They encapsulate the defeatist attitude of a beaten people. They are a statement - nay, a whisper - of sorrow that cuts to the heart. They are a summary of surrender. But they are as widespread as the poverty that encircles communities throughout Botswana. Residents of the erstwhile hamlet of Ramaphatle near Thamaga may have uttered these words this week as the Kweneng Land Board moved in to demolish their dwellings. Their hovels and paltry possessions were razed to the ground in a frenzy of demolitions of the birth rights of the children born there. With mothers clutching their infants, the demolition squad had the backing of heavily armed police reinforcements to make sure that no baby had a cradle for shelter in the sub-zero temperatures of July.
It is known that the residents were given an order to vacate by the Land Board but they seem top have ignored, thus inviting what befell them. However, it has been said the demolition order was not conveyed properly to the residents. This means that by all means, the Land Board should not have rushed into demolitions at this particular point in time when there is unfinished business.
