University Botswana Journals
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South Africa’s Underdevelopment of Botswana from the 1850s to the Present: A Case Study on sub-Imperialism in Southern Africa
Get PDFThe end of apartheid in South Africa in 1994 raised hope that the post-apartheid African NationalCongress (ANC) government would help drive economic growth, development and prosperity in Botswanaand other neighbouring smaller countries. For generations, black people in these countries had contributedto economic growth and industrialisation of South Africa with cheap labour. These countries also provideda captive market for manufactured goods and services from South Africa. This paper uses Botswana as a casestudy to analyse this historical scenario through Underdevelopment and Dependency theory. Botswana playeda significant role in giving sanctuary to people fleeing oppression and exploitation from the south as earlyas the 1850s. This continued despite military reprisals on those Tswana states that hosted such refugees. AsBritish ‘dependents’ Batswana also played a critical role in the South African War of 1899 to 1902 whichculminated in the establishment of the white-controlled Union of South Africa in 1910 which ironically triedto incorporate Botswana. After Botswana’s independence in 1966, the country actively supported theSouth African liberation struggle despite military reprisals by the powerful apartheid regime. The paperalso utilises Realist theory of International Relations to conclude that the new ANC-led post-apartheidgovernment brazenly pursued a foreign policy that continued the underdevelopment and dependenceof Botswana on South Africa despite promises to reverse the entrenched historical trend. This flew inthe face of the objectives of the New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD) championed by, among otherAfrican leaders, South African President Thabo Mbeki at the turn of the new millennium
Education and Training of a Tswana Chief Under the British Colonial System in Botswana: The Case of Kgosi Mokgosi III of Balete, 1920-1945
Get PDFAfrican chiefs were pivotal to the British colonial policy of ‘Indirect Rule’ in British tropical Africa. Withskeletal staff on the ground, the British ruled through the chiefs since it was economic to do so. The Britishstarted indirect rule in Nigeria at the turn of the twentieth century after which it spread to East Africa andthen Central Africa. In most cases chiefs had to be collaborators with the colonial system to remain inoffice. In some of these colonies special schools were provided for training chiefs to become ‘cadres’ inthe colonial system. Indirect Rule reached Botswana in the early 1930s amidst spirited resistance fromTswana dikgosi (chiefs). Critically, the straightforward Tswana succession system through primogenituremade it difficult or impossible for the Tswana dikgosi to work with the colonial system as collaborators.Consequently, whereas deposition of chiefs was common in other colonies, in Botswana this was rare.Whereas there was no special school for dikgosi in Botswana and they had to be sent to South Africa, theBritish colonial administration had an idea of the kind of education to be accorded the dikgosi. Mostlyutilising archival records, this paper uses the example of Kgosi Mokgosi III of Balete to demonstratethat even in a case of a kgosi (chief) whose behaviour the colonial authorities disapproved of, they hadno choice but to accept and nurture him through schooling even when he did not perform well or gotexpelled for leading a riot. Furthermore, the authorities sought to prepare him for the chieftaincy (bogosi)by enlisting him into the colonial police service, and attempting to have him serve in the Second WorldWar. Mokgosi was the heir apparent of the Balete from 1931 to 1945 after which he became kgosi from1945 to 1966 and performed his duties well
The 1975 Killing of Police Mobile Unit’s Sergeant Felix Kgari: A Forgotten National Hero in Botswana
Get PDFAbout eight weeks ago, this paper carried an impressive article about the killing of Reni Les in thePandamatenga area in 1975. Reni Les, a citizen of Belgium was killed for the murder of a Botswana PoliceMobile Unit (PMU) sergeant and for wounding a police constable. The story was written by RichardMoleofe, a Botswana Defence Force (BDF) veteran. I had it in my list of stories I planned to write. So,Richard Moleofe pipped me to the post. However, I have decided to write on the Reni Les’s saga becausemy approach will completely differ from Moleofe’s, and I will present additional or detailed information. Tobegin with, the sergeant who was killed by Les was called Felix Kgari not Phillip as reported in Moleofe’saccount. I have no doubt about that because he was a distant relative of mine. The western corner of mygrandparents’ homestead in Mochudi is just 100 metres away from that of his parents’ eastern corner. Hewas older than me, but we played together. He used to send us out to the top of the nearby hills to harvestmarekhu (wild acacia tree gum) from the trees. We had Tswanalised his first name by calling him ‘Fila’.We were both members of the local Mochudi Rovers Football Club
CONTRAST LINGUISTIC STUDIES OF SETSWANA AND CHINESE: FROM THE PERSPECTIVE OF GRAMMATICAL CASES AND INTER-LANGUAGE
