How to keep poetry relevant and useful for a broad audience?  What he calls “educational poetry” is the answer of Samuel Moatswi, a young Gaborone author, who recently published Teedza Koga (loosely translated ‘Just Listen’).

The book contains 46 poems written in Ikalanga, widely varied in themes that range from love, Ikalanga culture, world history, counsel on doing good, humor, nature, poems of hope, and many other issues that affect people’s day to day living.

Most of the poems have questions at the end meant for revision purposes and many have explanations as well. The total number of questions adds up to more than 140, which means that a reading group or class could use the poetry book for discussion.

Several Ikalanga poetry books have appeared over the years from Mukani Action Campaign in Francistown by authors like A.G.T.K. Malikongwa and Monty Moswela. But Moatswi is the first in his generation to publish his work in Ikalanga: “As an aspiring writer/poet (mostly writing in English) I decided it would be best if I expressed my thoughts and ideas in my mother tongue because I am a native Ikalanga speaker, and that is just how the book came about.”

“I have realized that there are not so many Ikalanga language books published, and interest in the language seems to wane, therefore my intention was also to help preserve the language in such a way that it can be archived for referencing purposes by future generations,” explains the new author.

A 26-year-old Kalanga young man, born and raised in Gaborone City, Botswana, he is currently studying for a Bachelor of Commerce in Human Resource Management — and writing in his spare time.

Moatswi also aims to promote written Ikalanga language and literature among non-Bakalanga who are interested in both the people, the language and their culture. For that wider audience, he has just completed a translation of Teedza Koga into Setswana, the language used most in Botswana.

Altogether, Moatswi’s goal is to produce a trilogy of the TEEDZA title, the first being the recently published Teedza Koga, the second, Teedza Kwazo is already scripted and the third and last installment is yet to be written.  Teedza Kwazo, which means ‘Listen Hard’, has 50 poems and other features similar to those of his first work, but at this point he faces the usual challenges of struggling to publish and print anything due to lack of finances.

His future plans include writing a full Ikalanga novel and a script for a radio drama.

Copies can be ordered for 35 pula ($5) by writing the author at P.O.Box 3982, Gaborone or calling him at +267-75134140

Five poems from the collection can be viewed online.

TjiKalanga SeSotho Tshi Venda Posts (pdf)

Applications due Nov. 30

A traditional Kalanga hut at Khalanyoni High School

  by Mandla Tshuma —

In a bid to revive Kalanga religion culture and customs, village elders working in collaboration with teachers and District Administrator’s office have set up traditional Kalanga huts at each and every school in Mangwe.

At Khalanyoni area, these revered huts are found at Khalanyoni High School and Mayobodo Primary School.

The traditional shelters, pupils at the high school said were built using mud and grass-thatched by elderly women. Inside the hut, drums, traditional basins known as izingcebethu, in Ndebele, pounding sticks and others are kept.

During the official opening of the high school hut in November last year, villagers said the elderly were let in to play the drums while the children had to follow proceedings at a distance.

Officials from the Ministry of Education, Sports, Arts and Culture as well as those from the District Administrator’s office based at Plumtree town attended the unveiling ceremony.

Pupils at the school are not only disallowed to play close to the building but are also forbidden to sweep inside. An elderly teacher, a Ms P Ncube is reportedly the one who does the cleaning of the hut.

Kalanga is now taught at a number of schools in the district including the Mayobodo while the national anthem is also sung in one of Zimbabwe’s minority languages.

The language is yet to be written at grade 7 unlike Tonga which was last year written during annual public examinations in Binga.

by Ngonile Mtasa —

THE secretary for Kalanga Language and Cultural Development Association, Mr Tshidzana Malaba, says following the sourcing of US$9 million by the government towards the production of books for minority languages, they have started scouting for young writers to write Kalanga books and literature.

Last year the ministry of Education sourced US$9 million for the production of marginalised language reading material and Mr Malaba said they had embarked on a vigorous scouting of  potential Kalanga language writers.

“The Kalangas are nowhere in the history books of the current education curriculum. It’s therefore our role as language speakers to document our history and culture with speed considering that the language has been marginalised before and during colonial era. We therefore have very few people remaining who can tell us
about our past,” he said.

Mr Malaba said the Kalangas, appreciated that the Government listened to their call more seriously in 2002 on the teaching of the language, which has been cemented by the Education Transition Fund promising to help in printing written work.

“Should it come it will be definitely a boost to all the languages in this country. We have been encouraging our writers over the years to write and more literature is coming up,” he said.

Author Ndzimu Unami Emmanuel Moyo

Ndzimu–Unami Emmanuel (Moyo) has released a new pdf version of his 200-page book The Rebirth of the Kalanga: a Manifesto for the Liberation of a Great People with a Proud History. The new version can be downloaded by clicking here.

The original version of the controversial book received much interest and was previously featured on Kalanga.org:

• Kalanga must shake off the Ndebele shadow says Moyo
• New book retraces the history of Bukalanga

The Kalanga Language and Cultural Development Association has set up an office at the corner of George Silundika Street & 11th Ave. (Kwiknet Building or Kwiknet Café. Building) Bulawayo.  At present, Divine Bango and Selusweyinkosi Mhlanga are running the office. They say, “We believe that the advent of the office will help the Association to be visible and more effectively engage in its advocacy mode.”

Th office was set up primarily for the upcoming August festival and it is indeed proving to be handy in co-ordinating the festival more easily.

A Matabele South Provincial Cultural Festival is planned  for Masendu in Bulilima on the 24th May 2013. KLCDA is planning the Khami “Palace” Festival sometime in mid August 2013, while the Domboshaba Festival in Botswana will be held on the last week of September. More details will be posted soon.

All official communication to Kalanga Language and Cultural Development Association  should be directed to info@kalanga.org.  Please email your plans, dreams , aspiration etc, about the association. Share the news from your corner that you want baKalanga to know. Help your association to build a database of baKalanga. The staff behind info@kalanga.org be able to efficiently respond to all your queries and questions on issues that relate to tjiKalanga, baKalanga, buKalanga and the planned Khami Festival.

www.kalanga.org is the official KLCDA website.  Contributions to the official website of should also be sent to info@kalanga.org.   Your support will be welcome.

Report by Tinashe Sibanda for Newsday.

FORMER Matabeleland South Chibuku Road to Fame provincial winners Tanga Pasi represented Zimbabwe at the  Africa Day festival in Johannesburg, South Africa on May 24 — 25.

Soon after their Johannesburg performance, Tanga Pasi are proceeding to yet another performance at the MTN Bushfire Festival in Swaziland on June 2.

“We are very excited to be performing at these high profile regional festivals and anticipate presenting our best performance to date and we are extremely grateful to Prohelvetica for sponsoring this trip,” Pamela Ngwenya of Tanga Pasi said.

Tanga Pasi meaning “Starting from Scratch” is a versatile band making Nu-Afro music which was formed in June 2009 when lead vocalist and songwriter Sinini Ngwenya gathered together a few friends in the dusty and remote rural areas around Plumtree.

