24 Apr 2024

Botswana culture and traditions are punctuated with historic sites with interesting stories premised on past events or experiences, most of which have spiritual connotations attached. Over the years, some of the sites have been listed as cultural heritage, to be passed through generations through proper documentation by the various ethnic communities.

Recently, Bakgatla Ba-Ga-Mmanaana thronged the Moshupa dam to unveil one of their significant sites coined Hika la Ngwanyana, loosely translated to mean the rock of a girl. Even though the main objective behind the cultural festival was to create a cultural exchange platform and ignite commercialisation of the diverse Setswana culture found among various ethnic groups, the history behind the name of the rock formed the basis of the weekend festivities.

According to the natives, it is believed that on some fateful day in the 60s, a group of children gathered at the dam to collect water as usual, and as was the norm, they passed time playing traditional games such as skipping rope on the banks of the dam. The sudden appearance of a mystery creature reportedly scared the kids away, and subsequently one of the girls, who could not flee with her mates mysteriously disappeared into the water body.

“It is reported that as the children were playing their usual games next to the dam, a scream of terror engulfed them as they were alerted of an approaching creature from the water. They scattered around for their safety, but unfortunately one of the girls failed to run along, and we believe the snake’s powers had overpowered her by then. The girl was identified as Mmaopapi, the daughter of Bota Letlhatshane,” explained Mr Bobby Tlhabiwe during the inaugural Hika La Ngwanyana Cultural festival.

He further narrated that what followed created more questions than answers to the villagers, who anxiously waited for the mystery to unravel. A local pastor who was called to intervene through his spiritual discernment alighted from the water empty handed for two consecutive days, and it was only on the third day that he appeared holding the pale-looking body of the teenager.

“On the initial two occasions, he kept telling people who were gathered there that the owner of the water was still with the girl, and the following day he managed to retrieve her body. Her pale skin prompted suggestions that the creature had drank her blood,” he said.

However, he narrates that even before this particular incident, there had been similar experiences of children disappearing into the water, but it was after 1965 that the name Hika la Ngwanyana became prominent and popular. Since the disappearance of the child was associated with marine spirits, it has always been a common belief that certain rituals had to be performed to calm the spirits wherever necessary.

In fact, even to date, residents consider the place to be sacred and claim they still witness signs that it has a spiritual effect. As is common among other cultural legends in different areas across the country, the general belief is that the big snakes that reside in such sacred places does not approve of noise or any other contamination of the atmosphere. Consequently, some elders like Ms Kebadire Mokgobotsi, whose yard overlooks the Moshupa dam from the Eastern side, are sceptical about plans to transform the area into a beehive activity.

In a hush tone, she explains how they sometimes see different signals from the dam, relating to how they interprete various events within the community. The one that stands out is the heads-up they get when a member of the royal family passes on.

“When a member of the royal family is about to die, we see our master standing by Hika la Ngwanyana, and we will realise that when we see a lot of lights from that direction. Sometimes we see these lights during the day, and when this happens we definitely know that by the break of dawn we will hear the sad news,” says the 72-year old resident.

Even though she supports the development of the area to transform it into an cultural and economic hub for the community, she is sceptical about the consequences that could arise owing to the clash of the energies.

Identifying the direction of the rock inside the dam is not only challenging but also interesting since the locals believe it is a bad omen to point at it directly with a finger, rather they use an elbow, and with the recent heavy rainfalls, the rock is currently submerged in the water.

“Ga le sutjwe ka monwana”, an emphasis by Kgosi Donald Mosielele, who is also the chairperson of Ipelego Trust, which aspires to transform the area into a commercial cultural site for the socio-economic benefit of the community. The place, housed in a vast land of over 220 hectares, is also earmarked as a tourist attraction area to promote self-reliance among the Bakgatla ba ga Mmanaana.

In order to maintain sustainability and long-term beneficiation, Kgosi Mosielele mentions animal and Artifacts Park, aquaculture and accommodation facilities among other future plans for the area. BOPA