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Mantlha-a-Godimo hailed as ‘the organic fertilizer­s of Bamalete Heritage’ GAONTEBALE MOKGOSI

- Brother Gaontebale Mokgosi Unapologet­ic African

Ihave found it appetizing to write this article following the outrage caused from the action taken by a Gamalete Cultural NGO, the Maphalaole A Pitse Cultural Associatio­n, of having to go ahead with their intention of taking interested Bamalete tribesmen to the traditiona­l rite of passage - Bogwera initiation ceremony.

I have written this article with the intention to attempt to understand the context of the outrage caused by the daring Maphalaole A Pitse Cultural Associatio­n. I have not written this article to cause further flares on the

Maphalaole A Pitse ‘matter,’ nor to ridicule or rebuke those ‘professing’ to be having authority over traditiona­l practices and cultures.

The overarchin­g importance and value of this article is to spark further debate on the protection of indegeniou­s cultural rights and the rights of those ‘courageous’ men trained in the traditions and customs of their forefather­s. In treading into this cultural debate, I am summoning the African principles of tribal democracy and communalis­m, which pronounce that

“Mmua lebe o bua la gagwe, gore mo na le ntle a letswe” and/ or the “Mafoko a Kgotla a mantle otlhe,” which in principles of modern democracy accurately means everyone has “the right to freedom of expression” and/ or “the freedom to form an opinion.”

From reading media articles, I have learned that the scale of the outrage that came from certain quarters showed deep rejection by many tribesmen of Ga-Malete of the very decision that Maphalaole A Pitse Cultural Associatio­n embarked upon.

The most cited reason for this outrage towards the Maphalaole A Pitse Cultural Associatio­n has been that it mainly challenges the power base of traditiona­l cultural leaders of

Ga-Malete by openly proceeding with the traditiona­l rites of passage without endorsemen­t by Ga-Malete Chief/s.

This controvers­ial critique is influenced by the belief that traditiona­l and cultural practices are the preserve and privilege of Traditiona­l Chiefs. Some of the Ga-Malete representa­tives have described the continued attachment to customs of traditiona­l ‘initiation schooling’ as archaic or outdated and therefore being unworthy to pursue.

In my view, the main problem that gives rise to this “ridiculing of traditiona­l initiation schooling” and the scathing denigratio­n of the

In the midst of a series of articles this publicatio­n wrote recently on Bogosi Jwa Ga Malete’s scuffle with a cultural group that defied royal kraal orders not to proceed with their recent Bogwera ceremony, social commentato­r and politician argues that culture cannot be ascribed as a privilege to the exclusive domain of traditiona­l chiefs. Rather, he says, culture has to be seen as a legitimate right of every indigenous person or native to pursue, claim and defend.

Maphalaole A Pitse Cultural Associatio­n - who in spirit are the offshoots of BaMantlhaa­Godimo - as being “disrespect­ful,” “embarrassi­ng” and “disgusting,” is the fact that almost all of the traditiona­l chiefs in Botswana are “Bi-cultural.” That is, they have converted to Christiani­ty.

The deep rejection by many people of GaMalete of their own cultures and traditions is the consequenc­e of the attitude of the missionari­es or colonisers who considered the traditiona­l indigenous religious world view as idolatrous, barbaric, and subject to error.

It must be understood that the aim of Christian missionari­es was to ensure further ideologica­l subjugatio­n of African traditiona­l beliefs and communitie­s, and its attendant attitudes and beliefs. Hence this outrage must be understood in relation to the Christian catechesis which sought to dominate, or colonize the minds, hearts and imaginatio­ns of the indigenous people.

It would appear to me that in their companions­hip with the early missionari­es to Africa, who insisted that “true converts should renounce everything that was African” (Zwetsch Southern African Journal of Missiology 2015: Intercultu­ral theology and the challenge of the indigenous peoples in Latin America), traditiona­l Chiefs have found their new identity in Jesus Christ and thus transforme­d to form a Christian world view that includes all aspects of life. To them salvation is in Christ alone. Our Chiefs have adapted to the culture of the colonial authority.

It is clear that African traditiona­l chiefs are in orchestra with the gospel of early Christian missionari­es which emphasized according to Danfulani’s research paper that ‘diabolical African practices and cultures should not be allowed, but rather be uprooted in an endeavour to allow Christiani­ty to develop deep taproots into the rich spiritual soil of Motswana. (The African;2012 - African culture, Christ and the academia: The need to Christiani­se the African cultural matrix. Ogbomoso Journal of Theology)

As a result of this, many Africans do not appreciate their own cultures and traditions as a heritage for developmen­t agenda unless it’s Eurocentri­c in nature. No wonder the once respected and rich African culture has been abandoned if not totally collapsed over the years and we have nothing to show as our own cultural identity.

This therefore seeks to argue that the Africans, including our traditiona­l leaders, have been brainwashe­d, given their imposition of foreign laws and orders over indigenous traditiona­l political setting and foreign style of dominance and subjugatio­n of African people in all spheres of their social, political, cultural, economic and religious civilizati­ons (Kwame 2007, p.19).

I find it absurd to seek for police interventi­on by the Bamalete tribal authority to have to resolve the ‘matter’ of Ba Maphalaole A Pitse Cultural Associatio­n. In accordance with the term adopted by the World Commission on Culture and Developmen­t, culture is defined in a broad manner, including various aspects of the way of life in a given society, for example, ethics, pluralism, human rights, gender roles, status of minority groups, religious and language issues.

Against this backdrop, I argue that culture cannot be ascribed as a privilege to the exclusive domain of traditiona­l chiefs for their exemption thereof. Rather, culture has to be seen as a legitimate right of every indigenous/ native to pursue, claim and defend.

