Foul mouthed widower flogged at partner’s funeral
It all ended in tears for A 57- year- old poor man who was humiliated with a public lashing at Legonono Kgotla in Molepolole minutes after burying his partner of 27 years.
Daniel Kgamane of Gabane Village said his apparent offence was allegedly insulting Kgosana Mokgalo Mothei, a charge he did not plead guilty to.
Speaking in an interview about what he described was unwarranted humiliation, Kgamane said that in a heated exchange with the headman of records over who should look after Kgamane’s six children whose ages range between six and 30 , following their mother’s burial, he uttered the words “O bua maaka” ( You are lying) to the headman.
The foul language was used in response to the headman’s insistence that according to Setswana culture, the kids should live with a surviving parent, which angered the chief enough to sentence the old man to a whipping.
Kgamane and his partner of 27 years had always lived in Old Naledi, Gaborone while their children lived with their maternal grandmother in Molepolole. After the death of their mother, village elders agreed that Kgamane should now take responsibility for the children,a decision which Kgamane is opposed to.
“What I told the elders was that I would rather continue taking care of the children whilst they live with their grandmother in Molepolole by sending money monthly as I have always done,” he said
The old man went on to express disappointment in his partner’s family saying that after 27 years of a good relationship, it saddened him to see the family abandoning him in his time of grief by demanding that he takes the children when they know that he lives in squalor in the slums of old Naledi.
However Kgosana Mokgalo Mothei has insisted that Kgamane’s punishment was justified since he had been disrespectful to him in the presence of villagers and village elders. He said the order for the old man to be lashed was not made by him as Kgamane had alleged but by the elders who were appalled by his behavior.
According to Mothei, Kgamane was rude and disorderly to the point of publicly rejecting the children when he was asked to take them.
He further informed The Voice that Kgamane had been so irresponsible that he played no role in the funeral arrangements of his partner, which compelled the village elders to seek assistance from Social Workers.
“Kgamane was late for his own partner’s funeral. He only showed up during the burial when the coffin was already six feet under. Mind you, he does not even know where the coffin came from because he did not provide any means of purchasing it. ”
In his defence, Kgamane said that he was unable to pay for funeral arrangements because he was a poor and grieving man whose meagre resources were depleted by the burial of his son who committed suicide in October.
Concerning the children, Kgamane said he felt what the elders expected of him goes against Setswana tradition since he was not legally married to their mother although he had lived with her for over two decades. “In such cases, the children belong to their mother’s people. I can only support them financially while they live with their granny,” he insisted
Currently the children are in the care of a relative who said she was awaiting a decision from the elders on what to do with them since she was already overwhelmed by looking after their blind grandmother too.
” I feel Kgamane must take them and let me care for the old woman who has been looking after them for so long but is now blind and therefore she too needs care. I am unemployed and I can’t do this,” said the relative.