Tsetsebjwe

Tsetsebjwe
Village
Tsetsebjwe
Coordinates: 22°24′55″S 28°23′41″E / 22.415313°S 28.394753°E / -22.415313; 28.394753Coordinates: 22°24′55″S 28°23′41″E / 22.415313°S 28.394753°E / -22.415313; 28.394753
Country	Botswana
District	Central District
Sub-District	Bobirwa
Population (2001)
• Total	4,396
	[1]

Tsetsebjwe is a village in the Bobirwa sub-district of the Central District of Botswana. It is in the Central Bobonong census district. As of 2001 it had a population of 4,396.^[1] The village is northwest of the privately owned Limpopo-Lipadi Game and Wilderness Reserve, near the South African border.^[2] The nearest town is Selebi Phikwe.^[3]

Origins

The village is named after the Tsetsebjwe hill, and lies at the foot of this hill. Tradition holds that the village was settled from Gobojango, and used to be a cattle post called Mokgojwe, which took its name from a perennial spring. Two brothers called Motshabi and Motshegwa were given the duty of patrolling the border with the South African Republic to prevent wild Boers from poaching game. The hill provided an ideal look-out point. A man called Tsetsebjwe died here, and the hill was given his name. A traditional doctor named Moshashane came to join the two brothers, and later he became a priest of the Protestant United Congregational Church of Southern Africa. His relatives and those of the two brothers established the village.

Economy

A 1983 survey of the Tsetsebjwe area found that there was no permanent surface water, although there was permanent water in the sand beds of most rivers. There were some small earth dams, but they were all dry. The village was supplied by boreholes. The nature of the basement terrain meant that there was not much potential for further groundwater development.^[4] The village holds many huge Mowana trees. Many of the people are still engaged in cultivating the fields around the village and raising livestock.^[5] The village is less than 50 kilometres (31 mi) from the Zanzibar Border Gate on the Limpopo River, an entry point to South Africa. Despite being an important point for transfer of goods between the two countries, the river is only crossed using a drift, and this is not usable in the rainy season. In 2008 the Tsetsebjwe Village Development Committee was calling for construction of a bridge over the river.^[6]

Community

Tsetsebjwe hill was traditionally considered hallowed ground. It could only be climbed with the permission of the council of elders. The summit was thought to be the home of gods and of the ancestors of the people of the village, who guard over the village. It was used for fertility ceremonies and for ceremonies to appease the gods and end the dry season. These traditions are no longer followed to the same extent as in the past, and now there are pylons and communications towers on the hill.^[5]

The Eloyi Christian Church was founded in this village in 1955 by Jakoba Keiphile. It was has since spread across Botswana and into neighboring countries.^[3] At first, Jakobo suffered from religious persecution, since the only church allowed was that of the Congregationalist London Missionary Society. Freedom of religion was established after independence in 1966, and he was able to return to Tsetsebjwe.^[7] The village remains the headquarters of the church.^[8]

In August 2011 the community was in the news when a boy died at the Nyangabwe Referral Hospital in Francistown after being flogged. The cause apparently was a damaged kidney. the boy was sentenced to four cane strokes on the back by the traditional court, the Kgotla, for slapping a schoolmate during an argument. According to the headman of Mogadingwane ward, the boy's mother had preferred corporal punishment to a criminal charge from the police. The police and the Sub-Tribal Authority were in agreement that corporal punishment on a minor was not warranted by customary law.^[9]

Some prominent musicians have their origin in the village, including Kgwanyape, Marks and the Beat, and the Dinare traditional troupe.^[5]

Political divisions

After a change in electoral boundaries, Tsetsejwe and the nearby village of Moletemane became part of the Tswapong North Constituency while remaining part of the Bobirwa sub-district. Authorities in Bobira have been trying to bring the villages back into the Bobirwa Constituency so that services can be delivered more efficiently. With the increased population, the Bobirwa Constituency would merit two Members of Parliament.^[10]

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