When addressing the Francistown City tourism launch recently, Gaolathe shared the city's rich history, from ancient settlements to its role in liberation struggles, and encouraged the development of heritage walks, eco-tourism, and cultural festivals to boost the local economy. Gaolathe noted that Francistown, though often overlooked, has been a place of human activity for many years.
He said that the city was a key site in Southern Africa's first gold rush and it played a significant role in the region's liberation struggles. "Francistown is a city shaped by gold and labour. It is also a city of conscience," he said, He highlighted its role as a sanctuary for freedom fighters. It carries the echoes of early civilisation, for Kalanga settlement, for trade and movement, for culture and community, long before history was written," he added. Gaolathe indicated that in the 1820s, the Ndebele people passed through this region, as many others had before them, leaving behind layers of interaction and influence that still shape the area today. “In 1867, when gold was discovered along the Tati River, history shifted – not just for Botswana, but for the entire continent,” he continued. He described Francistown as the first gold rush in Southern Africa, before Johannesburg and Witwatersrand. Additionally, he said that before modern mining cities were even imagined, prospectors came from Australia, America, Europe and across Africa, drawn by the promise of opportunity. From that moment, he said that Francistown became a gateway town, a meeting place of worlds – African, global, traditional and modern. “When the gold eventually waned, Francistown did not disappear. It adjusted. It adapted, and once again, it found a way to reinvent itself,” he said. According to the vice president, for decades after that, the city became the beating heart of the Witwatersrand Native Labour Association, WENELA.
