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Civil Aviation and Scheduled Air Services in Colonial Botswana, 1935-1966: a History of Underdevelopment

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Civil Aviation and Scheduled Air Services in Colonial Botswana, 1935-1966: a History of Underdevelopment CIVIL AVIATION AND SCHEDULED AIR SERVICES IN COLONIAL BOTSWANA, 1935-1966: A HISTORY OF UNDERDEVELOPMENT A thesis submitted to the Committee on Graduate Studies in Partial Fulfilment of the Requirements for the Degree of Master of Arts in the Faculty of Arts and Science TRENT UNIVERSITY Peterborough, Ontario, Canada © Copyright by Simon Isaac Bayani 2017 History M.A. Graduate Program May 2017 ABSTRACT Civil Aviation and Scheduled Air Services in Colonial Botswana, 1935-1966: A History of Underdevelopment Simon Isaac Bayani This thesis provides an in-depth and chronological study of the development of civil aviation in the Bechuanaland Protectorate (today’s Botswana), and the role played by the British Government in the development of this form of transport. The thesis argues that Her Majesty’s Government’s neglect and very little interest in its protectorate’s civil aviation represented a form of underdevelopment. The study also reveals the constant contradiction between the neglect of the imperial government and the constant lobbying on the part of colonial administration in the Protectorate for the establishment of an air service. To the colonial administrators, civil aviation represented a symbol of modernity and progress as well as more practical advantages such as mobility. The thesis finally concludes that the Bechuanaland Protectorate’s first airline was established due to growing nationalism both locally and on the continent, at large. The British Government facilitated the establishment of the airline as an attempt to appear benevolent to the protectorate on the eve of independence. ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I am very grateful to my supervisor, Timothy Stapleton, for his guidance and unrelenting demand for quality work throughout the writing of this thesis. He indefatigably reviewed and edited every chapter of this study, providing me with constructive feedback for the betterment of the thesis. I also applaud members of my supervising committee, David Sheinin and Van-Nguyen Marshall for reviewing the final draft of the thesis and pointing out areas of possible improvement. Director of the History M.A Program, Jennine Hurl-Eamon also deserves a pat on the back for the care and support she showed me during my stay in Peterborough. She and her husband Michael Eamon, made my experience at Trent University as well as in Peterborough, a very memorable one. I am also deeply indebted to the staff at the Trent University Bata Library and Inter-Library Loan for providing me with the necessary secondary material to aid my research. Lastly, my thanks and love go out to my siblings, Cynthia, Chipo, Kuda, David and Mandy for their love and support throughout my two years away from home. iii TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT .............................................................................................................................. ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS.................................................................................................... iii CHAPTER 1 ..............................................................................................................................1 INTRODUCTION .....................................................................................................................1 THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK ......................................................................................... 2 LITERATURE REVIEW ...................................................................................................... 6 HISTORICAL BACKGROUND OF AVIATION .............................................................. 13 METHODOLOGY .............................................................................................................. 18 CHAPTER 2 ............................................................................................................................20 THE ESTABLISHMENT OF AIR SERVICES IN THE BECHUANALAND PROTECTORATE: 1935-1940 .............................................................................................20 CHARLES REY AND THE R.A.N.A ................................................................................. 20 NEGOTIATIONS PROVE TO BE FUTILE ....................................................................... 25 UNION GOVERNMENT TO THE RESCUE .................................................................... 36 PROBLEMS WITH THE AIR SERVICE ........................................................................... 55 CONCLUSION .................................................................................................................... 61 CHAPTER 3 ............................................................................................................................63 POST-WAR DEVELOPMENT OF CIVIL AVIATION IN THE PROTECTORATE, 1943-1953 .................................................................................................................................63 STILL IN PURSUIT OF AN AIR SERVICE...................................................................... 63 THE RISE AND DEMISE OF ANOTHER AIR SERVICE ............................................... 74 MORE OFFERS BUT NO AIR SERVICE ......................................................................... 81 THE GHOST OF THE C.A.A. OPERATED SERVICE ..................................................... 89 CONCLUSION .................................................................................................................... 95 CHAPTER 4 ............................................................................................................................97 A GOVERNMENT OWNED AIR SERVICE AMIDST THE WINDS OF CHANGE IN AFRICA, 1956-1966 ................................................................................................................97 AFRICA IN THE 1950s AND 1960s .................................................................................. 98 LAST BID FOR AN OFF TERRITORY AIR SERVICE ................................................. 105 THE FIRST LOCALLY REGISTERED AIR TRANSPORT COMPANY ...................... 113 TOWARDS INDEPENDENCE AND THE PROTECTORATE’S OWN AIRLINE ....... 119 CONCLUSION .................................................................................................................. 125 CONCLUSION .....................................................................................................................127 BIBLIOGRAPHY .................................................................................................................130 iv CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION Air services in the Bechuanaland Protectorate (today’s Botswana) began in the 1930s when the British colonial government was making attempts to keep up with the development of civil aviation in Africa. The main use for aircraft at this point was to transport mail and colonial officials. Colonial powers however were at this stage using military aviation to maintain control of African territories and suppress rebellions. At the same time these powers were also using civil aviation and their newly formed airlines as a tool of consolidating their presence in the colonies. In the 1920s, imperialism had been at its apogee and imperial communication and transport, together with economic exploitation was its main emphasis. This meant that if empires were to be maintained, there needed to be swifter and more frequent communication between the colonies and the mother countries. Robert McCormack has therefore argued that it was for this reason that air transport was added to the process of empire-building and colonial rule in Africa. McCormack continues by stating that, as a tool of colonial development, aviation was the ideal response to Africa’s dire need for improved communications and transport. Moreover, Africa was vast and transport infrastructure such as rail and road was limited. Air transport was therefore intended to play an important role in the colonial world of Africa, and this role became evident in the frequent air activities in the years before the Second World War.1 Given these assertions by McCormack, the thesis intends to trace the genesis of air services in the Bechuanaland Protectorate. The thesis also aims at scrutinizing the 1 R McCormack, “Airlines and Empires: Great Britain and the ‘Scramble for Africa’, 1919-1939,” Canadian Journal of African Studies, 10. No. 1, (1976): 88. 1 British Government’s seemingly ambivalent attitude towards the establishment of an air service in the Bechuanaland Protectorate. For over two decades, the British Government was reluctant to establish air services that would be fully owned by the Protectorate, but rather, tenders would be given out to private flying companies in the Southern African region to run scheduled air services in the Protectorate. The thesis therefore seeks to establish the reasons for this and also find out what led to the British Government’s decision to establish a national air service for Bechuanaland towards independence in 1966. Post World War II developments in international aviation will also be examined, and their effect on civil aviation in the Protectorate established. Since air services in the Protectorate initially served the purpose of transporting airmail and colonial officers, the thesis intends to establish the point at which air services became available to the general public. THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK In understanding the genesis and development of civil aviation and air services in the Bechuanaland Protectorate, this thesis will use theories of development and underdevelopment
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