History of Gaborone
Encyclopedia
Gaborone
is the capital of Botswana
. Archaeological evidence in the area dates back to 400 BCE, and the first written accounts of Gaborone are from the earliest European settlers in the 19th century. Since the 1960s, when Botswana gained its independence from Britain and Gaborone became the capital, the city has grown from a small village in the Botswana scrubland to a major center in southern Africa
.
. The area that is now modern-day Botswana was inhabited exclusively by the Khoikhoi
pastoralist
s, who valued cattle
because of nutritional benefits, until around the 8th century CE when the Toutswe
people arrived in Botswana. The Toutswe (also called the Toutswemogala society after their main settlement, Toutswemogala) settled in the area around Palapye
and Serowe
, and they introduced the cultivation of sorghum
and millet
. By 900 CE, the Toutswe culture started to gain a foothold in Botswana. Like the earlier Khoikhoi people, the Toutswe society heavily centered around cattle: kraal
s, or cattle enclosures, have been found in numerous locations around eastern Botswana. In this society, wealth and hierarchy was based on the number of cows, not in the amount of gold like the adjacent Mapungubwe
society. The Toutswe engaged in long-distance trade, acquiring beads and porcelain. The Toutswe culture started to collapse in the 13th century due to overgrazing and drought; however the prestige of cattle remained in Botswana society.
The Mfecane
(the crushing or scattering in Zulu
) is a period in the early 19th century marked by major upheavals and migrations of the tribes in southern Africa. Before the arrival of Europeans to the area, the Batswana were the dominant ethnic group in the southern half of Botswana, subjugating the Bakgalagadi people and the Khoikhoi to become malata or servants. In the 1830s, the Boer
s embarked on the Great Trek
from the Cape Colony
towards the northeast. This movement caused the Amandebele people, led by Mzilikazi
, to attack the Batswana as they moved northwards to present-day Zimbabwe
in the 1830s, forcing them to pay tribute. The Bakololo
people also fought with the Batswana during this time when they migrated to Barotseland
in modern-day western Zambia
. Along with the Bakololo and the Amandebele, the Boers also created skirmishes with the Batswana. Kgosi Setshele I
( means chief in Tswana
) of the Bakwena led the Batswana side during the Battle of Dimawe from 1852–1853. An agreement was signed between the Boers and the Batswana in January 1953.
During this time, Eruopean missionaries
from the London Missionary Society
, such as David Livingstone
and Robert Moffat
, spread Christianity throughout the region. David Livingstone started the first church and school in 1845 in Kolobeng, near Gaborone.
In the 1880s, Kgosi Gaborone
of the Tlokoa tribe left the Magaliesberg
area in the South Africa
n province
of North West
to settle in the southeastern part of Botswana and called the settlement Moshaweng. There is an unrelated Moshaweng
in the Kweneng District
northwest of Gaborone. The city that Kgosi Gaborone founded was called first called Gaborone's Village by the first European settlers. It was later shortened to Gaberones. Cecil Rhodes, a mining magnate
and founder of the De Beers
mining company, built a fort for colonial administration across the river from Gaberones. The fort was where Rhodes planned the Jameson Raid
during the Second Boer War
. The site of the fort became Gaborone and the city of Gaberones became Tlokweng
.
After gold was discovered in South Africa in 1871, Khama III
of the Bamangwato tribe made an alliance with the United Kingdom
against advancing Boer gold miners. On 31 March 1885, United Kingdom
created the Bechuanaland Protectorate from the land north of the Molopo River
to the Caprivi Strip
of German South-West Africa
. The area south of the Molopo River became part of South Africa.
Until the 1890s, Britain ruled Bechuanaland indirectly, letting the (plural of kgosi) rule themselves. Things changed when Cecil Rhodes established the British South Africa Company
with a government charter. Rhodes wanted to have control over the entire southern African region. Three , Khama III, Sebele I, and Bathoen I, traveled to Great Britain in 1895 to ask Queen Victoria
not to incorporate Botswana into Rhodes's company or other British colonies like Southern Rhodesia
or the Cape Colony
, and they proved successful. Today, in Gaborone, there is a memorial called the Three Dikgosi Monument in honor of the three chiefs who helped the founding of Bechuanaland and later Botswana.
