11 Apr 2024

The former Leader of Opposition, Michael Kitso Dingake who died on Sunday aged 96 is said to have been a calm and humble gentleman whose love knew no boundaries.

Dr Dingake, who will be buried on Sunday, died at Sidilega Private Hospital in Gaborone, Sunday after suffering a stroke. “He was a leader with vision, very humble and down to earth,” said Mr Isaac Mabiletsa, a member of the 1994 to 1999 Parliament, of which Dr Dingake was a member too.

He described Dr Dingake, as a sound political administrator, who marshalled strategies that catapulted the Botswana National Front (BNF) to capture 13 parliamentary seats during the 1994 general elections for the first time in the party’s history.

“He was very skilled in political writing, he was a good author, very precise with his pen,” said Mr Mabiletsa, a former Kgatleng East legislator.

Armed with three university degrees – Bachelor of Arts in Political Science and Economics, Bachelor of Arts in Public Administration and Local Government Accounting, and a

Bachelor of Commerce in Business Economics and Accounting, Mr Mabiletsa said Dr Dingake distinguished himself from his political rivals, adding that his qualifications, experience in politics and patriotism made him best suited to lead this country, though such never happened.

Former Speaker, Ms Margret Nasha said Dr Dingake was not a man of confrontational politics. “He was very humble, very sweet and did not like confrontation,” said Ms Nasha, who contested and snatched the Gaborone Central constituency from Dr Dingake during the 1999 general elections.

She said during their tenure as legislators, Dr Dingake was an avid reader and researched on subjects before debating, which set him apart from many others. “I don’t remember him having enemies in Parliament, he was not a fighter, he was a convincer,” said Ms Nasha who was a member of the ruling Botswana Democratic Party (BDP) at the time.

Dr Dingake, who was born in Bobonong, started his primary school in his home village and moved to South Africa for further education. Whist in South Africa, he disapproved of the social injustices of the then apartheid regime, and he joined the liberation struggle.

Hence even during his death, both South Africa and Botswana claim a piece of him. “He was a South African as I am, he was both a Motswana and South African,” former South Africa President Dr Thabo Mbeki said when paying tribute to the fallen liberation struggle hero.

“He did not approve the injustice which he saw there,” said President Masisi when he had gone to commiserate with the Dingake family on Wednesday.

Due to his disapproval of the apartheid regime, Dr Dingake joined the African National Congress (ANC) in 1952 and served in the organisation’s  various capacities and structures.

His service in the ANC saw him among others being elected secretary of Alexandra Branch, chairperson of Johannesburg Northern Region, appointed member of the State of

Emergency Committee in the Johannesburg Region as well as serving on the ANC National Secretariat as publicity secretary, responsible for the production of propaganda material for the liberation movement and he later served as the committee’s chairperson.

Dr Dingake also served in the South African Communist Party and the ANC’s guerrilla army Umkhonto we Sizwe, handling the recruitment of trainees abroad. He was arrested in 1965 on his way to Lusaka and transferred to the South African authorities where he was tortured before being sentenced to 15 years in Robben Island Prison.

At the end of his prison term, he was deported to his native country, Botswana. Back home, Dr Dingake worked for the University of Botswana holding positions of purchasing manager, senior business manager and public relations officer, before becoming a Member of Parliament for Gaborone Central, and also a BNF vice president.

Due to internal agreements with the then BNF president Dr Kenneth Koma, Dr Dingake was part of the eleven BNF legislators who formed the Botswana Congress Party in 1998, which he became its founding president. He retired from active politics in 2004 and was a regular newspaper columnist at Mmegi newspaper, as well as being an author and human rights activist.

Among the books he authored include My Fight against apartheid, The Politics of Confusion, Apartheid, Questions and Answers and My Mother was a Woman. He was once a member of different social organisations such as Emang Basadi, Ditshwanelo-Botswana Human Rights Centre, Bobirwa Society, and Botswana Society among others.

Among Dr Dingake’s honours were an honorary doctorate degree bestowed by the University of Botswana in 2022 as well as The Order of the Grand Companion of OR Tambo in Silver from the South African government in 2007.

Dr Dingake is survived by his wife, four children, 10 grandchildren and 11 great-grandchildren. ENDS