07 Sep 2020

A group of men on a hunting spree descends on a pan in an uninhabited land, so they thought, to quench their thirst. 

The pan is their usual source of water in such long outings. 

Contrary to their thinking that they are the only ones that often come by, they are surprised, on one or two occasions, to spot a human footprint.

During further visits to the pan, they spot the owner of the footprint at a distance, but the stranger happenes to be too shy and avoids human confrontation at all costs. He would usually run away at the first sight of other humans. 

They have no idea where the stranger comes from and he seems to be a loner.

This is only part of the story of the origins of Kokong, a tiny village that sits off the Trans-Kalahari Highway between Mabutsane and Kang. 

Two of the village pensioners, Ms Keamogetse Mosupi and Kealeboga Mosupi remember origins of the village than most residents.

Although the chronology of events has faded with time from the two siblings memories, the general story is simple to piece together. 

According to Kealeboga, the tale is that years ago, the area where the village is now located was just barren land used as a hunting ground by people from far villages.

“The area had a lot of water though and hunters often quenched their thirst at the pan. One day three brothers namely Meswalo, Tshose and Motapo travelled from Lehututu in the now Kgalagadi District to go and buy tobacco in Moshupa. On their way back, they passed through the pan. They then fell in love with the landscape,” she said.

She said legend had it that the two younger brothers, Tshose and Motapo then decided to remain in the area while their elder brother, Meswalo proceeded with the journey back to Lehututu.

“We were told that the two remaining brothers occupied the pan at two extreme ends, Tshose occupying the eastern part while the youngest brother, Motapo occupied the far west. As time went by, Tshose managed to meet the illusive stranger, now revealed as Dinoko and they settled together,” she said.

Kealeboga indicated that as time went by, people slowly trickled into the area and joined the two brothers until the area was now inhabited. 

She said although Motapo was the youngest, he seemed to have been more successful at bearing children.

“O ne ale thari e monate, a atlega tshika ya gagwe ya gola go heta yaga mogolowe,” Kealeboga said.

Because of his many children, Motapo later established a ward on his side known as Botapo, which is still exists.

“The two brothers then agreed that Motapo should lead the people as a traditional leader, while Tshose would become a religious leader, and that is how bogosi of this village is now traced to the younger Motapo rather than the elder Tshose,” she said.

Chipping in, Keamogetse indicated that as years passed by, the area population was boosted by arrival of Bangwaketse, who were sent by Kgosi Bathoen to guard the nearby boundary with Kgalagadi.

She said the population increase then strained the pan as well as the wells that were now sunk around it. 

“That is when people started leaving bit by bit to establish other villages such as Khakhea, Keng, Morwamosu, Mabutsane and Inalegolo. The only village that was established by a large chunk from Kokong is Mabutsane and the cohort was mostly Bangwaketse” she said.

She saidt by then, Kokong was still undisputedly the largest village and the bread basket of the area since Bangwaketse had introduced large scale farming before moving to Mabutsane and some Arabs had already settled there to established general dealer shops.

She said other people went further to work at farms in the Molopo area. 

There were beliefs in the area that Bangwaketse were sent by Kgosi Bathoen to govern Kokong, but the incumbent and youthful Kgosi Seikgaro II disputes that.

“Bangwaketse were only sent for one important purpose; to protect the nearby boundary with Kgalagadi, which is about four kilometres from here.  However, because they were sent by kgosikgolo, people had a lot of respect for them and gave them so much respect and unnecessary powers. That is how many people developed a misconception that they were sent to govern us, but the truth is we were never their subjects,” he said.

He indicated that Kokong bogosi hadbeen clear from history. 

He said in 1962, Bangwaketse moved to Mabutsane in search of sufficient and portable water, taking most of the original residents with them, including Kgosi Seikgaro I who was a direct descendant of Motapo.

“There was later an outcry from the remaining residents that Kgosi Seikgaro I had abandoned them, so together with his paternal uncle, Khutsafalo Mosupi retraced his steps back to his people whom he led until 1980 when he handed the reins to his son, Kgosi Maologa Moalafi who later handed to me in 2013,” he said.

Wrapping up the history of the village with a smile and pride after punctuating it with his name, the youthful Kgosi Seikgaro II now turned sombre as he decried what he termed poor developments despite his village being ‘more senior to all villages in the area.’

“What hurts the most is that despite history defining Kokong as the first established village in the area, it is the least developed. All the villages that were established after it, are now far more developed and we feel this has to be corrected,” he said.

Kgosi Seikgaro II indicated that when distributing developments, government should always consider such history and try and make the oldest villages centres of power. 

Some of the major developments that he said his village deserved were tarring of the 19km stretched that conneced the village to Trans-Kalahari Highway.

He said neglecting his village would now mean that migration to other villages, which started decades ago, would still continue as people seek to move closer to modern amenities. 

As the day matures, the two elderly siblings retreat to their homesteads while Kgosi Seikgaro II wraps up his traditional chair and moves back to his office to occupy the modern chair. 

It is time for normal chores, including advocacy for the modernisation of his village. Ends