'The gods will be mad at us'

Monday morning inside Court Room 4 at the Broadhurst Magistrate's Court premises, a High Court session before Justice Itumeleng Segopolo is about to start. It is a matter between the Government of Botswana and the family of the late Pitseng Gaoberekwe, whose body has been lying in a morgue for four months because of a lengthy burial dispute.

A man, seated at the back, arms folded and a distant look cuts a lonely figure inside the small courtroom. His name is Smith Moeti, the nephew of the deceased and family spokesperson who has travelled over 1,000km from Metsiamanong in the heart of the Central Kgalagadi Game Reserve (CKGR) to Gaborone to hear the matter. Moeti is hoping for the court to end the four-month nightmare of the unending mourning for his departed uncle.