He breathed his last on Monday morning at the Princess Marina Hospital. According to those in the know, the old man had been selling his wares in the Main Mall from as far back as the ‘60s. A lot of people will no doubt remember the short grey haired/bearded old man who plied his trade under a tree in front of the famous Botswana Book Centre. Unlike other traders in the Main Mall, his stall only displayed a few wares and one would be fooled into believing that the old man did not have enough stock to display. According to those who knew him well, due to constraints of transport, he would only bring enough to limit the load as he would be footing from Old Naledi everyday.
The rest of the wares were kept at his home and he would bring more as and when the stock got depleted. When Mmegi visited the Main Mall on Wednesday morning, the slot where the old man used to display his artefacts was still unoccupied probably in respect of the old man. In an interview, Boitumelo Sethale and Victoria Dipholo who operate a stall next to where George was operating from, described ‘Uncle’ as a quiet and obedient man. “You would hardly hear him raise his voice to anyone. He always had this infectious smile on him. He was a people’s person as you would always see many people coming to check on him,” said Dipholo. Dipholo added that she was amazed by one Motswana lady who stays in the United Kingdom who indicated that she has been seeing the old man in the Main Mall since 1980. According to Sethale and Dipholo, ‘Uncle’ showed signs of being unwell a few months ago.
