Of Botswana’s Administrative Centres and their Movements: Vryburg, Mahikeng and Gaborone, 1885-1966

Part Themba Mgadla

Abstract With Botswana celebrating a milestone 50th anniversary of Independence in 2016 a lot of activities took place in the country’s capital Gaborone –the unique History of which this paper refl ects on. This paper uses primary and secondary sources to make an enquiry into the reasons why it was thought prudent by the colonial Botswana (Bechuanaland Protectorate) administration to have an administrative base of the territory outside its boundaries. It also argues that the establishment of the administrative centre of Botswana outside its boundaries was motivated by factors of expediency, top among which were economic and infrastructural while those that later motivated the movement to inside the territory encompassed both economic and political reasons. The paper further argues that the latter factor particularly, linked with the fervor of the rise of African nationalism and its emphasis on equality for all and condemnation of racism and colonialism of which Botswana was part, became instrumental in the movement of the administrative centre from the then Union of South Africa into Botswana in the mid-1960s. The secession of South Africa from the Commonwealth in 1961 to become a republic with a legally racialist ticket added impetus to the movement from Mahikeng into the territory. The agitation of the African leadership together with that of the minority European settlers in Botswana also contributed to the movement of the headquarters to its present location. The paper fi nally examines the nine locations earmarked for the headquarters of the country and why Gaborone, the present capital of Botswana, was considered the most appropriate at the time.

Introduction 
Quite often the seat of administration of the Bechuanaland Protectorate in Mahikeng, South Africa, is referred to as the capital instead of an administrative centre. In addition to the defi nitions of a capital below, a brief history is necessary in order to understand why the seat of the administration of the Bechuanaland Protectorate was outside its boundaries. There is need to defi ne, albeit briefl y, the terms administrative centre and capital town or city in relation to the seat or headquarters of colonial Botswana. It is important from the outset to defi ne these terms because there is a general misconception as to whether Vryburg and Mahikeng were capital towns in the true sense or just administrative centres of the Bechuanaland Protectorate. In that way the readership will be able to understand and appreciate whether colonial Botswana had administrative centers or capital towns outside its boundaries.
read more at http://journals.ub.bw/index.php/bnr/article/view/851/480

Former Botswana President Quett Masire deserves to be remembered as one of the greatest post-colonial African leaders

Quett Ketumile Joni Masire, President of Botswana from 1980 to 1998, died late on 22 June 2017 at the age of 91.  Masire is by no means a household name, even among scholars of Africa, yet he deserves to be remembered as one of the greatest African leaders in post-colonial history, for three reasons.

First and foremost, Masire responded very capably to a seven-year long drought in Botswana that began the year after he took office, which is the country’s longest drought in recorded history and which led to a drop in per capita foodgrain production from 58kg in 1980/81 to only 7 in 1983/84.  Botswana’s drought coincided with ones in Ethiopia and Sudan which attracted far more attention since they contributed towards famines that killed hundreds of thousands of people.  In contrast, there is no evidence of any deaths in Botswana due to famine under Masire’s watch, largely because of his pro-active Labour Based Relief Projects that focussed on creating jobs on such projects as constructing dams, planting gardens, digging trenches and building fences and houses.  His government provided food supplements for children – which was distributed only at schools for school-aged children, thereby encouraging higher school enrolment – as well as for the destitute, disabled and elderly, meaning that some 45 per cent of the population received food relief at the height of the famine in 1984.  The drought also coincided with a national election in 1984 where members of Masire’s ruling party ran on their ability to provide food relief and at least some claimed (falsely) that the food relief came from the coffers of the party rather than the state.  Indeed, as one opposition candidate said at the time, “how do you convince a man that he should vote for you if he has a bag of food in front of him?”