From 1961 to 1965, the city experienced a major drought, killing more than 250.000 head of cattle.
In 1965, the capital of the Bechuanaland Protectorate moved from Mafeking
to Gaberones. When Botswana gained its independence, Lobatse was the first choice as the nation's capital. However, Lobatse was deemed too limited, and instead, a new capital city would be created next to Gaberones. The city was chosen because of its proximity to a fresh water source, its proximity to the railway to Pretoria
, and its central location among the central tribes. Another reason Gaborone was picked to be capital was that it had a history of being the administrative center of Botswana. During the Second Boer War, the city served as the temporary capital of Bechuanaland while Mafikeng was under siege by the Boers. Gaborone was not affiliated with any tribe either, another reason for its designation as the capital. The old colonial Gaberones became a suburb
of the new Gaberones and is now known as "the Village".
On 30 September 1966, Bechuanaland became the eleventh British dependency in Africa to become independent. The first mayor of Gaborone was Reverend Derek Jones.
The city was planned under Garden city principles
with numerous pedestrian walkways and open spaces. Building of Gaborone started in mid-1964. During the city's construction, the chairman of Gaberones Township Authority, Geoffrey Cornish, likened the layout of the city to a “brandy glass” with the government offices in the base of the glass and businesses in the “mall”, a strip of land extending from the base.
Most of the city was built within three years, earlier than expected so the government offices could move in earlier. 2,000 workers helped construct the city, shoveling 140000 cubic yards (107,037.7 m³) and making 2,500,000 blocks of concrete. Buildings in early Gaborone include assembly buildings, government offices, a power station, a hospital, schools, a radio station, a telephone exchange, police stations, a post office, more than 1,000 houses and apartments, a British high commission, a library, a brewery, a church, and numerous other structures. By 1966, the population of Gaborone was about 5,000 people.
The city changed its name from Gaberones to Gaborone in 1969.
Because the city was built so quickly, there was a massive influx of labourers who had built illegal settlements on the new city's southern industrial development zone. These settlements were named Naledi. Naledi literally means the star, but could also mean under the open sky or a community that stands out from all others. In 1971, because of the growth of illegal settlements, the Gaborone Town Council and the Ministry of Local Government and Lands surveyed an area called Bontleng, which would contain low-income housing. However, Naledi still grew, and the demand for housing was greater than ever. In 1973, the Botswana Housing Corporation (BHC) built a "New Naledi" across the road from the "Old Naledi". Residents from Old Naledi would be moved to New Naledi. However, the demand for housing increased yet again; moreover, the residents who relocated to New Nadeli disliked the houses. The problem was solved in 1975 when Sir Seretse Khama
, the president of Botswana, rezoned Naledi from an industrial zone to a low-income housing area.
In the 1970s, the city was involved in the conflicts of the Rhodesian Bush War
and South Africa under apartheid. Thousands of South Africans and Rhodesians crossed the border and into the country where they either stayed in Gaborone or Francistown
, or flew to Zambia
or Tanzania
to participate in anti-apartheid movements or freedom-fighting activities with Joshua Nkomo
's Zimbabwe African People's Union
. The runaways put economic stress on the city, caused the standard of living to decrease, and created tensions not only between the governments of Botswana, South Africa, and Rhodesia but also between the citizens within Botswana and the refugees. A quote from a government official summarizes the conundrum:
Gaborone has experienced a multitude of attacks by the South African military in the 1980s. On 13 May 1983, South Africa sent helicopters to attack the army base outside of Gaborone. On 14 June 1985, South Africa attacked an anti-apartheid group in the city of Gaborone. The raids resulted in fifteen civilian deaths. After the raid, the United States withdrew its ambassador to South Africa
. South African forces also ambushed the Botswana Defence Force
barracks just northwest of the city towards Mogoditshane
on 19 May 1986; a government worker was killed during the helicopter-borne attack. South Africa claimed that they were rooting out African National Congress
terrorists. Another attack on 28 March 1988 left four dead in Gaborone.
Gaborone gained the title of city in 1986 after being classified as a town.
In 1992, the Southern African Development Community
(SADC) was founded in Gaborone, uniting the economies of the member nations.
