By Thamani Shabani
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| Catholic pilgrims at the tombs of Fathers Charles Fuchs and Anthony de Wit, Patayamatebele |
It is famous for its natural landscapes and rich cultural characteristics of numerous ethnic groups with tens of old gold mine shafts, holy places and an annual attraction for thousands of Catholic pilgrims.
The settlement's name literally translates to 'the passage
of the Ndebele' after a group of the Ndebele people who used it as a corridor
to cross into nearby Zimbabwe after their defeat by the Batswana and Boer in
1837.
Patayamatebele also hosts the ruins of the first known
mining town and the first Catholic Church in Botswana.
The Old Tati graveyard also hosts the tombs of two pioneer
Catholic missionary priests, making the place a holy site and the headquarters
of the Catholic pilgrims in Botswana.
Every year, around October, on the feast of Our Lady of
Fatima, thousands of pilgrims flock to the locality to enjoy prayer moments,
stations of the cross, rosary walks and to go on spring tours.
Father Monnamongwe Letsatle of the Holy Family Church in
Letlhakane seems to understand the story better as he was one of the committee
members, led by Father Gabriel Gaie, the administrator of the Diocese of
Francistown, to investigate the story.
He explained that Patayamatebele used to be the A1 road
connecting Botswana to Bulawayo in Zimbabwe and South Africa. Father Letsatle
recounted that on April 15 1879, a group of 11 Jesuits pioneer missionaries
left St Aidan's College in Grahamstown, South Africa, enroute to the interior
of Africa, arriving in Shoshong, Botswana in July 1879.
The adventure would see the Catholic Church taking root
among the Batswana. He explains that many people believe missionaries came with
the Bible and guns, stressing however that the 11 missionaries, from different
countries, surely did not come to colonise but to evangelize.
Father Letsatle said the Zambezi missionaries, as they were
called, were assigned by the Vatican's ministry for the propagation of faith in
1877, to evangelize Southern Africa, with a Belgian Jesuit, Father Henri
Depelchin, who had served the last 18 years in Britain and India, appointed as
the Superior of the Zambezi mission.
He explained that on July 23, 1879 they reached Shoshong,
the then capital of Bangwato, with a population of about 10 000 people, where
they met with Kgosi Khama the Great (Khama Boikanyo or Khama 111) and the
brother to Kgamane, sons of Kgosi Sekgoma, the then 36-year-old Christian Chief
of Bangwato, the dominant branch of the Batswana.
He said Kgosi Khama, the gentleman of Africa, as he was
affectionately called, was to become the only regional chief to give a warm
welcome to the missionaries, while many went on to be killed or starved to
death by other chiefs.
"Khama was very cool in his reception, certainly due to
the influence of the London Missionary Society, and in particular the resident
missionary Father James Hepburn, and a certain visiting Father Sykes who were
based much further north in Matabeleland," said Father Letsatle
He said Kgosi Khama stated he had no need for additional
teachers (meaning the Catholics) as the Jesuits urged and argued that if they
were both Christians, why did they have two parties undertaking the same work.
"He also appreciated that the Protestants and Catholics
were very antagonistic towards each other, and that the presence of both may
bring conflict among his tribe," he added.
Father Letsatle said Kgosi Khama was surprised by the second
group of missionaries because he believed that God has to be served by one not
many and he refused them land to stay and gave them permission to pass through.
"What surprises me is that Kgosi Khama prophesized long
time ago that there should only be one church in the country, not many
otherwise they would cause divisions among the tribe," he added.
Father Letsatle said after being disappointed, the 11
missionaries left Shoshong in July the same year and finally arrived at
Patayamatebele, which was the former Old Tati, a small gold mine.
He explained that Tati was the last frontier of European
settlement to any real extent and it was an important centre, where the roads
from the south converged and those northwards diverged.
"As a result it had become an important trading centre
from which supplies from the south could be more easily obtained. At the time
there were only 19 European and twenty non-white settlers occupying six houses,
which were all that remained of the settlement," said Father Letsatle.
He explained that the missionaries then started a mission, which
they dedicated to the Immaculate heart of Mary.
These missions served white settlers and a few blacks, who
were working on the gold mine and they later started a school which they named
"Our Lady of Good Hope" which ran up to 1885, before the mission
closed.
He explained that unfortunately, Father Fuchs was the first
to die of unknown ailment nine months after leaving for Grahamstown, South
Africa for medical attention. Little did the missionaries know that the place
(Patayamatebele) was a fever trap because of the Tati river.
Father Letsatle said other missionaries then crossed into
Zimbabwe to found other mission stations, whilst others went to Zambia to
establish similar missions.
He said Father Anthony de Wet then took over the leadership
of the mission in Old Tati, but he died in 1882. In March 1883, he said Father
Prestage, the priest in charge of Old Tati mission, recorded in his diary that
he had 13 native and two white children, together with three native adults in
the mission school.
However, the whole enterprise was deemed not a success and
the remaining miners crossed into nearby South Africa to work at the gold
mines, which made it difficult to sustain the mission and it was eventually
closed in September 1884.
Father Letsatle said Patayamatebele is where the first
Motswana from the Catholic church was baptized, according to archeologist, a
certain Mr Burret, who also investigated the area.
"This is one of the reasons why each and every year,
Catholics gather at the grave to celebrate holy mass and make pilgrimage to the
tombs of our ancestor priests, a spiritual journey accompanied by many promises
from God associated with those who believe," he added.
Father Letsatle explained that on July 4, 1999, a
commemorative plaque was erected at the head of the two priests' graves on
behalf of the Jesuit Province of Zimbabwe.
The pilgrimage has strengthened and united the Diocese of
Francistown despite its vast geographical reality.
He said there were reports of healings and miracles because
this was a Godly place and that Catholics of the Diocese of Francistown
consider the place a miraculous place.
"For the past three years that we have been here, we
have experienced miracles and healings, be it spiritually, physically or
mentally," he added.
Father Letsatle said the Catholic Church was now working
with the Ministry of Environment Natural Resources Conservation and Tourism and
the Department of Museums to pursue spiritual tourism, where the locals can
benefit from tourism surrounding spiritual activities.
"We do not want the place to be the monopoly of the
church, other Christians are welcomed to pray at the place," he added.
He explained that the place was a package for tourism,
adding "the place is quiet and offers good retreat and spiritual
exercises".
He said the place had a lot of tourism activities because
Patayamatebele or Old Tati was the first area of gold mining exploration in
Southern Africa, adding that this was the reason why Botswana was regarded as
the headquarters of mining in Southern Africa.
Father Letsatle explained that there were also old ruins at
the site and at the centre of the ruins is a pyramid, which was now being threatened
by weather conditions, lamenting that Botswana was about lose one of its first
monuments if action is not taken immediately.
He also stated that there was also a smelter, which was used
by miners to smelt gold at the site.
He said, the river (Tati) was also a natural attraction
because along it, there are farmers who are also willing to host tourists,
adding that the place also had potential for agro tourism.
Father Letsatle said last year, church members could not
gather at the place to worship due to COVID-19 but this year, like it or not,
the event will go ahead as planned in October, as they have put in place all
COVID-19 protocols.
He said the church had applied to be allocated the land, not
just to protect it, but to secure it or make it safe for people to pray in the
bush.
Source : BOPA
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