Pastor Botse-botse (24) not your average young person

Orlando Chauke

LIMPOPO – FROM a distance, pastor Katlego Malesa from Makhoshane village in Phalaborwa looks just like an average young person.

However, the 24-year-old pastor, who is well known as Botse-botse on his radio show, Church Service on Giyani Community Radio (GCR), is not just an average young person, he makes a difference in the lives of his followers around Giyani.

Blessed with a big voice, he fascinates both young and old on his radio show, which airs on Sundays from 10:00 to 13:00.

“I have been preaching since the age of 14, this makes the job that I do here much easier for me,” explains Botse-botse.

“The power of God is not in the physical appearance of the bearer, but in what comes out of him,” he says.

“The purpose of life is not only to be happy, but to be useful in the society you live in and make a difference in the lives of anyone that you come across.”

Back home in Makhoshane village, Botse-botse is just an ordinary member of Emmanuel Assembly, where he was groomed up to be a pastor.

However, in Giyani he’s a celebrity.

He is a darling among his listeners, most of whom are not even aware of his age, but are fascinated by his voice when he speaks.

Asked if he had any plans to open his own church to complement the number of followers that listen to his programme on Sundays, Botse-botse says not just yet.

“Starting a church is a calling, you need to first pray until you reach a point that God says you’re now good enough to run a church,” he says, urging young people to refrain from substance abuse and to concentrate on education.

“In Jeremiah one verse four, God says I have known you even before you were born, this means that everyone of us has been chosen for a specific purpose, so don’t waste that gift on something else that is ungodly.”