The Plumtree-based outfit last year won the provincial round of the Chibuku Road to Fame competition in Gwanda. They recently toured KwaZulu-Natal in South Africa.

Their debut album Ntolontolo (a long time ago) — makes an important contribution to Kalanga and Zimbabwean music and is available online from Amazon, itunes and emusic.

“Tanga Pasi came together around love for and enjoyment of music; simple as that. After returning from South Africa, we will commence work on our second album which we hope to complete by the end of the year,” Ngwenya said.

She added that they had composed many unrecorded songs and their mission now was to record them and share with the world.

Ngwenya said they were also hoping to perform at the upcoming Matabeleland South Festival in Gwanda and the Chimanimani Arts Festival in August.

“It is a huge challenge to come from a small town in Zimbabwe, like Plumtree, as it is virtually impossible to make a living from music performance or sales. Bands must start by performing at small beerhalls to undiscerning audiences who are not used to unconventional or unfamiliar musical forms and who are not accustomed to paying for live music,” she said.

Ngwenya said there was need for more opportunities for people from places like Plumtree to be exposed to live music and performance arts, at festivals like Harare International Festival Of Arts and the Bulawayo Culture Festival.

Band members include Blessing Shamu, Caleb Dube, FatsaniMendulo, Mandla Mpofu, Tangisani Ndebele, Pamela Ngwenya, Sinini Ngwenya and Mthakazelwa Nyathi.

FRANCISTOWN: The Botswana government has been urged to recognise all the spoken languages to help revive the seemingly dying culture in the country. Francistown councillors agreed that the non-recognition of minority languages while focusing on Setswana languages only has resulted in “our culture dying a natural death”.

Debating the government’s idea of reviving culture through the recently introduced Constituency Arts and President’s Day Arts competitions, councillors in the country’s second city dismissed the development as a joke. Jefferson Siamisang, the Deputy Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Youth, Sport and Culture, said he is convinced that the constituency art and President’s Day arts competitions have added fresh impetus to government’s efforts towards reviving culture.

Siamisang said this when presenting the “mandate and programmes” of his ministry to the Francistown full council session recently.”These (constituency and President’s Day competitions) promote cultural revival and unpolluted recreation,” he said.  Echoing the country’s founding president Sir Seretse Khama, Siamisang said “a nation without a past is a lost nation”.He said the competitions are held in a spirit of togetherness, joy, happiness and self-reliance, as culture demands. Siamisang remains confident that the competitions will help breathe new life into the disappearing culture of Batswana.

However, Francistown councillors think otherwise. They said for the government to achieve the aspirations of reviving culture, it should start by recognising all the minor languages in the country. “Culture is one’s identity.And one is identified through a language,” explained Ikageleng East ward councillor, Tabengwa Tabengwa.”But as long as my own language that defines who I am, is not recognised in this country, forget about reviving culture,” said a seemingly fuming Tabengwa while mixing Setswana and Kalanga language.

Tabengwa said Ikalanga should be reintroduced and other languages introduced in learning institutions’ syllabi.Boikhutso ward councillor Robert Mosweu concurred, saying the government should start by recognising all spoken languages in Botswana if it is to achieve its explicit goal.

Stanley Masalila, councillor for Bluetown ward, said one cannot be taught culture through dancing and singing.”One has to know his/her language first before talking about teaching him/her about the culture,” he said.Siamisang agreed with councillors that culture and language are inseparable. He promised that government would look into the suggestions to speed cultural revival in Botswana.

Joshua M. Nkomo Polytechnic is now accepting applications for their September intake from those interested in training as primary school teachers.

The polytechnic is now offering Tjikalanga, in addition to other languages, as part of the Diploma in Education (Primary) course.

The application deadline is July 31.

Vacancies for teacher training at JM Nkomo closing 31 July 2013

by Itumeleng Tshenyego repr. Mmegi Online.

FRANCISTOWN: The writer’s society of Mukani Action Campaign (MAC) don’t just write books in their mother tongue of Kalanga, but they also aim at promoting the language.

Writers who aspired to employ their literary prowess to promote the language established the society in 1997 and located their first offices behind Francistown College of Education campus. The society comprised of bible translators, poets and novelists.  The society liaised with other societies such as the Society for the Promotion of Ikalanga Language (SPIL), Bible Society of Botswana and The Kalanga Bible Translation Project, which all share the same vision to preserve Kalanga.

One of the writers, Modisaotsile Mothibi, who resides in Marobela village said since its establishment they have managed to liaise with bookstores around Francistown to sell their books.  Ngatizwidiyeni Ikalanga (Kalanga Phrase Book) and Tjilenje: Ndobolo Ye Bakalanga, both written by Reverend P.L.G Mothibi, are two of the many Kalanga books that were published over the years.

Mothibi (Modisaotsile) further said that they also write books in Kalanga for school children, ready for the time government decides to make it one of the languages to be taught in school.”It is important for young people to learn Kalanga since most of them distance themselves from it due to lack of available Kalanga literary works,” he said.He also mentioned that they mostly promote their books during the Domboshaba music festival, which is held annually in September.  MAC established the Domboshaba Music festival in conjunction with SPIL in 2000 as a way of promoting the Kalanga language.

Through the music festival, people are able to show interest in their books, which in turn boosts their sales.  “But it is so sad that the Kalanga youth do not show interest in our books because they would learn a lot about our history hence preserving Kalanga heritage,” he said.The society also conducts classes that can teach people how to read and write Kalanga.  Sadly, people do have not shown much interest in these classes. They are also faced with financial challenges as a group because it is a volunteer organisation.  The society prides itself with Modisaotsile Mothibi’s book entitled Mwali, which has sparked interest in non-Kalanga readers because it showcases Kalanga history.

By Abel Abednico Mabuse (repr Mmegi Online)

Long before this year’s annual Lidozo gwa Batategulu Culture Day celebrations in Matobo kick started, I learnt that there is certainly something special about Matobo village in Botswana.

Not only does the village share a name with one of Zimbabwe’s World Heritage site of Matobo Hills. Elderly people in the village trace their origins to this famous site and argue that the hills are named after their renowned leader she (chief) Matobo I. There are talks in the village that one of the custodians of the world acclaimed rain-making shrines of Njelele at Matobo Hills was a member of the community of Matobo. This woman is said to be part of an established lineage of custodians of Njelele shrine going as far back as the time when Bananzwa were living at Matobo Hills in present day Zimbabwe.

The people of Matobo are not the earliest settlers in the area. Long before they settled here, some Late Stone Age hunting and gathering communities occupied the area. One of these Late Stone Age sites is found about three kilometres South East of Matobo kgotla on a granite kopje locally known as Tshule Hill. Several red paintings are found on small shelters and panels of this hill.

It is therefore encouraging to note that even today, some of the descendants of the Late Stone Age hunter-gatherers live in and around Matobo village. Today, these people live among various Kalanga speaking groups that make up Matobo village in the northeastern part of Botswana. Oral traditions of Matobo suggest that the village is made up of Bananzwa, Bakwena from Marobela, Basarwa and other few groups that have settled in the village over time. The origins of the larger group that is known as Badheti is traced back to the Bakalanga of Banyayi origin that later on called themselves Bananzwa.

