Pula: Botswana Journal of African Studies, vol. 13, nos. 1 & 2 (1999)
The Zionist village of Lentswe-Ie-Moriti (1999)
 Cheneso Maphorisa
 The Zion Christian Church was introduced in the Kgatleng as part of a political struggle, but
quickly became a genuine religious body. Expelled from the Kgatleng in 1947, the Zionists
sought a place of their own and in 1953 founded their own village at Lentswe-le-Montl. Despite
initially difficult relations with neighbouring settler farmers, the village has established Itself
while preserving a strong religious identity. Relations with neighbouring BaBirwa have been
cemented by the establishment of a state school in the village serving both communities. The
village has resisted attempts to assimilate it to more normal Botswana administration (for
instance by introducing a headman).
Introduction
Presently there is available to the reader a number of books and articles on African
Independent Churches (AICs) in Southern Africa. Bengt Sundkler's pioneering Bantu
Prophets in South Africa (1948) laid the foundation on which almost all subsequent
studies have been built. 1 Sundkler distinguished between Zionist and Ethiopian types
of Independent churches. Ethiopian churches only stressed the Africanisation of the
leadership of the church and not the Africanisation of its ritual and theology. On the
other hand the Zionist churches stressed the work of the Holy Spirit (in healing,
prophecy, dreams and visions) which accommodated traditional African culture and
religion. Sundkler's approach inspired scholars to debate the aspect of the causes of the
proliferation of AICs. He himself asserted that 'independency' especially Zionism has
to be seen as an organised Black reaction to White political dominance.2 This assertion
can no longer explain the growth of the contemporary religious movements in
Southern Africa. Recent studies have shown that radical changes have occurred in the
cultural environment within which the independent church movement used to be
          3
situated. This explains why some scholars view Zionism as a collective response to
urban poverty. And not only has colonialism disappeared, but also we have seen in
South Africa itself the official demise of the apartheid system which used to be seen as
a major causal factor for the rise of break-away churches.4
      Much has also been written about the persecution of AICs including their leaders.
These people and their followers had to migrate from place to place and were often
                               5
arrested by colonial rulers. Consequently, some churches have founded their own new
villages as Isiah Shembe's Ekuphukamene and Engenas Lekganyane's Zion City
                             6
Morija in South Africa. This also happened in Zambia where the Jehovah's Witnesses
religious movement persuaded people to set up independent settlements at farms.7 The
people decided to live without recognised headmen. The establishment of African
religious villages may, in this respect, be interpreted as one of the aims of forming
AICs. This means that the formation of these churches is also based on cultural factors
rather. than sim~l~ o~ ra~ial conflict. Hence James Amanze says that Africans need to
expenence ChristianIty ill the context of African culture.8 Amanze follows the view
that AICs also exist in their own right as Christian missions that have responded to the
ca~l.of God. He argues that in Botswana, their formation and spread is attributed to
spIn~al h~ger and social factors which include faith healing, prophecy, worshipping
God ill African ways and preserving certain aspects of Tswana culture.
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      Another theme, which has widely captured the attention of many writers, is the
 increasing ~portance of ,:omen:s public r~le in .reli~ious. activities. Jules-Rosette's
 book contams comprehensIVe artlcles on thiS subject, notIng that women and their
 ministry have always been in the forefront in the AICs. But there is little analysis
 provided to explain why women are often excluded from senior positions of
 leadership. Fortlmately, R.J.Cazziol has recently attempted to fill this research gap. to
 His paper inquires into the reasons why women are often excluded from senior
 positions whereas the strength of most AICs comes from their membership. Cazziol
 argues that in Swaziland, for instance, opposition to the ordination of women is not
 exclusively male. Many women oppose it as well.
      No doubt these approaches are crucial in our current understanding and
 interpretation of Ales. But it is also crucial that anthropologists, sociologists, and
 historians particularly should conduct studies of AIC villages. To date, something has
been done on Tswana Christian villages. Paul Landau's book, which deals with the
 main northern Tswana polity of Ngwato, is an outstanding addition to literature on
 Christianity among the Tswana. I I It gives us one of the best case studies of a Christian
 village. The focus is on Lerala village in the Tswapong hills. Lerala's Christianity has
 succumbed to the growth of break-away churches since the latter 1940s. Landau agrees
that it would be wrong to depict this late twentieth-century proliferation of AICs only
as a process in which Africans rid themselves from white Missionary control. He
affIrms that Spiritual communities of AICs offer a place of "belonging," and help to
defme their members' sense of identity. Landau also gives close attention to the
distinctive role of women in these churches.
      However, it must come as a surprise to readers that there are very few published or
unpublished studies on villages specifically founded and controlled by religious
communities. Research work that gave birth to this study has discovered only one
study of an AIC village in Zimbabwe. This is the Vapostori village whose historical
origin and development is somewhat similar to the village the present study
discusses.12 The study of the Metlobo settlement in the Ngwaketse District of
Botswana does not provide a suffIcient case study of an AIC village, though it is a
useful pioneering study. 13.
      The present study is a detailed history of the Zionist village of Lentswe-le-Moriti
in Eastern Botswana. Lentswe-le-Moriti, which is also a farm, is situated in the
northern comer of the Tuli Block farms which until independence were largely white
owned. This farm is one of the earliest farms to be bought in the Tuli Block by
Africans during the colonial period. It is adjacent to where the Limpopo/Motloutsi
River divides the Transvaal in South Africa and Botswana. Mashathu Game Reserve,
Talana farms and the Tuli Lodge are situated next to the village. This village remains a
neglected area of study despite its uniqueness which serves as a 'living testimony' of a
history of a bitter relation between religion and the state in the then Bechuanaland
Protectorate. Today this relationship has improved, but it is still crucial to the future of
this village in more ways than one ..
      Scanty but useful material on Lentswe-le-Moriti is found in the Botswana.NatIo.nal
Archives in the form of colonial correspondence and reports. Unfortunatel~ It depiCts
the Zionist settlement in a somewhat obscure and sketchy manner. It mcorrectly
assumes that 'Zionists at Lentswe-Ie-Moriti are exclusively Bakgatla who moved from
Mochudi.'14 Many scholars who in their studies ment~o.nL.entswe-~e-Moriti.inpassing
also hold this mistaken view. Yet there are other famIlIes m the Village which ~e n?t
Kgatla by origin. The archival material is useful though it leaves much to be deSIred m
                                            109


 the history of Lentswe-le-Moriti especially the events between 1966 and 1980. It must
 be noted that in writing this paper some important archival infonnation may have been
 missed. Authentic sources state that there are some missing files on the subject, which
 have been pulled out by government since independence. The possible reason is that
 they may be carrying delicate information since Zionism was considered a subverSIve
 movement in the colonial period ..
      Literature provided by scholarship on the history of Eastern Botswana and the Tuh
 Block in particular, only focuses on other subjects thereby making the history of the
 Zionists a neglected area of scholarly investigation.IS The scholars generally discuss
 the proximity of the Bobirwa region to the Tub Block farms as indispensable in the
 economic enterprise of eastern Botswana. As such, they emphasise issues of labour
 recruitment! provision, labour conditions and reasons explaining why people bought
 farms in the Tuli Block. The general agreement is that freehold farms were bought for
 crop production, cattle industry and game hunting. Those who have studied the history
 ofBabirwa, Sekgwama in particular, focus on the socio-economic and political impact
 of the Ngwato rule on Babirwa after they were effectively incorporated into the
                           16
Ngwato State in 1920. Sekgwama notes some of the activities of missionary
 Christianity among the Babirwa which followed this conquest (female initiation, male
 circumcision and some aspects of the Birwa traditional religion were abolished).
 Landau also adds to this point by arguing that in Bobonong, laws such as the
 prohibition of Tswana beer, marriage rules, and hut taxes were taken seriously and
 were enforced by Modisaotsile.17 Sekgwama himself neglects the fact that after 1960,
 many Babirwa who stay next to Lentswe-Ie-Moriti started to join Zionism and
 abandoned the London Missionary Society. It is this new religion which is explained in
 this paper because of the contrasts that it brought in the region.
      This paper is a departure from the earlier works in that it clarifies the fact that
 there is a farm in Tuli Block which was bought for religious rather than farming
 purposes. It is also a departure from the tendency to explain the events that preceded
 the eventual occupation of Lentswe-Ie-Moriti.18 The study treats 1953 as a crucial date
 because it marked a turning point in the history of the Zionists in Bobirwa/ Tuli Block
 area. Its impact among Babirwa is also a factor that this study takes into serious
 consideration.
      In field work, a survey was carried out for at least nine weeks and 48 people were
 interviewed. An open ended questionnaire was administered each time a respondent or
group ~f respondents was interviewed. The questionnaire carried questions concerning
the SOClo-economicand political aspects of Lentswe-Ie-Moriti. Sometimes respondents
were visited more than once to verify certain issues. It is likely that some inf0f!Ilation
was concealed because some things can only be said after the approval of Engenas
Lekganyane, the bishop of the Church in South Africa. Most selected respondents were
members of the original Zionist expedition to Lentswe-Ie-Moriti. Hence the knowledge
they. shared is invaluable to the production of this study. The Zionists themselves
dommated the sample size but interviews in Ramotswa and Mochudi were also carried
out to determine the factors that led to the Zionists' expedition. Babirwa living near
~entswe-~e-M~riti w~re. interviewed to determine their relationship to the Zionists
sm~e then: arnval. ZlODlStmigrant workers (they were reached through referrals by
theIT relatIv~s), a few government officials, and workers in the village were either
formally or mfonnally interviewed.
      This study has been divided into four parts. It is concerned mainly with the period
between 1953 and 1980. The fITstis an appraisal of the politics of the establishment of
                                              110