Masire’s second accomplishment was to continue the economic success of his predecessor, Seretse Khama.  Despite the 1980s being known as the “lost decade” for much of Africa, Botswana continued to see some of the highest levels of economic growth in the world throughout the decade and into the 1990s.  This growth was due to the country’s diamond production under the control of the Debswana Diamond Company, which is jointly owned by the government of Botswana and the South African diamond company De Beers.  Perhaps Masire’s biggest accomplishment in this regard was the policy of pegging Botswana’s currency, the pula, to a basket of other currencies to make Botswana exports competitive, alongside serious devaluations of the pula in 1982, 1984, 1985, 1990 and 1991.  These devaluations made imports more expensive, which is why so many other African countries tended to overvalue their currencies, but Masire was able to resist these pressures and thereby overcome a drop in global diamond prices in 1981 and 1988 that could have been disastrous otherwise.

Masire’s final accomplishment is perhaps his simplest yet most profound: he retired from office at the end of his third elected term in 1998, thereby making him the country’s first President to resign voluntarily from office.  (Seretse Khama died of cancer in office in 1980.)  The peaceful and democratic transition to Festus Mogae’s presidency set the precedent for future peaceful transitions in Botswana, such as Mogae’s retirement in 2008 and the current President Ian Khama’s presumed retirement next year.  For a continent where too many Presidents too often overstay their term in office – including in Botswana’s troubled neighbour, Zimbabwe – Masire’s accomplishment in this regard should not go unnoted.

Of course, like all politicians Masire had his weak areas, most notably as regards his lack of public discussion of Botswana’s terrible HIV/AIDS epidemic.  In his defence, however, it is hard to see how Botswana could have avoided the epidemic considering the fact that it is well documented that mining and labour migration – both major parts of the Botswanan economy – are highly conducive to the spread of HIV/AIDS; he also thankfully never emulated South Africa’s Thabo Mbeki by promoting pseudoscientific theories about the disease.  Another relative failure was his inability to halt the country’s rising levels of income inequality, which remains among the highest in the world today.

In the end it would be nice if Masire’s death led to a re-examination of his legacy, not just for Botswana but for other developing countries in Africa wishing to emulate Botswana’s success.

Pharrell Williams - Happy (Official Music Video)

A New Motswasele? Leetile Raditladi’s Troubled Tenure as Batawana Tribal Secretary, 1946- 1952

By Barry Morton
Abstract This article details the tumultuous fi ve-year period when the renowned Tswana author Leetile Raditladi served as tribal secretary of the Batawana. During this period Raditladi became the de facto leader of the Batawana, working in conjunction with the female Regent Elizabeth Pulane Moremi. Raditladi’s autocratic behaviour and his sexual liaison with the regent led to the emergence of a secretive faction known as the ‘Malcontents’ who took steps to end his tenure. After several years of intrigues, the Malcontents eventually removed Raditladi from the Batawana Reserve by force. Given that Raditladi’s most famous work, Motswasele II, is a critique of chiefl y tyranny, his very own actions during the only time in his life when he held real power are highly ironic.

Introduction
Leetile Raditladi (1910-1971) is still regarded as one of the Tswana language’s foremost poets and writers, being particularly renowned for his epic historical drama, Motswasele II, published in 1945. Not only was he Botswana’s fi rst published fi ction author, but he also achieved many other distinctions during his lifetime. He was one of the fi rst Batswana to graduate from university after attending Fort Hare, and later became the highest-ranking African member of the Bechuanaland civil service during the 1940s. In 1959 he formed the country’s fi rst nationalist political party, the very short-lived Bechuanaland Protectorate Federal Party. His accomplishments also went far beyond these spheres. Raditladi also spearheaded the formation of the country’s fi rst football and tennis leagues in both the southern and northern parts of the country, while he also promoted numerous public cultural events. Although we have only the bare bones of a biography to go by in the form of Boikhutso’s 1985 BA research essay, it is nevertheless clear that he was among the most eminent Batswana of his era and was a major fi gure across colonial Botswana (Bechuanaland Protectorate). On a personal level, he was well-dressed, athletic, dashing and witty, and was a real ladies’ man.

