the biker magistrate

By Keletso Thobega When you spot 33 year-old Tshepo Thedi cruising around the shanty town of Lobatse in her top of the range German sedan, you wouldn’t believe that this chic and sauve lady magistrate is also a biker!

Yep, when she hangs her magisterial gown, Thedi enjoys nothing more than donning her leather jacket and helmet and getting onto her bike. From a young age, Thedi has always relished the idea of being a biker.

“When I was a small child, I was fascinated by bikes and told myself that I would get one for myself when I am older,” she says. It was however only in 2011 when she moved to Lobatse from Hukuntsi, that the University of Botswana Law graduate decided to act on her passion and interest and got her own bike and then learnt how to ride.

When she eventually had the hang of it, she knew that it was now time to realise one goal on her bucket list – to ride long distance. This past festive, Thedi challenged herself to ride a longer stretch. She rode to the Okavango in the company of her friend, Gaborone based fashion designer, Kefilwe ‘Sweety’ Lobelo. Quite a scary prospect, but the two were intent on realising their goal.

Thedi admits it was not an entire breeze. “Sometimes when other people do things, you wish you could do them too, but when you are in the mix of things, only then do you feel the heat!” There’s a lot of pun there because on their ride, the two had to contend with the sweltering heat of more than 40 degrees, throughout the trip. There was the option of turning back, but they soldiered on, even with the fear of coming into contact with wild animals lingering in their minds.

The two left Gaborone on 30 December 2015, at around 4am, and by 3pm the same day, they were in Maun. They returned to Gaborone on 2 January 2016.This was a life changing experience for Thedi because she was now in new terrain. Although riding long distance comes with its own set of  challenges, she has achieved something that she had always dreamt of.

The long ride also helped them learn more about the functionality of bikes; they fuelled for themselves and had to deal with any problems they encountered themselves.

“We faced a fair amount of challenges, but all in all, it was a beautiful experience because we stepped out of our comfort zones. Being a biker has increased my self-confidence and opened me to a different kind of peace and freedom. When you are on the road, you only think about the stretch before you, so you close out other thoughts. As much as riding a bike can be physically challenging, it is also quite an exhilarating experience,”she explains.

Given the opportunity, Thedi would ride for charity or any other fundraising activity she feels is close to her heart, now that she knows what she is capable of on her bike. Thedi is also one of the organisers of the Thobo Cultural festival, which is held in April annually in Lobatse, to celebrate the town’s rich heritage and revel in the unique Setswana culture.