 the Zion Christian Church (ZCC) in Bechuanaland Protectorate. This part analyses the
 politico-religious dynamics which were to form the basis of the subsequent emergence
 of Lentswe-le-Moriti. The second part traces the interaction and conflict that followed
 the arrival of Zionists in Bobirwa/Tuli Block area. It includes an assessment
 concerning provision of labour for both the Babirwa and the Boer farmers by the
 Zionists, competition over wildlife, and survival in a new territory.
      The object of the third part is to explore the origin, obstacles and role of the
 development of Lentswe-le-Moriti school. The transformation of this school from a
private one into a state school is closely examined. This part will shed light on what
may be treated as the social consequences of the evolution of Lentswe-le-Moriti school
 in Eastern Botswana. The fourth and fmal part will focus on issues characterising post
 independence developments in Lentswe-le-Moriti. Attention will be paid to the
elections of 1965, the impact of independence and socio-political changes that
occurred with particular reference to the Zionists. The fourth part ends by investigating
questions that surround the absence of bogosi (headmanship). It also attempts to give
reasons explaining the lack of development activities in the village. The year 1980 is
this study's terminal date because it marked a break of debate between government and
Zionists on the issue of bogosi.
The establishment of the ZCC in the Protectorate
Religion and politics in the history of Botswana is the thrust of this chapter. It begins
by tracing the origins and growth of the ZCC in the Bechuanaland Protectorate. The
aim is to show how Tswana dikgosi (Chiefs), the colonial administration, the
missionaries and the ZCC inter-acted particularly in Mochudi. The Chapter examines
the sources of opposition to the establishment of the Church and of course other
African Independent Churches in general. It will be established that the dikgosi and
missionaries were opposed to the ZCc. The colonial administration also allowed the
dikgosi to persecute the ZCC thereby hindering the growth and spread of any
Independent church in the country. The chapter ends by showing how Mazioni
(Zionists) after experiencing persecution and banishment from the 'Reserves', finally
acquired a farm in the Tuli Block.19 This is the farm, which became their permanent
home. It will be pointed out that the problems involved in the acquisition of this farm
can be best understood against the background of the land policies of the time, which
favoured Europeans at the expense of Africans.
      Bishop Engenas Barnabas Lekganyane of Pietersburg in South Africa started the
ZCC in 1924. It then grew into Botswana during the latter part of the 1930s. The sp~k,
which gave rise to the Church in Bechuanaland Protectorate, was lit by the suspension
of kgosi (Chief) Molefi by the administration. The Dutch Reformed Church (DRC) had
influenced the administration to take this action. And the supporters of the new
religion were against Isang, the new kgosi. In 1937 Zionism therefore started in
Mochudi as a 'political movement' -called Ipe/egeng-a~g                to sec~re Molefi's
reinstatement as KgatJa kgosi.20 In 1938 the Ipe/egengchanged .Itsappell~~on to that of
the ZCC in order to pursue its political intrigues under the guise o~ rehglon. ~lefala
Motsisi, a former migrant labourer in South Africa, and Bogatsu Dmtwe received the
blessing of the leader of the Zion Christian Church, Lekga.nyane~to start a ZC~
congregation. Upon its inception, some royalist members. ~clu~mg Moh~gadl
Seingwaeng, Molefi's mother, and BakgatJa Pilane, his uncle, Jomed It. BakgatJa Pdane
was later to become minister of the congregation following the death of Rev. Motsl~1
Ralefala in 1945. Morton afftrms that though Seingwaeng could not occupy thiS
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position, she still was a pillar of Zionism.2\ It seems that the involvement of some
royal members attracted a larger following among the Bakgatla ...
      The establishment of the ZCC in Mochudi was apparently a dIrect OpposIte of the
inception of the Ethiopian church in Kanye which was 'used as a vehicle for opposing
the ruling kgosi Bathoen,?2 While the former agitated for the reinstatement of the kgosi
the latter conversely argued for the removal of the then traditional leadership. The only
similarity is that each of these parties involved some members of the ruling dynasty. It
is perhaps more against this background of political intrigues within these Tswana
Chiefdoms that one may justly reject the conventional wisdom that anti-white and
'Africa for the Africans' feelings are universal grounds for the formation of
Independent churches. In Lubinda's words Tswana cases were linked up with
traditional politics and the element of White-black confrontation is secondary.23 The
reason may be that in Botswana there were not many whites as was the case in
countries like South Africa and Zimbabwe. As already stated at the outset, Sundkler's
 generalisation to the effect that the racial issue is at the centre of Zionist and Ethiopian
 Churches formation is therefore not the only factor.
      The formation of the ZCC in Kgatleng comparatively differed with the formation
 of the Church elsewhere in the protectorate. Among other Tswana ethnic groups the
 Church was formed independently of royalist politics.24 By and large the Church came
 tlrrough poor migrant labourers who learnt of it in South Africa where it originated. It
 then grew because of the healing service it rendered. In light of this evidence it is most
 likely that in most chiefdoms the origin of the church was largely apolitical. Both the
 white-black confrontation and the struggle between the administration and the dikgosi
 did not prompt the birth of the Church. It was therefore only in the wake of the
 Church's inception that the administration and the dikgoSI'S influence came to the fore.
      The establishment of AICs was generally not appealing to the polities of the time.
 In fact the laws of the country did not provide for the registration of Independent
 churches.25 There was consequently a countrywide protest against Zionism by several
 dikgosi who felt Zionists defied their authority. For example, kgosi Kgari Sechele who
 was installed in 1935 by the British against the Bakwena's wishes was disturbed by the
 growing interest in Independent churches, especially the ZCe.26 The reaction of
 Bakwena towards the administration was very similar to that of the Bakgatla whose
 kgosi Molefi was deposed in 1937 by the administration for various administrative
 wrongs. As such, those candidates for bogosi who the administration installed were not
 always accepted by their subjects. This always polarised Tswana chiefdoms. The
 polarity resulted in political factions comprising individuals who shared a common
 interest, ideology, or relationship to other individuals as was typified in the case of
 Kgatla Zionism.27
       In Kanye and of course Mochudi, the dikgosi opposed the ZCC by arguing that the
 Zionists divided their people and did not attend tribal duties. There was also an outcry
 against the general refusal of the AICs to allow their members to consult western
 doctors and attend medical hospitals. This was not peculiar to Bechuanaland. In
 Zululand, for instance, chiefs also believed that Zionists disturbed the community life
              28
 of the tribe. It would appear that the Bechuanaland Protectorate administration also
 frowned at the ZCe. Traditional leadership was effectively used by the colonial
 administration to thwart the development of AICs. The ZCC was conceived as a
 challenge to the administration, especially as its establishment in Mochudi was
 premised on challenging the decision of the administration. Jean Comaroff also argues
                                               112


that t~e ability to win a population of multitudes across South Africa by the ZCC-
even Iffor bona fide religious purposes-was extremely threatening to the state.29
      The Mission Churches were also not happy with Zionism in Bechuanaland. They
viewed AICs with serious hostility. They also influenced the dikgosi and the
administration to take measures against these churches. Their argument, particularly
among the Bakwena and Bakgatla, was based on the feeling that the ZCC poached
their membership. However people voluntarily joined Zionism. After the Second
World War, Mission Churches therefore increasingly lost members to the Zionists.30
      The tendency to repulse AICs especially by the dikgosi was not a novel practice. It
did not begin with the AICs. When Christianity frrst came into Bechuanaland and to
most parts of Southern African, reaction to it was initially negative. But interestingly
and not surprisingly, Mission Churches were later accepted as official 'state' religion in
the 'Reserves'. This was despite the fact that they attacked many Tswana practices and
customs such as bogwera (male initiation), bojale (female initiation) and rainmaking.
Independent churches were also denied church sites. For example, the Spiritual
Healing Church was denied permission to build a church in the Bamangwato Reserve
by the Ngwato rulers in the early 1950s.31This course was challenged by the Zionists
who protested about the ecclesiastical monopoly of the London Missionary Society
(LMS) in Gammangwato. However, Seretse Khama is said to have asserted that
Mission Churches 'respect' Tswana law and custom, and they were not like Zionists
who were ruled by 'spirits' and drank ash and water and who disobeyed the law.32 This
was incorrect. Most Mission Churches discredited Tswana law, and if the ZCC
philosophy defied Tswana law and custom, the both parties deserved equal rejection. It
is logical to assume that Mission Churches appeased the dikgosi by building schools
and hospitals. This, together with the administration's support, gave them an advantage
over the AICs. However, it would appear that some Batswana voluntarily joined the
Mission Churches. As Landau points out, the Word of God was spread because of
spiritual hunger. Small villages within the Ngwato District asked for preachers from
Serowe to come and begin church services.
      The persecution of the Zionists ultimately culminated in their banishment from the
Reserves especially in the Southern part of the protectorate. On his return from the
Second World War, Molefi declared himself in favour of 'freedom' of worship but
announced that the DRC was to be the only church in Kgatleng. The ZCC was to be
eradicated. In 1947, Queen Seingwaeng was beaten in public by her son Molefi, for
refusing to abandon Zionism. Bakgatla Pilane, Sebele Motsisi and Sephitse Tau were
also among the Zionists convicted by kgosi Molefi. Some Zionists were sentenced to
two years imprisonment with hard labour.33 Molefi betrayed the Zionists who had
rallied behind him during his suspension. He did this in order to appease the
administration so he could be reinstated as the Kgatla kgosi. Apparently the
administration entertained Molefi's decision. The Government Secretary merely
                                                                     34
emphasised that the ZCC was more political than religious. In this way he
deliberately and not surprisingly overlooked me fact that even the DRC was taking a
political course by inciting me administration to suspend Molefi.
      As a result, in 1947 Bakgatla Zionists were ordered to leave the Bakgatla Reserve.
An inquiry was held in the same year to determine the circumstances that led to the
banishment.35 Unfortunately the Zionists were not represented. The Commission
became an affair between Molefi and the administration. The Zionists were naturally
disfavoured by the findings. of the. Co~ssion:36           Acco~di~g to Schaper~, ~e
administration could intervene If the dlkgoSI took actIOnsthat It dId not approve. ThIS
                                            113


is because in the fmal analysis the laws and authority of the colonisers were pre-
eminent. The fact that the administration did not modify Molefi's banishment order
attests to its approval. The administration simply did not want the church as already
argued. This also explains why at a meeting held in 1947 between the Zionists and
Molefi, prior to the banishment order, Mr Alastair Macrae, the then District
Commissioner in Mochudi, is said to have told the Zionists that 'the door is closed but
not yet locked.'38 This statement was intimidating to the Zionists. The Zionists were
either to abandon their Zionism or face banishment. As the Zionists refused to abandon
their religion they were immediately exiled. This practice was not new. Because of
conflict between kgosi Bathoen Gaseitsewe and Mothowagae Motlogelwa, the latter
and his followers were unceremoniously banished to Lekgolobotlo, an undesirable part
of the chiefdom in 1910. Motlogelwa's group was seen as subversive and threatening
the unity of the tribe.
      The Bakgatla Zionists were initially banished to Metsimotlhabe in the Bakgatla
Reserve in November 1947. Kgosi Molefi believed that hunger and starvation would
persuade the Zionists to abandon their Church in this small dry land. As this failed the
Zionists were forced to move to Gaborone railway station in June 1949. Here an old
man, an old woman and two children died of exposure to the winter.39 In the same year
Bakgatla Zionists were joined by Zionists from other Southern Reserves. The new
population comprised Balete, Bakwena and Barolong. Bakgatla Zionists remained the
dominant group. It is notable that the non-Bakgatla Zionists did not leave their
Reserves entirely out of their own volition. The administration, Mission Churches and
the dikgosi harassed and rejected them. For instance, kgosi Mokgosi III was very much
opposed to Zionism in Ramotswa.4o Followers of the ZCC, including Dihutshane
Mosienyane and Johannes Kobe, were beaten up in public for refusal to abandon their
Church. Those who claimed to have left the Church were forced to eat pork, which in
tradition was forbidden by Zionism.
       The moment of succession to leadership is a critical event in the maintenance and
change of any political system as it tests the extent to which a population accepts the
                         41
right of rulers to rule. This is not peculiar to political systems. Whilst the Zionists
were at Gaborone, the mother Church in South Africa split because of succession
disputes following the death of its founder and leader Bishop Engenas Barnabas
                         42
Lekganyane in 1948. This division affected the life of the Church in Botswana,
which was simultaneously facing its particular turmoil. This section of Batswana
Zionists joined the section of the Church that recognised Joseph Lekganyane, the
younger son, as the rightful successor in accordance with the prophecy made by his
father. Divine selection is what they considered rather than secular rules of inheritance.
They adopted the dove as their emblem and became the St. Engenas ZCC, which is
today the only Church in Lentswe-Le-Moriti.43
        These Batswana Zionists were landless. We cannot understand how the Zionists
acquired land without recourse to the land policies of the time. After the demarcation
 of tribal reserves in 1894 and the alienation of other land to European settlers since
 1905, it became more difficult for large groups to move away and become independent
 'tribes' with their own territories.44 Sundkler asserts that in South Africa too the Native
 Land. Act of 191~ had made it impossible for 'Natives' either individu;lly or as a
 syndIcate to acquIre land. The Zionist group in Bechuanaland found itself in this
 situation.
       In. ~e fIrst place they were denied the right to settle within 'tribal land' by the
 authontIes. By the same token their quest for land worried European farmers who did
                                              114


