The main railway line from Cape Town to Rhodesia passes through Botswana running practically due north, entering at Ramathalbama, 866 miles from Cape Town, and leaving at Ramaquabane, 394 miles further north. The single track runs roughly parallel to the eastern boundary of Botswana at an average distance from it of about 50 miles. The gauge of the track is 3 ft 6 in. The line is owned and operated by Rhodesia Railways. The total road mileage in Botswana is 5,016, of which 2,664 miles are trunk and main roads. Apart from tarmac-surfaced roads at Gaborone, Lobatsi and Francistown, all roads are gravel. Radio Botswana is the only broadcasting service in the country. It is operated by the Ministry of Home Affairs and broadcasts in the 31, 49, 60 and 90 metre bands, short wave, and also in the medium wave band and on V.H.F. The economy of Botswana is based on its cattle industry. Following about five years of below average rainfall there was a total failure in 1965 which caused the worst crop failure and drought which the territory had experienced for 25 years. It is estimated that approximately 200,000 head of cattle died of starvation. Farmers were handicapped by the fact that their oxen were in very weak condition as a result of the previous seasons' droughts and in many cases were unable to take advantage of the early rains for ploughing. Large-scale importations of maize and sorghum were necessary, and during 1965 and 1966 emergency measures had to be taken to alleviate what threatened to become a serious famine. The rains and the harvest were good in 1966/67 but in 1967/68 and again in 1968/69 the rains came too late and poor crops necessitated the introduction of emergency feeding measures in certain parts of the country. There are prospects of some diversification of the economy and improvement of Botswana's financial position by the development of mineral deposits which have been discovered in the north eastern area of the country. After some years of exploration work Bamangwato Concessions Ltd., a subsidiary of Botswana R.S.T. Ltd., announced in February 1967 that they had at that time outlined a total of some 33 million tons of potential copper ore at Matsitama and copper/nickel ore at Selibe/Phikwe. Further feasibility studies are continuing and it is hoped that they will reveal that mining can be started as a commercial operation. In addition the De Beers Prospecting Company (Pty.) Ltd., is pursuing an intensive evaluation of kimberlitic pipes at Orapa, near Letlhakane, and it is hoped that this too will result in the commencement of diamond mining. The feasibility of using coal deposits at Morupule near Palapye for the supply of power to serve the prospective mining areas has also been investigated. The commercial development of these mineral deposits will of course require heavy expenditure for the creation of the necessary infrastructure facilities, which are currently under investigation. The total value of exports in 1967 was R. 9,218,503, the bulk of which consisted of animal produce (R. 8,736,583). Following independence the British Government undertook to provide Botswana with budgetary and development aid up to a total of £13 million over the three-year period 1967/68 to 1969/70. This was additional to the assistance provided under the Overseas Service Aid Scheme and technical assistance and to the loans to cover Botswana's share of the payments to officers of H.M.O.C.S. under the general compensation scheme. At the time of the offer the equivalent in local currency was R.26 million but the value was reduced by devaluation. The British Government has, however, agreed to maintain the bele. A lifelong and firm adherent of Christianity, Khama introduced many reforms into the life of the tribe, of which the most important, and the one on which he himself set most store, was the total prohibition of alcoholic liquor. A capable if occasionally a harsh administrator, he devoted himself with energy to the organisation of his people. Though the weaker tribes still suffered at the hands of Lobengula's Matabele, by the middle eighteen seventies there was some stability and order in the life of the Bamangwato and the other Batswana tribes. At this time, the Batswana had seen little of the white man. A few traders and hunters had penetrated into their territories, but, except at centres like Shoshong, no permanent relations had been established. The only Europeans who had lived among the Batswana were the missionaries, men like Moffat and Livingstone. Now began the exploration of Africa and the division of the continent among the European Powers. Embittered relations between the Boers from the Transvaal and the Batswana people (particularly the Barolong and the Batlhaping) prompted the latter to address appeals for assistance to the Cape authorities, while Khama, shortly after his accession, also asked for his country to be taken under British protection. The British Government showed no anxiety to assume such new responsibilities, and it was not until 1884 that the missionary John Mackenzie was sent to Bechuanaland as Deputy Commissioner. Finally in 1885 Sir Charles Warren, with the concurrence of Khama and the other principal chiefs, proclaimed the