Get PDFRising needs of mutual language learning between Botswana and China show that there is currently a huge knowledge gap in the contrast studies between Chinese and Setswana, especially in terms of grammatical cases. The purpose of this study was to investigate the lexical and grammatical commonalities between Setswana and Chinese (SC) and its effects on Batswana Students in second language (L2) acquisition and to develop a pedagogical framework that is effective in L2 classroom. By using surveys and quantitative analysis as the primary research methods, this study analysed the test results of students from Chinese Studies Program (CSP) and measured these results through an accuracy model conducted in 1995. Based on a review of the literature on the contrastive studies of languages and analysis of surveys, this study concludes that complex interactions between the similar grammatical cases and different usages in each language can negatively impact the output and acquisition of Setswana speakers. Further studies are needed to probe into other aspects that can improve the effectiveness of Chinese learning for Batswana students
President Sir Seretse Khama’s Botched Localisation of the Botswana Police Service, 1965-1975
Get PDFDespite concerted efforts by his government and the British Foreign and Commonwealth Office, SeretseKhama’s localisation of the Botswana Police would ultimately fail in its objective during the period understudy. Using archival material obtained from the National Archives of the United Kingdom and somesecondary sources, this article explores the localisation programme in the Botswana Police, placing itwithin the context of similar projects in other African police and military forces during the decolonisationand immediate post-independence periods. It argues that the localisation programme of the BotswanaPolice was undermined by two factors. Firstly, the absence of adequately trained Africans in the force,which was the result of the Colonial Office’s lack of foresight while preparing Botswana for independence.Secondly, the response of some British expatriate officers following the President’s announcement of thelocalisation exercise were counterproductive
How Botswana’s Nationhood was Conceived and How we Got Here
Get PDFThe term Botswana means ‘Land of the Tswana-speaking peoples’. At the risk of going against the grainand stepping on sensitive toes, I submit that the name is a misnomer. Not every indigenous Motswana isan ethnic Motswana. There are 10 perceived principal ethnic groups in Botswana and nine of these are notTswana at all. But since the Tswana-speaking group predominate population-wise, our colonial overlords,the British, decided to call the country ‘Bechuanaland’ in order to isolate the area from other parts whichthey occupied or intended to conquer. For instance, they had taken over southern part of the territory ofTswana states (called it British Bechuanaland) and annexed it to the Cape Colony which they alreadycontrolled. The Boers had taken over what later became Transvaal and Orange Free State from Africangroups
The Eventful Month of August in the Annals of History of Mochudi
Get PDFThe month of August 2021, marks 152 years since a section of Bakgatla-ba-Kgafela under KgosiKgamanyane fled the Transvaal arriving two years later in the present day Mochudi which at the timewas a territory of Bakwena of Kgosi Sechele I. It was on 1 August 1869 when the trip from Morulengacross the Madikwe or Marico River started with another section of the morafe (ethnic group) remainingin Moruleng. When they left, they knew their destination but camped at a place called Tshwene-Tshwenefor two years. They had the ‘promised land’ in the Kgalagadi at a place belonging to the Bakwena led byKgosi Sechele. The promised land was offered to them a few years prior when they had assisted Sechele’sBakwena against Bangwaketse to recover their cattle from the latter. The cattle had been hidden at a placecalled Segeng near Kanye
Kevin Shillington, Patrick van Rensburg: Rebel, Visionary and Radical Educationist. A Biography
Get PDFAn Expectation Disconfirmation Analysis of Undergraduate Research Supervision: Opinions of Business Students at the University Of Botswana
Get PDFThe preliminary findings of a broader study undertaken to address the recurring problem of high failure rates for the fourth-year research projects, observed at the Faculty of Business are presented. An expectation disconfirmation approach was used to analyse undergraduate business students’ satisfaction with the role of the supervisor and the institution/faculty in the research supervision process. The authors used a semi-structured questionnaire to assess the students’ level of satisfaction on several variables. Most of the students were specifically dissatisfied (hence negative disconfirmation) with the role of the supervisor regarding the provision of feedback, availability for scheduled meetings and the identification of research training the students need. The students were also displeased particularly with the training on research provided, the adequacy of resources for photocopying, printing, as well as the adequacy of financial resources for research. Several recommendations are suggested to the Faculty to address these observations