Maropeng go a boelwa. This is a Tswana proverb loosely understood as “returning to the source”. The source represents the essence of home, lineage and culture. The saying can be grouped with the phrase, “home is where the heart is”, but it carries a much deeper and more profound observation.
It is that spirit that encapsulated the launch of Sedibelo Heritage Fest, a week-long festival which culminated in a music concert at Moruleng, in the North West, at the weekend.
Moruleng is a small developing village between Mogwase and Sun City in Pilanesberg and it adds to the list of places hosting cultural festivals that may grow to the stature equated to that of Macufe, for example.
It’s home to the Tswana tribe, Bakgatla Ba Kgafela (BBK), with chief Nyalala Pilane and the paramount chief Kgafela Kgafela II. It is also home to television (Lucilla in e.tv’s Rhythm City) and music star, KB Motsilenyane, known as just KB.
She was just one of the artists who performed at the show together with Ringo, Theo Kgosinkwe, Malaika, Big Nuz, Tuks, Khuli Chana and DJ Sbu.
The aim of the fest is to show visitors the essence of Bakgatla Ba Kgafela heritage and to create an environment for the BBK community to celebrate the authenticity of their culture.
And the Bakgatla are a tribe proud of, and still entrenched in, their customs, like the procession of about 850 men returning from mophato (initiation school) joined by their female counterparts (bahumagadi) we saw on Saturday morning at Moruleng Stadium.
The tribe does not believe in borders and has strong ties with the BBK in Mochudi, Botswana. The digitisation of its history is one way it is trying to appeal to the younger generation and to keep its heritage alive. But while keeping its culture strong, there are also plans to develop the area which is part of a province rich in platinum.
A proud Mokgatla, KB was the obvious choice to be an ambassador for the place. “Kgosi (chief) sat me down and told me of his plans to develop Moruleng, so from now on whatever I do as an artist will contribute to these developments. Featuring local poet Seabelo in my latest album is one example,” she says.
In between proceedings and before the concert on Saturday evening, KB treated me to a walk along her neighbourhood and shared some memories and thoughts about the place that has shaped the sophisticated dancer, singer and actress she is today. Her house is along Moruleng Boulevard, the only main road in the village, which was definitely not tarred when KB was younger.
“I left home very young. I must have been seven when my parents moved to Itsoseng for work purposes. We lived in a two bedroom house as a household of six children. After Itsoseng we went to Mafikeng, but we would always come home for the holidays. And now there’s a two-way street, but there are a lot of things that haven’t changed about the place,” she says.
She shows us on the other side of the road, the primary school she went to, which looks old, but whose reddish paint hasn’t changed and isn’t fading.
The shops she’d be sent to, to buy bread, are still standing; they’ve only changed names and are covered in the red Coca-Cola branding.
She shows us another old building which is quite small and labelled as a hair salon. “This is where I do my hair. For the time the Samas have been held here in Sun City, this is where I have done my hair for the occasion,” she enthuses.
We walk past two men on the pavement selling tyres and motorbikes and KB is intrigued. She goes to speak to them and her manager reveals she’s just got her licence and is a new rider.
She is so free and at ease and it’s evident her humility rubs off on her community. They simply adore her.
As we approach what looks like a small taxi spot, near the Kgatleng fruit and vegetable store, an elderly man takes KB aside and gives her some words of encouragement. Later he brings her two bananas he bought at the store. He chuckles that he would have bought her a cucumber if he did not have enough money for the bananas.
Two of her childhood buddies also stop her. One of them she used to dance with when she was younger, but they call KB by a different name: Piki.
“Only people from Moruleng call me by that nickname, it’s very special,” KB smiles.
We take the gravel road up to her grandmother’s house which her friend earlier explained as “Kwa Ga Mmaletlapa, where they used to sell home-brewed Tswana beer”.
We go through what she calls the well known Mokgothwaneng alley, that leads up to the house. The yard has a big orange tree in it which has lived through many generations and two brick houses: a dilapidated one and the main one that’s been rented out to new dwellers. KB and her family still come here for the nostalgia. “I love coming home. This is where I can be me and get to explore myself. It’s always soothing and offers self-discovery. My fears and dreams are shaped by this place. I don’t have a lot of friends here because I left so young, but I grew up in an environment where you’re connected to the yard next door. It doesn’t matter what car you drive, or what label shoes you wear here. People are genuine and sweet. These are the grounds I used to play indigenous games like diketo and kgati on. We’d also pick up stubs of cigarettes and try to smoke them out of curiosity and we’d eat mokgalo (wild fruit). This is probably the last place I pulled a thorn out of my foot.
“I stay indoors when home, I ask questions, read books and learn poems which I can incorporate in an album. I’m from the generation that communicates in English more than in their mother tongue and when at home I’m reminded of the purity of my language. I make a conscious decision every time to express myself in Tswana. I’m a proud village girl and I don’t feel the need to wear Jimmy Choo shoes to feel sophisticated. And that’s something I wrestle with when I’m in Gauteng.”
She points to the NG kerk they used to attend and the water pump where they would get water from with a kruiwa, before she gets to the sad realities of Moruleng.
“If you look around Moruleng you’ll see a lot of taverns more than anything. There’s an element of frustration when you perform in Sun City where there are big lights, and then you come home where there’s unemployment. I don’t like to point fingers, but I believe corporates like Anglo Platinum and Sun City should make it their business to employ our youngsters. Having said that, I feel Moruleng people should also be assertive with their place. We know now that a golf estate and a hospital will be built here. People should not wait for opportunities, but create them for themselves,” KB says.
We drop the politik and talk about her album and she beams again. The new album, Run Free The Evolution, is vintage KB with a level of experimentation. She worked with raw talent in producer Navy and keyboardist, Ncobi from Kalawa. She says it’s her favourite of all her albums.
“Run Free is about going back to the basics and doing what I know. I know who I am and I’m comfortable with who KB is and the album expresses that. I like to dance and people think you can’t do it in a sophisticated way. But doing this was a walk in the park,” she says.
Next year will mark KB’s 10th year in the music industry and she’s gearing herself up to bringing the music to the people with an imminent national tour. And she’s a superb and stylish performer, as she reminded the crowd at Moruleng.
Tour dates
Pretoria: October 8-9 (State Theatre)
Polokwane: October 14-15 (Meropa Casino)
Northwest/Kimberly: October 21-22 (Mmabana Taung)
Port Elizabeth: October 28-30 (Boardwalk Vodacom Amphitheatre)
Bloemfontein: November 4-5 (venue to be confirmed)
Mpumalanga: November 11 (Cappello Nelspruit)
Durban: November 12 (Afro Lounge)
Johannesburg: November 13 (Gold Reef City)
Cape Town: November 18-19 (venue to be confirmed)
Northwest (Mafikeng/Rustenburg): November 24-25