Day 25: Botswana

[Tetro Kornbluth]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Botswana



Noted for being one of Africa's most successful economies and a major producer of diamonds (which make up more than 60% of the value of its exports). It has gone from being one of the poorest countries in the world at independence to a middle income country. It is also (perhaps not coincidentally? But then again consider Somalia) unusually homogeneous for an African country, which about 80% of the country being Tswana in ethnicity and over 90% speaking Setswana, which is an official language in addition to English. The country, formerly the protectorate of Bechuanaland, being mainly a construct from the start for the Tswana people. Despite its good situation, it is mostly desert and is one of the least densely populated countries in the world - only just over 2 million for nearly 600,000 square kilometres. The motto of the county and the currency is pula, which means 'rain' in Setswana, probably telling you something of the nature of the country's environment. Its capital, Gaborone, was basically built from the scratch in the 1960s and based on garden city principles. It, like the rest of the country, is on google street view.

Below is a cartogram of the world's Tswana speakers. There are far more in South Africa than in Botswana, where 4 million people speak it as their mother tongue and many more as a second language. It is the black lingua franca of Pretoria

[TDAS04]

They've done a good job protecting their elephant population, which is a very good thing.

[Zioneer]

Seems like an overall FF of a country, with prosperity, democracy, and peace. Too bad it's too small to affect much outside its borders, and seems to be totally ignored by everyone else.

[politicus]

Seems like an overall FF of a country, with prosperity, democracy, and peace. Too bad it's too small to affect much outside its borders, and seems to be totally ignored by everyone else.

Botswana's reputation as a model democracy mostly rests on how things were in the 20th century. The current President Lt. General Ian Khama, who is the son of founding father Seretse Khama and his British wife, has some authoritarian tendencies and while they still had free and somewhat fair elections in 2014, there were attacks by members of the intelligence service/secret police on opposition and press, abuse of government funds to finance election campaigns and other "unfortunate" incidents. Khama wanted to make his younger brother PM in 2014, which would have made him a shoe in to become the next president and established a pseudo-monarchy, but fortunately that was blocked by the High Court, which demanded it be done by secret ballot, which would have led to a backbencher revolt in his party, so Khama backed down. The country is de facto a one party state because the leftist/liberal/moderate opposition (which got 50% in 2014), insists on running on several lists in a FPTP system (two in 2014, getting 30% and 20% respectively), which combined with the enormous advantages of incumbency in Africa guarantees the (Conservative) Botswana Democratic Party eternal hegemony. This is of course not healthy and leads to entitlement, arrogance and abuse of power as such behaviour doesn't really have any consequences.
Corruption has generally increased in the last decade - and while its lower than anywhere else on mainland Africa it isn't as low as it once was (Botswana has a lower corruption than Italy, which sounds like a low bar, but they are the only mainland African country to have it).

Their wealth rests on diamonds and they have no credible alternatives (tourism isn't enough). They are searching for minerals, but basically once the diamond fields are empty (15-20 years IIRC) they are back to being a poor landlocked desert country. Although with a well educated population.

They treat the San (bushmen) minority quite horribly and have taken their land (among other things for national parks, but also mining). Other minorities are not treated too good either.

So all in all less rosy pictures than normally described, but of course still one of the best African countries in many ways.

Btw Botswana is a major high end safari destination, so it isn't exactly ignored by everyone else

[Antonio the Sixth]

Who the hell bothered to make a world cartogram of Tswana speakers?

Anyway, glad to see they are being so (relatively) successful in spite of the circumstances.

[politicus]

Quality analysis with background about the more sinister sides of BDP rule by Amy Poteete.

http://allafrica.com/stories/201410211490.html

[politicus]

Last weekend President Ian Khama was shouted out by protestors during an election rally at a Bushman eviction camp over government attempts to starve the Bushmen off their land in the Central Kalahari Game Reserve.

The Bushmen demanded that their right to hunt to feed their families be recognized. Ian Khama sits on the board of the big US NGO Conservation International, and has attempted to force the Bushmen out of the reserve in the name of conservation, while simultaneously allowing fracking exploration and diamond mining to go ahead on their land. Not a single conservation organization stood up for the Bushmen's human rights when they were illegally evicted in the name of 'conservation' and they have all turned a blind eye to the diamond mining and fracking exploration. Sigh..

Khama of course refused to address the government's refusal to allow the Bushmen to hunt inside the reserve or the requirement for Bushmen to apply for super restrictive permits to even enter the reserve or the recent opening of a diamond mine on Bushman land..

The BDP government ignored a historic High Court ruling from 2006 which upheld the Bushmen's right to live and hunt inside the Central Kalahari Reserve, when it issued a total ban on hunting earlier this year (not for rich white trophy hunters of course..).

The Bushmen call the eviction camps "places of death". When forced to live a sedentary lifestyle, the old semi-nomadic hunter-gatherers succumb to alcoholism or AIDS, often caused by sexual abuse from police or neighbouring Tswanas.

[Zioneer]

Okay, so Botswana isn't such a great place, but still better than some other nations in the same general area. Good to know.

[Simfan34]

Khama wanted to make his younger brother PM in 2014, which would have made him a shoe in to become the next president and established a pseudo-monarchy, but fortunately that was blocked by the High Court, which demanded it be done by secret ballot, which would have led to a backbencher revolt in his party, so Khama backed down.

Well, Khama, like his father was the paramount chief of his tribe, and the upper house of the legislature is the "House of Chiefs". So they're already somewhat there.

Their economy is almost entirely dependent on diamonds, yes, and their population is tiny. But considering how many mineral-wealthy African countries remain profoundly poor, their success is obviously something that can't be taken for granted. Curiously, until Gaborone came into being, the capital, Mafeking, was actually on the other side of the border in South Africa.

[Nhoj]

Khama wanted to make his younger brother PM in 2014, which would have made him a shoe in to become the next president and established a pseudo-monarchy, but fortunately that was blocked by the High Court, which demanded it be done by secret ballot, which would have led to a backbencher revolt in his party, so Khama backed down.

Well, Khama, like his father was the paramount chief of his tribe, and the upper house of the legislature is the "House of Chiefs". So they're already somewhat there.

Their economy is almost entirely dependent on diamonds, yes, and their population is tiny. But considering how many mineral-wealthy African countries remain profoundly poor, their success is obviously something that can't be taken for granted. Curiously, until Gaborone came into being, the capital, Mafeking, was actually on the other side of the border in South Africa.

Its poverty rate is pretty high at 20% though. Of course im also unsure of what poverty is defined as there.

[Yelnoc]

Home of my favorite football club, Botswana Meat Commission F.C.

[World politics is up Schmitt creek]

Maybe not a great country for BRTD to visit.

[they don't love you like i love you]

I'm pretty sure it's the only African country to have never been under any type of dictatorship or authoritarian regime. A representative democracy from independence to today uninterrupted. Are there any others that achieved that?

[they don't love you like i love you]

Maybe not a great country for BRTD to visit.

I'm actually a pretty big fan of South African hardcore, sounds like they need to spread out a bit.

[Simfan34]

I'm pretty sure it's the only African country to have never been under any type of dictatorship or authoritarian regime. A representative democracy from independence to today uninterrupted. Are there any others that achieved that?

Senegal?