After the 1994 General Elections
, riots started in Gaborone because of high unemployment and other issues.
Today, Gaborone is growing very rapidly. The city originally planned on 20,000 citizens, but by 1992, the city had 138,000 people. This has led to many squatter settlements on undeveloped land.
Gaborone
' is the capital and largest city of Botswana with a population of 191,776 based on a 2006 survey, about 10% of the total population of Botswana....
is the capital of Botswana
Botswana
Botswana, officially the Republic of Botswana , is a landlocked country located in Southern Africa. The citizens are referred to as "Batswana" . Formerly the British protectorate of Bechuanaland, Botswana adopted its new name after becoming independent within the Commonwealth on 30 September 1966...
. Archaeological evidence in the area dates back to 400 BCE, and the first written accounts of Gaborone are from the earliest European settlers in the 19th century. Since the 1960s, when Botswana gained its independence from Britain and Gaborone became the capital, the city has grown from a small village in the Botswana scrubland to a major center in southern Africa
Southern Africa
Southern Africa is the southernmost region of the African continent, variably defined by geography or geopolitics. Within the region are numerous territories, including the Republic of South Africa ; nowadays, the simpler term South Africa is generally reserved for the country in English.-UN...
.
Early history
Evidence shows that there have been inhabitants along the Ngotwane River for centuries, all the way back to the Middle Stone AgeMiddle Stone Age
The Middle Stone Age was a period of African Prehistory between Early Stone Age and Late Stone Age. It is generally considered to have begun around 280,000 years ago and ended around 50-25,000 years ago. The beginnings of particular MSA stone tools have their origins as far back as 550-500,000...
. The area that is now modern-day Botswana was inhabited exclusively by the Khoikhoi
Khoikhoi
The Khoikhoi or Khoi, in standardised Khoekhoe/Nama orthography spelled Khoekhoe, are a historical division of the Khoisan ethnic group, the native people of southwestern Africa, closely related to the Bushmen . They had lived in southern Africa since the 5th century AD...
pastoralist
Pastoralism
Pastoralism or pastoral farming is the branch of agriculture concerned with the raising of livestock. It is animal husbandry: the care, tending and use of animals such as camels, goats, cattle, yaks, llamas, and sheep. It may have a mobile aspect, moving the herds in search of fresh pasture and...
s, who valued cattle
Cattle
Cattle are the most common type of large domesticated ungulates. They are a prominent modern member of the subfamily Bovinae, are the most widespread species of the genus Bos, and are most commonly classified collectively as Bos primigenius...
because of nutritional benefits, until around the 8th century CE when the Toutswe
Toutswemogala Hill
Toutswemogala Hill lies 6.5 km West of the North-South Highway in the Central District of Botswana. It is situated about 50 km north of the village of Palapye. Toutswemogala is an elongated flat-topped hill rising about 50 meters above the surrounding flat mopane veld. It is an Iron Age settlement,...
people arrived in Botswana. The Toutswe (also called the Toutswemogala society after their main settlement, Toutswemogala) settled in the area around Palapye
Palapye
Palapye is a large town in Botswana, situated about halfway between Francistown and Gaborone . Over the years its position has made it a convenient stopover on one of Southern Africa's principal north–south rail and road routes...
and Serowe
Serowe
Serowe was famed as Botswana's largest village after Molepolole. Serowe has a rich history in Botswana'; it being the capital for the Bamangwato people in the early part of the 20th century and for being the birth place of many of Botswana's Presidents...
, and they introduced the cultivation of sorghum
Sorghum
Sorghum is a genus of numerous species of grasses, one of which is raised for grain and many of which are used as fodder plants either cultivated or as part of pasture. The plants are cultivated in warmer climates worldwide. Species are native to tropical and subtropical regions of all continents...
and millet
Millet
The millets are a group of small-seeded species of cereal crops or grains, widely grown around the world for food and fodder. They do not form a taxonomic group, but rather a functional or agronomic one. Their essential similarities are that they are small-seeded grasses grown in difficult...