These people initially had moyo (heart) as their totem and it is suggested that their leader was Hwange. The Bananzwa are part of several groups of Bakalanga that migrated from areas around Khami, the capital of a prehistoric Bakalanga state of Butua during the military rule of the Nichasike mambos. They are believed to have fled northwards and settled among the Barotsi on the Zambezi Valley. Some people and writers say while living with the Barotsi, they changed their totem to shoko or monkey to conceal their identity. After sometime, the Bananzwa attacked a group of Batonga worshipping Nyaminyami snake god of the Zambezi River. In fear of the powerful Nyaminyami gods, these Bananzwa changed their name to Banambia to conceal their identity.

The Bananzwa are famously known for their migrations among all Bakalanga people. It is suggested that while in the area historically known as Bunanzwa near the Zambezi River, they learnt of the presence of an area with plenty water and animals known as Makgadikgadi and moved there.They probably moved back to Bunanzwa from Makgadikgadi before they were finally dispersed and found themselves back in the Makgadikgadi along the Boteti during Mfecane wars fuelled by the notorious armies of Ndebeles of Mzilikazi. While in the Boteti area, they mixed up with groups of Basarwa and probably Deti and changed their name to Badheti. From Boteti area, they settled at Bunyubi and later moved to Duthu la Majabubi where they settled near Bawumbe of Madandume. Some of the remaining Bananzwa and probably those who became Badheti can be found today in Matobo, Nswazwi, Nkange, in Tutume as Ba-Madikwe, Gambule and as far south as Shoshong.

Lidozo gwa Batategulu Culture day celebrations were held in Matobo main kgotla to celebrate this rich cultural heritage. Leaders and members of surrounding communities of Tjizwina, Madandume, Tjilagwani, Goshwe, Madikwe and members of Domboshaba Cultural Trust, representatives and well-wishers from the Departments of Arts and Culture, National Museum and Monuments glorified the event. The theme of this year’s celebrations was ‘Our Culture; Our Responsibility.’ Although the event started later than planned, it gained momentum immediately after Lidzo gwa Batategulu group eloquently sang the National Anthem in Ikalanga language.

Elderly people ululated jovially as their chief, She Matobo stood up to give the opening remarks of the event. He encouraged all present at the event to take heed of His Excellency the President’s calling to revive Botswana’s diverse cultures and reminded chiefs of surrounding villages to benchmark in Matobo and encourage their villages to do the same. She Matobo implored all villages found in the Tutume Sub District to work together to revive culture of Bakalanga and use it to improve their livelihoods. The Guest Speaker of the event was Leshatho Kopelang who became popular with the comminty of Matobo while she was a student at the University of Botswana. In her speech, she encouraged elderly and young people of Matobo and surrounding villages to revive Ikalanga culture and promote it through music, writing, dance, arts, dress, food, drama and all available ways.

Kopelang appealed to all people at the event to be proud of their cultural practices and desist from borrowing too much from foreign cultures. Similar sentiments were shared by  Marobela of Domboshaba Cultural Trust ealier on. He encouraged Bakalanga and non Bakalanga speakers at the event to write whatever knowledge they have on Ikalanga and ensure that the language and its associated cultural practices donot become extinct. Marobela reminded all that traditions are important as they help define people and show their cultural identity. He mentioned that the name of Makuta village originates from prehistoric trading networks ( ku kuta in Ikalanga) that Bakalanga of Domboshaba had with Basarwa living as far as the Makgadikgadi at hills near Makuta village. During such trading activities, Basarwa and Bakalanga would sit apart facing each other and negotiated with serious sad looking faces (ku kuta in Ikalanga)until an acceptable price was reached.

Orator and Ikalanga writers such as Tjolo Tjolotjo Jan Uyapo wa Mudaba Matjokoto kept listeners guessing as he poetically described Bukalanga during the rule of the Mambos and the Domboshaba days. Ikalanga dance groups such as Laedza Maitengwe, Baanadhi be Tjilenje from Nswazwi and poets such as Gaone Boki from Goshwe lit up the atmosphere in Matobo kgotla to signal a successfully organised celebration which fit the unique cultural heritage of Matobo. It came as no surprise to learn that such a well-attended event was funded by the community itself as the Badheti of Matobo believe that it is their responsibility to revive their cultural practices and celebrate their heritage.

When the dances, speeches and all formalities of the event were done, hundreds of people at this event were treated to traditional Kalanga dishes such as bhobola, tjimoni, thopi, zembgwe, marila and swaye. At the end of the day, traditional beer was brought to ‘wash down’ and sort of bless the success of Matobo Culture Day celebrations.

By Divine Dube and Silusweyinkosi Mhlanga

The Kalanga textbook series goes up to grade 7 and includes teachers’ books.

The Kalanga Language and Cultural Development Association (KLCDA) has completed the publication of Kalanga primary school textbooks.

The organisation’s chairman Mr Pax Nkomo told Kalanga News this week that the textbooks for all grades are ready and have been submitted to the Ministry of Education, Sports and Culture.

Nkomo, who also doubles as director of Kwalani Publishing Company (KPC) a subsidiary of KLCDA which was contracted by the government to publish the books, said the Association is waiting for the government to assess and distribute the books to schools.

“As facilitators we have honoured the government’s request to provide Kalanga literature and it is now up to it (government) to assess and distribute books to schools,” Nkomo said.

“Our role is to facilitate the teaching of TjiKalanga as a Kalanga organisation with knowledge on TjiKalanga. We received financial assistance from the Education Trust Fund (ETF) and managed to publish books as per the government’s request”.

He also said KLCDA is going to continue engaging the government to teach TjiKalanga in schools giving it the same prominence as Ndebele and Shona in line with the newly adopted constitution.

“We will continue lobbying the government to teach TjiKalanga so that it is at par with Ndebele and Shona. As I speak it is now taught in schools in Bulilima, Mangwe and Matopo in Matabeleland South Province while other schools in other Kalanga speaking districts are waiting for books from the government.”

Kalanga is one of the endangered languages which has been accorded official status in the Zimbabwean constitution after being marginalised for more than a century. Kalanga schools have been obliged to teach Ndebele since 1931 but the 2002 Ministry of Education directive and the recently adopted constitution will see these languages being fully introduced in the school curricula up to university level.

Kalanga author Ndzimu-unami Emmanuel Moyo commended the adoption of the new constitution saying it was a first step in the rebirth of TjiKalanga which has been on the verge of being extinct.

“Now that we have a constitution that recognises TjiKalanga, it is high time Kalanga authors invest in writing literature that facilitates the teaching of Tjikalanga in schools. As an author I intend to write more books to promote TjiKalanga.”

“I have already set the tone by writing extensively on Kalanga history and I am working on more books to be used in the Kalanga syllabus. I hope in the next five years Tjikalanga will have been fully introduced in the education system,” Moyo said.

by Divine Dube

They were the first Bantu people to occupy present day Zimbabwe yet they have lived as aliens for the last century, suffering at the hands of other tribes.

