“Ba re mosimanyana o a balabalabala
Ba re machikilani o rata dilo
Ba re molamunyana majakathata wee
Ba re dirifinyana chikilani
O tsentseng machikilani bekeng
Sekaphuthini machikilani
Borothonyana machikilani
Ba re o rata dilo majakathata wee…”
-Molefe “Western” Lekgetho
Machikilani, from “I’m Not Here To Hunt Rabbits”
Another fav!
I think Western was not happy with how security guards had treated him, or perhaps how security guards themselves were treated? Was it from observation or from what his friends and family had told him about machikilani o o ratang dilo?
Perhaps he was once a security guard himself and in the song he’s expressing how he was perceived. Or he’s articulating his father’s experiences? Maybe Western didn’t get the security job he applied for and was envious of machikilani?
In line 1 he sets the tone that this won’t be a machikilani praise song, perhaps, at the same time it’s an empathetic tune? ‘Mosimanyana’ implies that Western or people have no respect for this security guard. & since ‘o a balabalabala’ he’s talkative for their liking.
Perhaps now clarifying his message, at the end he asserts: “ke mang wa lelope? Machikilani.”
Writing in the Daily News, Kabo Keaketswe (2013) states that in 1990 Western upgraded from his home-made tin guitar to an acoustic one given to him by Oteng Setlhokwa. Oteng had received the fancy guitar from a man he worked with on the South African mines.
Blessing Kgosi e tsile Kgasa 