On the 11th of March 2025, at the funeral of Dr Gomolemo Mokae, Tim Modise, a veteran journalist, broadcaster, public speaker and philanthropist, asked a classical biblical question from the letter to Galatians 3:1-14 asking: “Re loilwe kemang?” (who has bewitched us)

The preacher of the day, Bishop Sidwell Mokgothu, of the Methodist Church of Southern Africa, wept like Jeremiah and asked a critical question about leaders who are now detached from their people and asked why can’t black leaders do what Afriforum is doing for its people?

I have a reservation of making Afriforum my point of reference for multiple reasons; however the question of black unity remains. I am sure that the official abolishing of political apartheid has left black people more divided as they. The foundations of partition in the interior of the Black community are multi-layered, stemming from historical variations, socioeconomic discrepancies, and contrasting cultural and political outlooks. 

These divisions can be drawn to historical episodes like the transatlantic slave trade and the Civil Rights Movement, as well as continuing issues like racial profiling and mass confinement. Furthermore, distinct Black communities and individuals may have dissimilar identities and encounters built on their cultural legacy. Without denying the reality of divisions stemming from tribalism, elitism, political affiliation, etc. We cannot deny that our blackness brought us together in our attempt to fight imperialism, colonialism, apartheid, and other “isms”. Today, we are more divided and segmented than any time before. 

One of the speakers in the program quoted veteran journalist Abbey Makoe’s question on, “How Can a Man Die Better?” The similar question is asked by and in the biography of Robert Mangaliso Sobukwe, titled: “How Can Man Die Better?”. Sobukwe was the leader of the Pan Africanist Congress (PAC) and the biography covered his struggles against apartheid, including his defiance of pass laws, his imprisonment and the “Sobukwe Clause” that allowed his continued imprisonment without trial. Thomas Babington Macaulay also asks this similar question in his poem stating:
“The out of spake brace Horatius,
The Captain of the Gate:
To every man upon this earth
Death cometh soon or late.
And how can man die better
Than facing fearful odds,
For the ashes of his fathers,
And the temples of his gods?”

The questions on who has bewitched us and how can a man die better stems from the brutal murder of Dr Gomolemo Mokae. Born on August 4, 1964, Dr Mokae was a medical doctor, author, political and social activist, and above this, an uncle to another known author, Sabata Mokae. This is a man who trained as a General Practitioner to assist in improving and saving the health and life of his people. A man who wrote about the stories of his people who were oppressed by the imperial, colonial and apartheid ideologies and regimes and encouraged with the ideology on Black Consciousness and Power. 

A man who defied white languages as “civilization” and wrote in Setswana, puo ya kwa lowe as he believed that African languages are a starting point of defining an African and for liberation. As if he was prophesying his death, one of his writings in Setswana was Kaine le Abele as he was brutally killed by those who entered his house and was shot to death.  His items such as a phone and laptops were stolen in his community by his own “brothers”. 

A man who was once a spokesperson of the Azanian People’s Organization (AZAPO) met death by being murdered by his own while the apartheid regime failed to do so, and that is why the two question are of importance in this context, re loilwe ke mang and how can man die better when he had done so much for his community? 

It seems the answer to the question is to be found in the sermon of Bishop Mokgothu, the Black Nation remains divided to a point of killing one another. The detachment of black leaders from their communities has left us with crime. Our black leaders have denied their communities to live the life they fought for and a better life for all that was promised and a life of freedom. 

This detachment by black leaders has left the consequences clarified by Nelson Mandela stating: “When a man is denied the right to live the life he believes in, he has no choice but to become an outlaw”. Of course, there is no one root of crime but at least we can agree that amongst the many and through social construction, the root of crime is, inequality, not sharing power, lack of support for communities, poverty, unemployment, greed, failure in societal and psychological development, lack of opportunities, social disorganization, etc. 
 
Re loilwe kemang?

Boitumelo B Senokoane is Associate Professor in the College of Human Sciences, UNISA