Which is it: Gantsi or Ghanzi?

| Monday November 28, 2011 00:00

The world over, it is commonplace to find people sharing names. In some cases, even the full name. However, it is not that common to find different places in the same country sharing a name.

But it does happen, and Botswana is no exception. Take, for example, Otse, the picturesque village on the way to Lobatse that hugs Lentswe la Baratani, that famous 'Lovers' Rock' that features in the folklore of the people of Ga-Malete.

While Balete may be content to live in a place also made famous by Moeding College by which the London Missionary Society sought to relocate the remarkable Tiger Kloof to more civilised environs, many of them may not know that another Otse exits. The other Otse lies on the way to Shoshong, that rocky fortress town surrounded by hills that is home to Baphaleng, Bangwato, Batswapong and Bakaa 40 kilometres west of Mahalapye in the Central District.

In similar vein, there is Borolong Village near Francistown and Borolong, the name given to the tribal territory of Barolong that lies between Lobatse, the eastern boundary of the Southern District and South Africa to the eat and south that is famous for high crop yields.

Some are a whole lot more confusing because they also share a number of social and geographical features. Take Phuduhudu, a village located in the north-east part of the Kgalagadi district, in the Kalahari Desert, for example.

It is a Basarwa settlement, and has one primary school. The population was 332 in the 2001 census. But there is another Phuduhudu, in the North-West District, 124 kilometres east of Maun, along the Francistown-Maun highway.

It too is a Basarwa settlement, sits on the mighty Kalahari Desert, has one primary school and its population was 377 in the 2001 census.

And then there is Moshupa of Bakgatla-ba-ga-Mmanaana in the Southern District and Moshopha in Tswapong.

While the names are not exactly identical, a non-native Setswana speaker would be hard put to note the phonetic difference.

Shakwe, which is near Mahalapye, rhymes with Shakawe in north-eastern Botswana that provides the staging post for a visit to world-famed Tsodilo Hills 40 kilometres away or fishing in the Okavango panhandle.

Hearing of the Tswapong villages of Mogapi and Mogapinyana might give the impression of proximity, even contiguity, but the localities are no less than 100 kilometres apart with several hamlets and settlements in between.

For a real mix-up, take Letlhakane near Orapa in the Boteti sub-district, Lotlhakane near Kanye in the Southern District, and the Basarwa town of Letlhakeng near Molepolole. Letlhakane and Lotlhakane mean much the same thing. In one sense, they refer to the adding together of people or things. However, in another sense, the words refer being mixed up in the head. The first 'e' and the first 'o' merely denote slight dialectical differences.

How Letlhakeng attracted the name presents a puzzle because the chances of finding a reed in this parched place would be almost as impossible as drawing water from a rock. 

Puzzles and confusion generated by inconsistent spelling and shared place names have reached a level where something must be done. Mercifully, what could be a beginning has been made.

A representative of Botswana at a workshop organised by the United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names (UNIGEN) at the Oasis Motel in Tlokweng on Thursday, Kgosi Ramokate, has confessed that the sharing of names by villages often results in confusion.

Ramokate noted that sometimes the problem emanated from inconsistency in spelling. 'You will find that a place like Gantsi is also spelled and called Ghanzi,' he said.

Equally confusing are instances in which the same place is referred to by two or more names, especially when the inconsistency found its way into maps, he said.

To illustrate the point, he cited Artesia, which is also known as Mosomane, while Rakops in the Boteti is also called Tsienyane. He might have added Otse in the South East District, which is also referred to as Letsekeleng.

Ramokate said his team had recommended research that would entail a series of meetings with villagers in order to agree on the names that will be officially adopted.

'This is because the naming of villages is done by the villagers themselves,' he noted. 'They know better, hence they should be consulted.'

In addition, Ramokate called for a public education campaign where the Place Names Commission would teach people why it is important to spell names correctly, adding that this would eliminate unnecessary confusion.

'We believe this campaign could also be incorporated in school curricula, from primary school level to tertiary education level,' he said.