13 Oct 2016

Batswana are traditionally rooted on the values of respect, unity, self-reliance as well as compassion.

Even though the fabric of these values seem to slowly be wearing off, there are some who still uphold these with pride and passion.

Every leader desires to lead inspired people who uphold these values and Kgosi Khuduga Kagiso of Tloaneng boasts of such a resident in his village.

Kgosi Kagiso said if he could, he would honour Mr Emmanuel Maswabi.

Mr Maswabi (48) served in the Botswana Defence Force for 25 years.

In 2008, Mr Maswabi relocated to the budding village of Tloaneng, where he became an exemplary figure to the residents.

According to Kgosi Kagiso, Mr Maswabi was involved with the community and as such he was appointed Village Development Committee chairperson in June 2014.

“This man has done and continues to do wonders for this village, not only attracting funding support for major projects as a VDC chair, but also volunteers for charity work from way back,”  said Kgosi Kagiso.

Apart from securing funds to connect electricity and water into the village kgotla, he managed to secure for the VDC borehole which was owned by the water affairs.

After the tireless efforts of Mr Maswabi seeking assistance from corporations, Stanbic Bank funded the VDC who are now the proud owners of the borehole.
The borehole is now one of the prized possession and source of revenue for the Tloaneng Village Development Committee.

A Gabane based company called Tholo Holdings who helped connect power to this borehole rent it from the VDC and residents in and nearby the village also benefit from this bountiful source of water.

During water shortage seasons, this borehole can be used to supply villages of Tloaneng, Gabane, Mmankgodi, Kumakwane and Mmopane.

Furthermore, as the village is planning on building a new bigger leobo for the kgotla, Maswabi’s administration has also been able to secure some aid in the form of 48 tons of concrete and 48 tons of pit sand from one quarry company.

These still stand evident in the Kgotla, awaiting the beginning of the construction of the planned and approved structure.

Kgosi Kagiso added that many of the VDC activities this man does, he uses his personal funds to cover them.

Not only has this Good Samaritan done well in lobbying for major projects in the village, his undeniable compassionate nature is illustrated in many other charitable work which he funded himself. 

This man has assisted with building public toilets in the village cemetery.

He is a secretary of the Circle of Support of the Tloaneng Primary School and he often buys toiletry hampers to some 15 destitute students.

Additionally, he bought chairs for the kgotla and built a resting shelter at the Gabane Society for the Disabled poultry farm which.

He notes that in this project he was assisted by Colonel Duke Masilo, and is proud to say that His Excellency Lieutenant General Dr Khama Ian Khama honoured its unveiling.

As if that is not enough, Mr Maswabi has long voluntarily been chauffeuring students back and forth Tloaneng and Gabane as well as Mmokolodi.

Maswabi recalls that it all started when he moved to Tloaneng while still working at SSKB. He would transport to students from Tloaneng to Nare Sereto Junior Secondary School, and  do the same in the evening knocking off from work back to Tloaneng.

Apparently this continued on as a hobby even after Maswabi was retired just for the students to be relieved of the total 26 kilometres of distance these students walked to and from school.

He says he is concerned that these students are fatigued and are unable to perform their best at school, but he is consoled to notice an improvement because of this initiative.

The youth of Tloaneng has also benefitted from the benevolence of this exemplary Motswana through his initiative to form a drama group named Babina Tshwene, paying for their registration fee of P500 and continues to link them with some stakeholders such as Ministry of Youth, Sports and Culture and Youth Health Organisation for training workshops and benchmarking.

One cannot help but wonder, what inspires this man, and this he had to say, “Our village is still lagging behind in many aspects and I would like to see it grow. I would like to see more youngsters progressing to higher levels in education and other fields of excellence.”

There are those who recognise Maswabi’s remarkable works such as Tloaneng Primary School and Nare Sereto JSS who both have given him a number of awards of recognition.

The Botswana Police also could not just stand by and do nothing when they got to know that Mr Maswabi assisted the cluster police in the village with his vehicles during patrols. ENDS