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Kovsie student Moeketsi Ngesemane making his mark through Sesotho music

15 December 2021 | Story Nondsindiso Qwabe | Photo Supplied

Bachelor of Education third-year student, Moeketsi ‘Escalator’ Ngesemane.

By day he is a third-year Bachelor of Education student on the Qwaqwa Campus, but this young man is a Sesotho music maestro with a deep-rooted passion for traditional music and a diligent devotion to unearthing new talent and connecting more people to the cultural artistry that Sesotho music has to offer.

Moeketsi Ngesemane, better known as ‘Escalator’ in the world of music, is only 22 years old, but he has already released one solo album and featured in two more, leads a group of more than 80 traditional singers and dancers, and is responsible for a string of groups around Qwaqwa. He has made strides far beyond his age, and Ngesemane says he is only getting started. He was also instrumental in coordinating the Qwaqwa traditional groups that performed during this year’s Multilingual Mokete festival, where he also featured.

Born and bred in Qwaqwa, Ngesemane pins his love for traditional music as something that was cultivated in his childhood while singing traditional songs with his mother and brother. “My mother is a traditional healer, so Sesotho music was a big part of my upbringing. As I grew older, my brother and I would perform in town and people would give us money. I have not looked back since.”

He cemented himself as an artist and artist manager in his first year in 2009. The name ‘Escalator’ came about in an uncanny way, as he fondly recalls. “I had a friend who was afraid of escalators when he first saw it – but I wasn’t, so he named me ‘Escalator’. I hated the name until I personalised the meaning behind it. It is able to take people from one point to another and from one level to another, which is something I am passionate about doing through traditional music, so the name was fitting.”

He captivated the minds and hearts of both young and old people who want to be under his leadership, and he grooms young people as young as ten, who will also thrive and take traditional praise singing and dancing to greater heights. This, he says, helps him alleviate some responsibilities so that he can focus on his schoolwork.

Celebrating the Sesotho culture through music

Word about his music skill often spreads quickly. “Even when I am on teaching practicals at different schools, once learners find out what I do, they ask to join my group and I can’t say no. Their ages range from 7 to 21, and I know that my group will have more than 100 members before the year ends,” he said.

He often puts together music shows with his group around Qwaqwa. This, he says, he does to promote Sesotho music and art.

Ngesemane has been selected to represent the Basotho Kingdom at the Indoni Mr and Miss Cultural South Africa – an indigenous event focused on promoting South Africa’s diverse cultural heritage, taking place at the Durban ICC on 17 December. He describes this as a dream come true.

“It’s a great honour to be representing the Basotho culture. I have discovered that young people, especially, have neglected their cultural roots and often look down on traditional music and regalia. I’ve made it my personal aim to promote and uphold the Sesotho culture through praise singing and dancing.”

You can vote for Ngesemane by SMS’ing ‘Indoni Mr Sotho’ to 33616.

News Archive

Regional Conference on Trafficking in Human Beings

2007-06-29

Trafficking in Human Beings:
National and International Perspectives

Date: 17th August 2007
Address: CR Swart Auditorium, University of the Free State, Bloemfontein, South Africa.

Every year thousands of children and adults become victims of trafficking and abuse in South Africa and throughout the southern African region. Victims are trafficked for a myriad of reasons: sexual exploitation, including prostitution and pornography; illegal labour, including child conscription; domestic servitude; illegal adoptions; body parts/organs; and forced marriages.

The Unit for Children’s Rights, Department of Criminal and Medical Law, University of the Free State (UFS), together with the Centre for Continuing Legal Education at UFS, will host a Regional Conference on Trafficking in Human Beings. The conference will bring together key role-players from the South African government as well as crucial international non-governmental organizations (NGOs) in the region.

Trafficking in human beings, especially women and children, is a serious violation of the human rights of the victims, as well as an extremely profitable source of income to organized crime, and needs the attention and intervention of both governmental and non-governmental institutions in South Africa.

Speakers will include representatives from the United National Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), the International Organization for Migration (IOM), the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA), the South African Law Reform Commission, the Unit for Children’s Rights-UFS, and NGOs Molo Songololo and Terre Des Homes, that work with child trafficking victims in South Africa and around the world.

The media are invited to report on the conference, and interview speakers and presenters Attached find programme. For more info contact the following persons.

1. Beatri Kruger - 051 401 2108 / email: krugerh.rd@mail.ufs.ac.za
2. Susan Kreston - 051 401 9562 / email: krestons.rd@mail.ufs.ac.za
3. Elizabeth Snyman – 051 401 2268 / email: snymane.rd@mail.ufs.ac.za

Programme

Trafficking in human beings:
National & international perspectives

Presented by The Unit for Children’s Rights, Department Of Criminal & Medical Law , Faculty of Law, in Conjunction with The Centre for Continuing Legal Education, University of the Free State.

Funded through the Generosity of the United States Department of State

17 AUGUST, 2007 – CR SWART AUDITORIAM

8:00-8:30 Registration & Tea
8:30-8:45 Opening & Welcome
Prof. JJ Henning, Faculty of Law
8:45-9:40 Overview & Global Perspective
Prof. Susan Kreston - Unit for Children’s Rights, Faculty of Law-UFS

9:40-10:00 TEA

10:00-10:45 International Perspectives & the Role of Organized Crime in Trafficking
Wiesje Zikkenheiner, Associate Expert
United Nations Office on Drugs & Crime, Pretoria
10:45-11:45 Identifying and Assisting Victims of Trafficking
Marija Nikolovska, Project Officer
International Organization for Migration, Pretoria

11:45-12:30 LUNCH

12:30-1:15 Prosecuting Trafficking Without Trafficking Laws
Adv. Nolwandle Qaba, Sexual Offences & Community Affairs Unit
National Prosecuting Authority, Pretoria
1:15-2:15 Recommendations for New Legislation in South Africa
Lowesa Stuurman - South African Law Reform Commission, Pretoria

2:15-2:30 TEA

2:30-2:50 The Role of Terre Des Homes in Fighting Trafficking in Children
Judith Mthombeni– Terre Des Homes, Pretoria
2:50-3:50 Trafficking in Children in South Africa – A Front Line Perspective
Patrick Solomon - Molo Songololo, Cape Town
3:50-4:00 Closing Remarks
Adv. Beatri Kruger
Department of Criminal & Medical Law - UFS

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