Soon my family and I are celebrating our grandmother’s 94th birthday. I’m forever honoured to have been tasked with penning her illustrious (and intimidating!) biography. I don’t know what to leave out!
But of course, with a limited knowledge of what she loves, I think there is no way I would leave out her love of fruits, leteisi la kgaka, Nkwe, or leopard prints (her father’s first name), story telling, and of course, her involvement in the “Women War Workers” cooperative where they knitted socks and gloves for the Batswana troops in the British Army’s African Pioneer Corps.
I remember back in September 2015, in my mother’s sitting room, in an animated voice, she told me of when she and other women from the 1940s cooperative were invited to attend the Fallen Heroes Commemoration held at the Three Dikgosi Monument. She emphasised that they were transported by a bus from Kanye, offered bananas, apples and fruit juices throughout the journey.
Photos: Courtesy of Mme Ontefetse Babusi, my grandmother.
Blessing Kgosi e tsile Kgasa 