Despite their efforts to reclaim their rights as a people their plea has fallen on deaf ears as responsible authorities have not moved an inch to intervene.

They have been completely shut out from community participation and have been thrown into the wilderness of poverty and social turmoil. Such has been the life of the San tribe in Zimbabwe.

The San people, also known as the Bushmen or Basagwa, inhabit remote areas of southern Africa, particularly Angola, Botswana, Namibia, South Africa, Zambia and Zimbabwe.

In Zimbabwe today, the San community is found in Matabeleland North’s Tsholotsho (Tjolotjo) district and Plumtree in Matabeleland South.

They have lived under the dominion of BaKalanga and Ndebele tribes for the past century. Their leadership has in the past bemoaned abuse by these tribes whom they accuse of undermining them and treating them as animals.

The San have also accused the government of marginalizing them and failing to cater for their socio-economic needs like other tribes.

In May this year President Mugabe irked the San community when he accused them of resisting civilisation during his address at the memorial service for the late Deputy Vice President John Landa Nkomo in Tsholotsho.

But the late VP Nkomo had a soft spot for the San and donated food to them and provided education bursaries to some of their children.

But despite all these years of predicament the Khoisan have managed to survive. Their reprieve came in May this year when a new constitution that accorded their language “Tshwao” official status was passed in parliament.

Other marginalized groups which had their languages promoted include Kalanga, Tonga, Nambya and Venda and plans to fully introduce these languages into the school curricula up to university level are afoot.

However, the San were riled when the constitution drafters made a grave mistake of identifying their language as “khoisan” instead of “Tshwao” a clear indicator that despite being the oldest ethnic group in Zimbabwe the San are virtually unknown and looked down upon even by public institutions.

The San have argued that whereas Khoisan refers to an ethnic group their language is Tshwao but Chapter 1, Section 6, and Subsection 1 of the Zimbabwean constitution states Koisan as one of the official languages.

But despite this “error” the San held a “Bush Cultural Festival” on Saturday last week at Tsholotsho district in celebration of the recognition of their language in the constitution. The festival was also meant to re-unify all the San people from Tsholotsho and Plumtree.

The event was celebrated under the theme: ‘The Reunification and Revitalisation of the San Culture and Language: My Constitution, My Hope.’  This followed the United Nations (UN) International Day of the World’s Indigenous People which is recognised on August 9 annually to promote and protect the rights of the world’s peoples.

The San Community had an opportunity to showcase their culture through song and dance. Prior to the occasion the San elders had a meeting to resolve issues of leadership within their tribe as they are still subjects of Kalanga and Ndebele chiefs in areas they live.

Speaking at the event, Davy Ndlovu, the Director of Creative Arts and Educational Development Association, an organization promoting San language and culture, said there was a lot to be done to promote the San language and culture.

‘Our major worry at the moment is that the Tshwao language is dying and something must be done to preserve it. We have engaged University of Zimbabwe which is assisting us with the documentation of the language,” Ndlovu said during his speech at the ceremony.

He also said his organisation would engage the new government to assist the marginalized San Community.

by Bawumbe wa Chiwidi, repr. Sunday Standard

This paper provides a critique of the Domboshaba Festival of Culture and History. The opinions raised here result from a critical evaluation of objectives of Domboshaba Cultural Trust, the chief proponent and organisers of the cultural festival and general intentions of the event itself.

The need for this evaluation is compelled by sceptical reports, rising levels of dissatisfaction by traditional leaders and communities of Bukalanga at large on the future of what is arguably one of the largest cultural festivals in Botswana. In general, there is a public outcry that apart from a few traditional Kalanga huts built at the famous site where the festival is held annually, there is absolutely nothing more to show that this festival is of benefit to Bakalanga.

This is despite large amounts of money generated annually through gate takings, selling of various Kalanga regalia and even funds that are brought in through sponsorships and event donations. Many critics argue that the festival has now been detached from communities, lost meaning and is alarmingly turning into a commercial consortium that worries more about raising money than showcasing and promoting the culture of Bakalanga.

Digression of the festival from its original mandate, lack of active involvement of communities and sidelining of traditional leaders of Bukalanga as well as the apparent absence of a sustainable approach towards ensuring benefits to communities necessitates this paper.

As a result of the views advanced above, this year’s Domboshaba Cultural Festival should be more important to the organizing committee than any other held before. First of all, it provides an excellent opportunity for them to learn from last year’s poor attendance, lacklustre speeches reported in the Midweek Sun newspaper and unconvincing commentary provided by the area’s Member of Parliament and the few so called ‘prominent Bakalanga’ who spoke at the Open Forum at the last event.

The low levels of public participation at the Mayedziso (evening session) held at Kalakamati as well as the main event held at Domboshaba festival grounds should certainly provide a motive for improvement. This can only be feasible in the long run if the organizing committee can shift their focus from luring more people to the event for sake of generating funds.

They should instead work on establishing ways through which they can use the festival to generate a pool of relevant ideas which can be used to send the message to the ordinary Bakalanga people; the young, elderly and even physically challenged who do not go to the festival. This focus will require the organizing committee to revisit the mandate set up for Domboshaba Cultural Trust

At its inception on the 26th March 2006, the Trust sought to preserve and promote both the tangible and intangible cultural heritage of Bakalanga through a number of interrelated objectives. Of paramount importance among these are; organization of the annual Domboshaba Festival of History and Culture, resuscitation of traditional Kalanga craft production practices, enter into strategic partnerships to foster fundraising activities, development and management of a cultural village, to establish and maintain links with local authorities, Department of Culture, community organisations, land boards and any existing bodies that deal with promotion of culture including external bodies such as the United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO). This list forms the essence of major objectives that the Trust exists to achieve in Bukalanga.

The second major point of introspection that the organizing committee and The trust should do, is to try to understand their major stakeholder, Bakalanga people living in Botswana.

There is serious need for those at the helm to appreciate the fact that Bukalanga of North East District and the one falling in the Central District differ politically and culturally. While the former enjoys some degree of political autonomy, the latter falls, according to the Constitution of the Republic of Botswana, within the jurisdiction of Bangwato chieftainship.

This point shall be discussed further to elaborate on the need for an open minded, as opposed, to radical approach in mobilisation of communities to promote Ikalanga culture and language.

Another point that the Trust needs to appreciate is the relevance of Domboshaba Hills and the Domboshaba National Monument in the all-important process of reviving Ikalanga culture and language. Is it pure coincidence that the festival is held at the Domboshaba Hills not far from the nationally acclaimed monument of Domboshaba Ruins? If the answer to this question is in the negative as one would expect, then we need to question whether this festival resembles the exact meaning of what these two prominent places hold in the history of Bukalanga. Domboshaba Hills are significant in that they are a prehistoric area openly used for trading purposes in the whole of Bukalanga found in Botswana today and beyond.

One cannot help but wonder whether the present day Domboshaba provides Bakalanga of today an opportunity to trade openly ( instead of freely) at the area during the festival.