not want blacks on or near their farms. In August 1949 Mr Coulson, their Zeerust
lawyer, tried to buy land for them in Gaborone Block, but was frustrated by objections
raised by European farmers there. The rejection was based on the proclamations that
had deliberately settled the Africans into the Reserves and whites into frontier lands.
Also the Zionists were barred by the administration from settling within the Crown
lands in the railway strip which in principle-not practice-'could even be sold or
leased to those natives who had advanced so far that they were not satisfied to continue
living under tribal conditions,.45This evidence suggests that Maruatona's general claim
that Batswana did not respond to the call to buy farms46 is unconvincing: it does not
take into account the factors that prevented Africans from buying land in their own
country.
      In 1950, the Zionists further migrated and settled in Hildavale near Lobatse in a
certain Mr Familion's farm. Mr Familion, though sympathetic to the Zionists' plight,
also saw them as a source of cheap labour. Here in the Lobatse Block the poor Zionists
eked out an existence as underpaid employees. Some of them died of smalIpox.
Meanwhile the Zionists pursued their search for a better place to live in. It was only in
1952 that Mr Coulson found a remedy by finding land for the Zionists.47 Three
thousand morgen of the northern Tuli Block in the Eastern comer of the protectorate
was sold for £7000 to the Reverend Joseph Lekganyane as head of and representative
of the ZCC by Carel Van Heerden and Philip Wonter Roos. BakgatIa PiIane, the
Zionists' moruti (Church minister), and Albert Mabusa were the witnesses to the deed
of sale. It seems the farm was sold because irrigation appeared to be remote and the
soil was infertile and stony.48
      Sundkler maintains that Lekganyane had no difficulty in securing the cash for
buying considerable farms where he could let hundreds of his folIowers settle down,
forming Zionist colonies owned by the Prophet himself.49Engenas Lekganyane's ZCC
has developed into the largest indigenous church in South Africa, financially self-
reliant and exceptionally strong. Therefore Church funds bought farms, provided loans
to business people to build shops run by the Church, and bought gifts for secular
authorities. 50This is how Lekganyane, through Mr Coulson, acquired Zionist farms in
Bechuanaland-notably         Lentswe-le-Moriti (Shady Rock) or Loenza-la-Moridi as
rendered by the colonial records.
      It is in the light of the preceding developments that the Zionists at Lentswe-Ie-
Moriti saw and still see Lekganyane as their black Moses-figure who liberated them
from their painful sufferings. This is the suffering that even made them name their
truck Matlhomoleng (grieving).51 Matlhomoleng transported the Zionists to their farm
in the course of their turmoil. On their journey to their new home they first stayed for
two weeks in Mahalapye as they could not cross the flowing rivers. They later
proceeded to Sefhare where they spent some time obtaining food by working in the
fields of Batswapong. Oral traditions indicate that here the Zionists were joined by
some few Tswapong people from Sefhare who also loved their Church for its healing
services. As Landau suggests, many Tswapong villages including Lerala, Ratholo and
Sefhare had already experienced the growth of AICs. In Ratholo there was the Spiritual
Healing Church of Rev. Mokaleng. So the Zionists' arrival in the area did not mark the
beginning of AIC Movement there. Perhaps i.t ~creased th~ .love o.f Zionism by the
local people. In 1953, a population of 312 ZlODlSts,compnsmg chIldren and adul~,
settled at Lentswe-Ie-Moriti (some 460 kms from Bakgatla Reserve). Some of thetr
colleagues had died whilst they were camped at Gaborone and Hildavale. Bakgatla
                                            115


Pilane was in charge of the party. They had no cattle or considerable property.52
Clearly, life was not going to be easy for the Zionists in Tuli Block.
The arrival of the Zionists in the Tull Block
The arrival of the Zionists in the Bobirwa/Tuli Block area was not without conflict and
rejection. The area was on the one hand inhabited by a mixed farming community of
the Babirwa, and on the other by the Boers of the Tuli Block. The Zionists were
therefore squeezed between a settler community involved in game hunting and cattle
keeping, and the mixed farming community of Babirwa. The situation of the Zionists
was not helped by the fact that they, like the Boer settlers, occupied freehold territory.
Their farm was not clearly demarcated or fenced, and they were seen by the Boer
settlers as competitors. More importantly, though surprisingly, the colonial
administration appeared to support the Boer settler community against the interests of
the Zionists and the Babirwa communities.
      The conflict and rejection surrounding the Zionists' arrival in Tuli Block can best
be traced against the transformation of the conditions of land tenure in Bechuanaland
Protectorate beginning from 1905. This was the period when some tribal land was
alienated to European settlers. In this way the Tuli became a European farming area.
After the Second World War, however, the BSAC sold the land cheaply. Occasionally
buyers were people who wanted the land as no more than shooting ground. This was
due to the considerable herds of game that came to the Limpopo River to drink. Apart
from a very few long established English speaking settlers, the majority of land holders
were Afrikaners from the Transvaal. Some of them, indeed, continued to live in the
 Transvaal. Boer farmers were largely game hunters and cattle keepers in isolated
 farms.
       It was evident that the white community of Boer farmers was going to be hostile to
 the black community of Zionists. Even as early as the days of the BSAC, it was clear
 that white farmers were generally not ready to accommodate black communities. After
 the eviction of Babirwa in 1920 the BSAC ruled that whoever returned to the Tuli
 Block was to live under a white 'land owner,.53 The white settlers did not wish to
 compete in any sphere with the Africans. When the Boer farmers started to occupy the
 land, they inherited the same culture, and by 1952 it was obvious that local Boer
 farmers were opposed to the establishment of the Zionist settlement in Tuli Block.
 They did not want an autonomous black community owning land independently of
 white control. From the Tuli Block farmers' point of view, the coming of Zionists was
 in itself an encroachment by Africans upon European Reserves.54 Similarly, Sundkler
 notes that in South Africa, the Zionist settlements became what were termed 'Black
  Spots in European areas'.
       The Boers argued that insofar as the Africans were an 'inferior' race to the whites
  it was an offence before the Law and the Lord for the two to share the same territory.
 They requested the then District Commissioner to repatriate the Zionists.55 Their chief
 pretext was that the Zionists were frightening game from their farms. They also
  claimed that this group of Africans was spoiling the appearance of the game farms and
  the white area in general. (Similarly the Afrikaner farmers in the Ghanzi Block
  petitioned the government against the large number of Bakgalagadi at Kalkfontein and
  suggested their remova1.56
        The Boers had ulterior motives. First, there was racial prejudice, but secondly and
  perhaps more importantly, the Boers feared that the presence of Zionists near their
                                              116


farms would lead to competition over game resources. The Boer farmers were in fact
seriously depleting game in the Tuli Block. Available information shows that there was
considerable wildlife poaching along the Limpopo River.57 Cases were also reported of
shooting parties coming from the Transvaal to hunt game in the Tuli Block. Although
there was some competition, the Zionists only snared small game for immediate
consumption.
      Boer farmers believed that their freedom to unlawfully kill game was going to be
threatened. Although the Boers objected to the creation of the Zionist farm on the
grounds that game was to be frightened away from their farms, the fact is that they saw
it as an attraction to various government agents including the police. These
government officials were now frequenting the Tuli Block to investigate the lives of
the Zionists. Some informants state that at least some Zionists reported those Boer
farmers who carelessly destroyed game, although this seems to have been rare.
The Boer farmers did not respect the Zionists' freehold title:
       One day we killed small game in our farm. Some three Babirwa labourers saw us while on
       transit to their working area. These men reported us to their Boer master who then told us
       that we had no hunting right,58
The Zionists were poor refugees in the Tuli Block. They had sold their property and
livestock upon their banishment from the Reserves. Therefore survival in the new
territory was not easy. Their small and umewarding trade (selling bones to the
Transvaal Boers) could not solve their economic decline. 59 The alternative was to work
in Boer farms where their working conditions were generally poor. Low wages were
common and Africans had to accept them in order to pay tax. But unlike the poor
Zionists, most of the richer Babirwa were good arable and pastoral farmers who did
not rely solely on working in Boer farms. The rich Babirwa sold cattle to generate
money and some of them only sold their labour in times of drought or when cattle
diseases broke out,60 There was no job specialisation on the farms and the Zionists
were ploughing, harvesting crops or repairing fences. Boer farmers assumed that
African labour was simply "unskilled".
      The law did not protect labourers in the Tuli Block. Workers were employed
without the consent of the District Commissioner and "protection" existed only on
paper. Apart from the meagre wages, they received a bag of mealie-meal as payment.
The informants stress that the Zionists, nevertheless, shared with each other the little
they obtained from work.
      Poverty forced the Zionists to flock to the Ngwato Reserve to become cattle
herders or domestic servants of the richer Babirwa farmers. However, oral traditions
indicate that though the Babirwa employed the Zionists they feared them. There were
(unfounded) suspicions that the practices of their Church included boloi (witchcraft)
and ditlhabelo (human sacrifices). The Zionists also worked as share-croppers in the
fields through majako system (labour provided at another person's arable lands in
exchange for a small amount of the crop produce). The wor~ers provided labour !or
ploughing, weeding and harvesting of crops and food was provIded as well as a portIOn
of the crop yield.61 Workers were often paid ~ kind. Their empl~rr mig~t, for
instance, feed and clothe them, or let them use hIS plough and oxen. It was ill thIS
 labour provision that the Zionists were also paid with cows, ~oat~ and s?eep depending
on the kind of animals they herded. This wa~ an old. practIce ill B~bIrwa area63Poor
Babirwa have been hired as labourers by nch Babirwa farmers Sillce 1900. The
                                                117


 labourers acquired cows through the mafisa system. It was the Zionists who usually
 went to Babirwa to look for jobs. Zionism, as already argued, was not yet something
 attractive to Babirwa because of allegations that the Zionists killed people. Therefore
 despite the Zionist supply of labour to Babirwa, close interaction was not some~ing
 that developed overnight between these parties. By 1955 the then ReSIdent
 Commissioner also commented that Zionists "have lived on their farm in Tuli Block
 for the past two years and had no apparent effect on their neighbours in the Ngwato
 Reserve. ,,64
      After acquiring cattle, sheep and goats from Babirwa the Zionists began to
 experiment with agricultural projects in their poor and small land. Pieces of land inside
 their farm were now allocated to the Zionists to start ploughing. The community had
 formed a committee which was a sort of Land Board. Informants state that despite
 destruction of crops by game especially elephants agricultural production was
 generally good. However, the attempt to introduce animal husbandry and cultivation in
 the farm was not without problems. It appears that this signified the beginning of
 competition for land between cattle farming, wildlife and arable farming in Lentswe-
 le-Moriti. The farm was bought for religious rather than for economic raesons, but in
 order to make a living the Zionists had no choice but to introduce agriculture.
Consequently, in addition to destruction of vegetation caused by the Zionists' animals,
there was also heavy overgrazing by game and even cattle from neighbouring farms.
      Meanwhile there was pressure from the Boer farmers yet again. Boer farmers
captured the Zionists' animals which strayed onto their farms and killed those whose
owners failed to claim,.65 although their own animals strayed onto the Lentwe-Ie-
Moriti farm without the Zionists confiscating them. The Zionists were debarred from
grazing their few cattle along the greener pastures of the Limpopo River. The Zionists
had been guaranteed by those who sold them the farm that the ground was on the
Limpopo River and that they would be entitled to water from the river,66 but the
neighbouring Boer farmers did not accept this.
      The Zionists' problems may have been compounded by the existence of farms
dividing the Tuli Block and the Transvaal. Mazonde observes that this feature created
problems in the understanding of simultaneous use of grazing pastures between these
two places. For instance, some unclear cases were reported in which cattle crossing the
Limpopo were shot on sight by Transvaal Boer farmers. This is because cattle
movement across the Limpopo river was statutorily forbidden especially during the
                                 67
outbreak of cattle lung disease. Consequently many Zionists and some Boer farmers
in Tuli Block lost their animals. Such were the problems that the Zionists encountered
in their early period of settlement in eastern Botswana.
Western education in the Tuli Block
As in many parts of the then Bechuanaland Protectorate, there was generally a lack of
schools in the Bobirwa area. It was only until the coming of the Ngwato rule in
Bobonon1 in 1920 that the church which was built was now used as a school during
the day.6 By 1930 there was consequently one small primary school which operated
under the influence of the London Missionary Society. This notwithstanding, many
Babirwa children continued to go. to nearby parts of Zimbabwe and South Africa for
schooling until the breaking of the Zimbabwe Liberation war in the 1970s. And the
Zionists' children (newcomers in the Ngwato District) could not go to Bobonong
primary school. The school was far away from their farm. The Mission Churches did
                                             118


