Bunkum and Bugaboos: Boers, Sechele and Dimawe

Every country loves a good story, one that revs up praise of their virtuous (and brave!) citizens past and present and feeds the image that its people together are steeped in a history of cooperation, especially when the ‘chips are down’. I grew up in the US fed on such nonsense and it took some time to shake off the stuff intended to make me feel good and proud as an American and begin to see things for what they were (and continue to be!)

So when I watch accounts such as the above delivered on TikTok to a young, gullible audience (reminding me of my early self), I am naturally irked after having spent lots of years studying Botswana’s past, to witness this sort of bunkum pile up in our history-starved nation. For now I am grateful for the chance to publish here what I consider to be a more truthful version of Dimawe, and to offer evidence readers are unaccustomed to face. I do expect some pushback from devotees of grandiose tales of the past. Heroes perched atop pedestals are hard to bring to earth.