This point will be clarified later to elaborate some egocentrism displayed in recent times when the festival’s organisers chased away members of the community selling crafts, Kalanga meals and other essential commodities that the organisers did not even provide. Instead of viewing and treating these people as traders to resemble and therefore revive the prehistoric trading practice conducted at Domboshaba in the past, these poor people were cast out and labelled as vendors.

The third factor deals with the need for recognizing the role that community leaders play in preservation and even revival of cultural practices. There is need to realize that Bakalanga chiefs are traditional custodians of the culture of their people. From as far back as the early days of Bakalanga civilization around AD 1000, chiefs played the all-important role of determining the direction in which the culture of their people had to take.

They did this either by allowing foreign influence or discouraging it. They have always managed to do this as they are perpetually empowered by the virtue of their hereditary position in society to influence acceptable behavioural patterns in their communities. Failure to consult and closely work with them, as is the case now at Domboshaba festival, results in mistrust and alienation of Bakalanga people from making meaningful contribution in the otherwise good course of reviving their culture.
As mentioned above, there is general failure (perhaps deliberate) in the organisers of the event to appreciate and even understand the dynamics of chieftainship in the Bukalanga area falling within the Central District. The chiefs in this region have no authority to make a collective and final decision regarding certain issues revolving adjudication of the area which traditionally or culturally belongs to Bakalanga without consulting their ‘superiors’ at Serowe.

This is worsened by the fact that their positions as community leaders has become a fully paid job that is regulated by policies just like any other that is held by the organizing team.

Radical, unpopular and misguided approaches in the revival of Bakalanga culture and addressing sensitive issues like the need for political independence from Bangwato rule has potential to steer unnecessary tribal wars in the country. Apart from that, it is considered offensive within the realm of their job descriptions as it will be tantamount to insubordination.

To engage these chiefs and win their support in promotion of Bakalanga culture and language requires patience and understanding of their unfortunate positions. Today, many people living in the North East District label chiefs and fellow Bakalanga living in the Central District as sell-outs due to their lack of appreciation of these critical matters.

The case of the Baka Nswazwi and the ultimate results of their struggle against Bangwato domination during the 1940s remains a deep and ugly scar in the memories of elderly people in the Bukalanga part of the Central District. This therefore calls for Domboshaba Cultural Trust to adopt a different approach when dealing with these chiefs. Alienating and labelling them as Bangwato puppets will not help in addressing the issue of promoting Ikalanga culture.

Domboshaba Cultural Trust also needs to understand the dynamics needed in reviving and promoting Ikalanga culture. In the 7 years of their existence, what plan do they have in place to ensure that Bakalanga people do not go back to their respective homes and continue their normal lives each year after the annual Domboshaba Cultural Festival?

Apart from the Trust’s assumed office in Francistown and the cultural festival grounds in the Domboshaba Hills, where else do we have structures in place to ensure continuous implementation of the objectives of the Trust in all parts of Bukalanga?

As we do not have satellite offices or even desks at Tati Siding, Masunga, Mosojane, Mathangwane, Nata, Gweta, Sebina, Tutume and Maitengwe, can we certainly claim that an event that is attended only by those who have money to pay bus fees or use their own transport to go to Domboshaba Hills is enough to spearhead a revival of Ikalanga cultural practices? Do we see the impact caused by failure of the festival’s core values and messages to reach children aged between 4 & 15 and elderly people who are usually left behind with them? Is it not ironical then that the messages and important cultural practices conducted at Domboshaba do not reach the major targeted group; our children?

*Bawumbe wa Chiwidi is a pseudonym for a concerned Nkalanga

by Kangangwani Phatshwane, Sunday Standard

Domboshaba Cultural Trust (DCT) wishes to respond to an article (titled Another look at Domboshaba cultutral festival and Bakalanga heritage – Part 1) which appeared in the Sunday Standard of 11 – 17 August 2013 authored by a concerned Nkalanga using a pseudonym, Bawumbe wa Chiwidi.

DCT welcomes open debate as the author of the said article himself acknowledges allocation of time for an open forum at the annual Domboshaba Festival of Culture and History (DFCH), so-named deliberately in recognition of the significance of the pre-colonial Domboshaba Ruins in Bakalanga heritage. However, DCT wishes to correct inaccuracies and innuendoes which if left uncorrected might cause unnecessary discord among Bakalanga as well as besmirch the good name of the festival.

The formation of DCT was formally endorsed by traditional and community leaders at a well-attended and representative meeting in August 2005. Ever since all Bakalanga traditional leaders have been invited to annual general meetings of the Trust and have two ex-officio representatives on the board of trustees. In fact DCT has received significant support from traditional leaders across Bukalanga. DCT, therefore, finds Bawumbe’s claims of ‘rising levels of dissatisfaction by traditional leaders and communities…’ absurd given that the traditional leaders and communities referred to are free (and in fact encouraged) to participate in different fora of DCT.

The insinuation that DFCH is of little benefit to Bakalanga is also not accurate. The festival provides and will continue to provide a forum for the expression of Bakalanga culture and heritage. In addition, the festival has inspired many cultural festivals across Botswana, which in DCT’s considered view is a significant contribution. The direct and indirect spend arising from the annual festival events is significant to both formal and informal businesses most of which are either owed by or employ locals.

The festival was started by volunteers, continues to be organised by volunteers and adopted a organic model where initial resources to organise it were raised by the community of Bakalanga, until it grew to a level where sponsors could be brought on board. DCT remains a non – profit organisation whose financial statements are open for discussion at annual general meetings. The suggestion by Bawumbe that the festival is ‘turning into a commercial consortium’ is inaccurate and misleading. Another inaccuracy by Bawumbe is the assumption that the festival makes large amounts of money from gate takings and the sale of memorabilia. The fact is these two sources of income contribute less that the total cost of hosting the festival, which cost stands at just under P200 000 per annum.

Bawumbe raises a concern over the treatment of informal traders and suggests that there ought to be freedom of exchange like there was in pre-colonial Bukalanga. While he has got a point, the reality is that most traders attracted by the festival present not to sell traditional craft and Kalanga food (both of which are encouraged by DCT) but clear beer carried in deep freezers. The main challenge has been the attendant littering, the offence such littering causes to local authorities and the burden it places on DCT to clean up.

DCT’s mandate as correctly quoted by Bawumbe is the promotion of Bakalanga culture and language, mainly but not only for the people who have been living in that area of Botswana for more than a 1 000 years. To DCT’s knowledge, there is no division among Bakalanga save that some live west and others east of the Shashe River within the Central and North East Districts respectively but are in fact governed by the same laws of Botswana and therefore challenged in equal measure by any weaknesses in such laws and their administration, whether there are colonial or post-colonial in origin.

However, the culture of Bakalanga east and west of Shashe is identical as the culture had existed for centuries before the more recent administrative boundary demarcations in 1895. The suggestion by Bawumbe that for the purpose of promoting Bakalanga culture and language, these Bakalanga communities be treated differently or that DCT is insensitive to their location differences and/or as to whom they pay allegiance is also patently as absurd as it is shortsighted.