    not want the children of Ale members, while the Zionists did not want to send their
    children to non-Zionist schools.
         However, the period between 1955 and 1962 was a period of remarkable change
    in Tuli Block and the Bobirwa area in general. The residents of Lentswe-le-Moriti built
   a school through self-help.69 This project involved the entire Zionist community. The
   Zionists' children had not been to school since their parents were banished from the
   Reserves in 1947. Four years before independence, this private school was taken over
   by the colonial administration. This development brought the Zionists and Babirwa
   closer and closer together, as children of the latter began to attend school in Lentswe-
   le-Moriti. The remains of the old school's building, including the very first building,
   were recently demolished in order to create space for further development. 70
        The founding of a school in Tuli Block can be best understood against the
  background of the Zionists' initiatives from 1955. A small number of Zionists who had
  received Western education in the Reserves was inspired by the enthusiasm of their
  young brothers and sisters.71 Soon the Zionists' children began to gather under trees for
  lessons. Meanwhile a building site was allocated for the school. A campaign for
  clearing the site for the new building followed immediately after the design was made.
  This was a project which involved self-supervision and depended largely on the
  enthusiasm of the people.
        The end result was the establishment of a private school whose building was a
  rough grass-roofed shelter measuring 60 square metres.72 In the meantime, the
  construction of other two shelters of the same kind were planned. The spirit of self-
  help in this project no doubt had some of its roots in the Zionists' background, the
  Bakgatla in particular-the Bakgatla Zionists had in 1937 formed themselves into the
 Ipelegeng society to claim the reinstatement of Molefi. But in fact "Ipelegeng" projects
  had become a part of the way of life of Batswana as a kgosi could call upon regiments
 to construct a dam, build a school or even a church.73 A good example is the building
 of Isang school in Mochudi in 1921.74. "Ipelegeng" was inevitable. The fact of the
 matter is that the circumstances in which they found themselves in Tuli Block were
 naturally calling for such an initiative.
       Upon the completion of the building, two women, Khumo Kgetsi and Lesego
 Dintwa-who had done their standard six and seven respectively-volunteered               to
 become the first teachers of the school.75 These qualifications were adequate inasmuch
 as most teachers of the time possessed them. The major problem was poor facilities.
 There was no remuneration whatsoever. Dihutshwane Mosienyane, though
 inexperienced, became the school administrator. Books were ordered and sold to the
pupils of the school. There was one big and two small rough black boards. By 1957 the
school had an attendance of between 30-40 children, taught up to standard 11.76
       However, there was already signs that the Bakgatla authorities were trying to
reconcile with the Bakgatla Zionists. The Bakgatla Zionists were many families and
they comprised some royal members. But other dikgosi, whose people were also in
Lentswe-Ie-Moriti, remained aloof: their people were merely a few families with no
attachments to royalty. In 1956, after the death of Bakgatla Pilane, kgosi Molefi visited
the Zionists at their farm. He told his mother and the other Zionists that they were
welcome to return to Mochudi and enjoy freedom of religion. Seingwaeng and her
colleagues refused.77 She built her house on the compound of Bakgatla Pilane, her
                                                   78
long-time companion and the Zionists' minister. I~ap.pears tha~ kg?~i Molefi held an
informal meeting at his camp site on the Motloutsl River on hiS VISitto Lentswe-Ie-
Moriti. It was agreed at this meeting that the administration should make every effort
                                             119


  to encourage Zionist parents to send their children to Kgatleng for schooling.?9 The
 reason, so it is said, was to win over the children to the Bakgatla.80 But it seems that
 now Molefi was ready to positively assist the uneducated Zionists ...
       In 1957 Linchwe II also paid an official visit to Tuli block to appeal to the ZlOmsts
 to return. He was accompanied by Rev. Thema, the then DRC senior moruti. Linchwe
 told the Zionists to forget about the past and think of the future with him. He was also
 worried about the inadequate education that the Zionist children were recelVmg. "    8\ Th e
 Zionists appreciated Linchwe's plea, but chose to remain there. They argued that ~ey
 were already established and happy in their new home. They were already domg
 farming. And the small school was a clear sign that they were settled. His reque~t
 having been rejected, Linch\}'e alternatively asked for his grandmother alone. Agam
 Seingwaeng said no.82
      The Zionists were never discouraged in their endeavours to become an established
 community in their farm. In 1957 they requested the District Officer in Machaneng to
 build them a better school staffed with confirmed teachers. But the government took its
 time. The administration believed that the erection and furnishing of a school could be
 interpreted by the community as an indication that the government expected them to
 remain there permanently.83 By the same token, the administration hoped that the
 removal of the entire settlement could be considered one day.
      It was believed by the administration that the area was overstocked and
 overpopulated, and that its neighbours were unaccommodating. The administration
 also believed that the provision of a school for one particular sect was undesirable as it
would result in difficulties concerning doctrinal teaching and admission or exclusion of
               84
non Zionists. All these reasons convinced the government that the Department of
Education could not take over the school. In the meantime, some of the elder children
of the Zionists went to Moria in Pietersburg in South Africa for schooling.85 The Moria
Church Head Office had by 1958 considered the significance of admitting these
children in its school. As already stated, the children could not go to non-Zionist
schools. The community believed that there could be bad influences such as drinking
and smoking at these schools. Whilst at Moria these children formed the Amazioni
Football Club which continued to exist for some time after their return to Lentswe-le-
Moriti.
      It appears the mother Church in South Africa did not assist the Zionists in the area
of education except through the above mentioned initiative. Informants note that
whenever Joseph Lekganyane visited Lentswe-le-Moriti he only addressed issues of
faith, without providing any material support.86 However, his image and authority
remained strong among his people. This relationship between Lentswe-le-Moriti
Zionists and the mother Church in Moria is better explained by the following factors.
The 1949 ZCC schism had lasting effects on the St. Engenas ZCc. The fate of the
church's funds and property remains controversial,8? as a result of the split the St.
Engenas ZCC faced financial crisis. And Lentswe-le-Moriti was not the only farm the
Church owned. In South Africa, Pudungwane and Mokgwaneng farms also required
fmancial. support, ~hile Moria took priority since it was the headquarters. Another
expl~atIon IS that m fact the Church's philosophy emphasises that the congregations,
espeCIally those at farms, must be self-reliant rather than dependent. This philosophy
of being independent is common among many AICs.88
      The Zionists perseverance in their efforts to introduce Western education in Tuli
Block was later to bear fruits. Already by 1958 it was clear that the British
administration was thinking of a process which would' result in a state school, though it
                                             120


 was not clear when, where and how. But by and large the administration was more
 positive in attending to the Zionists' initiatives than it had been in 1956. First, the
 African population was larger in Lentswe-le-Moriti than elsewhere in the Block.
 Secondly, government officials visiting the farm including junior District Officers such
 as Philip Steenkamp and Colonel Grey were impressed by the Zionist children who
 showed great commitment to education.89 Lastly, neighbouring farmers and farm
 labourers were also keen on the idea. Their children attending school in the Reserve
 would be removed to attend school near where their parents worked. These conditions
 naturally favoured Lentswe-le-Moriti as a more suitable site for introducing a state
 school than the Voortrekker farm.90
      However, the implementation of the project depended on certain conditions being
 met. Firstly, if the Zionists could erect a suitable school the government would appoint
 a teacher and equip the school. The second condition was that non-Zionist children
 from neighbouring farms would be allowed to attend.91 Thirdly, no Zionist doctrinal
teachings were to be allowed. Finally, the Zionists had to accept the appointment of a
non-Zionist headteacher. These conditions were not novel: the High Commission
office had always confirmed that the government had no money but was willing to
help, provided such schools were located or administered on neutral ground.92 The
office also required the 'tribes' and the Missions to take a lead. On the whole, the idea
of neutrality was therefore a pre-requisite of putting private schools under government
wing. For instance, when Moeng College was turned into a state school around 1959,
this was on the understanding that various tribes in the country would have as much
access as was enjoyed by the Bangwato.93
      In 1962 Lentswe-Ie-Moriti private school was transferred to the Department of
Education. Thereupon a state school, with standard 7, a national syllabus and two
trained teachers was introduced.94 The emergence of Gasonto Ltd in 1959 (today
Talana farms) meant that many African children whose parents were labourers there
would go to this new school. Gasonto was a 'town' at which the Zionists and most
Babirwa were working. Another catchment area for the school was the Tuli Lodge
which employed African labour since 1960. Children from the Wildlife department-
built in 1965-also went to Lentswe-le-Moriti primary school. At about this time there
was only one Primary school in Bobonong.95 It was nearer for Babirwa, particularly
those from Semolale and Kobojango, to go to Manama, Thakadiawa and Gwanda in
Zimbabwe for school than to go to Bobonong, Palapye and Serowe. With the
emergence of a state school in Lentswe-le-Moriti, many other children from the
Ngwato reserve had an alternative of receiving their education there. A school board,
headed by Petros Mosienyane, was formed comprising representatives from all the
catchment areas.96 The school was entirely an African affair. The Boer farmers did not
send their children to this school. They had access to better schools in the Transvaal.
     This school was unique in that it served as an instrument for cementing the
relations between the Zionists and Babirwa. Now that there was a school in Lentswe-
le-Moriti, many Babirwa went there in pursuit of knowledge since there were very few
schools in Eastern Botswana. Babirwa children now stayed with the Zionists in their
homes without fear.97 However, these children were not forced to be Zionists and they
rarely became such. But some Babirwa informants note that many of their children
went to the school with the hope that they would excel since the school was in a sacred
village.
     This new kind of interaction had paved way for the spread of the St. Engenas ZCC
in the Bobirwa area. More and more Babirwa patients were sent to the Zionist village
                                              121


   for treatment.98 Interestingly, some Babirwa belonging to the London Missionary
   Society now abandoned it and joined the new religion according to the brief testimony
   'I found healing there,.99 This development became an alternative for the lack of the
  modern health facilities in the area. For medical treatment, as for education, Rhodesia
  (Zimbabwe) and South Africa were often preferred over the protectorate. Patients
  suffering from TB usually crossed the border into Rhodesia, where they went to
  Manama hospital in Southern Matebeleland.100 This continued until the outbreak of the
  liberation war in that country. In the protectorate itself there was only one clinic at
  Bobonong which catered for all the villages in the Bobirwa area since 1960.101 The few
  medical doctors in the Ngwato District were limited to the capital, Serowe. People
  consulted local dingaka (traditional healers) for most health complaints, but the
  Babirwa patients realised that some of their health problems could not be cured by
  traditional healers. Some of those who had the privileged opportunity to consult
 medical doctors did not receive adequate healing too. One informant revealed a story
 to me concerning his aunt, Elinah Nare, who was failing to get treatment from both the
 traditional healers and medical doctors until she was treated by the ZCC in Lentswe-le-
 Moriti. This patient was one of those Babirwa living in Zimbabwe, which would seem
 to suggest that the influence of the Lentswe-le-Moriti church was also felt among the
 Babirwa found on the other side of the border. 102
        Faith healing was thus a major factor which made this church so interesting to the
            103
 Babirwa.       One other important aspect in this church became that of emphasis on
 prayer for healing. The baruti (ministers) could pray over substances such as water or
 coffee with which to treat their patients. According to the Church's beliefs and
 practices, these substances can not render healing in the absence of prayer. Whilst in
 Kgatleng, this healing practice was questioned by one DRC minister after his daughter
 was healed from nose bleeding by the ZCc. The minister argued, "can prayer alone
 render healing?" 104 It appears that the church also attracted many followers because it
 provided healing without payment, unlike both the traditional and medical doctors. The
 early missionary to the Bangwato, the Rev. Price, charged for dispensing medicines
 and theraPl to the sick, although his wife thought he charged much less than "native
 doctors. ,,10
       The evidence does not suggest that the Zionists were completely averse to medical
 health facilities. Since 1964, they received health care through a mobile clinic which
 was co-ordinated by the Mmadinare Health Post. 106 The purpose of this mobile clinic
was also to cater for those Babirwa children who were attending school in Lentswe-le-
Moriti, including their teachers. There were allegations that the Zionists were generally
opposed to consulting medical doctors and medical hospitals, especially while they
were still in the Reserves,but the truth seems to be that, while the Zionists may have
heavily relied on prayer and faith healing, at times they accommodated Western
medicine.
       On the whole, this chapter suggests that the Lentswe-le-Moriti Church became a
'hospital' of its own in the Bobirwa region. It can also be argued that the coming of a
national school in Lentswe-le-Moriti had softened the relations between people who
once feared each other. Babirwa began to go to Lentswe-le-Moriti to see their children
thereby getting closer and closer to understanding the healing power of the ZCc.
However, it is correct to note that there was a limit to how far Zionism could spread. 107
Lastly, the abandonment of the LMS by Babirwa did not produce hatred between the
church, dikgosi and missionary Christianity similar to that which occurred in Southern
Botswana.
                                            122


