Ghanzi In History (Part 7) - Indigenous Resistance

As we saw in our last instalment by the 1930s Rhode’s marketing dream of creating a white settler colony in Ghanzi had become a financial and social challenger for the impoverished Bechuanaland Protectorate administration.

As the frustrated Resident Commissioner Charles Rey noted: “They can’t see that if they don’t start new industries they will starve, as there is no market for their cattle and the government can’t go on feeding them. As it is we are feeding 90% of the Ghanzi [European] population.”

Notwithstanding their own impoverishment the white farmers also looked to Mahikeng’s support to bring in more settlers, while helping them turn the Ghanzi Crownland’s local Khoe [Basarwa] as landless farm labourers.

Editor's Comment
Inspect the voters' roll!

The recent disclosure by the IEC that 2,513 registrations have been turned down due to various irregularities should prompt all Batswana to meticulously review the voters' rolls and address concerns about rejected registrations.The disparities flagged by the IEC are troubling and emphasise the significance of rigorous voter registration processes.Out of the rejected registrations, 29 individuals were disqualified due to non-existent Omang...

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