"The evil that men do lives after them; the good is oft interred with their bones." This seminary message by Mark Antony, will draw the outline or contours of this eulogy.
This passage from Julius Caesar by Shakespeare, one of the greatest literary works of its epoch, informs us that we forget the good deeds of the departed easily but the bad deeds linger longer in our minds.
Someone in response to why Shakespeare uses this quote had this to proffer as an answer: That it is used to allude the nature of legacies. Unlike Mark Antony who was addressing the living through allusions and dramatic irony, mine is an honest reflection on the life of Cde Bashi Sengwaketse. He was human and like everyone else, was not perfect. But unlike most of us who are acres of space away from it, he was not that far. If a ruler was to be used, one would find him a few metres away from perfection.
My brother and Cde Sengwaketse is no more. The news was broken to me by Otsweletse Moupo. We had served together in the central committee as a solid team from 2007 up to 2010. The news shook me. Cde Sengwaketse was one of the few cdes I have gone through the darkest phases of my political journey with. A dependable cde I have fought side by side with and against in the political terrain. He never harboured any hatred even after those engagements which at times went beyond the level of polemics; we never doubted each other’s love for the BNF. Sengwaketse also had this forgiving trait. We remained brothers and comrades until his departure. I don't know if I ever told him that he was my only brother's namesake. He also carries the name Bashi.
I first met Sengwaketse when he was in Orapa where he was working as the Mine Secretary. A friend, Neo Ngwako had arranged an appointment for me to see him. He spoke fondly of Sengwaketse. By then I was very active in the printing and publishing space and had gone there to visit some friends and took advantage to look for business opportunities. Though he promised to give me support, the support never came and I would later jokingly tease him when we were together in the central committee that he did not support me. Sengwaketse was instrumental in my election at the 2005 Ledumang Congress where I got the privilege to serve as the BNF’s Information and Publicity Secretary. Around this time Sengwaketse was now working at the Jwaneng Mine. Together with other cdes, they led a very powerful constituency which had a sway in the powerful southern region. At one stage the central committee turned to his committee for financial bail-out. I don’t remember the loan being paid back. Two years after the Ledumang Congress, the party had a highly contested congress in Molepolole where he took over as the chairperson of the BNF. He had beaten a powerful rival by any measure, Cde Nehemiah Modubule who was the incumbent chairman. Together with Cde Mohammed Khan, they had pulled a surprise and won the chairmanship and deputy secretary-general positions at the 2005 Ledumang congress. Together with Cde Basimane Mannaesi, Cde Lemme Kgopa and other cdes, we played a leading role in convincing him to stand. We had a conference in Jwaneng the following year and we picked up intel that some suspended and expelled comrades were planning to disrupt and then take over the leadership of the party, coup style. We assembled a team that included myself, Sengwaketse, Cdes Moses Bantsi, Kgopa, Batisani Basiami, Dimpho Moruti and Amos Jahana Basima to plan, coordinate and execute a security plan. We also had the red army to bring about order and discipline, a task they executed diligently. As we were arriving from the Jwaneng airstrip with our guest speaker from the SACP North West and the then MEC for Public Works in the province, Cde Jerry Thibedi, who had flown in a chartered flight, we found some rebels busy with placards and getting ready to pounce as we expected. On getting inside the hall, I immediately conveyed the information to Sengwaketse who was chairing. The team was alerted and we lay in wait. The "red army" was also made aware. There were two lines of defence that were put in place and the conference proceed as if we were not aware of what was about to happen. Some of the CC members were at the second line of defence. They breached the first and came, carrying stones and all sorts of weapons. I remember that I was next to Bantsi and the rebels were pushing the door very hard and just as they were piling up pressure on us and some were about to enter, there was a retreat and one of them was shouting as they ran away, "ke tswa madi". The whole thing was over in a minute or two. Some of the cdes who were in the hall were not even aware of what had just happened. A good number of these rubble rousers left Jwaneng immediately, defeated with one of them nursing a wound. Jwaneng was liberated.
As the above incident depicts, right after the Molepolole congress, the BNF knew no peace. While it was hoped that the congress would bring healing to the BNF, it sharpened and intensified contradictions. This was one of the most challenging times to lead the BNF, particularly as its chairman whose task was to unite and seek consensus amongst a motley and incongruous group of cdes who were emerging from a congress and had primary elections staring at them. The schisms led to the poor showing of the party in the 2009 General Elections. Those who were elected at the congress adopted and maintained a triumphalist approach whilst those who were not elected did not respect their authority, something which led to suspensions and expulsions. It was history repeating itself and it seems Ledumang was bad for us. In 1997 the BNF went to Ledumang for its congress and there was no peace thereafter which led to our failure to win the 1999 general elections and the birth of the BCP.
