The establishment of the protectorate (part 26) – ‘From Glasgow to Brighton’

From Glasgow in the north to Brighton in the south they criss-crossed Mmamosadinyana’s kingdom, tirelessly pressing their case at each stopover against Botswana’s transfer to the control of Rhodes’ Chartered Company.

One of the larger crowds to greet the Dikgosi was at Brighton where, on a Monday evening (30/9/1895), an audience of some 3,000 jammed into the “Dome” as part of the annual General Assembly of the Congregational Union, which included a special appeal to support the chiefs’ mission. The Dikgosi, themselves, addressed the audience the following afternoon when Sebele once more reportedly “brought the house down” with his by now stock opening remarks linking the Batswana cause to the legacy of Livingstone and the transcendent love of God that “made no difference between black men and white men.