating her out of the royalties that are due to her as the widow of the poet and its clear that she is bitter about him 'working' and her not getting anything in return.
"I hear that they are giving artists money if their songs receive airplay, how about poets?" she demands to know.
The issue of royalties aside, Mokane says her late husband was a loving person, who was always surrounded by children whom he would spoil with little gifts. She went on to say that her late husband was a master orator who was very gifted and that he was spontaneous in his approach.
"Rra Kgosi was so gifted that he would just look at an object and recite a poem about it the next moment," added George Mokane with a twinkle in his eye.
According to the inscription on the poet's tombstone, Ponatshego Mokane was born on 2nd January 1914 and died on the 23rd March 1985. A local writer, Modirwa Kekwaletswe says in his book, Logalapa: Kanoko Ya Poko Le Mmino Wa Setswana that Mokane died in 1986, after reciting a poem during the 20th independence anniversary celebration, a claim that is dismissed outright by the family. They say that Mokane died a year after one of his grandchildren was born in 1984.
The family says that Mokane was a Mokaa from the Sebina ward in Serowe. The Mokane family relocated to Mookane following their stint in the village where they worked as casual labourers.
"We tilled the land for the Mookane residents who in turn gave us grain as payment. Rra Kgosi and I just fell in love with the village and we asked the people of Mokane to give us a plot for our home," explains the widow.
Ponatshego Mokane worked with both Water Affair and Water Utilities Corporation (WUC) before retiring from public service in 1980. The poet died five years later and by then he had made a name for himself as a revered poet alongside the likes of Sekokotla Kaboeamodimo.
During his lifetime, the poet was invited to recite poems during national events. Some critics claim that at one event he was asked to recite a poem during independence celebration and the then president Sir Ketumile Masire graced the event. Instead of paying tribute to either the president or the event, the poet praised the late Ngwato regent, Kgosi Tshekedi Khama:
Hiri batho phuthegelang kwano
Le tle go bona Quett Masire
O phuthile morafe a bo a bitsa le nna esemang
Lo seka la tlakatlela Tshekedi (Khama)
Tshekedi ke tau o tlaa lo metsa.
(People come and bear witness
Quett Masire has gathered people including nonentities like me. Don't you dare mess with Tshekedi (Khama)
Tshekedi is a lion, he would swallow you alive) A careful study of the poem would show that he heavily borrowed from Seitshiro Mosweu's very long poem that chronicled the life and the times of the former regent and compared him to a wild chestnut cow that kicked and displaced its enemies. This is not to say that Mokane was stealing Mosweu's work since it was a generally accepted and encouraged practice then.
Like most artists of his times, Mokane died a pauper and his grave lay unmarked for decades. This prompted the Capricorn Cluster that comprises seven schools - Mmaphashalala, Poloka, Mokgenene, Pallaroad, Tirelo, Mookane Primary Schools and Mookane Junior Secondary School under the leadership of Molemane Kwante to pay a befitting tribute to the unsung hero by erecting a tombstone in his honour. Slumber Waleboa, of Macmillan, unveiled the tombstone on Teacher's Day on June 7.
The Mokane family hopes that the poet's grandson, Eric Mokane will continue the legacy of his grandfather and the youthful poet impressed many when he recited a poem rich in Setswana idioms and proverbs at the ceremony held to honour his grandfather.
There is no doubt that the legend of the terrible mountain-snake, Ponatshego-a-Mokane-a-Pesi-a-Lekoko, would continue as the younger Mokane said, A molelo a se time (Let the fire not burn out).