whole of Bechuanaland to be under the protection of the Queen. The part of the Territory to the south of the Molopo River, which included Mafeking, Vryburg and Kuruman, was constituted a Crown Colony, called British Bechuanaland, in 1885, and became part of the Cape Colony (now the Cape Province of the Republic of South Africa) in 1895. The northern part, the Bechuanaland Protectorate, remained under the protection of the British Crown. The colony and the protectorate were at first both administered from Vryburg; but on the incorporation of the Colony in the Cape, the headquarters of the protectorate were moved to Mafeking, the nearest convenient centre to the protectorate. The British expansion northwards continued, under the powerful inspiration of Cecil John Rhodes, who had in 1889 obtained a Royal Charter for his British South Africa Company organised 'for the development of the Bechuanaland Protectorate and the North'. With the occupation in 1895 of what is now Rhodesia, Rhodes's description of Botswana as the 'Suez Canal to the North' was seen to be an apt one. In 1894 the British Government showed itself in favour of handing the administration of the protectorate to the British South Africa Company. Chiefs Khama of the Bamangwato, Bathoen of the Bangwaketse and Sebele of the Bakwena went to England to protest against the suggested transfer. A compromise was reached whereby the tribal lands would be demarcated, with the understanding that all other lands not specifically reserved would come under the control of the British South Africa Company and a strip of land on the eastern side of the protectorate would be ceded for the building of a railway. In the event, the diminution of Rhodes's influence which followed the failure of the Jameson Raid in December 1895, led to postponement and eventual abandonment of the plan to hand over the administration of the non-tribal lands of the protectorate to the British South Africa Company. The South Africa Act of Union of 1909, which established the Union of South Africa, included provisions for the possible inclusion in South Africa of the three territories of Basutoland, Bechuanaland and Swaziland, which were administered by the High Commissioner for South Africa. When the South African Constitution was being drawn up the Chiefs in Basutoland, Bechuanaland and Swaziland objected to any scheme which would bring their territories under the rule of South Africa. Assurances were given that no immediate change would be made in the administration of these territories, but provision was made for the possible eventual transfer subject to certain conditions for the protection of African rights embodied in the Act. From 1909 on successive South African Governments asked for the implementation of the transfer, which was understood to be provided for by the Schedule to the South African Act of Union. The British Government reiterated that it alone bore the ultimate responsibility in the question of a decision about transfer and that no such transfer could take place until the wishes of the inhabitants had been ascertained and considered. For many years past the records of the African Advisory Council, African Council, and Legislative Council have left no doubt of the opposition of the African people of Botswana to any such transfer. The question of handing over the administration of the three countries to South Africa ceased to be a serious issue in 1960. In February 1965 the headquarters of the Administration was transferred from Mafeking in the Cape Province of South Africa, which had been its home since 1895, to Gaborone. CONSTITUTIONAL DEVELOPMENT From 1891 to 1960, the constitutional position of the protectorate was governed by various Orders in Council and Proclamations of which the most important was the Order in Council of Queen Victoria dated 9th May 1891 which empowered the High Commissioner to exercise on her behalf all the powers and jurisdiction of the Queen, subject to such instructions as he might receive from Her Majesty or through a Secretary of State. Since about the mid-thirties necessary intervention in tribal affairs by the central authority, financial and economic development, the growth of export and import trade, technical advances and ever-increasing demands for more and better services brought about an inevitable and intensifying extension of central government activity. The expansion of central authority was accompanied by the steady evolution of local tribal government. In 1934, the promulgation of the African Courts and African Administration Proclamation set out to regularise the position of the chiefs, to provide for the proper exercise of their powers and functions, to define the constitution and functions of the Courts and to establish their powers and jurisdiction on a proper legal footing. The actions of African Authorities and African Courts were consequently henceforward governed by law. In 1960 a new constitution was introduced providing for an advisory Executive Council consisting of the Resident Commissioner (or the High Commissioner), three ex-officio members (The Government Secretary, the Finance Secretary and the Attorney-General), two official members appointed by the High Commissioner, and