01 Mar 2017

As the sounds of early morning cock crows grow intense, a rumbling noise from a far distance disrupts the peaceful morning sleep.

As it steadily increases, it becomes more intimidating. Suddenly a deep forlorn howling sound hove the air.
To some residents, the lonely call marks yet another delivery by Botswana Railways, to others, it is a wakeup call for the early birds preparing to go to school, work or any early morning engagement.

For countless days, this is the routine that the residents of the small village of Taung, in the South East District are familiar with.

Commonly referred to as Ko-Seteichaneng for being a Botswana Railways train station too, the village has over the years grown from being crop fields for Balete to a village of over 4 250 residents as per the 2011 census.

Nestled between the towns of Lobatse and Gaborone, train movements are common here, some delivering consignments to the small village industry or ferrying them elsewhere.

Along the railway lines are dozens of unused factories as well as undeveloped industrial plots, which have become an eye saw and in the process defeating efforts to industrialise the village.

Nonetheless, Taung is a home to some of the renowned industries, such as multi-million pula Bolux Milling Company, which boats of over 400 local employees and has been in the country for 31 years.

Away from the railway line, Taung is a community dominated by Balete and form part of GaMalete tribal territory.

It is a stone throw away from Gaborone, which has attracted many people to flock the tiny village of a hilly topography.

During peak hours, the village experience its own minimal traffic jamming through the bumpy Boatle-Ramotswa road.

During the day, it is always inevitable not to see at least a horse-and-trailer, donkey carts, goats, cows, dogs and people crossing to either side of village.

Other than these seemingly endless cycles, Taung is a village grappling with two contrasting lifestyles.

Alcoholism, delinquency, fist-fight, concealing criminals and other crimes are common on the eastern side, which the villagers have nicknamed Dihele.

“Bontsi jwa dilo tse di maswe bo diragalela gone koo,” said Kgosi Rueben Masie of Taung.

In addition, Dihele’s troubles include depots operating beyond stipulated hours and illegal home brews, according to Kgosi Masie.

Despite only five traditional brews of Setopiti, ila, mokuru, nkundu and khadi being the only legally recognised traditional brews, Taung is faced with an emergence of yet another brew, Setiripakgosi.

The brew is illegal and it is said to be extremely dangerous and its origins remain a mystery.

“That brew is very dangerous and it is affecting the performance of Ipelegeng workers,” added Ms Keabonye Ntsabane, the chairperson of Taung Village Development Committee (VDC).

According to her testimony, one needs not to take much sips of Setiripakgosi before they are highly intoxicated.

Interestingly, the recipe for Setiripakgosi is a highly guarded secret, yet the repercussions are obvious, which include among others, acute aging.

And what troubles Kgosi Masie is that some of those who intoxicate themselves with the deadly homebrew default their medications, a trend which puts their lives at risk.

With a realisation that fellow tribesmen are being slowly snared by the toxic brew, the village royal often tours the village to calm the situation before it explodes to tarnish the name of Taung.

During consultations, Kgosi Masie said he had noted that there is consensus that Setiripakgosi had no place in a modern society and should cease to exist.

“We are engaging the illegal home brewers and depot owners. We are hopeful to address this problem,” added optimistic Kgosi Masie.

Away from the dark side, Taung VDC is an exception among many for its forward thinking.

It owns the post office building,  a pre-school and about 16 houses which are all leased. “I have to thank my predecessors who have laid a solid foundation for us, they were forward thinking,” added Ms Ntsabane.

In fact, on a monthly basis, the committee gets thousands of pula from its rentals and that has enabled it to carry out some of the tasks in the village such as refurbishing kgotla offices and its leased houses.

Other than that, there is also the Keabonye Ntsabane Gender Based Violence Trust, which often holds community workshops to sensitise the community about issues of gender based violence.

Like many of villages in the country, Taung faces challenges of unemployment, hence some youth end up lining for Ipelegeng programme.

And it is for that reason that Kgosi Masie and Ms Ntsabane pray investors will settle in their village due to its proximity to Gaborone and employ its youth.

“We need to find employment for our children,” said Ms Ntsabane, who is also a renowned gender activist.

Besides a few industries, shops tuck-shops and two pre-schools, Taung has a primary schools, one junior secondary school, a clinic and kgotla offices, among other development. ENDS