. By 900 CE, the Toutswe culture started to gain a foothold in Botswana. Like the earlier Khoikhoi people, the Toutswe society heavily centered around cattle: kraal
Kraal
Kraal is an Afrikaans and Dutch word for an enclosure for cattle or other livestock, located within an African settlement or village surrounded by a palisade, mud wall, or other fencing, roughly circular in form.In the Dutch language a kraal is a term derived from the Portuguese word , cognate...
s, or cattle enclosures, have been found in numerous locations around eastern Botswana. In this society, wealth and hierarchy was based on the number of cows, not in the amount of gold like the adjacent Mapungubwe
Mapungubwe
After Mapungubwe's fall, it was forgotten until 1932. On New Year's Eve 1932, E. S. J. van Graan, a local farmer and prospector, and his son, a former student of the University of Pretoria, discovered the wealth of artifacts on top of the hill. They reported the find to Professor Leo...
society. The Toutswe engaged in long-distance trade, acquiring beads and porcelain. The Toutswe culture started to collapse in the 13th century due to overgrazing and drought; however the prestige of cattle remained in Botswana society.
19th century
Mfecane
Mfecane , also known by the Sesotho name Difaqane or Lifaqane, was a period of widespread chaos and warfare among indigenous tribes in southern Africa during the period between 1815 to about 1840....
(the crushing or scattering in Zulu
Zulu language
Zulu is the language of the Zulu people with about 10 million speakers, the vast majority of whom live in South Africa. Zulu is the most widely spoken home language in South Africa as well as being understood by over 50% of the population...
) is a period in the early 19th century marked by major upheavals and migrations of the tribes in southern Africa. Before the arrival of Europeans to the area, the Batswana were the dominant ethnic group in the southern half of Botswana, subjugating the Bakgalagadi people and the Khoikhoi to become malata or servants. In the 1830s, the Boer
Boer
Boer is the Dutch and Afrikaans word for farmer, which came to denote the descendants of the Dutch-speaking settlers of the eastern Cape frontier in Southern Africa during the 18th century, as well as those who left the Cape Colony during the 19th century to settle in the Orange Free State,...
s embarked on the Great Trek
Great Trek
The Great Trek was an eastward and north-eastward migration away from British control in the Cape Colony during the 1830s and 1840s by Boers . The migrants were descended from settlers from western mainland Europe, most notably from the Netherlands, northwest Germany and French Huguenots...
from the Cape Colony
Cape Colony
The Cape Colony, part of modern South Africa, was established by the Dutch East India Company in 1652, with the founding of Cape Town. It was subsequently occupied by the British in 1795 when the Netherlands were occupied by revolutionary France, so that the French revolutionaries could not take...
towards the northeast. This movement caused the Amandebele people, led by Mzilikazi
Mzilikazi
Mzilikazi , also sometimes called Mosilikatze, was a Southern African king who founded the Matabele kingdom , Matabeleland, in what became Rhodesia and is now Zimbabwe. He was born the son of Matshobana near Mkuze, Zululand and died at Ingama, Matabeleland...
, to attack the Batswana as they moved northwards to present-day Zimbabwe
Zimbabwe
Zimbabwe is a landlocked country located in the southern part of the African continent, between the Zambezi and Limpopo rivers. It is bordered by South Africa to the south, Botswana to the southwest, Zambia and a tip of Namibia to the northwest and Mozambique to the east. Zimbabwe has three...
in the 1830s, forcing them to pay tribute. The Bakololo
Makololo
The Makololo are a people of Southern Africa, closely related to the Basotho, from which they separated themselves in the early 19th century. Originally residing in what is now South Africa, they were displaced by the Zulu expansion under Shaka and migrated north through Botswana to Barotseland in...
people also fought with the Batswana during this time when they migrated to Barotseland
Barotseland
Barotseland is a region in the western part of Zambia, and is the homeland of the Lozi people or Barotse who were previously known as Luyi or Aluyi. Its heartland is the Barotse Floodplain on the upper Zambezi River, also known as Bulozi or Lyondo, but it includes the surrounding higher ground of...
in modern-day western Zambia
Zambia
Zambia , officially the Republic of Zambia, is a landlocked country in Southern Africa. The neighbouring countries are the Democratic Republic of the Congo to the north, Tanzania to the north-east, Malawi to the east, Mozambique, Zimbabwe, Botswana and Namibia to the south, and Angola to the west....