  Post-independence        developments in Lentswe-Ie-Moriti
  Between 1965 and 1980 the Zionists witnessed a series of socio-cultural and political
  developments. These developments manifested themselves at three levels. First the
  Zionists participated in the first elections of 1965 which carried the country to
  independence. Secondly, the presence of a non-Zionist community (teachers) and the
  emergence of towns in the 1970s have become the major sources of internal and
  external influence. In addition, since the 1969 elections the Zionists' party affiliation
  has changed as people joined various parties. Last but not least, the issue of bogosi
  (chieftainship) has become one of the most striking developments. The Zionists'
  objection to this institution has produced a controversial debate between them and
  government.
  The elections of 1965 and Africans in ''Non-Tribal Areas"
 The preparations for the self-government elections in Bechuanaland Protectorate
 started in the early 1960s. In 1965 all Batswana including those staying or working in
 the Non-Tribal areas were ready to vote. The Zionists of Lentswe-Ie-Moriti farm were
 also affected by these changes. However as a religious community, they did not want
 to be fully politicised at the expense of their faith. The participation of these people has
 unfortunately escaped scholarly investigation. The general trend has been to explain
 the electoral processes in the Reserves without ever providing an explanation of the
 same in Non-Tribal areas. 108 It is to this subject that we now turn.
       By 1961 tribal and area councils were formed throughout the Reserves. In Non-
 Tribal areas like Kgalagadi, the government created District Councils. 109 Tribal leaders
 were the heads of these councils because they were to be successful intermediaries in
 the future planning for the elections in the Reserves. For instance, in June 1963,
 government appointed three officials to begin consultations with them for the purpose
 of creating a plan for self-government. I 10
      However, in the Non-Tribal areas of Tuli Block, Lobatse Block and Gaborone
 Block, the plans were unique. District Commissioners (DCs) were gazetted as African
Authorities to execute electoral processes. III The Blocks were generally populated by
African workers who came from the surrounding Reserves, but the Zionists in Tuli
Block were an exceptional case. They had bought their farm for purposes of worship.
Working in Boer farms was secondary. Interestingly, they did not have a kgosana
(headman) who could be consulted by central government on national developments.
The Zionists had rejected bogosi in their farm from the 1950s. 112 The DC was therefore
given responsibility for electoral procedures on the farm. In early 1965 he (Mr. D.L.
Pilane) visited the Zionists to give them an orientation on the elections. 113 The Zionists
welcomed him because voting was not against their Church regulations, but the leaders
of the village did not want radical politicisation of their community. The aim was to
preserve their religion.
      In the meantime, the electoral college for the three European Blocks was
nominated to assist in the elections.114 It was agreed that those Africans who had
resided outside their own 'tribes' for more than two years would have to vote in the
European Blocks. This electoral provision also applied to the Zionists though they
were exiles who had lost their tribal rights and connections, while other Batswana
voters in the European Blocks (workers) still belonged to their tribes. A minority of
whites wanted their representation through a separate electoral roll or through
                                              123


    delimitation of a special constituency in freehold areas dominated by the white
    electorate, 115 but their demands were not supported by the Legislative Council ~ 1963.
         When the time for campaigning started, only the Bechuanaland DemocratIc Party
    (B.D.P.) was able to recruit members in Lentswe-le-Moriti. Many informants note that
    the Zionists were in the main pro-B.D.P. It would appear that the B.D.P. was favoured
    because it was not as 'radical' as its principal opposition of the time, the Bechuanaland
    People's Party (B.P.P.). The Zionists generally feared radical politicisation in order to
    protect th.err re I"IglOn.116
         However, Sekgwama asserts that the Zionists followed the B.P.P. He further
    argues that the B.P.P. was popular among the Babirwa and the labourers who were
    dissatisfied with their working conditions in Tuli Block farms. The B.D.P. only
   became important among the Babirwa after 1970. While it may be true that the
   Babirwa and labourers in the Tuli Block farms were followers of the B.P.P., it is
   difficult to accept Sekgama's view that the Zionists were also pro-B.P.P. Sekgwama's
   fieldwork did not cover the Zionists' oral traditions concerning these elections. During
   the same elections, one ballot box was used for all Non-Tribal areas. In Tuli Block,
   Lentswe-le-Moriti school was used as the only polling station. The African population
   was considerably lar~e here. Both the Zionists and Babirwa labourers, therefore, voted
   in the Zionist farm. II Thus no clear voting information can be recovered.
        The elections led to the independence of the protectorate in September 1966.
  Philip Materna became councillor of the Bobirwa East constituency, which included
                                  118
  Lentswe-le-Moriti farm.             The independence constitution extended freedom of
  worship to Independent churches without exception. All churches were now officially
  registered regardless of their origin and practices. Consequently Zionism rapidly
  spread in Eastern Botswana particularly because of the influence of Lentswe-le-Moriti
  Church. Also, what seems to have encouraged more Babirwa to join Zionism by this
  time was the migration to Bobonong of Dihutshwane Mosienyane. 119 Mosienyane, who
  was a junior moruti at Lentswe-le-Moriti farm, had moved to Bobonong to start better
  farming. In the course of time, he established a ZCC congregation there. The
  congregation gradually attracted Babirwa. This in itself also increased the Birwa-
 Zionist interaction, which has already been referred to in this study. Intermarriages
 became common. Female Babirwa married to Zionists necessarily joined Zionism, but
 female Zionists could be married to non- Zionists. 120 According to oral traditions, this
 practice was in violation of Lekganyane's instruction. The Bishop had instructed his
 'tribe' not to intermarry until he made an official announcement,121 but this never
 materialised.
       With the declaration of freedom of worship, the Zionists began to freely visit their
relatives in the Southern Reserves. Their initial fears that the dikgosi could interrogate
                                  122
them were now dispelled. Also in 1968 the newly instituted District Council, with
kgosi Linchwe123
                       as its chairman, agreed that Zionism could not be prohibited in
Kgatleng.        As a result, interaction between the Zionists and their relatives was
revived. Family matters of either party began to be addressed together.
       However, central to the Zionists' revival of tribal connections is the problem of
identity. This identity crisis divides the community into three groups. One group has
re~ined its identity as either Bakgatla, Balete, or Bakwena. Conversely, another group
beheves that they are an established "Zionist tribe" whose identity is Mazioni.124 They
are individuals who reject their ethnic and cultural identities to become simply
Z~on~sts. Th~se individuals seem to believe that they must respect the identity of
ZlODlsm,WhIChthey suffered for. Their position is similar to that of some immigrants
                                               124


   in the United States who have rejected their ethnic and cultural origins and identified
   themselves religiously as either Protestants, Catholics or Jews.125Interestingly, there
   are other Zionists who have accepted the identity of "Babirwa", because of location.
  Socio-cultural and political developments
  The attainment of independence resulted in the transfer of Lentswe-le-Moriti school to
  the new Department of Education. This was the third stage in the development of the
  school. In March 1968, the Secretary of the School committee, Moatshe Dintwe, wrote
  to the Secretary of Education in Serowe requesting the construction of two more
                126
  classrooms.       By mid July the same year, he wrote another letter requesting more
  trained teachers. More teachers were consequently brought in. The end result was the
  creation of a non-Zionist community, which could stay in the village but could not
  have access to land.127 Residence was only to be allowed to church members
  (including the second generation). 128Government workers have been seen as a source
  of evil by some Zionists, some of whom allege that some teachers have influenced
 their children to drink beer and smoke by ignoring Zionism's opposition to these
            129
 practices.      The Zionists could not openly attack this "foreign" community, but they
 remained unhappy with some of its activities. They would prefer those teachers who
 neither drank nor smoke. The original rule of the village was that both drinking and
 smoking were forbidden, but over time the Zionists have compromised with the non-
 Zionist workers, who were permitted to bring in beer on condition that they were to
 drink privately at their places. 130This was supposed to protect the Zionists from their
 influemce, but it is very unlikely this has been completely successful. 131
       The influences that have affected the Zionists since 1966 are too extensive to be
 described briefly. The Zionists' socio-economic organization changed because this is
 the period in which Botswana's economy witnessed great changes. With the emergence
 of towns in the 1970s, including Gaborone and Selibe-Phikwe, many Zionists became
migrant workers. Those who remained behind, especially the old and the young,
 started to rely on what these workers could provide because agriculture in their farm
had declined since 1964. The accumulation of wealth led to some of the Zionists
building better houses on the farm.'32 Government also started supplying water to
encourage development. Some of the children began to attend schools in other parts of
the country, where some of them were influenced by modem ways of dressing. Young
girls began to wear trousers, which were not allowed at home, and their parents could
not stop them.133These experiences have influenced other children back home. Some
of these children living in towns could not receive baptism at an early stage. In effect
baptism had become a matter of choice than in the past when it was a compulsory
practice. 134As such slight deviations from previous norms became more common, the
community could not impose serious sanctions on the concerned individuals other than
to preach against such practices during church services.
       Since the elections of 1969 some individual Zionists have changed in terms of
party affiliation. The formation of the Botswana National Front (B.N.F) immediately
after the first elections attracted some of them,13Sas some of its policies appealed to
Zionists. The Zionists occupied freehold land where government developments could
not be as easily implemented as they could in Tribal land, which gave an opportunity
for th opposition to attack the government; though even in Tribal land the government
was open to similar criticisms. According to Picard, before the 1969 elections, little
was done in rural Botswana except a few general promises by the ruling party.136He
concludes that this lack of rural development resulted in the B.D.P losing some of its
                                             125


 votes in the 1969 elections. This argument would appear valid in the Lentswe-Ie-Moriti
 case.
       Generally, although the Zionists started to join political parties of their own
 choice, their religion discouraged active involvement in politics. This has helped the
 Zionists in retaining their religion rather than letting it be disturbed by serious party
 politics debates. In fact the Independent churches may not be involved in active
 politics but they often allow individual members to take part in political organisations
 of their choice.137 In spite of participation of Zionists in politics and the aforesaid
 socio-cultural influences, the religious character of the village has remained somewhat
 resilient.
 Contradictions of leadership and administration
 In Tswana communities, the traditional political structures are those of bogosi and
 kgotla. Bogosi became hereditary in order to perpetuate and maintain the dominance of
 the ruling dynasty. The dikgosana administered wards and villages on behalf of the
 dikgosi. However, the case of the Zionists shows a move away from this. The
 leadership and administration of Lentswe-Ie-Moriti is possibly the first of its kind in
 eastern Botswana. The village is a freehold farm and thus independent of the chiefs
 normal control of land. Lentswe-Ie-Moriti is dominated by Church authority, and
 bogosi has always been either absent or subsidiary. The result was a politico-religious
 debate between the Zionists and the government. The government proposed a fully-
 fledged traditional kgotla and kgosana, but the Zionists simply refused. This refusal
 challenges the common assumption that the traditional kgotla commands respect and
allegiance beyond any other village institution.138 In Lentswe-Ie-Moriti, it is the
 "religious kgotla" and not the traditional kgotla that commands respect. This issue,
together with the location of the farm, has affected development activities. The issue
raises questions about the the kgotla as an authentic voice of the Batswana in rural
areas, particularly in the development process. 139 Lentswe-Ie-Moriti is a freehold farm.
However, the fact that the government wants a kgotla there to facilitate development
suggests that it is viewed as though it is a rural tribal area. In other freehold farms the
kgotla is irrelevant because the residents are workers who are not permanently
established like the Zionists ofLentswe-le-Moriti.
      The government's pursuance of bogosi in Lentswe-Ie-Moriti dates back to the
colonial period. As early as 1953 the District Commissioner had considered the
appointment of Bakgatla Pilane (Church minister) as a kgosana.140 This proposal was
based on the idea that a kgosana could be a successful intermediary between
government and the Zionists on various national projects. The response was
persistently negative. The Zionists believed that such a step would give the Bakgatla in
Mochudi an impression that Pilane seceded with some members to establish himself a
                   141
kgosi elsewhere.       Above all they maintained that they could not introduce a 'foreign'
office within the church administration. They also affirmed that they were content with
their own religious kgotla presided over by a moruti (minister) and his advisors. Their
system of administration constituted what became known as "banna ba kgoro" or
"banna ba lekgotla"-a religious council of men.142 Members of this council are
usually selected by a gathering of the congregation, but alternatively they can be
selected by some senior baruti who are well experienced in the theocratic
administration of the village.
      Interestingly, if the community loses faith in one member of the lekgotla, he is
often removed and replaced by another trusted candidate. The kgotla itself became a
                                             126


