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Neil Parsons Neil Parsons Willie Henderson ThomasTlou With an Epilogue by Mwalimu Julius K. Nyerere Northwestern University Library Evanston, Illinois 60208-2300 DL SERETSE KHAMA 1921-80 Hills, x I~ Nokareng, ZIMBAB NGAMILAND outheir R1 (Tawana Rse've) Maun * Lake Ngami * Orapa Francistown L thakane Thnota DCNTRAL ISTRICT (Ngwato Res e) Seeihkw " CNRLSerowe Moeng CENTRAL Moijabane * Palapye/ KALAHARI Paapye/ GAME Shoshong RESERVE Pl e .i" Kang Kwena Reserve K'gat Lehututue Resefe" ;[[ ~~~~~Molepolole t "'~*. rnva *[ MJwanen AB RONE .,77o Reserve 1-Ngwaketse Reserve Ramnotswa Kandayet (Capey.olonyete Reserve RI RESEk E , ~~~~(Union 0of) - a , ~~AFRICA '.- . Cape Provincerigkof -. S(Cape Colony) Kurumnan 0 100 200 300 kinmI Johd;nn_.,, Pre-Independence detail is shown in brackets. SEREISE KHAMA 1921-80 by Thomas Tlou, Neil Parsons & Willie Henderson with an Epilogue by Mwalimu Julius K. Nyerere MACMILLAN Copyright main text The Authors 1995 Copyright Epilogue Julius K. Nyerere 1995 First published in Botswana by The Botswana Society P O Box 71, Gaborone First Published 1995 Published in South Africa by Macmillan Boleswa P 0 Box 32484, Braamfontein 2017 Illustrations by John Berry Cover design by Robin Stuart-Clarke Cover photograph: Margaret Bourke-White, Life Magazine © Time Warner Inc. ISBN 0 7978 0580 X 6,Ai THE AUTHORS Thomas Tlou, whose research concentrated on the early years of Seretse Khama, is Vice-Chancellor of the University of Botswana and a former diplomat. His books include History of Botswana (Macmillan, 1985). Neil Parsons, whose research concentrated on the middle years of Seretse Khama, is a historian who has taught and researched in Botswana. His books include A New History of Southern Africa (Macmillan, 1982 & 1993). Willie Henderson's research concentrated on the later years of Seretse Khama. He is Senior Lecturer in Continuing Studies at the University of Birmingham and a former development administrator in Botswana. His books include Economics and Language (Routledge, 1993). CONTENTS INTRODUCTION Genealogy A Note on Setswana Words Chronology Illustrations List of Major Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Chapter 4 Chapter 5 Chapter 6 Chapter 7 Chapter 8 Chapter 9 Chapter 10 Chapter 11 Chapter 12 Chapter 13 Chapter 14 Chapter 15 Characters INHERITANCE, 1921-25 CHILDHOOD, 1925-39 MANHOOD, 1940-48 MARRIAGE, 1948-50 BANISHMENT, 1950-52 EXILE, 1952-56 COUNCILLOR, 1956-60 POLITICIAN, 1960-62 PARTY LEADER, 1962-64 PRIME MINISTER, 1965-66 PRESIDENT, 1966-69 STATESMAN, 1969-74 FRONT-LINE LEADER, 1974-76 MIXED FORTUNES, 1976-78 FULL CIRCLE, 1979-80 EPILOGUE by Mwalimu Julius K. Nyerere NOTES & REFERENCES BIBLIOGRAPHY & STATEMENT OF SOURCES INDEX (ix) (xv) (xvii) (xviii) (xix) (xxi) 1 22 44 75 97 122 150 182 203 226 251 283 309 340 370 394 398 439 456 INTRODUCTION The letter that changed history is now one of the prize possessions of the Botswana National Archives. It is an ordinary British airmail letter-form or 'aerogramme', a lightweight blue sheet of paper folded twice and marked 'If anything is enclosed this letter will be sent by ordinary mail.' The letterform is postmarked PADDINGTON W2 9 AM, 13 SEP 1948, and its preprinted sixpenny postage stamp is franked with the slogan 'Save Your Waste Paper for Salvage' - an indication of continuing post-war austerity in Britain. The letter was received by Seretse Khama's uncle, Tshekedi Khama, ten days later at Moeng, a remote village in the Tswapong Hills on the western edge of the Limpopo valley. Perhaps the first thing Tshekedi would have noticed on opening the letter is, written in the top left-hand corner: PS. Leina la gagwe ke Ruth Williams ('P.S. Her name is Ruth Williams'). Seretse Khama was born to rule a traditional kingdom within the British colonial territory known as the Bechuanaland Protectorate (now called Botswana). His father died when he was four years old, and he was proclaimed as the rightful ruler of his Bangwato people. His dominating and immensely energetic young uncle, Tshekedi, became regent until Seretse had grown up and finished his education. But when that letter arrived at Moeng on September 23rd, 1948, Tshekedi Khama set in train the events that were to lead to the disinheritance of Seretse because of his marriage to an English woman. So deep was the affront of the marriage to white male supremacy in Africa, that the British government refused Seretse Khama the right even to live in his home country - exiling him and his wife to Britain. The story of Seretse Khama and Ruth Williams preoccupied the world's press for more than a year. They remained in the spotlight until they began their exile in London in 1950, and were the subject of interest and speculation until 1956 when they were permitted to return home to Bechuanaland. Their romance was seen as the tale of a noble African