Botswana's 1918 Pandemic :: Mmegi Online

So far at least the ongoing COVID-19 crisis has not matched the degree of destruction caused by last century’s worst pandemic - the 1918 Influenza which globally infected about 500 million people, or over a quarter of the world’s population then numbering just over 1.8 billion.

Locally referred to by such names as “Leroborobo”, “Semagamaga” and “Driedag” (Afrikaans for ‘three days’ being the time it was said for the afflicted to either die or recover), estimates of its ultimate death toll range from 17 to 100 million, with the figure of 50 million being most commonly accepted.

With about half of its then just over six million people afflicted, as well as some 500,000 deaths, The Union of South Africa, whose statistics then included the High Commission Territories of Basutoland, Bechuanaland and Swaziland, was amongst the world’s most heavily impacted jurisdictions.

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Botswana's 1918 Pandemic

So far at least the ongoing COVID-19 crisis has not matched the degree of destruction caused by last century’s worst pandemic - the 1918 Influenza which globally infected about 500 million people, or over a quarter of the world’s population then numbering just over 1.8 billion.

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