physically distinct arena which performed its own religious functions. Visitors were to
be received here before they were introduced to the entire community. And they had to
be sprinkled with sanctified water upon agreement (there was a belief that visitors
bring impurities to the village).\43 Strangers accommodated by community members,
and sick Zionists, were reported to this kgotla. The Zionists planned to hold prayer
meetings three times a day in the area within their kgotla. Although this kgotla was the
first institution to be introduced in Lentswe-le-Moriti, it ought not to be blurred with
                                                                  l44
the ordinary village kgotla as discussed by Malcolm J.OdelLJr.
      Thus, the colonial govemment's request was not met. They only went as far as
introducing a 'kgosana' who was not officially gazetted with defmitive powers or leSal
jurisdiction. The community argued resolutely that a formal court was uncalled for. \
      The post-independence govemment inherited the Lentswe-le-Moriti bogosi
debate. The absolute authority that the owners of the farm have was to pose a serious
dilemma for them. It is the Church Head Office in Moria, South Africa, which has the
Title Deed to the farm. Thus the introduction of bogosi would be difficult to
implement. Before any major development could occur, government had to notify
village elders (banna ba lekgotla) who in turn would contact the Church leadership in
Moria for permissionl46-a process whcih involved delay. For instance, in 1968 thirty
hectares was reserved for developments after permission was granted by the relevant
 authorities. 147
      Thus it could be argued that even if bogosi was present, developments were still
 going to be hindered by certain procedures that always had to be followed. In a
 nutshell, it is Lentswe-le-Moriti's location and its ownership (and of course its religious
 character) which are largely dictating terms. This also explains why government has
 advised the Zionists to practice farming in the Ngwato tribal land so that some
 developments could reach them. 148 Government schemes such as Arable Land
 Development Programme (ALDEP) and Financial Assistance Policy (FAP) could not
 be introduced in Lentswe-le-Moriti because it is freehold land, and the Zionists did not
 have Land Board certificates to claim these schemes, which only applied to tribal land,
 where they were advised to go and continue farming projects. However, only two to
 three prosperous farmers have taken this advice ever since 1969. The rest of the
 community remained unmoved. They argued that this would disturb their church life as
 most time would be spent outside the village. Also however it seems as though the
 community has intimate connections to their land. Similarly, writing about the Zionists'
 farms in South Africa, Sundkler notes that whether the property belongs to the Bishop
 himself, or is held in trust for the Church, it is unmistakable that both the Bishop and
 the members of the church take a very considerable pride in the fact that they own
 property. 149
       In all this period, Bogatsu Dintwe was the Church minister. After his death in the
 late 1960s, Kgetsi Dintwe took over but died in the early 1970s.\50 There was no
 kgosana at all. Notwithstanding the fact that the Zionists have more attachment to
 Lekganyane's authority than any other figure the government resumed the issue of
 bogosi in 1974. The result was the introduction of Sebele Motsisi as a new "kgosana"
 replacing the late Sephitse. The latter was the ~randson of {w0si Pilane and the former
 was once a kgosana in Manamakgothe ward III MochudI. Informants note that the
 Zionists could not nominate a member from the Kgatla royal lineage because their
 bogosi was supposed to be only nominal. Paradoxically, it seems they had been
  selecting their 'traditional authority' along the lines of important figures from the
  Kgatla 'tribe'. Sephitse belonged to the royal lineage. Sebele was possibly selected on
                                              127


    the basis of his former headmanship in Kgatleng. However he could not enjoy the
    same rights he enjoyed in Manarnakgotle ward. The Zionists saw him as a
    "government's kgosana" who had little meaning to them. 152Ch urc h a dmin'lstration
                                                                                      . sti'II
    constituted a far more important village authority than bogosi. Similarly among the
    Vapostori community of Prophet Johane Masowe in Zimbabwe, church doctrine
    prescribes behaviours that re~ulate all a.sp~cts of daily life, and church elders resolve
    conflicts between members. 1 In the ZIOnist case, Sebele could settle small dlsputes
    but more often than not his decisions were limited by the authority of the church.
    There was no way he could act beyond the requirements of Church administration.
         As late as 1977 the Lentswe-le-Moriti bogosi debate intensified. Government
   officials, including the Mahalapye District Commissioner and kgosi Mmirwa Malerna
   of Babirwa visited the Zionists. 154They maintained that Sebele had to be elevated to a
   real kgosana who would work with a court clerk and a policeman. The Zionists were
   divided on this proposal. It appears that some of them now saw merit in bogosi.
   Perhaps they were disturbed by the fact that they had to go to neighbouring village
   kgotlas for services which required the intervention of traditional authority.
   Surprisingly, they challenged the traditional thesis that Lekganyane is the supreme
   ruler who decides on such issues (which may explain why they later abandoned their
  move).
        On the contrary, their antagonists seem to have worked on the principle that
  religion and bogosi could not successfully work together. God is worshipped every
  day, they argued, while dikgosi have their own duties which may interfere with church
  services. So it is better not to combine these institutions. 155
        It is obvious from this version that the Lentswe-le-Moriti bogosi debate revolved
  around the struggle for power. The government had declined to give the Zionist's
  'kgosana' certain local administrative duties-especially         those concerning identity
  cards-so that the Zionists would be compelled to accept a real kgotla and its kgosana.
  On contrary, the Zionists felt and still feel that kgotla meetings may interfere with their
 prayer meetings which are held three times each day. Also, they rnay arrange for their
 kosha (a special church service) at times when a kgosana has convened his own
 meetings. The Zionists believe that if they allow such a secular authority, their sacred
 power would be suppressed and even be destroyed in the process. Local government
 would be used by central government to manipulate church leaders. Another
 illuminating explanation is that bogosi may still remind the Zionists of their
 persecution and banishment from Reserves. In this way the introduction of this
 institution is conceived as reviving conflict between church and state.
       In 1979, government officials revisited the same issue but still to no avail. The
 only alternative was that the Zionists were going to use Motlhabaneng kgotla.156 It was
agreed that Sebele would settle minor misunderstandings in Lentswe-le-Moriti and
could refer major cases to this new kgotla.157 This arrangement was made as though
the Zionists were going to be subjects of secular authority. The Zionists have,
however, requested the government to contact Lekganyane for further negotiations.
The government responded that it was incumbent upon the Zionists themselves to
discuss their situation with their Bishop.158It was concluded that if they could take the
lead, government would assist. The government has taken the view that since these
people 159 are Batswana, they have to be looked after regardless of the nature of their
village.       But the issue of bogosi remained unresolved. Also Sebele himself has
recently died and it is the two ministers, Lebotse Matshego and Abe Seele who
continue to run the administration of the village.
                                              128


Conclusion
Lentswe-le-Moriti exists as a result of the conflict between Zionism and the State in
the colonial period. Had it not been for the political dispute that polarised the Bakgatla,
Le~t~we-le-Moriti would not have emerged as a Zionist village. In major politico-
reh~I~us events from 1937 until today, Bakgatla Zionists appear repeatedly as
partIcIpants at the centre of the history of the village. This has been explained by the
available archival records and oral traditions. However, this should not obscure the role
played by the non-Bakgatla Zionists who live there. Some Balete, Bakwena and
Barolong have shown their love towards Zionism. They joined the Bakgatla to
preserve Zionism by forming a unique and religious community. Abe Seele, who is a
Molete by origin, has enjoyed a senior position as one important member of the
lekgotla.
      The emergence of Lentswe-le-Moriti is similar to the emergence of AICs
themselves. Like Independent churches which grew up all over Africa in response to
the desire for a church where Africans may" feel at home,,,I60the village emerged to
provide asylum to those Batswana who suffered religious persecution in the Reserves.
Today residency is only offered to those converts who feel that they should establish a
sense of belonging with their Zionist brethren there. About two to three Birwa Zionist
families have settled in Lentswe-le-Moriti, adding to the Batswapong families which
had long joined the Zionists. Members of the ZCC section identified by a star emblem
                                                                                         161
are denied residence until they join the St. Engenas ZCC whose emblem is a dove.
This is despite the fact that the two churches are basically the same in nature, belief,
teaching, worship and ethos. They also share the same geographical location for their
headquarters at Moria and the leadership of both is that of Lekganyane lineage. The
only major difference of practice is that whilst the members of the St. Engenas ZCC
wear any type of shoe-but they occasionally prefer black shoes-their cousins strictly
wear white boots.
      The major theology reflected in the historical develoEment of Lentswe-le-Moriti
                                                             1
has strong parallels with the Old Testament Judaism. 2 The community portrays
 Lekganyane as their black Moses figure who liberated them from the hands of cruel
 leaders, particularly kgosi Molefi. In church services, the minister often recites
                                                      163
passages which relate the history of the Israelites. The aim is to show the younger
 generation that Lekganyane is central to the history and life of every Zionist. He must
be obeyed. Similarly, when the Jews were at the foot of Mount Sinai, it was stated that
 future generations were to be told, "We were slaves of Pharaoh in Egypt, but the
 LORD brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand. Before our eyes the LORD sent
 miraculous signs and wonders-great and terrible-upon Egypt and Pharaoh and his
 whole household. But he brought us out from there to bring us in and give us the land
 that he promised on oath to our forefathers."I64Another striking theological parallel is
 that in which the Zionists reject bogosi as Yahweh opposed the monarchy for Israel (I
 Samuel 8). Yahweh saw the request for king by the Israelites as a rejection of himself
 from being their king. The Israelites were told that the monarchy would limit their
 freedom and subject them to despotic tyranny. This struggle for power between
 theocratic and secular leadership is manifest in Lentswe-le-Moriti. Lekganyane is
 seemingly the "king" of the village. In this way it is crucial to remember Sundkler's
 argument that the characteristic of Independent churches (at least in rural areas) is such
 that the Bishop is a king and the church is his tribe. 165
                                             129


      This paper suggests that Lentswe-le-Moriti represents something resilient over
 time. With few exceptions, it has been found that the village is remarkably unshaken
by the penetration of the secular world. Its objection to bogosi is almost 45 years old.
And, currently, it is not clear when and how the next kgosana replacing the late Sebele
will be introduced. The Botswana state seem to have temporarily withdrawn its request
 for the institution. It is the church which is creating village authority in Lentswe-Ie-
 Moriti. Even the newly instituted Village Development Committee (VDC) does not
 have powers that can threaten the church authority.166 However, the Zionists use a
kgotla outside their village for activities that require a kgosana's intervention, which
 implies a recognition of the necessity of bogosi in some respects.
      The sociologist Emile Durkheim once argued that 'religion promotes social
 cohesion,.167Zionism has played this social function by uniting people of different
'tribes' in Lentswe-le-Moriti. Also some members of the Church in Botswana tend to
treat the village as their headquarters, second only to Moria.168On Christmas holidays
they go there to worship as a unity since the Church Head Office in Moria had bought
the farm primarily for that purpose. Almost all Zionists there cling to Zionism, which
has become in a way their own culture. Most educated members are proud to preserve
their religion and also respect their Zionist identity. However, the Zionists still give
their children names connected to their tribes. They speak their languages too. Unity
tends to be cemented by the founders of the village who often inculcate a culture of
loyalty and responsibility in the youth. Consequently, it is too early to predict the
future. The Zionists are involved in national activities such as elections and party
affiliation. But they avoid radical political moves for the interest of their religion.
During the 1980s, the church's vast gathering at Moria were addressed by South
African cabinet ministers, and in 1985 by President Botha, who congratulated the
Church for keeping religion and politics separate.169 In this respect, Independent
churches appear in a new total or comprehensive community, a holy village or Zion
city with its own way of life. 170 The Lentswe-le-Moriti Church addresses problems of
life particularly through prayer and faith healing. This is service freely given to the
patients. Consequently, the St. Engenas ZCC' has apparently become the largest
Church in the Bobirwa area.
      Development in Lentswe-Ie-Moriti is lacking. Hitherto the mother Church in
South Africa has not put any impressive structures in the farm. Lekganyane and his
Church Head Office receives allegiance from the Zionists but gives nothing tangible in
return. However, on his visit in November of 1995, Engenas Lekganyane made a
promising statement to his 'tribe'. He told the Zionists that Lentswe-Ie-Moriti is due to
receive assistance in the near future just like other farms in South Africa. 171 But so far,
the developments found in the village, which include a VDC, a primary school, a
postal agency and a health post, have all been provided by the Botswana government.
There is only one shop owned and run by a church member. It seems paradoxical that
government introduces development in privately owned land. If the Zionists were to be
resettled to an area where amenities could be easily provided (that is, after agreement
between Lekganyane and the Botswana state) 172 structures put up there would turn into
'white elephants'. For instance, at a farm called Two Rivers near Tsetsebjwe, a school
which was built for children of farm labourers there was closed in 1992.173 The
workers were chased away by the owner and moved to settle in the villages of Lerala
and Moletemane. In light of these controversies, this study cannot be the final word on
the history of Lentswe-Ie-Moriti.
                                             130


