The Gaborone Village water tower

Sandy Grant | Wednesday September 14, 2016 16:34

 

Were this the case, the tower, for obvious security reasons, would have had to be enclosed within the prison walls and thus be an integral part of it. 

Even a casual look, however, will show that whilst the tower is adjacent to the prison it is in no way connected to it. It could not, therefore, have had any prison-related function.

The waverers, however, may still remain unconvinced. So let’s try another approach. Let’s take the execution in Gaborone in 1917 of Moeapitso who had killed his brother Seepapitso II in the kgotla in Kanye. The so-called ‘execution tower’  was constructed in 1938 which meant that Moeapitso and others so convicted must have been executed in a pre-existing chamber which may have continued in use until the prison was closed down. In other words, the tower could not have been constructed for that purpose.

Still unconvinced? Well, let us consider the crucially important question of cost.  Constructing the tower must have been a costly undertaking and even the most naïve would have to accept that the British Administration, always short of cash, would have committed so much for the sole purpose of carrying out occasional executions.

Why go so high in order to come down again?  And then how would anyone have made that ascent?  An examination of the interior suggests that the only means of ascent might have been via a metal ladder attached to the wall.

Had the tower, however, been constructed to provide a means of distributing water, the situation changes completely. The provision of water in the past, as it is today, was a top priority which justified the kinds of expenditure which would never have been made available for prison structures of any kind. In 1938 it was decided that something had to be done to improve the water distribution system in the Village and this necessarily solid structure was completed. 

Thus the 1939 report of the DC Gaberones states that, ‘a 40-foot pressure tower was erected and water laid onto all houses in central and northern portions of the Camp and a 20-foot tubular platform connected with new piping for the houses at the southern end.’

The Village tower needs therefore to be recognised as one of the most iconic and recognisable building in Gaborone. Ideally, the prison should be demolished and the tower made the centre piece of really top class heritage centre. Gaborone desperately needs such a facility and the 50th anniversary is the right time to make a start.