. Along with the Bakololo and the Amandebele, the Boers also created skirmishes with the Batswana. Kgosi Setshele I
Setshele I
Setshele I a Motswasele "Rra Mokonopi", ruler of the baKwena people of Botswana 1831-1892 , also known as Sechele.-See also:* Rulers of baKwêna...
( means chief in Tswana
Tswana language
Tswana or Setswana is a language spoken in Southern Africa by about 4.5 million people. It is a Bantu language belonging to the Niger–Congo language family within the Sotho languages branch of Zone S , and is closely related to the Northern- and Southern Sotho languages, as well as the Kgalagadi...
) of the Bakwena led the Batswana side during the Battle of Dimawe from 1852–1853. An agreement was signed between the Boers and the Batswana in January 1953.
During this time, Eruopean missionaries
Missionary
A missionary is a member of a religious group sent into an area to do evangelism or ministries of service, such as education, literacy, social justice, health care and economic development. The word "mission" originates from 1598 when the Jesuits sent members abroad, derived from the Latin...
from the London Missionary Society
London Missionary Society
The London Missionary Society was a non-denominational missionary society formed in England in 1795 by evangelical Anglicans and Nonconformists, largely Congregationalist in outlook, with missions in the islands of the South Pacific and Africa...
, such as David Livingstone
David Livingstone
David Livingstone was a Scottish Congregationalist pioneer medical missionary with the London Missionary Society and an explorer in Africa. His meeting with H. M. Stanley gave rise to the popular quotation, "Dr...
and Robert Moffat
Robert Moffat
Robert Moffat was a Scottish Congregationalist missionary to Africa, and father in law of David Livingstone....
, spread Christianity throughout the region. David Livingstone started the first church and school in 1845 in Kolobeng, near Gaborone.
In the 1880s, Kgosi Gaborone
Kgosi Gabarone
Kgosi Gaborone of Batlokwa was a Botswanan chief, who gives his name to the modern capital city of Botswana, Gabarone.He is believed to have been born around 1820...
of the Tlokoa tribe left the Magaliesberg
Magaliesberg
The Magaliesberg is a mountain range extending from Pretoria in the north of the Gauteng Province to a point south of Pilanesberg, in the North West Province, South Africa...
area in the South Africa
South Africa
The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...
n province
Provinces of South Africa
South Africa is currently divided into nine provinces. On the eve of the 1994 general election, South Africa's former homelands, also known as Bantustans, were reintegrated and the four existing provinces were divided into nine. The twelfth, thirteenth and sixteenth amendments to the constitution...
of North West
North West (South African province)
North West is a province of South Africa. Its capital is Mafikeng. The province is located to the west of the major population centre of Gauteng.-History:...
to settle in the southeastern part of Botswana and called the settlement Moshaweng. There is an unrelated Moshaweng
Moshaweng
Moshaweng is a village in Kweneng District of Botswana. It is located 60 km west of Molepolole. The population of Moshaweng was 974 in 2001 census.-References:...
in the Kweneng District
Kweneng District
Kweneng is one of the districts of Botswana and is the recent historical homeland of the Bakwena people, the first group in Botswana converted to Christianity by famed missionary David Livingstone. Various landmarks, including Livingstone's Cave, allude to this history...
northwest of Gaborone. The city that Kgosi Gaborone founded was called first called Gaborone's Village by the first European settlers. It was later shortened to Gaberones. Cecil Rhodes, a mining magnate
Magnate
Magnate, from the Late Latin magnas, a great man, itself from Latin magnus 'great', designates a noble or other man in a high social position, by birth, wealth or other qualities...
and founder of the De Beers
De Beers
De Beers is a family of companies that dominate the diamond, diamond mining, diamond trading and industrial diamond manufacturing sectors. De Beers is active in every category of industrial diamond mining: open-pit, underground, large-scale alluvial, coastal and deep sea...
mining company, built a fort for colonial administration across the river from Gaberones. The fort was where Rhodes planned the Jameson Raid
Jameson Raid
The Jameson Raid was a botched raid on Paul Kruger's Transvaal Republic carried out by a British colonial statesman Leander Starr Jameson and his Rhodesian and Bechuanaland policemen over the New Year weekend of 1895–96...
during the Second Boer War
Second Boer War
The Second Boer War was fought from 11 October 1899 until 31 May 1902 between the British Empire and the Afrikaans-speaking Dutch settlers of two independent Boer republics, the South African Republic and the Orange Free State...