prince who sacrificed his throne for the love of a smart young English 'office girl'. Besides newspapers they were featured in magazines such as Life and Ebony in the U.S.A., Britain's Picture Post, and the Australian edition of Women's Wear BMekly The story was covered by radio news bulletins and the weekly newsreel reports shown in the cinemas of Britain and the Empire. The politics at the heart of the matter even inspired a stage play, which was banned by England's Lord Chancellor before it could be put on in a London theatre. Realization of the political chicaneries behind Seretse's deposition and exile, in both Britain and South Africa, split the political parties in the Westminster parliament. The furore almost led to the defeat in parliament of the Labour Party government, and it divided the ranks of the opposition Conservative Party in both Lords and Commons. The treatment of Seretse and of his uncle Tshekedi by British governments, first Labour and then Conservative, raised questions about the lack of fundamental human rights in British colonies. Protests at home and abroad drew attention to rising resentment against colonialism overseas and to disquiet in Britain over the growing presence of people of African and Asian ancestry. Seretse and Ruth were the 'human interest story' which aroused the conscience of the West in the 1950s over the issues of racial discrimination and apartheid in southern Africa. The British government had been so craven towards the white regimes of South Africa and Southern Rhodesia, that it had not allowed an African with a European spouse to be a traditional monarch in a neighbouring colonial territory. The marriage of Seretse and Ruth, based as it was on the premise of equality between man and wife, was a shock to white and black traditionalists in southern Africa. It completely overturned common assumptions of the necessary domination of whites and males over blacks and females. But if Seretse and Ruth engendered secret fears in some people, they encouraged hope among others. For example, among 'coloured' people in South Africa, the success of this black-white marriage stood out triumphantly against the new apartheid laws. The laws prohibited not only marriage but all sexual affection between members of supposedly different 'races" and denied the legitimacy of the very existence of millions of people of colour. For women in general in Africa, and especially in Bechuanaland, the new model marriage of Seretse and Ruth could also be seen as a symbol of hope for the future. This was a time when marriage patterns were being eroded by increased male migration from rural areas, to fight in the Second World War and to work in the mines and towns of South Africa and Southern Rhodesia. Women were among the strongest supporters of Seretse Khama among the Bangwato in the early 1950s; and rural women subsequently proved to be the backbone of the electors voting for Seretse Khama's political party in the 1960s and 1970s. After Seretse Khama and his family were allowed back home in 1956, they lived as commoners or private citizens and not as chiefs or royalty. But Seretse found himself increasingly impelled into taking a lead in local and then national politics. Up to this point in his life, Seretse Khama had been in a sense a prisoner of history - though he was a hero in the eyes of many people because he had both stood up and suffered for love and liberty. Now, freed from the constraints of hereditary status, he could realize greater individual potential. If he had wanted to, he could easily have become the paramount chief of the Bangwato after Tshekedi's death in 1959, and all the political parties would probably have nominated him as titular non-executive first President of independent Botswana in the 1960s. But Seretse chose instead to lead a national political party aimed at uniting the whole of Bechuanaland. This led to his becoming Prime Minister in 1965, and executive President of the Republic of Botswana in 1966. The name Seretse Khama became almost synonymous with Botswana in the eyes of the world. For two or three years after independence most outside observers assumed that he would be nothing other than the ineffective leader of an ineffective state - a state which was, for ever, the hostage of its giant white neighbours. But Seretse Khama proved to be the anchor for a great sea-change in government and administration, building up capacity for economic planning at the same time as strengthening parliamentary democracy. Over the quarter century from 1965 onwards, previously impoverished Botswana was to have the fastest economic growth in the world. By the end of the 1960s Botswana became known as a model of 'non-racial democracy within an area of racial hatred and tension ... an effective and serious challenge to the credibility of South Africa's racial policies' - to quote Seretse's own words.