In conclusion, we acknowledge that community engagement could be intensified but remain confident that Bakalanga and other stakeholders recognise the significance of Domboshaba festival and will continue to support it. Could more progress have been made? Yes. To realise even faster progress, DCT invites all interested, including Bawumbe wa Chiwindi, to attend DCT’s annual general meetings, and influence and support the development and promotion of Bakalanga culture and language, submitting ideas that can be tested at such meetings for relevance, appropriateness and feasibility in pursuance of the DCT’s mandate.

by Bawumbe wa Chiwidi, Sunday Standard

This article provides further discussion on the Domboshaba Cultural Festival and Bakalanga heritage. Admittedly, this discussion appears to have angered some people, particularly those who do not subscribe to open dialogue, criticism and alternative views on how we need to organize, manage and develop the diverse heritage of Bukalanga.

I have read the rebuttal article authored by one Kangangwani Phatshwane in which he tried to address pertinent issues regarding Domboshaba festival covered in the article I put forward about 3 weeks ago. The views expressed by his rejoinder article on Domboshaba Cultural Trust’s (DCT) poor event, organisation and management skills evident in the last festival are not convincing at all. To set the record straight, the views expressed in the article entitled ‘Another look at Domboshaba Festival and Bakalanga Heritage’ are consistent with those forwarded by many youth in various Bakalanga social network groups that discuss and share Bakalanga history, culture, language and other issues.

Lamentations and utter disappointment among some youth expressed in these social networks and concerns of the majority of Bakalanga elders (as mentioned in the introductory article) provides motivation to continue this discussion. As an optimistic and patriotic Nkalanga, I am not going to fold my arms and wish for the best from Domboshaba Cultural Trust or any organisation that shows signs of derailment in the holistic pursuit to promote, develop and preserve our cultural heritage. Like the majority of the youth who are unshaken in their conviction that the Trust is not doing certain things right, I remain untainted by Kangangwani Phatshwane’s sarcastic personal response. I consider his views personal as his rejoinder article fails or omits any relationship he has with Domboshaba Cultural Trust. I hope that such omission is intentional and does not reflect personalization of the Trust to such an extent that he no longer sees the difference between himself and the DCT. As such, I will continue to critique and condemn, where necessary, unpopular decisions and approaches consistent in the organisation and management of Domboshaba festival. Alternative views regarding how Bakalanga heritage should be managed need to be taken seriously.

My substitute views of Domboshaba festival should not be regarded as a total dismissal of those who are organizing the event only. Instead, it reflects that I recognize the invaluable input made by all those who have been instrumental in the development of the Domboshaba festival from its infantry to where it stands today. I have no doubt that it is by far one of the largest cultural festivals conducted in Botswana. I appreciate that this festival stands out to show the need to promote and pride ourselves with our unique cultural heritage as different ethnic groups making up this nation.

If this festival was not at this advanced stage of development, I would not waste my precious time providing insights and advice on what needs to be done to achieve better results. Kangangwani Phatshwane and all those who found part 1 of these articles too negative and inconsiderate should subscribe to the views offered by Kabajan Sam Kaunda’s article titled Criticism and Opposition : critical premises for progress – Part 1, which was published in the Sunday Standard newspaper of August 18 -24, 2013.

Kaunda’s article stands out to support my view that the diversity of the Bakalanga heritage (as opined in my last article) warrants an opportunity for alternative ways of doing things. I am duty bound to remind those who shudder at the slightest mention of their inadequacies that questioning, dismissal or providing dissident opinion should not allow them to believe that such criticism is aimed at destroying them. Members of Domboshaba Cultural Trust should open up to all sorts of criticism, irrespective of whether it is constructive, destructive or instructive in nature. As leaders in the organisation of a cultural festival in which Bakalanga wish to showcase and appreciate their cultural heritage, they should learn to develop a thick skin that tolerates criticism. By eliminating their obvious phobia of being criticized openly and being emotional about how much effort they put in volunteering for the festival, they can certainly register progress and yield better results.

In the last article, I raised concern over lack of development at the Domboshaba cultural grounds and mentioned that there is little progress in terms of development at the site apart from few Ikalanga traditional huts and the wooden fence or bhakasa as it is locally known. By raising this issue, I was not suggesting misappropriation of funds as Phatshwane seems to believe. I was purely making an open and obvious statement that DCT needs to think outside the box. They obviously need to find alternative ways of raising funds for developing the cultural village. They also need to come up with other progressive initiatives that can help Bakalanga realize tangible benefits from sustainable development and management of their cultural heritage. The current physical outlook of the Domboshaba cultural festival location demeans the importance of the otherwise rich and diverse cultural and natural heritage of Bukalanga.

DCT needs to realize that Domboshaba festival is not identical to Bakalanga cultural heritage. In my mentioning of the 1000-year-old development of this culture, I wanted to highlight that the 13-year-old Domboshaba festival is certainly not the first cultural ceremony held by Bakalanga. Its existence today is simply a platform aimed at perpetuating certain aspects of Bakalanga heritage that were begun by our ancestors in Bukalanga as far back in time as 1000 years ago.

One cannot help but wonder why I should not be worried when the festival has now turned into a commercial centre where stalls that should be focusing on promoting Ikalanga culture are reserved for government organisations, NGOs and few individuals? Is it sensible for instance to chase away a small scale Nkalanga craftsman selling wooden spoons, bowls, pestles and mortars who needs to sell his craft inside the Domboshaba yard and invite Phafana beer company just because they can pay amounts that are required for putting up a stall? How many craft producers do we support at the annual Domboshaba festival?

If DCT and any other Bakalanga pride ourselves with our delele, thopi, mashonja, bhobola, tjimoni, swaye, dhobi and zembgwe, why does DCT prefer established companies like Curry Pot to continue to serve modernized versions of these dishes at the festival when we can support a group of Bakalanga women to produce original menus and sell at the festival? This is certainly a better way of ensuring tangible benefits to a wider group of Bakalanga than a situation where one individual is favoured at the expense of the majority. Does DCT have an answer as to why it has to engage Curry Pot catering company which is owned by the area’s Member of Parliament and fail to develop means of empowering ordinary Bakalanga women and even youth?

Kangangwani Phatshwane and DCT need to own up to the demands and aspirations of the modern day Bakalanga. Modern day cultural activists do not pride themselves on organising well attended festivals only. They go beyond that and find means through which they can develop, promote and sustainably utilise cultural heritage for the benefit of their communities. In the last article, I asked several rhetorical questions which were intended to help DCT and its committee to look at Bakalanga heritage beyond ndazula, woso, iperu, poetry and singing the National Anthem in Ikalanga. These are of course necessary, but should no longer be worried about their survival now. We need to focus on helping ordinary Bakalanga benefit from their cultural heritage.

We are tired of seeing a parade of University of Botswana (UB) academics at Domboshaba festival. The irony of this display is that while a majority of them spend a considerable amount of their careers in high and influential positions in this country, they do pretty little or nothing at all during those careers to drive the course of promoting critical matters such as the need to teach Ikalanga language in Bukalanga schools and development of Bukalanga at large.