. The site of the fort became Gaborone and the city of Gaberones became Tlokweng
Tlokweng
Tlokweng is a town located directly adjacent to the capital of Botswana, Gaborone, in the South-East District. It can be considered part of the conurbation of Gaborone. Tlokweng stands on the other side of the river, and is on the road to the border with South Africa, the border post being just...
.
After gold was discovered in South Africa in 1871, Khama III
Khama III
Khama III , also known as Khama the Good, was the kgosi of the Bamangwato people of Bechuanaland , who made his country a protectorate of the United Kingdom to ensure its survival against Boer and Ndebele encroachments.-Ancestry and Youth:During the 18th century, Malope, chief of the Bakwena...
of the Bamangwato tribe made an alliance with the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
against advancing Boer gold miners. On 31 March 1885, United Kingdom
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland was the formal name of the United Kingdom during the period when what is now the Republic of Ireland formed a part of it....
created the Bechuanaland Protectorate from the land north of the Molopo River
Molopo River
The Molopo River is located in southern Africa. The river generally flows to the southwest from its source, and has a length of approximately 960 kilometres. River flow is intermittent. When in flood, the flow discharges into the Orange River, which it meets downstream of Augrabies Falls National...
to the Caprivi Strip
Caprivi Strip
Caprivi, sometimes called the Caprivi Strip , Caprivi Panhandle or the Okavango Strip and formally known as Itenge, is a narrow protrusion of Namibia eastwards about , between Botswana to the south, Angola and Zambia to the north, and Okavango Region to the west. Caprivi is bordered by the...
of German South-West Africa
German South-West Africa
German South West Africa was a colony of Germany from 1884 until 1915, when it was taken over by South Africa and administered as South West Africa, finally becoming Namibia in 1990...
. The area south of the Molopo River became part of South Africa.
Until the 1890s, Britain ruled Bechuanaland indirectly, letting the (plural of kgosi) rule themselves. Things changed when Cecil Rhodes established the British South Africa Company
British South Africa Company
The British South Africa Company was established by Cecil Rhodes through the amalgamation of the Central Search Association and the Exploring Company Ltd., receiving a royal charter in 1889...
with a government charter. Rhodes wanted to have control over the entire southern African region. Three , Khama III, Sebele I, and Bathoen I, traveled to Great Britain in 1895 to ask Queen Victoria
Victoria of the United Kingdom
Victoria was the monarch of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until her death. From 1 May 1876, she used the additional title of Empress of India....
not to incorporate Botswana into Rhodes's company or other British colonies like Southern Rhodesia
Southern Rhodesia
Southern Rhodesia was the name of the British colony situated north of the Limpopo River and the Union of South Africa. From its independence in 1965 until its extinction in 1980, it was known as Rhodesia...
or the Cape Colony
Cape Colony
The Cape Colony, part of modern South Africa, was established by the Dutch East India Company in 1652, with the founding of Cape Town. It was subsequently occupied by the British in 1795 when the Netherlands were occupied by revolutionary France, so that the French revolutionaries could not take...
, and they proved successful. Today, in Gaborone, there is a memorial called the Three Dikgosi Monument in honor of the three chiefs who helped the founding of Bechuanaland and later Botswana.
20th century
In 1965, the capital of the Bechuanaland Protectorate moved from Mafeking
Mafikeng
Mahikeng – formerly legally, but still commonly known as Mafikeng – is the capital city of the North-West Province of South Africa. It is best known internationally for the Siege of Mafeking, the most famous engagement of the Second Boer War.Located on South Africa's border with Botswana, it is ...
to Gaberones. When Botswana gained its independence, Lobatse was the first choice as the nation's capital. However, Lobatse was deemed too limited, and instead, a new capital city would be created next to Gaberones. The city was chosen because of its proximity to a fresh water source, its proximity to the railway to Pretoria
Pretoria
Pretoria is a city located in the northern part of Gauteng Province, South Africa. It is one of the country's three capital cities, serving as the executive and de facto national capital; the others are Cape Town, the legislative capital, and Bloemfontein, the judicial capital.Pretoria is...
