Botho!

The Community Centre in Mochudi in 1965 delivering food for one of its drought relief projects
The Community Centre in Mochudi in 1965 delivering food for one of its drought relief projects

There is probably still a great deal that is not generally known about this country’s modern history. So, this week, I am offering this particular photo in part response to Professor Seekings who remarked in a draft paper on drought relief in this country that the 1960s had been neglected by academic researchers.

Indeed it does seem remarkable that there has been so little interest in van Rensburg’s astonishing efforts in Serowe during that period and to a lesser extent in the achievements in Mochudi.

Professor Seekings, more or less, suggests that drought relief here has always been, without exception, government-run and directed. The exception in Mochudi may have been small scale in terms of the overall national need but in retrospect it was truly heroic.

Editor's Comment
Human rights are sacred

It highlights the need to protect rights such as access to clean water, education, healthcare and freedom of expression.President Duma Boko, rightly honours past interventions from securing a dignified burial for Gaoberekwe Pitseng in the CKGR to promoting linguistic inclusion. Yet, they also expose a critical truth, that a nation cannot sustainably protect its people through ad hoc acts of compassion alone.It is time for both government and the...

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