                                               Notes
 Cheneso Maphorisa is a student at the University of Botswana. This essay, supervised by Neil
 Parsons, was completed in 1999.
 I B.G.M. Sundkler, Bantu Prophets in South Africa (London: Oxford University Press, 1948).
 Also see his second and third editions.
 2 A more comprehensive critique of this argument appears in J.P.Kieman, "Poor and Puritan; An
 attempt to view Zionism as a collective response to Urban Poverty," in African Studies, Vol.36,
 no. I , (1977 ), p.3!.
 3 For a good summary, G.c. Oosthuizen et.al (eds.), Afro-Christianity at the Grassroots: Its
Dynamics and Strategies (New York: Leiden, 1994). This book's third section is mainly a review
 of what have always been known to be the main causes for secession.
4 G.C. Oosthuizen et.al. (eds.), "Afro-Christianity at the Grassroots: Its Dynamics and Strategies,"
as reviewed in Journal of Religion in Africa, Vol. xxvii-Fasc.I, (1997), pp.109-110.
5 See C. Kileff and M. Kileff, "The Masowe Vapostori of Seki: Utopianism and Tradition in an
African Church," in B. Jules-Rosette (ed.), The New Religions of Africa (New Jersey: Ablex ,
 1979), pp.151-167. It is noted that Masowe moved about with his followers first in Zimbabwe
and later into South Africa and Botswana.
6 H.W. Turner, "The Place of Independent Religious Movements in the modemisation of
Africa,"as reviewed in Journal of Religion in Africa, Vol. 2, Leiden, (1969), p. 59.
7 N. Long, Social Change and the Individual-A       Study of the Social and Religious Responses to
Innovation in a Zambian Rural Community (Manchester: Manchester University Press, I968),
p.238.
   J. Amanze, African Christianity in Botswana: The Case of African Independent Churches
(Gweru: Mambo Press, 1998), p.68.
9 Jules-Rosette, The New Religions of Africa. The second section of the book. Of more relevance
to this study see F.Morton, "The Politics of cultural conservatism in colonial Botswana; Queen
Seingwaeng's Zionist campaign in the Bakgatla Reserve 1937-1947," Paper delivered at 41st
African Studies Association Meeting, Chicago, November, (1998). This paper depicts Seingwaeng
as an influential woman in the religio-political history of Bakgatla especially those who live in
Lentswe-Ie-Moriti farm today.
10 R.J.Cazziol, "The Role of Women in the Leadership of the Churches in Swaziland," in G.c.
Oosthuizen, Afro-Christianity at the Grassroots pp.211-225.
II P.S. Landau, The Realm of the Word: Language, Gender and Christianity in a Southern
African Kingdom (Cape Town: David Philip Publishers, 1995). The book is reviewed in Journal
~{Religion in Africa, Volume xxvii-Fasc.2, May (1997): pp.194 -195 ....
    I wIll be drawing parallels between the ZIOnIsts and the Vaposton In thiS study. About the
Vapostori, see Kileff and Kileff, "The Masowe Vapostori".
13 Metlobo was created into a Zionist community in 1958 when Kgosi Bathoen expelled the
adherents of Zionism . The movement of non-Zionists, particularly farmers, into this village
broke the Zionists' unity. and isolation. See M. R. Gaborone, "The Metlobo Migrations: A
Question of Religious Intolerance among the Ngwaketse 1957-1966," B.A.Thesis, History
Department, University of Botswana, 1987.
14 See for instance, B.N.A. S.497/5/4:    School for Zionists of Lentswe-le-Moriti, Tuli Block,
District Commissioner to Director of Education, Machaneng, 29 May 1998.
15 Such studies include, D. Wylie, " Migrations of Freehold Farmers to Farms in South Africa,"
Draft, Department of History, Yale University,October 1981. L. T. Maruatona, "A Historical
Analysis of the conditions of Farm Labourers in Freehold Farms: a case of the Tuli Block 1930-
1975," B.A.Thesis, History Department, University of Botswana, 1988. J.A. Croston, An
Economic and Social History of the Freehold Land Tenure Districts of Bechuanaland Protectorate
1903 -1966, Ph.D Thesis (Michigan: UMI Dissertation Services, 1993). And I. N. Mazonde,
Ranching and Enterprise in Eastern Botswana: A case of Black and White farmers (London:
Edinburgh University Press, 1994).
                                                131


   16 J.Z. Sekgwama, "Aspects of the socio-economic and political History of Babirwa", M.
  A.Thesis, History Department, University of Botswana, (Gaborone, 1996).
  17Landau, The Realm of the Word, p.199. Modisaotsi1e was a kgosi imposed on the Babirwa by
  the Bangwato.
  18See especially, P. Monnaatsie, "Growth and Spread of Religious Sects in KgatIeng: The Case
  of the Zion Christian Church (ZCC) 1933-1977", B.A.Thesis, History Department, University of
  Botswana, (Gaborone, 1980).
  19The name Zionists in this study is used to specifically refer to the followers of the Zion
  Christian Church of Bishop Engenas Lekganyane. Zionism is a concept used to refer to the
  Church (religion) itself. It is not applied as in Judaism where it refers to an attempt by the Jews to
  establish a Jewish state.
  20 See for instance, B.N.A. S.497/5/I: Banishment of certain BakgatIa from BakgatIa Reserve,
  District Commissioner to Government Secretary, Bechuanaland Protectorate, 9 December 1947.
  21His study is gender sensitive in that it gives women a place in the trend that Zionism operated.
  Morton, "The Politics of cultural conservatism".
  22 L.D. Ngcongco, "Religion and Politics in an African Chiefdom: The Mothowagae Secession
  Revisited," Pula Botswana Journal of African Studies, Yol.3, no.1, (May 1983), p.60.
 23 L.S. Lubinda, "Ethiopianism in Botswana," B.A. Thesis, History Department, University of
 Botswana, (Gaborone,1979),p.31.
 24Interview with B. Tsheelo, 72 years, Ramotswa, 6 August 1998.
 25 See for instance, B. Rantsudu, "The Conflict between the Spiritual Healing Church and the
 Authorities before Independence," in Oosthuizen, Afro-Christianity at the Grassroots, p.51.
 26 According to information, Kgari Sechele was installed against his elder brother Mosarwa
 because the British saw in him a kgosi they could manipulate.
 27Notes on political factions can be found in M. Crowder et.a!., "Legitimacy and Faction: Tswana
 Constitutionalism and Political Change," in J. Parson (ed.), Succession to the High Office in
 Botswana Monographs in African International Studies, no.54, (1990), p.5.
 28B.M.G. Sundkler, Bantu Prophets in South Africa (London: Oxford, 1961), p.24.
 29J. Comaroff, Body of Power Spirit of Resistance (Chicago: Chicago Press,1985),p.238.
 30 Ibid., p.188.
 31Rantsudu, "The Conflict between the Spiritual Healing Church and the Authorities", p.52.
 32 N. Parsons et.a!., Seretse Khama 1921-1980 (Gaborone: Macmillan Boleswa,1995), pp.163-
 164.
 33Notes on this cases are found in the Botswana National Archives. See for instance, B.N.A.
 DCM 617: Zionist Movement - Kgatleng 1947-49, Government Secretary to District
 Commissioner, Mochudi, 14 August 1948.
 34 See for instance, S. Grant, "Church and Chief in the Colonial Era" in Botswana Notes and
Records, Yol.3, (1971): p.60.
35See B.N.A. S.497/5/1: District Commissioner to Government Secretary, Machaneng, 26 June
 1949.
36It is said that the Zionists sued Molefi in 1948 while at MetsemotIhaba. Mr Coulson was their
lawyer whom Lekganyane had recruited from Zeerust on their behalf. Mr Percy Fraenkel was
Molefi's lawyer. Unfortunately I could not find archival records revealing the final judgement.
37 I. Schapera, Tribal Innovators: Tswana Chiefs and Social Change 1795-1940 (London:
Athlone, 1970), p.64. Also see J. Gledhill, Power and its Disguise, Anthropological Perspectives
on Politics (London: Pluto Press, 1994), p.l.
38Interview with L. Pilane, 75 years, BontIeng Customary Court, 12 August 1998.
39See D. R. Boschman, "The conflict between the New Religious Movements and the State in the
Bechuanaland Protectorate prior to 1949," Studies on the Church in Southern Africa, YoU
(Gaborone, 1994), p.39.
40Group interview, Ramotswa, 6 August 1998.
41See for instance, Crowder, "Legitimacy and Faction", p.2.
                                                    132


