Bessie Head died on April 17, 1986. Being a heavy drinker and smoker she contracted hepatitis in 1986, the disease which eventually destroyed her liver.
During her illness she was hospitalised in Sekgoma Memorial Hospital, but later discharged herself because she felt "imprisoned" in the hospital. Doctors wanted to take her to Germany for further treatment, but it was too late since the infection had spread to the liver.
Bessie Head came to seek refuge in Serowe. She did not attend locals' funerals, but surprisingly the locals turned out in droves to pay their last respects. Maybe it was in remembrance of what she had done for them, or maybe the locals could not blame her for not attending their funerals because it took them a long time to introduce her to their culture.
She was a motsalwaesi (the only child born to her parents, i.e., alone in the world). But an Indian man, a refugee from South Africa, Cas Kikia made himself her self-made brother. He was the key player in organising the burial of his "sister."
The following photograph shows ENG453 students at Bessie Head's grave with Howard Head (right) and Skobinol Lekhutile, director of the Khama III Memorial Museum (second from left).
Many people turned up for the burial. Amongst them were Professor F. Mnthali of the University of Botswana; Mr B. Garebakwena, Director of Library Services; and councillor S. Rakhudu.
The burial was on the 26th of April 1986 in the afternoon. Proceedings began at her house at 1:00 p.m. The Masters of Ceremony were Mr M. Morolong and Mr H. Motsie. The crowd went to her final resting place at 2:15 p.m. and the service ended around 2:30 p.m.
Botalaote is Ms Head's final resting home. This is the graveyard for commoners in Serowe. There is a place opposite Botalaote where whites are buried, but she was not buried there. This may be due to the fact that the locals considered her as one of them.
Images of the funeral programme courtesy of the Khama III Memorial Museum, Serowe. (Images are 69KB, 40KB, 149KB, and 139KB.)
Text copyright © 2003 the authors.
Photograph of Bessie Head grave by Dr. Mary Lederer, used with permission
of Howard Head.
Last updated 15 January 2004