The establishment of the protectorate (part 8)- �Rhodes to Kopong�

The merafe south of the river, e.g. the Batlhaping and Barolong now living in the shadow of British supported white settlers, became part of the “Crown Colony of British Bechuanaland”, which in 1895 was incorporated into the Cape Colony.

The Bechuanaland Protectorate survived north of the Molopo to eventually become Botswana. Decades later the date of the above proclamation was used to mark the late colonial era holiday “Protectorate Day”, which was in 1966 further chosen as the date for our country’s restored independence.