four nominated members appointed by the High Commissioner who were members of the Legislative Council not holding any public office, two of them African and two Europeans; a representative Legislative Council, consisting of the Resident Commissioner as President, the three ex-officio members of the Executive Council, seven official members holding public office appointed by the High Commissioner, twenty-one elected members, and not more than four nominated members, not holding any public office, appointed by the High Commissioner, who had to be either one African and one European or two Africans and two Europeans; and an advisory African Council partly official, partly ex-officio, and partly elected. The Constitution also established a judicature consisting of a High Court comprising a Chief Justice and puisne judges. By Order in Council signed on 27th September 1963 the territory was made independent of High Commission rule by the transformation of the post of Resident Commissioner into that of Her Majesty's Commissioner, with the status and rank of a Governor. Her Majesty's Commissioner assented to laws and was directly responsible to the Secretary of State for the Colonies. Certain powers retained by the High Commissioner ceased to exist when the office was abolished on 1st August 1964. During 1963 and early in 1964 a series of constitutional discussions took place to determine the form of further constitutional advance. Unanimously agreed proposals for internal self-government based on universal adult suffrage and a ministerial form of government were put forward to Her Majesty's Government and were accepted in June 1964. The new Constitution contained in the Bechuanaland Protectorate (Constitution) Orders 1965 (S.I. 1965 Nos. 134 and 1718) as modified by the Bechuanaland Protectorate (Constitution) (Amendment) Order 1965 (S.I. 1965 No. 1718) and by Her Majesty's Commissioner's order in terms of section 12(7) of the Bechuanaland Protectorate (Constitution) Order 1965 (G.N. No. 99 of 1965), came into effect on the 3rd March 1965. This Constitution granted to the country a form of responsible government upon which the present Constitution is based. The executive government of Bechuanaland was controlled by a Cabinet presided over by the Prime Minister, consisting of the Deputy Prime Minister and six other members chosen by the Prime Minister from the Legislative Assembly. Under the Constitution, the Prime Minister was the member of Legislative Assembly who appeared to Her Majesty's Commissioner to command the support of the majority of the Members of the Assembly, i.e. the leader of that political party which obtained the largest number of seats in the General Election. CONSTITUTION The President of Botswana is Head of State, in whom is vested the executive power of the Republic. The Vice-President is appointed by the President from among members of the National Assembly and is the principal assistant to the President and leader of Government business in the National Assembly. The Cabinet, which advises the President on Government policy, consists of not more than seven ministers, appointed by the President. The Botswana Parliament consists of the President and the National Assembly. The Assembly is made up of 31 elected members and four specially elected members, the Attorney-General, who does not have a vote in the Assembly and the Speaker. The Assembly is elected on the basis of universal adult suffrage. The House of Chiefs consists of eight ex-officio members, who are the chiefs of the eight principal Batswana tribes, four members elected from among their own number by the Sub-Chiefs who reside in the State Land areas, and three specially elected members, elected by the ex-officio and elected members. The House of Chiefs considers draft bills which are referred to it by the National Assembly, and which if enacted would alter any of the provisions of the Constitution or affect a defined range of subjects relating to tribal matters. The House of Chiefs is also entitled to discuss any matters affecting the tribes and tribal organisations and may make representations to the President, and through him to the Cabinet, and may send messages to the National Assembly. GOVERNMENT For the first general election in the Bechuanaland Protectorate, roughly 80 per cent of the potential electorate registered as voters in 1964; of those nearly 5/6ths actually voted in 1965. The result was an overwhelming victory for the Bechuanaland Democratic Party led by Sir Seretse Khama, who won 28 seats in the Legislative Assembly. The remaining 3 seats went to the Bechuanaland People's Party led by Mr Philip Matante. Sir Seretse Khama became the first Prime Minister of Bechuanaland and subsequently the first President of the Republic of Botswana on 30th September 1966. PRESIDENT AND CABINET President: Sir Seretse Khama, KBE, MP Vice-President and Minister of Development Planning: The Hon. Dr Q. K. J. Masire, JP, MP Minister of Finance: The Hon. M. K. Segokgo, MP Minister of Agriculture: The Hon. T. T. Tsheko, MBE, MP Minister of Local Government and Lands: The Hon. E. M. K. Kgabo, JP, MP Minister of Commerce, Industry and Water Affairs: The Hon. J. G. Haskins, OBE, JP, MP |