Written by: Premier MaQueen Letsoha-Mathae
On 1 June 2025, I watched Keabetswe Mongale grieving the loss of her one and only daughter Olorato. Many of us did.
I gritted my teeth and gulped down water given to me to keep from completely breaking down. In Poppynyana, as we often refer to Keabetswe, I saw myself. I saw a woman consumed by unimaginable grief and loss. I saw a mother, a loving mother, who longed to embrace her daughter whose mortal remains laid in a pure white casket surrounded by illuminating candles. I saw pain.
I listened, with a broken heart, to Olorato’s loving grandmother, who spoke about her granddaughter’s murderers. “Ke lomeleditswe ke basimanyana bangwe (I was dealt a blow by some boys)” she bemoaned.
The unnecessary death of Olorato dealt all of us a devastating blow, more so her mother, Keabetswe. This cruel killing was a painful reminder of the magnitude of the task before us to put an end to Gender Based Violence and Femicide.
Imagine the disgust I felt when days after we laid Olorato to rest, disgusting social media posts about her grieving mother Keabetswe and her supposed involvement in her daughter’s tragic death. The posts were insensitive, cruel and distasteful. They were a disgusting desperate attempt at relevance on social media.
They revealed more about the people who posted them…these are empty, broken shells who derive joy from the misery of others. These people need help. What is worrying is that more of these people are gaining traction and have a large following on social media.
People must learn to allow grieving families time and space to mourn their loved ones.
During the recent deaths of three police officers, Cebekhulu Linda, Keamogetswe Buys and Boipelo Senoge, social media ‘detectives’ went on overdrive, coming up with theories about what lead to the deaths of the officers.This is grossly irresponsible and denies the grief stricken families an opportunity to heal. All because of a desperate need for social media comments and likes. We can do better Ma-Afrika.
My appeal to you all is to use social media in a positive way. There are plenty of opportunities, both from public and private sector, being advertised on social media each and every single day.
This Youth Month, I appeal to young people to channel that energy into doing good. The social media that is often used to peddle disinformation can also be used as a powerful tool to empower the youth.
Let us not waste time on destructive conduct while we could be doing more to empower ourselves and others.
Government has never been shy to admit to the challenges that it is faced with. We have owned up to our shortcomings. We have also pledged to double our efforts to create employment opportunities for the people of the Free State, particularly the youth.
We want to travel this journey with you.
However, making wild accusations about devastated mothers, days after they bury their children, will do nothing but delay progress.
