Sephiri Molosiwa: A Mongwato Royal Still Going Strong at 102 Years of Age

Abstract

It is not every day that one learns of someone who has lived for more than a century and yet all their senses
are still intact; and, more than that, they are even technologically savvy enough to be accessible through
a mobile phone. Thanks to a Mokaa/Mophuting man who also happens to be my ‘great grandson’, Rre
Johnson Mpho-a-Mmolaatlou McDonald-a-Seema also known (at Maalosong/Maboleding, in Serowe) as
Johnson Mpho-a-Mmolaatlou McDonald-a-Mokudinyane-a-Molosiwa-a-Kgama I. I listened to the constant
‘whisper’ of: ‘Sephiri this . . . Sephiri that . . .’ As Johnson’s ‘great grandmother’ I had no other option
but to listen, and eventually act. Seatholo I -a-Nthokwa-a-Phate-a-Kokwana I-a-Malesela-a-Motsumi (wa
Morabana) after whom I was named (as the third or fourth) is an ancestral grandmother to Mmolaatlou
McDonald Seema (Johnson’s father) from his maternal side.