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/--------- E-mail Sponsored by Fox Searchlight ------------\ SIDEWAYS - WINNER! BEST PICTURE WINNER for BEST PICTURE at the IFP/GOTHAM AWARDS and one of the Top 10 BEST PICTURES of the Year from the National Board of Review, SIDEWAYS is the new comedy from Alexander Payne, director of ELECTION and ABOUT SCHMIDT and starring Paul Giamatti, Thomas Haden Church, Sandra Oh and Virginia Madsen. Watch the trailer at: http://www.foxsearchlight.com/sideways \----------------------------------------------------------/ The Saturday Profile: A Tribe in Botswana Follows a Leader Called Woman December 11, 2004 By SHARON LaFRANIERE RAMOTSWA, Botswana - Mosadi Seboko's first name is not really a name. Rather, it is a reflection of her father's shock when he first saw her. Translated from Setswana, the local language here, it means simply "woman." Her father was chief of the Baletes, one of the eight major tribes of Botswana, who settled in this region just south of the nation's capital, Gaborone, more than a century ago. In the Balete royal family, it is a given that the chief's firstborn child will be a boy so that he can inherit the throne. "My dad said: 'Well, it's a woman. What can I do? It's my child,' " Ms. Seboko said. Woman Seboko is now 54, and lo and behold, she is the leader of the Baletes herself, the first female paramount chief ever in Botswana. She was enthroned 15 months ago after challenging and overcoming her own family's efforts to keep the chiefdom a patriarchy. "She had uncles who could definitely ascend to the throne," said Loabile Mokosi, a cousin on her late father's side. "But the question became: What stops her?" Very little, it seems. In a society where women are expected to bow without question to their husbands' sexual demands, even if their spouses are unfaithful, where wife beating is all too common and where women who marry under customary law are still considered minors, her victory does not just stand out. It proclaims that centuries-old Botswana tradition is doing the bowing now, to irresistible change. A woman with a decisive manner and a taste for matching two-piece embroidered outfits, Ms. Seboko seems very comfortable in her new role. But her path to one of Botswana's most important traditional posts was anything but easy. After her father died in 1966, Ms. Seboko's uncle became chief. Her only brother succeeded him in 1996. When he died in 2001, her father's relatives put forward a male cousin of Ms. Seboko as his successor, saying that according to custom, only males could rule. Ms. Seboko, backed by her mother and seven sisters, insisted to the tribal elders that the touchstone was not custom, but the 38-year-old Constitution of Botswana, with its guarantee of freedom from discrimination. Botswana's women's rights leaders urged her forward, saying that women must grasp power, not wait for it to be handed to them. Ms. Seboko's 33,000 subjects here in Botswana's sun-baked southeast corner clearly were a bit perplexed by the prospect of a female ruler. At her coronation, they showered her with gifts befitting a chief: a new silver pickup truck, a computer, a printer. Also, a washing machine and a vacuum cleaner. Since then, however, she has endeared herself to much of the tribe by balancing calls for change with respect for tradition. Some men - and women - suggest quietly that she is too outspoken in defense of women's rights. But more say she has proved herself with her straightforward manner, accessibility and focus on the problems of Ramotswa's youth. "She is doing very well," said Nfana Botlhole, a 38-year old unemployed man who came to a recent tribal meeting in a laborer's blue work pants. "Her brother wasn't around very much. Now since she came in, you can see what is going on. The youth have easy access to her and they listen to her." At times, she has turned upside-down the notion of what a traditional leader thinks. It is hard to imagine a male chief talking, as she does in interviews, about abuse against women. Her own husband beat her. "So I divorced in 1978," she said. "I can't stand violence. I didn't want to be abused." Or about sexual rights: "I believe women have the power. It is very easy for us to say no to sex." Or about H.I.V.: "To the men I am saying, please, everybody knows the scourge that is ravaging this country. Let's stop infecting everybody around." But on other issues, her positions are as rooted in tradition as any male chief's. She supports caning as a form of punishment in the kgotla, the red brick and tile open-air shelter that serves as the meeting place for the tribe of 33,000. "It happens all the time," she said. She doesn't approve of jeans-clad women in the kgotla. Or condoms in the schools. Nor does she see the need for people infected with H.I.V. to declare their status publicly. Cynics may say that Ms. Seboko is chief now only because Botswana's chiefs no longer have any real power. Over time, elected officials have usurped much of their role. But in many communities, including Ramotswa, chiefs remain highly respected figures. "I love her," said Mogogi Batsalelwang, a cook for the Botswana Defense Force, as she left the kgotla on a recent day. Asked why, she paused with a look of surprise. "She is our chief. We love all our chiefs," she said. Mosadi Seboko was born June 7, 1950, the first of nine children. Like most children then, she was given an English name, Muriel, along with her Setswana name. She was still a teenager when her father died. Her mother, she said, had no job training. So as soon as she finished high school, Ms. Seboko looked for work. She went on to become a department manager for Barclay's Bank and the mother of four girls, divorcing after six years of marriage. When she made her bid for the throne, she was working as a floor manager for an office supply firm. Now she lives with her mother, who complains that she lets the villagers bother her at home. As chief, Ms. Seboko is a mix of community conscience, family counselor, dispute mediator, crime prevention officer and judge. She presides over civil cases involving amounts under $1,000 or 70 sheep or goats, and criminal cases where the penalty is less than three years in prison or a fine. In certain cases, she can order six strokes of the cane. She earns about $2,000 a month, paid by the local government. She also served as head of the 16-member House of Chiefs, which advises the government and Parliament on traditional issues, before stepping down in January. Her manner is businesslike and friendly, except when it comes to the touchy subject of how her family fought over her ascension. Wary of offending her uncles afresh, she firmly cut off that line of inquiry in an interview. The weekend kgotla meeting showed how the bonds of male-dominated tradition were slowly loosening. For three hours, more than 100 people wrangled over issues from roaming cattle to wayward children to suspicious self-proclaimed priests. The tribe's 14 male headmen sat in a row of chairs carried in by women. Male villagers dominated the discussion. Women hung in the back, silent save for a few. Until not too long ago, they were not even allowed in the kgotla, except by invitation. But the agenda was set by Chief Seboko, who sat flanked by her uncle and two male cousins. The conclusions were hers, too. One elderly man told her she was always defending women while women invited sexual advances by wearing skintight jeans. "If you see a watermelon, and you are hungry, what are you going to do?" he demanded. "When a man sees this, he asks: 'How much?' " "I am not defending women," the chief said. "I am angry at women," she said, for failing to exert more control over their own circumstances. She didn't add, but could have, "As I did." http://www.nytimes.com/2004/12/11/international/africa/11seboko.html?ex=1103972160&ei=1&en=eec106d1d1a9ad4e --------------------------------- Get Home Delivery of The New York Times Newspaper. Imagine reading The New York Times any time & anywhere you like! Leisurely catch up on events & expand your horizons. Enjoy now for 50% off Home Delivery! 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