Meet Andrew Matlapeng; a man who cheated death in three ambushes

Richard Moleofe | Friday October 14, 2016 07:10

It seems the slaughter of animals has not escaped any one of the events that summed the 50th celebrations of our independence. So in one way or the other, this remarkable event was a serious threat to all types of animals.

Something very unusual for a church happened this past Sunday. A former Commander of the Special Support Group gave a sterling testimony in church. Something the congregants were not akin to at all. The summary of the testimony demonstrated how vulnerable we were as a nation at the attainment of our independence.

Andrew Matlapeng, who was a police officer in 1966 followed on the podium after Dorah Matthis who had shared with the congregation the experiences of life in the then Bechuanaland Protectorate, or BP as it was commonly referred to back in the days. Ironically, both are from Tlokweng but their testimonies were not on the same subject matter though quite interesting.

Until you have heard firsthand accounts from the people who lived then, one would never fully comprehend the full security circumstances at the time. Matlapeng who still calls himself Commander of the SSG even though he has been on retirement for nothing less than 10 years, speaks of the past with passion and much vigour.

He says at the time of independence he was Officer Commanding at the Mamuno Border post between Botswana and Namibia which was called South West Africa at the time. Our neighbours were still under the yoke of white rule from South Africa since its annexation at the end of the First World War. Matlapeng was faced with multiple tasks at this port of entry.

Not only was he in charge of the police out post made out of the most rudimentary of structures. He was at the same time responsible for coordinating all activities for Customs Excise and Immigration Services. I still wonder if his remuneration was commensurate with his vast responsibilities. But knowing the nature of the disciplined forces, I would not be tempted to believe that he was earning anything better. At a later stage, his responsibilities grew to include running the meteorological station there.

After independence, Matlapeng went to train in England. I want to believe that he presented one of the most confusing curricular vitaes. Unless he did not declare all the responsibilities and roles he had held in his past life.

When I was a young lieutenant at BDF, I always had to contend with the same in my curriculum vitae especially when I was dealing with Americans. The problem had always been with St. Joseph’s College on my CV because in their understanding, college is an equivalence of a tertiary. And they always asked, “What degree did you graduate in at St. Joseph’s college?”

Upon his return from England, Matlapeng’s house in Tlokweng was razed to the ground with a bomb. Fortunately, he had decided to hurry to Francistown, which was his family domain.

According to Matlapeng, Botswana had earned a lot of enemies because of her acceptance of refugees. The countries from which they were fleeing considered Botswana as a nation that harbours terrorists. This was why Matlapeng was targeted because he was very much instrumental in the management of security issues in this country.

For most of his life, he was stationed in Francistown which was the hot seat of our security at the time. Botswana was completely surrounded by hostile countries. South Africa, South West Africa and Rhodesia almost surrounded us. As a country, we had a little breather on that piece of border between us and Zambia. And the Zambians were very sympathetic in a lot of ways.

   Francistown was the epicentre of all refugee activity in Botswana and this was where Matlapeng was stationed as a Commanding Officer. The three hostile neighbours were collaborating in their quest to hit this town. According to him, Francistown was always filled with a stench of raw blood. I don’t wish to have served my country under such difficult circumstances. Even for the BDF then, weapons were as rudimentary as one would imagine. When I hear such testimonies I throw my sympathy on the men that served back in the days.

Botswana was ranked among the poorest in the world and purchasing weapons to defend the country was just luxury. The country had a few donations from our well-wishers in Africa and abroad. China, Algeria, Nigeria and Lesotho were in the list of those who donated arms. These were nothing much because the donations hardly went beyond small arms.

Matlapeng says he has survived three ambushes. I wish I could sit down with him and hear the details. According to him, no other person in this country has that achievement level.

He credits God for all his personal achievements and those of our country. As he is a staunch believer in Jesus, in his words he says; “In everything I did, God was always in the detail.” Our neighbours had thorough intelligence than us. And indeed if God was not in the detail, they would have long taken out Matlapeng

It is a pity that when we celebrate the achievements of our nation, we often care less to remember these heroes. We are so much into crediting our past political leaders and forgetting the very men that kept their security. One hero that comes to mind is Captain Tswaipe. Nothing has been written about him and all that is remaining is just oral history about him.

At the end of the sermon, Rev Samuel Makhaola Jr summed it this way; “Until you hear from people like Matlapeng, you would never come to comprehend that while we slept and enjoyed the peace in the night, others kept watch on us.”