, and its central location among the central tribes. Another reason Gaborone was picked to be capital was that it had a history of being the administrative center of Botswana. During the Second Boer War, the city served as the temporary capital of Bechuanaland while Mafikeng was under siege by the Boers. Gaborone was not affiliated with any tribe either, another reason for its designation as the capital. The old colonial Gaberones became a suburb
Suburb
The word suburb mostly refers to a residential area, either existing as part of a city or as a separate residential community within commuting distance of a city . Some suburbs have a degree of administrative autonomy, and most have lower population density than inner city neighborhoods...
of the new Gaberones and is now known as "the Village".
On 30 September 1966, Bechuanaland became the eleventh British dependency in Africa to become independent. The first mayor of Gaborone was Reverend Derek Jones.
The city was planned under Garden city principles
Garden city movement
The garden city movement is a method of urban planning that was initiated in 1898 by Sir Ebenezer Howard in the United Kingdom. Garden cities were intended to be planned, self-contained communities surrounded by "greenbelts" , containing proportionate areas of residences, industry and...
with numerous pedestrian walkways and open spaces. Building of Gaborone started in mid-1964. During the city's construction, the chairman of Gaberones Township Authority, Geoffrey Cornish, likened the layout of the city to a “brandy glass” with the government offices in the base of the glass and businesses in the “mall”, a strip of land extending from the base.
Most of the city was built within three years, earlier than expected so the government offices could move in earlier. 2,000 workers helped construct the city, shoveling 140000 cubic yards (107,037.7 m³) and making 2,500,000 blocks of concrete. Buildings in early Gaborone include assembly buildings, government offices, a power station, a hospital, schools, a radio station, a telephone exchange, police stations, a post office, more than 1,000 houses and apartments, a British high commission, a library, a brewery, a church, and numerous other structures. By 1966, the population of Gaborone was about 5,000 people.
The city changed its name from Gaberones to Gaborone in 1969.
Because the city was built so quickly, there was a massive influx of labourers who had built illegal settlements on the new city's southern industrial development zone. These settlements were named Naledi. Naledi literally means the star, but could also mean under the open sky or a community that stands out from all others. In 1971, because of the growth of illegal settlements, the Gaborone Town Council and the Ministry of Local Government and Lands surveyed an area called Bontleng, which would contain low-income housing. However, Naledi still grew, and the demand for housing was greater than ever. In 1973, the Botswana Housing Corporation (BHC) built a "New Naledi" across the road from the "Old Naledi". Residents from Old Naledi would be moved to New Naledi. However, the demand for housing increased yet again; moreover, the residents who relocated to New Nadeli disliked the houses. The problem was solved in 1975 when Sir Seretse Khama
Seretse Khama
Sir Seretse Khama, KBE was a statesman from Botswana. Born into one of the more powerful of the royal families of what was then the British Protectorate of Bechuanaland, and educated abroad in neighbouring South Africa and in the United Kingdom, he returned home—with a popular but controversial...
, the president of Botswana, rezoned Naledi from an industrial zone to a low-income housing area.
In the 1970s, the city was involved in the conflicts of the Rhodesian Bush War
Rhodesian Bush War
The Rhodesian Bush War – also known as the Second Chimurenga or the Zimbabwe War of Liberation – was a civil war which took place between July 1964 and December 1979 in the unrecognised country of Rhodesia...
and South Africa under apartheid. Thousands of South Africans and Rhodesians crossed the border and into the country where they either stayed in Gaborone or Francistown
Francistown
Francistown or Nyangabgwe is the second largest city in Botswana, with a population of about 85,363, and often described as the "Capital of the North". It is located in eastern Botswana, about north-northeast from the capital, Gaborone...
