Sechaba Padi & Rebecca Malope - South African Gospel Song “Lona Baratang” (with lyrics)

Edited by Azizi Powell

This post showcases two examples of the South African (Sotho-Tswana) Gospel song "Lona Baratang". Information about the Sotho-Tswana people is also included in this post.

The content of this post is presented for religious, cultural, and aesthetic purposes.

All copyright remains with their owners.

Thanks to the composer of this song and thanks to the featured Gospel singers Sechaba Padi and Rebecca Malope. Thanks also to all those who are quoted in this post and thanks to the publishers of these examples on YouTube.

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INFORMATION ABOUT SOTHO-TSWANA PEOPLE
From http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sotho-Tswana_peoples
"The Sotho-Tswana peoples are one of the Bantu-speaking peoples who settled in Southern Africa. In addition to the Batswana or 'Western Sotho', the Sotho-Tswana group includes the Basotho of Lesotho and the Free State, to whom the term 'Sotho' has come to be more specifically and almost exclusively applied. This group is sometimes referred to as the 'Southern Sotho'. A third group comprises the Northern Sotho who at times have been incorrectly referred to as the Bapedi. These different groups together may be more conveniently described as 'Sotho-Tswana'....

The traditions of the Sotho-Tswana people point to a northern origin, and indicate that their southward movement was part of the great migrations of the Bantu-speaking iron-age peoples...

Religion
Under European influence, most Sotho-Tswana people adopted Christianity. Lesotho is predominantly Catholic, a result of King Moshoeshoe's decision to invite French missionary organisations into his kingdom, as part of his diplomatic manoeuvres to prevent any single European entity from dominating the area, which he realised would be disastrous for the Basotho people (later developments in neighbouring South Africa a century later proved how astute he had been). Most Batswana and northern Sotho belong to some Protestant denomination.

Contemporary Sotho-Tswana society is adapting to a rapidly urbanising population and culture. In rural areas, traditional culture remains an important force in daily life. In the region's urban areas, which are cosmopolitan, multi-racial and multi-cultural, western cultural norms are predominant.

Regions with significant populations [of Sotho-Tswana]
Lesotho (2,067,000), Botswana (1,750,000), South Africa (11,500,000), Zimbabwe (10,000), Namibia
(6,000)."

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SHOWCASE EXAMPLES
Example #1: SECHABA PALI - LONA BALO RATANG GO PHELA (JESU GOPOLANG, TSIETSI)



Batista Dibautu, Published on Nov 1, 2012

GOSPEL sensation Sechaba Padi

SOUTH AFRICAN TSWANA GOSPEL Sechaba Padi, Gospel Artist of South Africa
thanks to his outstanding music talent. SECHABA MANGIHAMBA NAWE JESO KE MMOLOKI WAKA
-snip-
Here are the lyrics to the song in the Sotho -Tswana language as posted in that video's discussion thread by Esi Lentsa, 2012

Lona ba ratang ho phela ,
mohlapeng wa jeso,
hopolang tsietsi ya tsela e isang haeso,
nonyana di na le matlo,
didulang monate,
haho mohloho ya jeso e ka samelwang teng.
-snip-
I reformatted this comment for this post.

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Example #2: Rebecca Malope ft Sechaba – “Lona Baratang”



Law Lawrence, Published on Oct 4, 2013
From Live at the Lyric Theatre DVD 30th Album Celebration
-snip-
Here's the Sotho lyrics with their English translation as posted in that video's discussion thread:
by Hugh Mupfunya, 2013
"(Sung in Sotho – A hymn)

Lona ba ratang ho phela (You who desires to live)
Mohlapeng oa Jesu (Within Jesus’ flock)
Hopolang tsietsi tsa tsela (Remember the trials of the way)
E isang ha eso (That leads home)
(Repeat)
Ba inkele sefapano (They must carry their own cross)
Mahetleng a bona (On their shoulders)
Ba tle ba shoele likano (And die for the covenant)
Tsee ba leng ho tsona (That they have made)
(Repeat)

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