It is early Friday morning and in the bustle of the morning traffic, two taxi drivers exchange pleasantries while waiting for the traffic light to give them the right of way.

Taxi driver : yeah old man, how are you this morning?

Driver in the other taxi(shaved head and with a long beard): (nods) Sharp! (Looks away)

Younger taxi driver: Aah, why are you rather cold this morning? what is the matter mudhala (old man)?

Driver in the other taxi: ( Shoots a sharp eye to the younger driver and smiles sheepishly while playing with his beard).

Younger taxi: Ijo! Who are the women that the old man is with in his taxi? (stretching his neck to have a look at the passengers).

Lady in specs: He only has three lady passengers( taxi  drives off).

Younger taxi driver : Uuuum, those  must be his wives ( casting a closer look at the other taxi), the eldest  is the one seated in the front seat.

Lady in Specs: why do you say so?

Driver: That  old man is a Mozezuru and they are the only ones in Botswana  who can manage to marry more than one woman and keep their women from going for each other’s throats.

Lady in Specs: Maybe you are right, the women were all dressed in white like the Mazezuru women.

Male passenger in the back: True my brother, no Motswana man would marry a second wife. Even if he did there would never be peace in that home. If my woman was to hear that I am seeing some slender woman at work believe you me there would be the biggest cat  fight in town.

Taxi driver: That’s right. Our women can’t  take such a lifestyle.  Or am I wrong my sister, would you mind if your man married a second wife and said he was doing so because he wanted you to have a helper?

Lady in Specs: What? A helper to do what? (Laughter in the taxi). What would I have failed to do for him that he would find it necessary to marry another woman.

Male Passenger: What did I  tell you? Just listen to her response when it is just an idea, now imagine what she would do if  the younger wife was to be in my home. (claps hands) it would be another gulf war.

(We catch up with the old man’s taxi as he drops off the wives along Haskins street)

Driver: Look at him dropping them off at their work points.  After a good day of business  all the money is given to the husband! Every woman is working to feed her children. What more can a man ask for my sister?  (driver grins)

Lady is Specs : That’s total rubbish. I  can never let that happen to me.

Taxi driver: Ehe! Most of the killings are among us Batswana. If  I were to bring another woman home and say mma bo( mother of my children) I have found you a helper , believe you me before the sun goes down  there would be a corpse  in the house.

Male passenger in the back: If you manage to bring the second woman  into the gates of your yard  you would be a  brave man indeed.  Our women have one big problem. They suffer from jealousy and they can’t live peacefully in a polygamous marriage. Moreover they believe too much in traditional medicine. (Laughs) Our  women would go all out in search for medicine to kill the younger wife. Basopo (watch out)

Taxi driver:  For Mazezuru it’s not an issue. They are able to live harmoniously from the eldest to the youngest, looking after their husband.

Male passenger: but I wonder how they manage to look after their husband. Do they all cook for him and how do  they  decide who has the husband today?

Lady Specs: (sighing heavily)  That’s a life I cannot put up with, sharing  my man with another woman. Seeing him go into so and so’s bedroom and knowing they are doing having sex!   I can’t, I can’t, I don’t want to beat about the bush, I just can not.  For Mazezuru women they are used to it, it’s their culture.

Taxi driver: But you know one thing ausi (sister) those  men with many wives still hit on other women.

Lady in Specs; Uhu! Why do they do that when they have so many wives to deal with already?

Male passenger:  Ausi (sister)! Men are very complex! No matter how many women/wives he has , if he sees another women he would want just to have a go at the woman. To have a taste of her in bed!

Driver: (Laughing banging the steering wheel) It’s true brother, you can never know what a man wants.  that  old man may be eyeing some small girl whom he can romp with in bed and have as the fourth wife.

Lady in specs: (shocked) But when does this man have time to love and care for all these wives, when he keeps marrying more women?

Laughter in the taxi

Driver : Time is not a problem for them I suppose. Mind you Mazezuru men are given very young girls as wives and all that the old man does is wait for the poor girl to grow to a reasonable age before he starts sleeping with her

Taxi reaches the main post office and passengers alight.