'The gods will be mad at us' :: Mmegi Online

As the battle for the burial of Pitseng Gaoberekwe, an old man from Metsiamanong in the CKGR, drags on to its fourth month, the family’s distress continues. Through their endless grief, the Gaoberekwes are especially worried now about the wrath of the gods on them and their land, for failing to return their son to his homeland in time, writes Mmegi Staffer THALEFANG CHARLES

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.

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