Not All For Bogwera

They were at nearby drinking holes, enjoying their Chibuku (traditional beer) and watching the initiation activities like tourists with some shouting at the top of their voices. Old heads Morake Ntshole and Patla Tsae, both products of the Bakgatla initiation schools, say that in the past, things were different.

"Today, young men can just watch bogwera gatherings from their drinking holes without fear. In the past, enrolling for bogwera was compulsory. We used to go around drinking holes whipping men with sticks so that they join others for the initiation ceremony," Tsae says, his eyes fixed on the young men enjoying Chibuku lazily under trees.