Is it not ironical that it is only now that a group of retired Bakalanga are waking up to the fact that despite the high positions of influence they held for so long in the country, they failed to help develop Bukalanga? The UB scholars should be reminded as early as now that Domboshaba festival is not an academic gathering like a graduation ceremony where they are expected to be at the helm.
The festival is about promoting (not teaching) Ikalanga culture. My advice to them is to avoid falling in the trap of the ‘elders’ who recently petitioned the Office of the President to complain about a lack of certain developments that they clearly failed to facilitate during their prime time when they were still at the helm.

The academics should consider forgetting about their lust to be Masters of Ceremonies at the festival and organize academically oriented conferences on Ikalanga language, culture, history and other life challenges affecting Bakalanga. The last conference of this kind was held in October 14 and 15 1989 at the Civic Centre in Francistown. Since Bakalanga children born on this date have graduated from some of the courses they teach at the UB, they too need to graduate from their MC roles at Domboshaba and concern themselves with providing relevant answers to the development and management of culture of Bakalanga.

* Bawumbe wa Chiwidi is a pseudonym for a concerned Nkalanga

repr. Financial Gazette

David Coltart expects language promotion to continue

BULAWAYO — Minority groups in Matabeleland have intensified programmes aimed at promoting their previously marginalised languages in the wake of the adoption of the new Constitution of Zimbabwe in June this year.

The new supreme law, which repealed the Lancaster House charter, accords official status to 16 languages. Most of them are spoken in Matabeleland South and Matabeleland North provinces. The old constitution only recognised English, Ndebele and Shona as the official languages of Zimbabwe.

Section 6 (1) of the current Constitution reads: “The following languages, namely Chewa, Chibarwe, English, Kalanga, Koisan, Nambya, Ndau, Ndebele, Shangani, Shona, sign language, Sotho, Tonga, Tswana, Venda and Xhosa, are the officially recognised languages of Zimbabwe.”

Under the same section, 6 (4), the supreme law stipulates that the State must promote and advance the use of all languages used in Zimbabwe, while creating conditions for their development.

Outgoing Education Minister, David Coltart, said he expects the incoming government to honour the language policy by ensuring that all the local languages are taught and examined in schools.

In Matabeleland, various lobby groups are ratcheting up pressure on government to set the wheels in motion. One of the groups working flat out to promote minority languages is Basilwizi whose main objective is that of facilitating Tonga language orthography harmonisation. Frank Mudimba, head of the programme, said Basilwizi promotes Tonga language being spoken predominantly in Binga.

“This was achieved through collaboration with University of Zambia and University of Zimbabwe (UZ) in February 2013. Lusumpuko, a secondary school textbook series, has also been produced with our help and is being used in the lower tiers of secondary education,” said Mudimba.

Basilwizi and its partners are now working on the Ordinary Level set of Tonga textbooks and Tonga novels.
Among other things, the organisation has also facilitated the writing of Tonga language at Grade 7 since 2011.
The Koisan people are also trying hard to revitalise their dying language.

Last month, they convened at Gariya Dam in Tsholotsho to celebrate the United Nations International Day of the World’s Indigenous People.
The day’s objective is to promote non-discrimination and inclusion of indigenous peoples in the design, implementation and evaluation of international, regional and national processes regarding laws, policies, resources, programmes and projects.

The Koisan, found in Tsholotsho and Bulilima and with a population of about 2 000, have since formed the Creative Arts and Education Development Association (CAEDA) to document and promote their language.
CAEDA director, Davy Ndlovu, said their language was not Koisan as it is referred to in the new Constitution but Tshwao.

He said they had tried to no avail to bring that to the attention of Constitutional Parliamentary Select Committee, which presided over the writing of the new charter.
Ndlovu said the Koisan people would still pursue the same issue with the incoming ZANU-PF government.

Tshwao is fluently spoken by only 15 elderly people aged between 65 and 97 while the rest spoke a diluted version.

“What we are doing at the moment to preserve the language is recording those few elders as they speak so we can come up with the vocabulary that we can later pass on to children. It’s quite interesting because the younger generation is also showing interest in learning the language,” said Ndlovu.

“We have engaged the UZ which is assisting us with documentation. The other problem is that the education system does not cater for the San. There is no-one among the San who is educated enough to be able to teach this language in schools,” he added.

Ndlovu said they were having challenges with resources to expand their programmes, adding that their children who were fortunate enough to go to school were learning Ndebele and fast losing touch with their own culture.
Former Ward 15 councillor for Mangwe, Thandiwe Moyo, of Mphoengs where SeTswana is spoken, said they would lobby their newly elected legislator, Obedingwa Mguni, to push for the promotion of that language in the area bordering Botswana.

“We are saying since at our homes we speak SeTswana to our children, it would be good if that same language was taught at our schools and be promoted in line with the new Constitution,” Moyo said.
Kalanga Language and Cultural Development Association (KLCDA) chairperson, Pax Nkomo, said while the other so called minority languages were being marginalised locally, they were being promoted outside Zimbabwe save for Kalanga which was suppressed by the colonial Rhodesian government.

He cited Venda, Sotho and Xhosa as being taught at colleges and universities in neighbouring South Africa, and Tonga in Zambia. He said the imposition of Ndebele chiefs on the Kalanga people contributed to the neglect of the language predominantly spoken in four out of seven districts of Matabeleland South namely Bulilima, Mangwe, Matobo and Tsholotsho.

“We are not going to let our language die and we therefore challenge the incoming new government of Zimbabwe to give Kalanga language affirmative action so we can liberate our culture which was suppressed,” said Nkomo. He said the BaKalanga themselves must arise and champion that cause and not wait for the government to take the lead.

Nkomo, however, said despite the challenges primary school textbooks had been printed from the Education Transition Fund and were at a UNICEF warehouse awaiting disbursement to schools.
Some schools in areas where Kalanga is spoken are already teaching the language which is yet to be examined by the Zimbabwe Schools Examination Council.

Zimbabwe Indigenous Languages Promotion Association (ZIPLA) chairperson, Mareta Dube, said they had successfully lobbied the Ministry of Higher and Tertiary Education to consider training teachers in those languages. Joshua Mqabuko Polytechnic is already training teachers for Kalanga, Sotho and Venda.

“We hope that the United College of Education will follow next year,” she said.
Dube said ZILPA which is currently focusing on six languages — Sotho, Venda, Kalanga, Nambya, Tonga and Shangani — had financial constraints. For example, Sotho books remain soft copies at Longman-Zimbabwe due to lack of funding to have them printed.

Dube said they needed finances to gather relevant literature in the languages for students and future generations.
She appealed to the incoming government to consider importing skills from countries which have already been teaching those languages or introduce scholarships for Zimbabweans to go and train as lecturers and teachers in those same countries.

Kalanga cultural activist and author, Ndzimu-unami Emmanuel Moyo, said he was sceptical of government’s political will to advance minority languages, adding that there were some elements within political parties that were against their promotion during the constitution-making process.

by Khonani Ontebetse repr. Sunday Standard

Prominent Bakalanga leaders, among them former Permanent Secretaries, former ambassadors, former Chief Justice and leading businessmen say they are unapologetic about their recent petition against government that Botswana budget remains skewed against the North East District since the 1990s.

