FREE FOR ALL
Mantlha-a-Godimo hailed as ‘the organic fertilizers of Bamalete Heritage’ GAONTEBALE MOKGOSI
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representatives have described the continued attachment to customs of traditional ‘initiation schooling’ as archaic or outdated and therefore being unworthy to pursue.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.