Looking back on 50 years of Botswana’s history
Jeff Ramsay, former journalist and commentator, and now civil servant, explains Botswana at 50
Besides being responsible for overseeing public service media institutions and the chief communications co-ordinator for the government of Botswana, Ramsay is a noted authority on the history of the country. He has also written about African politics and media policy and was active as a Botswanabased columnist, commentator and occasional news reporter before joining the public service. going to work in the South African mines.
At the time Sir Ketumile Masire says that it appeared that we were very brave or very foolish. On top of that we were regarded as a de facto Bantustan.
However, one thing we did have at that time was a very cohesive society. We did have these norms that we talk about today and people were not dependent on the state because there was no state to depend on — so we had self reliance within communities. Botswana for the most part has always been a harsh environment for most of its population because rainfall was not very regular.
But self-help and self reliance was real then because people knew how to work together using the norms of
and and an indigenous democracy. So even if we had a western style democracy, the norms were indigenous. We had a tradition of free speech, tolerance and inter-communal cooperation.
But the second step that we took that I think was absolutely crucial, was going for common ownership of the natural resources. We were one of the few countries that did that. Probably we did that because at that time some resources were in the central district from which the president came, but this initiative to ensure that the resources were for the whole country, meant that the other districts could follow this line.
If we had not gone that way and different tribes owned the resources there would have been competition for resources which has led to conflicts in other countries around the world. This has led to severe conflict if not failed states.
Maybe we had already seen what had happened in other countries where the country was torn to pieces in fights over resources.
The first big development was the Shashe river project which included setting up Selebi Phikwe and the Shashe dam and other infrastructure.
We therefore established a tradition, which we hope we will maintain, of prudent use of limited resources. And of course this was continued with the development of the diamond mines.
A lot of people credit your success to diamonds, but you also face the challenge of economic diversification, given that diamonds will not last forever.
By having common control of natural resources such as diamonds and copper, these resources were then used to develop the whole country, and not just the district in which they were found.
But I think Botswana played the diamond game very successfully through the creation of Debswana in the 70s where there exists a 50/50 share between the government of Botswana and De Beers. This is yet another example of visionary leadership where a government managed to forge an unprecedented partnership with a diamond mining multinational for the benefit of its citizens. There were attempts to break the diamond market cartel but we saw the value of maintaining the cartel and we were not passive about this.
Now moving forward, we have continued to move up the ladder. Some might say we should have done this quicker, but bringing aggregation here, cutting and polishing here, and trying to beneficiate — that is really taking it to the next stage.
But these changes have come about in the past 10 years because of changes in technology. Diamond cutting by hand is difficult, but when you
What do you think are the attractions that could lure investors to Botswana?
I think whether we are talking about diamonds or any other investment, we have to realise that the world is changing rapidly. Traditionally we have had a problem because we are landlocked. During the Mogae administration it was often said — you have a good workforce, but you are a thousand kilometres from the sea in any direction. And that is a huge burden.
However we are entering something which we call the fourth industrial revolution which is really the era of digital manufacturing. The diamond industry will be dependent on its digitisation and staying ahead of the technological curve and competing because having diamonds here does not mean anything, as you can have fierce competitors anywhere in the world.
For example the biggest transport company in the world is Uber. What do they own? Nothing!
So in that kind of a world having the resource won’t do it — so we have to compete smart. If we are going to go into leather factories then in my view these should be smart factories. The world is going digital. The Chinese with their 1.3-billion people have perhaps more of an employment problem than any other country and maybe India — but yet they know that if they want to continue to compete, continue to be part of the global economy, [what they have to do]is to stay ahead by embracing the technology.
What legacies have the former leaders left behind?
I often think of Sir Seretse Khama and Sir Ketumile Masire together, They were partners in the administration even before independence and the creation of the BDP party. It was always very much a partnership. It was a good partnership because Seretse had that charisma as well as his royalty, and had the good sense to bring the people along with him.
Sir Ketumile always had the technical knowhow. But I think what they shared was a lot of common sense. And what they both had in common — neither one them pretended to be the “know it all.” They were the type of leaders who are great because they bring good people around them.
Even if we had a western-style democracy, the norms were indigenous