Mmegi/The Reporter (Gaborone)
Maureen Odubeng
30 October 2009
Molepolole — Kgosi Sechele I Museum in Molepolole, will host its third annual Dithubaruba Cultural Festival - and the event promises to be bigger and better this year.
The festival, which for the previous years has been incorporating the economy into its theme, is this year themed: "Ngwao le Tswakanyo Itsholelo go ya 2016 (Culture and Economic Diversification Towards 2016)" - and this time around it will be a build-up to the main event penciled for November 28 at the Molepolole Main Kgotla. The first installment of celebrations is scheduled for November 21.
The festival will kick off with a Heritage walk from the Kgosi Sechele I Museum at 6:30am. The walk, according to museum official Tlamelo Ntekola, will take people to different historical sites in and around Molepolole like Logaga lwa ga Kobokwe, Dithubaruba site, and Ntsweng.
There will also be a video presentation on historical sites in Molepolole and their management by Limkokwing Students-Tourism Department at the end of the walk.
The walk will be graced by among othersVs, Dr Nomsa Mbere. Still on Novemer 21, there will be a cultural dinner at which cultural music, food, and poetry will be galore. Activities will include a court of injustice, where different people will be judged, including Kgosi Kgari Sechele III. Traditional foods on the menu will include seswaa sa kgomo, koko ya Setswana, letshotlho and dinawa, logala (bogobe jwa mashi), samp and ditloo, and attendees are urged to wear traditional attires (mateisi), no ties. The dinner will be a fund-raising event.
The main event this year will be hosted at the Molepolole Main Kgotla, and it is scheduled to begin at 7:00 am. Different traditional groups will perform Phatisi and Tsutsube dance styles. As is the norm, there will also be drama, and groups will perform with their story lines based on this year's theme - "Culture and Economic Diversification Towards 2016".
It is not uncommon for people not to see an economic side to culture, and Dithubaruba since it started has been trying to see that the very culture that many take pride in can also be exploited for financial gain. Some of the speakers at the previous festivals concentrated on encouraging those who attended the festival to start looking at culture from a different perspective. Speaking at one of the previous events, the Paramount Chief of Bakwena, Kgosi Kgari Sechele III, urged Bakweng to start relating economic diversification to culture. He noted that every culture when used properly has the potential to improve people's lives, and alleviate poverty.
He said Kweneng District is one of the districts hardest hit by unemployment, urging the gathering to look into using culture to rescue themselves from poverty. He noted that handcrafts including wood curving, leather tanning, and cultural music, dancing and poetry could also help alleviate poverty, urging relevant bodies to help communities in marketing their products outside the country.
In support of the chief, one of those who attended the festival testified that indeed culture could be used as a means of survival, with the opportunity to create employment for others.
Constance Nagafela, who deals in leather works, told the gathering that engaging in crafts is not a hobby, saying that it is a lucrative business. She applauded Kgari Sechele I Museum for helping her realise her goals, citing that after the museum saw her works at an exhibition at the Botswana National Museum in Gaborone, they invited her to supply the museum with some of her works as one way of helping her market her products. Nagafela now operates her own shop in Molepolole.
The festival had a number of exhibitors showcasing beautiful cultural items such as diphate tsa letlalo (hide mats), handbags, kika le motshe (mortar and pestle respectively), and a host of other decorative materials made from wood and other natural resources.
During one of the previous festivals, Kgosi Sechele I Museum chairperson, Basiamang Garebakwena also informed attendees about what the festival is all about. Among other things he said the festival is a platform, which aims to revive culture. He added that the festival also aims to promote cultural activities by hosting competitions and encouraging people to treat cultural festivals as a way of entertainment.
He urged the people to support the annual cultural festival, so that Bakwena culture does not disappear. Garebakwena emphasised that reviving and preserving culture will not only instill pride in Bakwena, but that it can also be used as a means of making a living - that is using culture to sustain oneself and their families.
He noted that Kweneng has a number of monuments (historical cultural cites), which if used well could attract tourists to the district, thus improving the lives of the communities. The growth of tourism can improve the lives of communities in different ways, as it will create a bigger market for traders from different sectors, including those who deal in handcrafts, which have proven to be popular globally. Garebakwena mentioned a number of monuments, including Legaga la ga Kobokwe, also referred to as Kobokwe's cave.
The cave is also sometimes referred to as Livingstone's cave, a name given in honour of the 19th century Scottish explorer and missionary, David Livingstone. Livingstone once visited the cave, despite the local myth that the cave was inhabited by evil spirits, and actually spent the night in the cave with Kgosi Sechele I of Bakwena to prove that spirits could not harm them. The myth about the cave however still continues, as some people still believe that it is a place of evil, with the belief that those who visit the cave are doomed and never return. The cave is believed to have creatures like "Bokgala potsane" which are supposed to be big snakes that resemble human beings and torment visitors.
Locals have reported seeing snakes such as pythons and several other creatures crossing from one hill to the other at night.
There is also another myth related to the cave that is that Bakwena chiefs in the olden days threw witches into the cave, which is why the cave is believed to be haunted by spirits.
The myth still persists that the cave can only be visited by spiritual leaders and Sangomas to consult the divine powers to strengthen their status and seek wisdom, and also that chiefs talk to ancestors, on behalf of the tribe, at the shrine. Despite all the myths surrounding the cave, many curious individuals have visited the area and actually returned unharmed. The cave continues to be popular, especially with foreigners. A nearby place known as the Execution Rock has in recent years become popular as a spot for illicit parties and weddings and taking wedding pictures, the very place which was believed to be a place where witches were overthrown from the cliffs to kill them. Modern historians have actually dismissed such myths, especially the one of using the cave for killing witches; they believe that it is only a legend to keep people away. The cave with proper developments has the potential of becoming one of the most popular tourist spots in the country. Amongst the monuments mentioned by Garebakwena is Dithubaruba, from which the name of the festival is derived, a place where the village of Molepolole started.
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