A royal send- off!
January 29th, 2022 will remain permanently etched in the collective memory of the BaKgatla Baga Kgafela tribe as the day that their Queen Mother, Mohumagadi Kathleen Nono Mmarakau Kgafela set off to the other- world in regal style.
The family’s differences notwithstanding, the occasion indeed was a befitting send- off for a Queen, and the silent raindrops throughout the funeral procession bore testimony to the Queen’s royal heritage.
Chants of female initiation ( Bojale) songs that accompanied the whole ceremony from start to finish by female regiments, cemented Mohumagadi’s enduring legacy as an ardent traditionalist and custodian of the BaKgatla customs.
In fact, the alluring Bojale drumbeats that echoed on the Phuthadikobo hilltop, her final resting place at the family’s royal cemetery, next to her late husband, Kgosik
golo Linchwe II, signaled the end of a glorious era, and the onset of a new one.
While her son, Kgosikgolo Kgafela Kgafela II, and his Mohumagadi, Mma
Matshego could not attend the funeral, all the signs were evidently palpable – the tribe misses them dearly.
No one could have conveyed the heartfelt message better than Kgafela’s younger brother, Mmusi.
What a scene it was! Mmusi and his elder sister, Seingwaeng sat next to the leather- draped coffin, while his elder brother, Bakgatle, and his family could only observe proceedings from inside the mansion as they had to self- isolate after contracting Covid- 19 on their flight from Washington, DC.
Mma Seingwaeng’s siblings – elder sister, Stella Makgato and younger sister, Mapula Nkomo’s presence fortified the shattered and bereaved family, as did the comforting presence of borrangwane - Mothibe Linchwe; Ramono Linchwe; Kgosi
Bana Sekai Linchwe; Segale
Linchwe; Morena Nyakale and Thari Pilane.
But it was also the presence of the various Magosi - Bakwena paramount, Kgari Sechele III, Bamalete paramount, Mosadi Seboko; Bangwato Regent, Sediegeng Kgamane, as well as Kgosi Mosinyi of Bakaa ba Kalamare, also Kgosikgolo Kgafela’s father- in- law, including the host of the government dignitaries and masses of the people that eased and assuaged the pain of loss on all the mourners.
Speaker after speaker testified how Mma Seingwaeng lived her life to the fullest, how she was a lover of finer things in life; a travel enthusiast, and above all, a community builder and women emancipator.
Here is a woman who rubbed shoulders with world leaders, a doting mother, and a wife that opened her doors to renowned writers and activists such as Lady Mitchison!
May her soul find comfort in the grace of Him, whose Name shall not be uttered!