The students were fascinated by Mochudi but were unable to explain what it was that so captivated them. Eventually, I deduced that they had recognised in it, an African personality and an African integrity that was denied them at home. True, Mochudi was identically the same as Serowe or Molepolole in being an entirely African creation but Mochudi had Kgosi Linchwe, and they didn't. Since his sad death, any number of adjectives have been used to describe him, all of them accurate and suitable but as with the South African students leaving something out of reach and unexpressed. Can this missing element be pinned down?
Take the early years. With Independence, the young, inexperienced Linchwe found himself sidelined with the elderly Kgosi Bathoen. Recognising that the government had decided that the day of the 'tyrants' was to be over, Bathoen turned politician and Linchwe was left, with Seepapitso, to battle it out. If ever there was a lost cause, this was it. But something remarkable must have happened during the next forty or so years because when Morena died, the scene at his kgotla, with the singing of dikoma in tribute to him, was correctly described as a cultural celebration. Wow. And then there was the Kgotla decision that during the period of mourning all social jollities should be postponed and loud bar music stopped. Throughout Kgatleng it seems that this injunction has been respected. Now, when central government determines just about everything affecting our lives, it comes as a surprise that Mochudi could declare that the death of its Kgosi is entirely its affair, his funeral its responsibility and that it will organise this as it sees fit.