They are former Chief Justice Julius Nganunu, former Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Agriculture and Botswana Meat Commission Chief Executive Officer, Dr Martin Mannathoko, former Permanent Secretary, Gobe Matenge, former ambassador and Lazare Kaplan Botswana Managing Director, Alfred Dube, former ambassador and one of Botswana’s most successful entrepreneurs, Samuel Mpuchane, prominent lawyers and ex-Motor Vehicle Chairman, Tendekani Malebeswa, Botswana ‘s first qualified accountant, Lawrence Maika.

The petitioners’ spokesperson and former Permanent Secretary, Gobe Matenge, was responding to reports that it was not clear whether they were complaining as tribesmen or residents of North East District.

“We stay in Gaborone but our roots are in North East. We cannot be intimidated by people saying we raised that issue as Bakalanga. North East is where we come from. We are citizens of this country and by nature we are Bakalanga. We are not going to run away from that. If some people are going to come up with the issue of us being Bakalanga as a threat, let it be,” said Matebe, in an interview with Sunday Standard.

Matenge said they were not only citizens but also taxpayers adding that they are waiting for a response from Minister of Works Transport and Communications, Nonofo Molefhi.

“We can’t say because we stay in Gaborone we are comfortable; North East is our area; that is where we come from; we have relatives there. We should not forget where we come from. Our roots are in North East. It should also get the share of the national cake,” he said.

He added that: “We are conscious that when we raise this issue people would think we are doing that in our capacity as Bakalanga and we intend to stir controversy. We raised the issue in our capacity as residents of North East. We made that clear even in the letter addressed to the Minister. We cannot ask for apology as residents of North East or as Bakalanga,” he said.

“If someone says Bakalanga are raising the issue, we don’t regret. We are Bakalanga yes; we won’t apologise, if we are not Bakalanga what else can we be,” asked Matenge rhetorically.

He said they do not want to see deliberate bias against the North East District in the expenditure distribution of Botswana’s national budget.

“It seems the government is not keen to develop the North East. The issue that we raised in the letter is not a new one,” he said.

He revealed that the issue was raised in the 1990s when the late Chapson Butale was the Member of Parliament for the area.

Matenge said their main bone of contention is that since the 1990s infrastructure development for the North East has always been included in the National Development Plan only to be removed at a later stage.

“What bothers us mostly is that is always included in the National Development Plan and then unexpectedly it is dropped without satisfactory reasons and development takes place somewhere. It seems the government doesn’t take us seriously,” he said.

He added that: “By then we were talking about almost the same thing and emphasis was on roads. Then the Minister responsible was David Magang. We paid a plane ticket for Butale so that he could come and meet Magang and talk about our concerns.”

According to Matenge, Butale did not brief them about his meeting with Magang.

“Magang is a personal friend of mine. He told me that when he looked at the delegation, he could not face us. He later travelled to North East and promised the residents that his Ministry would address their concerns but nothing happened until he retired,” Matenge said.

He added that another former Minister of the same Ministry, Lesego Motsumi, also promised North East residents that she would address their concerns but she never fulfilled her promises until she left the Ministry.

“Nothing has happened since then until we petitioned Molefhi by way of a written letter; he is also making similar promises; they are not taking us seriously,” he said.

Matenge also revealed that: “When we met the Minister recently we just confirmed what we wrote in the letter. The Minister promised us that he would reflect on the letter and give us an answer in due course.”

However Matenge is optimistic that “Molefhi means well and it would be nice to see what he has for us after reflecting on the letter. We feel that we must give him a chance. We must reach a stage where we believe they have failed, but for now we will continue to push them.”

Matenge explained that they do not expect Molefhi to bring something new, adding that they also do not intend to detract from what they had written in the letter. He revealed that Molefhi apologised for delaying to respond to their letter until the matter was covered by the media.

On suggestion that they could have used other means to address the issue while they were still civil servants and not now when they are retired, the former Permanent Secretary said that some people fail to appreciate that there is a difference between being an individual and being a civil servant.

“As an individual, I can talk about my constituency but as a civil servant I must be impartial and serve the nation. Each Ministry has a portfolio and a civil servant has to execute his or her duties in an impartial manner and serve the people countrywide. As a civil servant we have to talk for our country and not for our area, there is no question about that,” he said.

Molefhi declined to comment saying he could do that only if inquiries are in the form of a questionnaire.

In the letter, which was addressed to Molefhi, the petitioners dismissed government recession excuse. “The government now pleads poverty as pretext. We are told there is recession, yet new projects are being undertaken elsewhere in the country. What wrong have we the people of North East District done to have such punishment meted out on them,” they charge.

Although the letter addresses the specific issue of roads, the petitioners say they want the government to know that there is a general “complaint that the district has been deliberately denied development”. They complained that their capital, Masunga, is not connected to most of the villages in the district.

“Even sub-district headquarters elsewhere in the country have good road connections.”

The petitioners say “this inequitable situation of Masunga is not only throttling development but it is also a glaring violation of espoused national principles”.

by Divine Dube, Southern Eye

CIVIC groups have warned that the incoming government might not have the political will to promote and advance minority languages as enshrined in the new Constitution.

Zimbabwe Indigenous Languages Promotion Association (Zilpa), an independent association that promotes ethnic languages rights, has been clamouring for the recognition of local languages through their inclusion in the education curricula.

The 2001 Education Act saw some of the languages being introduced in primary schools.
The new Constitution compels the government to advance and promote local languages, but civic activists are sceptical that the new government may not be too keen to advance the languages.

Thomas Sithole, a civic activist with Plumtree Development Trust, said the government will likely ignore the constitutional provision which binds it to promote local languages.

“This will be a difficult call for government to do anything to promote minority languages, as they know that promotion of one’s language cannot be divorced from real empowerment, as these communities have been marginalised since independence,” he said.

“The government will most likely cite financial constraints and just pay lip service for political expediency.”

However, Sithole maintained that local groups should lobby for government intervention in their bid to fight their cause.

Cultural activist and author Ndzimu-unami Emmanuel Moyo weighed in, saying he doubted whether there was political will to advance minority languages.

“People must bear in mind that there were some elements within political parties that were against the promotion of minority languages during the constitution-making process, hence I don’t see any political will in the new government to promote minority languages,” he said.

During the Copac programme Zanu PF strongly resisted having local languages being granted official language status in the new Constitution.

Zilpa secretary Tshidzanani Malaba, however, remained hopeful that the government will work to promote local languages.

“We hope that the new government will do something to promote and advance minority languages rights as provided for in the constitution,” he said.

Outgoing Education minister David Coltart said any incoming minister will have to honour the language policies in place, adding the Constitution mandated the State and all other government agencies to promote and advance minority languages.

“It’s too early to say whether the new government will have the political will to promote minority languages, but I think the new government will have to honour language policies in place and the new Constitution that places an obligation on government to promote local languages,” he said.

Chewa, Chibarwe, Kalanga, Koisan, Nambya, Ndau, Shangani, sign language, Sotho, Tonga, Tswana, Venda and Xhosa were accorded official status in the new Constitution, alongside Ndebele, English and Shona.