The Matekwane/Dagga/Pot Juggernaut

Today I went out uber early to a village in the Mapheleng area (up in the Maluti mountains) to interview several people. First of all, there was a deluge of rain about 1/2 way into the trip (which made the dirt road a mudslide) and then when I got to the village there was literally no one there! What gives? Did aliens come during the night and take the whole population of the village, did people just take off for a mokete ( a feast with lots of meat that will draw Basotho in a 10,000 mile radius) that I was unaware of?! I managed to find a decrepit old man sitting outside his tiny rondavel and he told me that the rains had caused a local bridge to wash away the night before and that this was the only way villagers could get to their fields to plow. All hands were on deck to repair the bridge because the fields were full of ripe matekwane (also known as dagga, marijuana, pot etc..) that needed to be tended. Ah well, one poor lone researcher cannot stand against the matekwane juggernaut (which funds everything from school fees to newly minted Mercedes Benzes in this area) so I turned tail and trekked home. Back tomorrow and lets hope the bridge is repaired!!