, or flew to Zambia
Zambia
Zambia , officially the Republic of Zambia, is a landlocked country in Southern Africa. The neighbouring countries are the Democratic Republic of the Congo to the north, Tanzania to the north-east, Malawi to the east, Mozambique, Zimbabwe, Botswana and Namibia to the south, and Angola to the west....
or Tanzania
Tanzania
The United Republic of Tanzania is a country in East Africa bordered by Kenya and Uganda to the north, Rwanda, Burundi, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo to the west, and Zambia, Malawi, and Mozambique to the south. The country's eastern borders lie on the Indian Ocean.Tanzania is a state...
to participate in anti-apartheid movements or freedom-fighting activities with Joshua Nkomo
Joshua Nkomo
Joshua Mqabuko Nyongolo Nkomo was the leader and founder of the Zimbabwe African People's Union and a member of the Kalanga tribe...
's Zimbabwe African People's Union
Zimbabwe African People's Union
The Zimbabwe African People's Union was a militant organization and political party that fought for the national liberation of Zimbabwe from its founding in 1961 until it merged with the Zimbabwe African National Union – Patriotic Front in December 1987....
. The runaways put economic stress on the city, caused the standard of living to decrease, and created tensions not only between the governments of Botswana, South Africa, and Rhodesia but also between the citizens within Botswana and the refugees. A quote from a government official summarizes the conundrum:
Gaborone has experienced a multitude of attacks by the South African military in the 1980s. On 13 May 1983, South Africa sent helicopters to attack the army base outside of Gaborone. On 14 June 1985, South Africa attacked an anti-apartheid group in the city of Gaborone. The raids resulted in fifteen civilian deaths. After the raid, the United States withdrew its ambassador to South Africa
United States Ambassador to South Africa
Before 1902, The southern part of Africa that is now South Africa was under the hegemony of Great Britain. There also were two self-proclaimed independent states: Transvaal and the Orange Free State. The British and the Boers fought two wars known as the First Boer War and the Second Boer War...
. South African forces also ambushed the Botswana Defence Force
Botswana Defence Force
The Botswana Defence Force is the military of Botswana. It was formed in 1977 and has approximately 9,000 members. The commander is Lieutenant General Tebogo Masire. The commander in chief is the President of Botswana...
barracks just northwest of the city towards Mogoditshane
Mogoditshane
Mogoditshane is a town located in the Kweneng District of Botswana.It is in conurbation to the capital Gaborone.The football team is the Mogoditshane Fighters....
on 19 May 1986; a government worker was killed during the helicopter-borne attack. South Africa claimed that they were rooting out African National Congress
African National Congress
The African National Congress is South Africa's governing Africanist political party, supported by its tripartite alliance with the Congress of South African Trade Unions and the South African Communist Party , since the establishment of non-racial democracy in April 1994. It defines itself as a...
terrorists. Another attack on 28 March 1988 left four dead in Gaborone.
Gaborone gained the title of city in 1986 after being classified as a town.
In 1992, the Southern African Development Community
Southern African Development Community
The Southern African Development Community is an inter-governmental organization headquartered in Gaborone, Botswana. Its goal is to further socio-economic cooperation and integration as well as political and security cooperation among 15 southern African states...
(SADC) was founded in Gaborone, uniting the economies of the member nations.
After the 1994 General Elections
Botswana general election, 1994
General elections were held in Botswana on 15 October 1994. They were fought between the Botswana Democratic Party and four opposition parties. Forty seats in the Parliament were contested, with the largest opposition party, the Botswana National Front making huge strides, as its representation...
, riots started in Gaborone because of high unemployment and other issues.
Today, Gaborone is growing very rapidly. The city originally planned on 20,000 citizens, but by 1992, the city had 138,000 people. This has led to many squatter settlements on undeveloped land.
See also
- History of BotswanaHistory of BotswanaThe Batswana, a term also used to denote all citizens of Botswana, refers to the country's major ethnic group . Prior to European contact, the Batswana lived as herders and farmers under tribal rule.-Before European contact:...
- GaboroneGaborone' is the capital and largest city of Botswana with a population of 191,776 based on a 2006 survey, about 10% of the total population of Botswana....
- Postage stamps and postal history of Bechuanaland ProtectoratePostage stamps and postal history of Bechuanaland ProtectorateThe first Bechuanaland Protectorate postage stamps were produced in 1888 by overprinting stamps of Bechuanaland with "Protectorate"...