Sylvester Wapitso
21 October 2008
Francistown — It is rush hour. Moving bodies surge back and forth. Society is on the go. Everybody's sense of dress tells where they come from and who they are.
Even the groceries they hold say something about where they are going and where they come from. Some are engaged in idle chitchat, experiencing a sense of community belongingness as they meet their countrymen. What is on their minds is neither here nor there.
A man stands on the western side of the Shoprite parking lot. He is clean-shaven and dark in complexion. He wears a light brown trouser and a blue, striped shirt. A tall street light pole dwarfs him. In his right hand, he holds a 750ml bottle of Source water. It complements his healthy appearance. "I am a visitor from Zambia. I have just arrived and I am waiting for my boss. I am new to this area. It is very hot and I bought this water to quench my thirst," he says with a deep accent that confirms where he comes from.
Vroom-beep, taxi cars and combis whiz past going in the same direction. I leave my newcomer friend as he waits for his boss. A water bottle is an indispensable asset during these hot summer days, like house and car keys, wallet and cell-phone that one cannot leave behind. Even during events there are no water filled jugs on tables.
A catering company's work is incomplete without water bottles for the VIPs' convenience. Like pawns on a chessboard, water bottles adorn high tables during events.
The water bottle age is nigh. Stories about this era shall be told of men and women going around and about their daily lives with water bottles. Apart from dressing for the occasion, clutching a water bottle enhances ones credibility and sense of belonging to this phenomenal generation where water is bottled and sold. It says something about ones healthy outlook on life in general.
Adonia Ashabani is a 19-year-old combi conductor on the Monarch route. He is part of this water bottle era. "This water is different from tap water. After drinking it you take a long time before you feel thirsty again.
Even the taste is different. Bottled water tastes nice. When I am broke I get credit from the suppliers since I am a loyal customer and they know I will pay," he says
"I like buying bottled water. Even if there was a public tap I would still opt for this bottled water because it is sold when cold and taste nice," says Mashango Ntshwabi, a 22 year-old young man of Serowe who is a bus conductor on Jimi Express bus.
Chada John is a 15 year-old boy from Tonota who attends Semotswana Primary School. He is growing up in this bottled water era. After school, he helps her mother in her business at the bus rank. "I sell soft drinks, sweets, airtime, and water. People do buy water, more especially those going to far places," he says.
Grace Mathaba is a 39-year old woman of Makaleng and lives in Somerset location. She started selling water two months ago. "This water business is good. People taking long journeys need a water bottle companion along the way. I have just started selling here and I have yet to stock juices so those who do not want fizzy drinks normally buy water.
I buy this water from Shoprite. There is no public tap here so there is no choice. Everybody who is thirsty has to buy. Their choices are varied; some prefer Bonaqua, Source, others, Zero 3. I make sure that everybody is catered for and the profit is good," she says.
Some broke people come and ask for water and when you tell them that you only have water for sale they demand the water you keep for yourself, she says. "Business is good at month end. Otherwise people come thirsty, but broke. We sell a 750ml bottle of Source water for P6.00," says Sihle Solomon, a woman from Jackalas No.2 village.
"I always leave home with a water bottle. I keep bottled water in the fridge to take along wherever I go. I cannot afford buying water," says Kepaletswe Malota a 40 year old woman of Chadibe in the Tswapong area.Simangele Nkala is a cook at Mmamchiveli's caravan at the bus rank. She says that lack of a public tap at the bus rank impacts negatively on their business. "Luckily, my employer has a vehicle and we get the water we use to cook here at Extension location," she says. "There has never been a public tap here. If you do not bring your own water bottle at home the choice is that you buy and that is only if you have money. It is expensive to buy water every day," says Zibani Chaba a route marshall on the Francistown-Ramokgwebana route.
"We sell frozen water to street vendors and those who want to quench their thirst buy unfreezed water. Bottled water sells very well in summer. For example this month we sold 1628 bottles of Metsi Pure water. A 500 ml is P2.80," says Gorosang Pholo a Grocery Supervisor at Shoprite supermarket.
"All chemical reactions ongoing in our bodies need a fluid environment and this fluid is water, 70 percent of a man's body is water and this is lost through sweating breathing and flushing toxins out of our bodies. We need water to maintain blood pressure. An adult needs at least three litres of water everyday and when it is hot this is not adequate.
Thirst is the body saying that it is very late, so we should not wait to be thirsty before we drink water," says Dr Celest Mbangtang, a surgeon at Nyangabgwe Referral Hospital.
Headaches that occur in many people might be a sign showing that the body needs water. Water is life. "Bottled water is good, but not everybody can afford it. Tap water is better when filtered.
They usually do their job where they treat it, but whatever happens along the way is not known because pipes transporting this water might make it dirty before it reaches the consumer," Dr Mbangtang said.
Being part of the water bottle era is hard for those who do not have money. Reality is that thirst does not discriminate. You might be poor or rich, ugly or beautiful, but a thirsty call shall reach you at any time, any place.
It was at the Gabane Kgotla where the hunting expedition took off. The buffalo is revered in GaMalete. It's their totem. As the hunter adjusted his psychological warfare position, the targeted buffaloes raised their ears, smelled the wind, whined and mooed and the wrinkled marks on their foreheads showed.He took aim and fired a salvo: "When you are thirsty, drink water.
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