An Ubu-ntu Response to “Give Us This Day Our Daily Bread”

Ubuntu has known conflicts and conquests from time immemorial. It has the experience of war and communal ranking which were not based on the divine element of the three Abrahamic religions. Two proverbs illustrate this point. One is that Ba bona tsa bopudi bokgakala, tsa bonku di bipilwe ka mosela. When a person of power and high reputation has committed an offence, few dare to talk about it openly and publicly. However, when someone in the lower rung of communal ranking commits the same offence almost everyone rushes to speak about it openly and publicly. Another is: Kgosi ga e obe molato, go oba molata . When a person of high reputation and power—a king—has committed an offence, the tendency is to conceal and keep the offence in secrecy. This is done to uphold the image of the king as incapable of doing any wrong even though it is known that the contrary may be true. But when someone in the lower rung of communal ranking commits the same offence, it is reported, the offender is called to account and is punished if found guilty (Rakoma 1986 , 119 and 158).