Kgosi Gaborone calls for cultural preservation
Nnasaretha Kgamanyane | Tuesday June 18, 2024 11:24
Molomo also known as Dikgafela is an event where the community takes their first harvest to the kgosi so that he becomes the first one to taste it before allowing everyone else to. Normally, such food is stored in the silos for future use and also to feed the needy and orphans. When addressing the tribe, Kgosi Gaborone said the event was meant to celebrate the Setlokwa culture adding that without culture they have no identity. He said a number of Batswana lost their identity all in the name of civilisation. He stressed on how one's identity was important urging the community to respect and celebrate their culture.
He said they must take pride in their culture and not let it perish by passing it to their children. He further pointed out that Tlokweng was a smart model village with one council, one kgosi, one land board and one everything. He acknowledged all dikgosi, headmen and all individuals who took part in the event. He also said every year, the kgosi calls his people to gather and prepare for ploughing. He said it was important to prepare the houses, tools and seedlings so that when the planting season comes, they will be ready to plough. He took the gathering through the ploughing process until they are ready to harvest their plants and store their foods. He added that after harvesting, people had to take part of their first harvest to the kgotla to thank God for their produce. He added that the harvest is given to kgosi as he previously gave them permission to harvest. He added that culturally, the kgosi has to be the first one to taste the harvest and then thank God for the harvest. He added that the kgosi then stores the food in the silos so that they could feed the less privileged. He added that that gesture enabled them to be able to feed the community during drought seasons.
He said even though they were facing a dry season this year, it was important not to lose hope and also said it was time to delve into new ways of farming. He also encouraged those who did not plough their fields to lend others the land to do so. He informed them about the Temo Letlotlo initiative saying people could group themselves and engage in commercial farming.