Read more at http://journals.ub.bw/index.php/bnr/article/view/627/333

Try one more time!!!

I wonder how many times people have been on the cusp of a great breakthrough, been discouraged and gave up? How many wonderful achievements were squashed before they became reality because somebody gave up? How many individual dreams were never realised because people were afraid of failure?

Thomas Edison, the great inventor, was one of the biggest failures of all time. He failed time and time again, learned from every mistake, and went on to triumph. I love this quote from Edison, which aptly sums it up: “Our greatest weakness lies in giving up. The most certain way to succeed is always to try just one more time.“

Edison turned every obstacle into an opportunity. When he was in his late sixties, his massive laboratory in West Orange, New Jersey burnt down. Instead of moaning and giving up, he gathered his loved ones around to marvel at the fire and immediately started planning for the future.

“You can always make capital out of disaster,” he said. “We’ve just cleared out a bunch of old rubbish! We’ll build bigger and better on these ruins.” He didn’t give up. He tried one more time. And, eventually, he succeeded, and changed the world.

It is good to think about your weaknesses every now and then, evaluate them and devise plans to overcome them. But don’t dwell on weaknesses. Rather, see them as opportunities for improvement. See them as chances to try again in a new way. One more time.

https://www.virgin.com/richard-branson/try-one-more-time

Distance Education in Botswana and Library Service: Matters Arising Since the Colonial Period for the Records

Distance Education in Botswana and Library Service: Matters Arising Since the Colonial Period for the Records

Olugbade Oladokun

Abstract

With the cross-border experience that began in Salisbury College in Southern Rhodesia and ended with the award of Elementary Teachers’ Certifi cate (ETC) by the Education Department then based in Mahikeng, this paper submits that the History of open and distance learning (ODL) in Botswana predates the country’s Independence in 1966. Using documentary sources, the fi rst part of the paper provides an account of the peripatetic existence of distance education starting from the colonial period. The provision of distance education programmes at various stages in Botswana is articulated in response to how distance education has operated thus far in the country. The paper also points to the pedagogical methods utilised. The second part of the paper looks at the unquenchable thirst for education by Batswana in the face of limited programmes on offer in the country by distance delivery mode. This heralded the rush for cross-border distance education to satisfy the yearning. But then any academic programme of merit requires quality library service to enhance the learners’ motivation, learning process and learning success. Using qualitative
and quantitative research design, this study applies vital elements (management, facilities and equipment, resources and services) of standards/guidelines for distance learning library service designed by the Association of College and Research Libraries (ACRL), to gauge library service to distance learners of four distance teaching institutions in Botswana. The results of the survey seem to evoke some tension between the beauty of the programme and the ugliness of not being able to signifi cantly meet the information needs of the students in the programme. The library service offered to distance learners falls short of the expectation of the standards and the students were generally not satisfi ed. The paper identifi es with the belief that both physical and virtual library service should be offered even as the Human Resource Development Council (HRDC) is urged to apply a clear regulatory and quality assurance regime that entails all requirements for the approval and practice of tertiary level ODL programmes in Botswana.

Read more here http://journals.ub.bw/index.php/bnr/article/view/859/486

African Cultural Heritage Conservation and Management: Theory and Practice

African Cultural Heritage Conservation and Management: Theory and Practice

    Dr Susan Keitumetse, a Research Scholar

The book with 9 chapters, offers a synchronised scholarly and practical approach to African cultural heritage resources conservation, adequate with the emerging field of cultural heritage studies in the modern world. It introduces the hypothetical approaches to cultural heritage studies and practice from an African context which is currently missing in the literature on the subject. Furthermore, the book provides a research and teaching guide as well as instructional material to academics interested in African cultural heritage resources.

The book is now out online, with table of contents and is ready for orders from the publisher.