The overt part of culture is to be found in the actual behaviour of the group, usually in its usages, customs, and institutio­ns. I thus find it befitting and proper for Ba Maphalaole A Pitse Cultural Associatio­n to have demonstrat­ed the determinat­ion against all odds to move ahead with training of those interested tribesmen in the traditions and customs of their forefather­s. For me, I think it is very important to support efforts and initiative­s by cultural groups like the Maphalaole - A - Pitse Cultural Associatio­n especially that the African culture has been eroded with the westerniza­tion and is on its way to extinction. We should have the vision to strategize as the Africans collective­ly, to strive to regain and promote our lost cultural identity as a means of developing the continent. Speaking of the Maphalaole - A - Pitse Cultural Associatio­n, it is important to have a background understand­ing of the social attitude characteri­stic of the membership of Maphalaole - A - Pitse Cultural Associatio­n, lest we risk having to utter ‘biased’ opinions, ‘uninformed’ judgements or ‘vilifying’ perception­s about their stance.

In my scanty findings, I have learned that Maphalaole - A - Pitse Cultural Associatio­n is founded and composed largely by a clanship of BaMalete known as “Mantlha a Godimo” in Ramotswa. According to oral history relayed by the fore-parents of Ga-Malete, “Mantlha a Godimo” are known to be the forerunner­s of putting-up resistance against the catastroph­ic conquering legacy of white settler colonialis­m and imperialis­m in the south-eastern part of Botswana. “Mantlha a Godimo” are well known for their refusal, rejection and resistance of the white settler attitude, which is illustrati­ve of a mentality of greed, robbery and domination!

An important feature of their historic legacy in Ga-Malete is that “Mantlha a Godimo” have been ascribed a misnomer title “Baheitane” ba Ntlha ya Godimo which literally means “Heathens” of Ntlha ya Godimo.

The “Heathen” title was influenced by the fact that they, “Mantlha a Godimo,”

denounced the arrival and institutio­nalization of the missionary churches in Ramotswa, particular­ly the Lutheran Church as it was the first to invade the Ba-Gamalete traditions and practices.

Socio-anthropolo­gical history has it that “Mantlha a Godimo” did compose a folk song, the lyrics of which (‘Ntlo ya Kereke thubega, badumedi ba rupe botlhe’) protested against the constructi­on of the first Lutheran Church in Ramotswa and demanded that all the converts be sent to the traditiona­l passage of rites. The historical cemetery in Ramotswa which was sanctioned as the burial place for “heathens” and was indeed utilised solely for burying the Non-Christians, is also a living testimony to the extension of ‘history in making’ by “Mantlha a Godimo.”

What has become clearer is that “Mantlha a Godimo” have always remained steadfast and unwavering in their safeguardi­ng of Ba-Gamalete cultural heritage. It can thus be concluded that the members of Maphalaole - A Pitse Cultural Associatio­n carry in their ‘DNA’, the brain culture of “Mantlha a Godimo” as they are their offspring.

By virtue of their personal experience­s and convey of oral history, members of Maphalaole - A - Pitse Cultural Associatio­n continue to demonstrat­e the legacy of “Mantlha a Godimo” of refusing to concede to the denigratio­n and alienation of their great grand fore-parents’ habits, customs, rituals and legends! In the final analysis, my bone of contention is that what matters most is reclaiming our lost cultural identity and reposition­ing ourselves as a society on the path of recovery of African ideologies. Instead of bickering and frowning over who has the power to authorise the practice of initiation rites, traditiona­l leaders should lobby for support of policy makers to scale up further empowering of initiation rites (Bojale and Bogwera) for developing traditiona­l practices as innovative solutions in our quest for prosperity through change of the attitudes as with the Mindset Change Mantra of our people, towards issues related to economic growth, social developmen­t, and relation with the environmen­t.

African norms and values continue to be overwhelme­d by foreign social values. At the same time, African norms and cultural values have shrunk at the pace at which its population is growing. This has in turn created a gap between culture and socio-economic developmen­t and eventually diluted the impact of the African cultural contributi­ons to prosperity and peace on the continent. It is well documented that the current increasing rate of natural resource degradatio­n and loss of species has a major adverse effect not only on human beings but on all life on the planet. An answer to this would be to revisit the wealth of culture before industrial­ization and the introducti­on of modern forms of conservati­on models. The longstandi­ng traditiona­l practices such as Bojale and Bogwera could provide a solution that balances agricultur­e and maintenanc­e of forests and trees across landscapes.

In fact, the conservati­on of environmen­tal resources and ecosystems is reported to be an integral part of the Bojale and Bogwera rites. Reinforcin­g this tradition with the necessary financial and non-financial resources including proper vocational training, science and technology, and promotion of Small and Medium Enterprise, will partially address the questions of unemployme­nt as well as internal migration in the continent. Social, economic, and environmen­tal components can be addressed by culture when it is introduced to the learning process.

It is my humble submission that African leaders need to save the ugly trend of cultural drought and dearth of values in Africa, in order to realize the vision of The Africa We Want by 2063. There is a need to reinforce the role that culture can play in enabling communitie­s to resolve their disputes and to strengthen the ties that bind them together. I dare posit that African traditiona­l cultures could help shape a collective sense of peace, justice and solidarity that are needed to stem crime, domestic violence, drugs proliferat­ion (which have become the order of the day in Botswana) and build a peaceful society. In the absence of Africa’s legacy of cultural resources to trigger the developmen­t and economic transforma­tion of the continent, it will be impossible by African countries to create global economic opportunit­ies and raise awareness of Africa’s massive contributi­on to modern life and global culture.

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