The difela now under discussion are part of the performances of the diroki, Francis Sello Nkoli, Phetla Setlaba, and Baptist Mahanetsa, recorded on video tape at Huntersville, in southern Gauteng; Morija Museum and Archives; and Matsieng respectively during August-September 2000. The intention is to highlight any similarities and/or differences that may exist in comparison with the subject-matter of the difela composed during the earlier years. The subject-matter of the four recorded difela is discussed as follows:
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Francis Sello Nkoli’s sefela
Francis’ sefela composed of 142 lines is constituted by the following segments:
Introduction
Lines 1-7 constitute an introduction in which he calls on his audience to keep quiet and to listen to the truthful rendering of what he is saying.
Family
He describes the nature of his village and mentions the names of his sisters as well as their beauty in lines 8-12.
His father’s cattle
How he decides to look after his father’s cattle which are not properly looked after is related in lines 13-22.
His suffering from a boil (lethopa)
In lines 23-55 he relates how he joined a church because he sought healing for a boil (lethopa) he was suffering from, and how he later became an alcoholic and a dagga smoker.
Visit to the healer
Visit to a healer among the Bathembu and the Batswana, as well as his difficulty in understanding their languages, are related in lines 56-81.
Village girls (dithope)
The fat and beautiful girls of his village are described in lines 82-100.
Mature traditional doctor (ngaka)
A description of himself as a mature traditional doctor healing people from a prevalent disease is described in lines 101-106.
Jesus and Adam’s sin
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whose father owned big cars such as the microbusses.
Mourning of the migrant workers
The mourning of the migrant workers dying far from their homes is related in lines 130-142.
The segmentation demonstrates how the seroki uses his freedom and gift of the gab to compose and improvise on any material of his choice. His entire composition does not mention anything pertaining to the train or his experience in the mine, a feature very common in many of the difela of the past.
Phetla Setlaba’s sefela
His sefela composed of 171 lines relates the various Lesotho districts or villages and their respective chiefs, such as, Kerefise a behwa Phamong ‘Griffith was placed at Phamong’ (line 11), Nkoebe a rongellwa Sebapala (Quthing) ‘Nkoebe was sent to Sebapala (Quthing)’ (line 12). During the course of his singing, he mentions some of the places he passed through, such as, Ha Mafa lebenkeleng, ‘At Mafa’s shop (line 47), Banna, kerekeng ya Samaria ya Fora ‘Yes, at the Samaria Parys church’ (line 55), Ke bua ha Mapofu lebenkeleng, ha kgowa le bitswang Ramaqele ‘I mean at Mapofu’s near the shop, at a white man’s called Ramaqele’ (lines 102-103). These are preceded by his statement in line 3, Mohlang ho qalwang ho ajwa marena... ‘The day the chiefs were selected’… As an inverterate traveller, setsamayanaha, his sefela is characterized by usage of phrases, such as, Ha Montšioa ke fetile feela ‘At Montšioa I merely passed’ (line 41), Ha o ka mamela ke mathaka feela ‘If you can listen well, I just glide over the place names’ (line 62), to draw the listener’s attention to the fact that he actually passed at the places he is referring to during the course of his travels.
Unlike many of the difela composed of various subject-matter, this one is purposely confined to the naming of Lesotho villages/districts and their respective chiefs, and therefore reflects an incredible degree of memory on the part of the seroki and his uniqueness in deviating from the common way in which others compose their difela.
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Baptist Komello Mahanetsa’s sefela
Baptist’s sefela which is brief and in which there is rapid movement from one reference to the other, is constituted by the following segments:
The villages
In lines 1-3 he mentions the places he passed through.
Train causes destruction
A poor farmer’s animals are killed by a fire caused by burning coals from the train in which the migrant worker is travelling. These are related in lines 4-9.
The villages
Villages, circles in town, business areas, he passed through during his travelling, such as Masianokeng, Masinoto ‘Mazenod’ and Maseru, are mentioned in lines 10- 30. In mentioning the places that he passed through, he uses expressions, such as, Ha Tlali pela Sekhonthari ‘At Tlali’s near the Secondary School’ and Pela selakga sena sa ngwaneso Masopha ‘Near this butchery of my brother, Masopha’ to indicate to his listeners who are familiar with Lesotho, the exact area where Tladi’s house is situated, namely, near the well-known Secondary School. It is as if he is giving his listeners the exact address of Tlali’s residence. Referring to Masopha’s butchery he uses the demonstrative sena ‘this’ as if he is pointing at it, to indicate with exactitude the one he is referring to. In lines 25-26 he refers to Ka hodima sehlaba ho dula morena Tšotetsi/Lesole le mona le ntseng le le tseba ‘On top of the plateau is the residence of chief Tšotetsi/This soldier with whom you are always familiar’ to indicate to his listeners a well-known and familiar personage in their community. This sefela is not based on any fictitious rendering of subject-matter, common in many difela compositions, but reflects a factual account of the actual places the seroki has passed through on his journey as a real separolathota ‘an inverterate traveller’. In order to entertain his audience and maintain a link with the oral difela tradition, he relates an incident commonly mentioned in the difela, namely, the damage caused by burning coal from the coal train, which results in the death of the difarelane ‘merino sheep’, mmutlanyana ‘rabbits’ and Majeresi ‘Jersey cattle’ (lines 5-7).
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In summing up the preceding discussion, the following observations can be made: Firstly, whilst the earliest difela were characterized by subject-matter largely confined to the diroki’s journeys to and from the mines on foot and train, their experiences at the mines, their loved ones at home in Lesotho, as in the published Khirimpana (1955), latter year difela demonstrate an increasing tendency to include new subject- matter, and this tendency which, inter alia, includes religion, is observable right through the past decades until the year 2000. Secondly, the tendency to include new subject-matter in the difela is in line with Ribonne Marite’s view, as stated above, namely, that the more places the seroki describes the more people admire his performance as a traveller’s account. Thirdly, some subject-matter constituting the difela, such as terene ‘the train’, demonstrates a more common usage in many of the difela, which reflects an attempt to maintain the age-old oral tradition of the compositions as well as an experience truly affecting the diroki on their journeys to and from the mines in the Makgoweng ‘The white men’s area’. This common usage may also be attributed to the borrowing of material from other composers in order to enrich one’s own composition. Fourthly, the style demonstrated in one of the difela composed and recorded on video in 2000 exhibits a complete uniqueness on the part of the composer, in that the seroki does not include various materials to compose his sefela, but rather confines his entire composition to a single theme, namely, the Lesotho villages and their respective chiefs. Fifthly, whilst some materials in the compositions reflect a true account of the seroki’s experiences, some are fictitious in cases where the composer’s intention is to entertain his audience. This may be viewed as a reflection of the diroki’s enhanced creativity and mastery of Sesotho, despite the fact that many cannot read or write. It is also a case where accuracy is sacrificed for the sake of satire, eulogy and aesthetic excellence.