Bashi loved the BNF with all his heart. A disciplined and gentle revolutionary did not believe in dogma but used what he learned from the party’s study groups to analyse and interpret the challenges faced by this country. Sengwaketse was not an armchair revolutionary. He rolled up his sleeves and made an impact in society which saw him leading the Botswana Mine Workers Union. He was not driven by hubris but was firm. There was no misplaced ideology or reckless ambition in his politics. I never got to find out from Sengwaketse, but it seems Otto Von Bismarck’s adage had an influence in his politics. To Bismarck, politics is the art of the possible, the attainable - the art of the next best.
When Jacob Zuma was inaugurated in 2008 as South Africa’s President, myself and Sengwaketse represented the BNF. We got entertained by the SACP comrades at some joint whose name I have now forgotten. Some of them had just returned from a Cuban political “pilgrimage”. They offered us some Cuban cigars, revolutionary symbols for a smoke. I declined the offer but mogolle, as I would sometimes address him, tried a puff. But his body wouldn’t have none of it and he retreated to his meek Peter Stuyvesant. A jolly man he was. He was not stuck in ageism. He was a guy, a go to kind of guy. Others thought he was arrogant. Behind this public façade lay a modest, humble and caring guy. Sometimes he would come to the BNF office with a naughty little boy called Kago.He is now a grown up young man. This six or so year-old would just shout Bashi, Bashi and Rraagwe Jimmy would respond without any issues. Initially I thought he was Jimmy until I met Jimmy the guy on one of my many visits to the family in Block 7. A polite, shy and well-groomed young man.
At times he would call me mei laitie as to him I was a little brother. He would swing from his strong english slang to snippets of tsotsi taal. Sengwaketse was street wise and not the typical dogmatic left wing politician. The BNF had lots of them with their infantile disorder tendency. They were at times useful as they provided a constant counter to any emerging right wing narrative in the movement. Lately they have become dispersed and disorganised endangered species. Even in formal meetings, Sengwaketse would use slang. The “F” word and “guys” would be used. Rre Olebile Gaborone, the then BNF Vice President, a disciplinarian that he is, would now and then admonish Sengwaketse over his choice of words. In response he would gently in laughter, with his shoulders moving up and down remind Rre Gaborone that he comes from a mining background and we would all join in and laugh and let it pass. I never imagined myself sitting right in the middle of the night writing his eulogy. Sengwaketse was full of humour and loved life. He had a real soul mate and partner in his wife, Ausi Gase. Their love for each other was palpable. Every now and then he would say my wife this, my wife that. The departed The Voice founding Publisher, Ausi Beata Kasale, who was like an elder sister to me, held the couple in high esteem. She was a fan of this couple, their bosom friend and would now and then confess her undying love for the two. The same would happen when I met Sengwaketse.
As a confirmation of his love for life, Sengwaketse was part of the Mass Media Construction Band in Orapa. He was a manager and drummer. As a leftist of note, I am not sure if he managed the band for profit or just entertainment. The band had the likes of Bushi Molokomme and Metha Motswagothata on the lead guitars, Alfrenso Mbungula on vocals, the Nyepi brothers on rhythm and base guitar, and Jesper Sematho who had a short stint on the drums. This was at the height of the Hippies popularity. Rock and roll was also very popular. Here was a revolutionary who was hitting the drums, managing a band and enjoying his social life to the fullest. He had not abandoned the struggle but was pursuing it in another terrain. The soothing musical lane. Somehow he reminded me of Collins Chabane, the departed South African minister who would at the slightest opportunity be part of a jam session. The two confirm that the two, music and revolution can tango.
Though lately we were not interacting as we used to, Sengwaketse remained one of my go to guys. The last time we met was when I bumped into him at the UDC and BNF leader, Cde Duma Boko’s Chambers. He indicated that he was in the neighbourhood on some pensioners’ association assignment and decided to pop in and greet his leader. A born leader that he was, he would listen with abundance of empathy and at times when you are pissed off with him, allow you to vent. Though sometimes he would lose it, he hated aimless arguments. He was a good comforter. As we commiserate over his loss, let us seek cover and comfort in the fact that there lived a man who did not relish seeing another in pain. So let us not allow pain to take the better part of us because we will not be honouring him. Let us seek refuge in the scripture. 1 Thessalonians 4:13-14 says that we should not mourn like those who have no hope. For we believe that Jesus died and rose again and so we believe that God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep in Him. Let this passage provide strength. Borrowing a line from John Donne, death is unable to corrupt the eternal soul. And death shall be no more: Death shall die. To Ausi Gase, Jimmy and the rest of the family, the BNF and UDC family, let us celebrate and thank God for having allowed us to have such a loving and caring man in our lives. Some never had what we had. Elevate yourselves to the spiritual realm where you will find peace as we remember Sengwaketse. Fair thee well Cde and leader!
