09 Mar 2016

Situated 37 kilometres before Gumare, Nokaneng is a remote village in Ngamiland with a rich history. Most of the people staying in the village are of Bayeyi origin. 

History has it that Bayeyi originated from a place called Diyei in Angola. They then travelled on the river using traditional canoes and later settled in Ngamiland in a place called Qixini. 

Ms Odirile Keotlhokile, a village elder as well as the custodian of the village’s history, said Nokaneng was founded in 1944. She said the name was derived from the word noka which means river. 

Where the village is situated was surrounded by riverbanks which later dried up, reminisces Ms Keotlhokile. Before relocating to Nokaneng, she said residents settled in Qixini in 1937, but travelled to Nokaneng from time to time to access the road to Maun, which was a tedious process because it was far. 

However, Ms Keotlhokile said due to Kgosi Letsholathebe Moremi’s influence, they decided to relocate to Nokaneng to easily have access to the road. 

Other groups followed such as Baherero, Basarwa and Bahambukushu. Ms Keotlhokile vividly narrates the chronicle as if it was just yesterday.

 She described Nokaneng as a place filled with honey and milk and abundant fruits and greens of all sorts. 

The soil was rich and moist-which produced plenty and bountiful harvests more especially maize, sorghum and peanuts, she remembers with nostalgia. “In the village there was a piece of land which was solely ploughed for the chief’s wife which was known as Tshimo ya ga Mohumagadi. 

The villagers devotedly cultivated, ploughed, harvested and packaged the produce for the chief’s wife without any hesitation nor faltering.” The people of Nokaneng were and still are arable farmers as well as avid hunters and gatherers. 

They hunted wild animals such as hippopotamus and the meat was their favourite. Ms Keotlhokile said since there were no shops at the time, residents found comfort in eating staple and nutritious meals which were rich in protein. 

“We are ardent believers in meat and other foods such as fish, maize, sorghum and beans,” said Ms Keotlhokile.

Other provisions such as  Tswii, which is a water lily root that was normally mixed with pounded meat, was a delicacy she said. 

She said fruits such as moqinxa and mokgomphatha were grinded using grinding stones and were mixed with milk which provided a delicious refreshment. In 1945, certain developments took place. 

The London Missionary School (LMS) was built as well as Nokaneng Primary School. However, Ms Keotlhokile said since there were no infrastructure at the school, the classes took place under the trees.

 She, nonetheless, said it did not hinder learning in any way. The first shop in Nokaneng was owned by a British man called Mr Andrew Wright. 

Ms Keotlokole said Mr Wright introduced the barter trading system where residents could buy goods in exchange of some of their produce. “Mr Wright also built the village’s first storage tower/silo where he stored grain and sold it in times of drought. 

I remember in the late 1940’s Nokaneng was hit hard by drought. So we survived the pangs of hunger by buying produce at Mr Wright’s storage tower. A single package was 15cents which was reasonable in our time. The two towers still exist even today,” said Ms Keotlhokile.” Mr Wright was not the only individual who made an impact in the village.

 Other residents namely; Mr Galakwe Sandano, Mr Raditse Keotlhokile and others sacrificed their time and contributed in World War II. 

Apart from arable farming, Ms Keotlhokile said some men in the village migrated to the mines in South Africa to work for their families. They could take up to a year without coming home.

 “Residents passed their time by singing folklore songs as well as dancing to the famous Shiyeyi dance known as kharakhara, she observed. Fast forward to 2016, Nokaneng is a well developed village with essential necessities such as land board offices, post office, a well equipped clinic and a primary school.  The roads passing through the village are in an ideal condition. There is also water supply as well as electricity. The village is also a harbour for  small businesses such as bakeries, butcheries and tuckshops.

Residents get their monthly supply of groceries from Nokaneng Cooperative which has sustained the village for years.

Even the youth are blessed to have access to empowerment programmes such as the Youth Development Fund (YDF) that has improved their lives. 

Some of them are now successful entrepreneurs owning hair salons and restaurants. 

Although developments are part of civilisation, they bring along various challenges that can have an impact on the lives of residents.  

Unlike in the olden days where helping each other was more effective than in the current era, Nokaneng is now a haven for stock theft, alcoholism and other frivolities especially by the youth.

Kgosi Kebonyetsala Fish of Nokaneng agreed that all these factors have affected his village in many ways.“Due to the high rate of unemployment in our village, the youth are seeking other means of earning a living hence committing crime. 

However, we have different organisations in place such as twantsho borukutlhi to fight and combat crime, the kgosi said.” Despite all the adversities, it is evident that Nokaneng has come from afar. 

All the developments show that the village will achieve greater heights from now henceforth and life will become even better. Ends