 42 One se~tion of the Chu~ch recognised Banarbas Lekganyane, the elder son, as the rightful
 successor III accordance with pnnclples and rules of succession and inheritance in patrilinial
 societies. They adopted the star as their emblem.
 c        ..
 44In this study we should not confuse the St. Engenas ZCC with the ZCC identified by the star.
    Schapera, Tribal Innovators, p.205.
 45Government owned farms along the eastern frontier of the rail (today's Gaborone city). l.
 Schapera, "History of Tribal Land Settlement-The             study of Tswana Land Tenure"
 (Unpublished paper, no date).                                                                  '
 :~L. T. Maruatona, "A Historical Analysis of the conditions of Farm Labourers", p.IO.
    B.N.A. S.497/5/4: Confidential Circular Memorandum No.l0569 of the 14th January 1956
 (No.1 I of 1956)
 48 B.N .A. S.435/311: Inspection of farm Loensa-Ia-Moridi, Tuli Block, l.H. Hutcheson
 (Agricultural officer) to Director of Agriculture, Machaneng, \3 April 1953.
 49Sundkler, Bantu Prophets, p.l29.
 50See for instance, H. Haselbarth, "The Zion Christian Church of Edward Lekganyane," in H.J.
 Becken (ed.), Our Approach to the Independent Church Movement (Natal: Missiological
 Institute, 1960), p.64.
 51Upon banishment Zionists sold some of their livestock and bought a vehicle that catered for
 their migrations.
 52B.N.A S.497/5/4: District Commissioner to Mr Batho, Machaneng, 17 February 1953.
 53 The northern Tuli Block was the Babirwa territory before the arrival of the White settlers.
 Maruatona, "A Historical Analysis of the conditions of Farm Labourers", p.22.
 54B.N.A. S.435/3/1; Resident Commissioner to Chief Secretary, Pretoria, 28 May 1953.
 55Interview with M. Dintwe, 54 years, Gaborone, 9 August 1998.
 56W.G. Morapedi, "The Boer Trekker Settlement in Ghanzi and its impact on Indigenous people
 1895-1980," B.A. Thesis, History Department, University of Botswana, (Gaborone, 1989), p.14.
57Boer farmers violated the hunting laws. If elephants could wander on to privately owned land,
they could not be shot unless a licence for the purpose was issued by the government. See
especially B.NA S. I57/2: Dr P. Evans (the ecologist) to Mr F.Thompson (the Resident
Commissioner), Mafeking, 5 November 1941.
58Interview with 1. Kobe, 89 years, Lentswe-Ie-Moriti, II June 1998.
59Group interview, Lentswe-Ie-Moriti, 15 June ]998.
60 Maruatona, "A Historical Analysis of the conditions of Farm Labourers", p.19.
61Interview with M.Monekwe, 75 years, Mathathane, 18 June 1998.
62Schapera, "History of Tribal Land Settlement", p.115.
63Sekgwama, , "Aspects of the socio-economic and political History of Babirwa", p.24.
64 See for instance, Grant, "Church and Chief in the Colonia] Era", p.62.The 'Ngwato Reserve' is
here specifically used to refer to the Bobirwa area. The Tswapong area, though part of the
Ngwato, was already affected by Zionism. It has been noted elsewhere in this paper that in their
transit to Lentswe-Ie-Moriti, the Zionists were joined by few Tswapong converts. However, it is
not clear why there was this difference in the communities that belonged to the same 'District'
65Interview with M. S. Nage, 70 years, Gaborone, 10 August 1998.
66 B.N.A. S.435/3/1:      Report on a Tour of the Northern portion of Tuli Block, District
Commissioner to Mr Germond, Machaneng, 27 August 1953.
67B.N.A. S.55517: Tours ofTuli Block and Reports, 9 July to 16 July 1958.
68 G.B. Molelu, "The History of the Babirwa from Pre-colonial Times to Early Ngwato Rule
 1820-1926," B.A. Thesis, History Department, University of Botswana, (Gaborone, 1985), p.9.
69 The term self-help, usually known as "Ipelegeng" projects, was officially used in the late
I 960s.
70Interview with O. Moleofe, 62 years, Lentswe-Ie-Moriti, 15 June 1998.
71 Ibid.
72 B.N.A. S.497/5/4: School for Zionists of Lentswe-Ie-Moriti, Tuli Block, District Commissioner
to Director of Education, 29 May 1958.
                                                  133


 73B.C.Thema, "Moeng ColIege-A Product of self-help," in Botswana Notes and Records, Vol.
 2, (1969), p.71.
 74 See S. Grant, "A very Remarkable School", Botswana Notes and Records, Vol. 8, (1976),
 ff. 87-92.
    Interview with D. Mosienyane, 80 years, Bobonong, 30 June 1998.
 76Standard IV was only introduced in 1959. B.N.A. S.497/5/4: School for Zionists of Lentswe-Ie-
 Moriti, Tuli Block, District Commissioner to Director of Education, Machaneng, 29 May 1958.
 77 That was the last time Seingwaeng saw her son. Molefi died in 1958 as his vehicle overturned.
 78Morton, "The Politics of cultural conservatism", p.15.
 79B.N.A. S.497/5/4: District Commissioner to Government Secretary, Machaneng, 9 July 1957.
 80Hence, the Resident Commissioner commented, "I think the truth of the matter is that Molefi
 was and still is jealous of the power which Joseph Lekganyane has over his people and works on
 the principle that no man can serve two masters." This quotation is cited in Grant "Church and
Chief in the Colonial Era", p.62.
 81By this time he was a student of Metrics in Pretoria, South Africa. His position as future kgatla
kgosi was on the hands of his Regent, Mmusi Pilane. He became kgosi in April 1963. Interview
with Kgosi Linchwe II, 62 years, Botswana Customary Court of Appeals (Gaborone), 4 August
 1998.
82 She was only taken back to Mochudi in 1967 in a car driven by Linchwe himself. She died
 shortly after her arrival.
83B.N.A. S.497/5/4: Director of Education to District Commissioner, Mafeking, 7 January 1959.
84 Ibid.
85Oral traditions agree with this statement as recorded in B.N.A. S.497/5/4: Zionists at Lentswe-
le-Moriti (Shady Rock), District Commissioner to Government Secretary, Machaneng, 16
September 1957.
86Besides in 1952 when he came to Tuli Block to buy the farm, he visited the Zionists about
three times. His first visit was in 1953 when he came to receive the Zionists in their new home. In
 1956 he made his second visit to Lentswe-Ie-Moriti to mourn Bakgatla Pilane's death.
Information on his third visit is not clear. This was his last visit until he died in 1972. His
successor, EJ. Engenas Lekganyane became bishop in 1975. He has visited the Zionists in 1995.
87 FolIow up interview with K. Lebotse, 33 years, University of Botswana (Gaborone), 5
February 1999.
88It seems it owes its origins from the causes of their formation. The Vapostori are also a good
example.
89Interview with M. Dintwe, 54 years, Gaborone, 9 August 1998.
90 At Voortrekker farm, like in any other farm besides Lentswe-Ie- Moriti, there was not a large
African population warranting such a project.
91 B.N.A. S.497/5/4: School for Zionists in Tuli Block, District Commissioner to Director of
Education,Machaneng, 24 February 1959.
92Grant "A very Remarkable School", p.92.
93Thema, "Moeng ColIege", p.73.
94According to informants, one teacher came from Transvaal and the other from Serowe.
95See for instance, R. Sanoto, "The Impact of the Zimbabwean Liberation War on the Babirwa,
1970-1980," B.A.Thesis,History Department, University of Botswana, (Gaborone, 1992), p.lO.
96 Interview with M. Tsheole, 56 years, Motlhabaneng, 22 June 1998.
97Interview with E. Makgosa, 72 years, Mathathane, 18 June 1998.
98Interview with T. Molapisane, 63 years, Motlhabaneng, 20 June 1998.
99 Oosthuizen's book shows that many folIowers of African Independent ChUrches have generalIy
appealed to this testimony whenever they joined these churches. Oosthuizen et.al.(eds.), Afro-
Christianity at the Grassroots, p.ix.
100Molelu, "The History of the Babirwa".
101See Sanoto, "The Impact of the Zimbabwean Liberation War".
102This would be an important aspect of research in future.
                                                134


103 In the case of the International Pentecostal Church (IPe) of Rev. Modise in South Africa
leaders of the church point to healing through songs as the main factor attracting new members:
J;!1ISchurch has spread to Botswana, and its members are fond of singing .
    . The patIent became a follower of Zionism after this healing experience. Interview with M.
Dmtwe, 54 years, Gaborone, 9 August 1998.
105 Landau, The Realm of the Word, p.114.
106 Interview with P. Materna, 60 years, Semolale, 11 July 1998. This would explain why today
there is a health post there.
 107 Some Babirwa remained believers of African traditional religion (they preserved the practices
of mag wash a) and others followed Christianity.
 108 See fi' or mstance, S . Grant & 1. Ramsay, "One Botswana, One Nation; The Arrival of
Independence," in F. Morton & 1. Ramsay (eds.), The Birth of Botswana-A History of
Bechuanaland Protectorate from 1910 to 1966 (Gaborone: Longman, 1987), p.183. Also see, L.
A. Picard, The Politics of Development in Botswana-A Model for Success? (London: Lynne
Rienner,1987),p.151-158.
 109 Grant & Ramsay, "One Botswana, One Nation", p.167.
 110 Ibid, p.170.
 111 B.N.A. S.544/5; Notes on District Councils in Non-Tribal Areas, no place, 23 December 1960.
 112 This issue of bogosi and the Zionists is discussed at length under part three of this chapter ( i.e.
Contradictions of Leadership and Administration in Lentswe-Ie-Moriti).
 113 Interview with M. Dintwe, 54 years, Gaborone, 9 August 1998.
 114 B.N.A. S554/5: Notes on District Councils in Non-Tribal Areas, no place, 23 December 1960.
 115 Grant & Ramsay, "One Botswana, One Nation".
 116 Interview with T.M. Lebotse, 68 years, Lentswe-Ie-Moriti, 20 June 1998.
 117 Interview with L. Matshego, 84 years, Lentswe-Ie-Moriti, 9 June 1998.
 118 He became councillor from 1966 until 1994. Interview with P. Materna, 60 years, Semolale,
 II July 1998.
 119  Interview with D. Mosienyane, 80 years, Bobonong, 30 June 1998.
 120 Group interview, Motlhabaneng, 5 June 1998.
 121 Group interview, Lentswe-Ie-Moriti, I July 1998.
 122 Interview with M.Kgetsi, 82 years, Mochudi, I August 1998.
 123 Grant "Church and Chief in the Colonial Era" p.62.
 124 They could not identify themselves with people who chased them.
  125 The examples of identity crisis cited are striking and relevant in interpreting the present case.
 F.B. Welbourn, Religion and Politics in Uganda 1952-1962 (Nairobi: East African Publishing
 House, 1965), p.48.
  126 Interview with M. Dintwe, 54 years, Gaborone, 9 August 1998. I had the chance to look at the
 letter. Mr Dintwe has a file containing some of the records concerning development projects in
 Lentswe-Ie-Moriti.
  127 Members of the other ZCC section can also not be residents unless they join the section that
 the Lentswe-Ie-Moriti Zionists belong to. This is despite the common practices of the two
 sections.
  128 However, female Zionists can not have access to land until they get married. Also, because of
 the growing population, some Zionists build their homesteads at abandoned plots. Interview with
 T.M. Lebotse, 68 years, Lentswe-Ie-Moriti, 20 June 1998.
  129 Interview with O. Moleofe, 62 years, Lentswe-Ie-Moriti, 15 June 1998.
  130 Interview with T. Tautsagae, 42 years, Bobonong, 29 June 1998. Recently the single shop in
.the village has began to import cigarettes to cater for the workers.
  131 I have observed a case where by one man from Lentswe-Ie-Moriti was drinking beer in the
  neighbouring village of Motlhabaneng. It seems that the Zionists can not offer ImmedIate solutIOn
  to this problem .....
  132 Some informants note that the accumulation of wealth has reduced the ongmal spmt of
  sharing among the Zionists.
                                                   135


133 Interview with D. Lebotse, 41 years, Barclays Bank (Gaborone), 10 August 1998. She claims
that sometimes her children refuse to go to Lentswe-le-Moriti on the excuse that they have no
dresses. Occasionally she leaves them behind lest they embarrass her at home.
134 Ibid.
135 Interview with L. Matshego, 84 years, Lentswe-Ie-Moriti, 9 June 1998.
136 L.A. Picard, "Rural Development in Botswana: The District Administration and the creation of
District Committees- 1966 to 1973," Working paper No. 14, (October 1977), p.33.
137 See for instance, H. Pretorius & L. Jafta as cited in R.Elphick & R.Davenport, Christianity        in
South Africa-A Political, Social and Cultural History (Capetown: David Philip Publishers,
 1997), p.22S.
138 See especially, MJ. Odell, "Local Government, Traditional and Modem Roles of the Village
Kfotla," The Evolution of Modern Botswana (London: Rex CoIlings, 1985), p.79.
13 Ibid.p.83. Odell discusses this same theme in MJ. Odell Jr, "The Evolution of a Planning and
Development Strategy for Communal areas in Botswana," in RR Hitchcock and M. R. Smith
(eds.), Settlement in Botswana - The Historical Development of a Human Landscape (Gaborone:
Heinemann Educational Books, 1982), pp.327-339.
140 For more information about Bakgatla Pilane see chapters one and three. Also see, B.N.A.
S.435/3/1: District Commissioner to Mr Batho, Machaneng, 17 February 1953.
141 Group interview, Lentswe-Ie-Moriti, 1 July 1998.
142 Some of the aspects of this kgotla may be similar to that given by Kuper but the two councils
are not the same. For confirmation sake, see A.Kupper, Kalahari Village Politics (Cambridge:
The University Press, 1970), p.78.
143 Each time I visited the vilIage to conduct resellTch, I directly went to the kgotla. A member of
the lekgotla always met me at the entrance with a bucket of sanctified (holy) water. He sprinkled
this water on my face and my back. I even swallowed some of the water given to me after this
p,rocess. We could then formally greet each other.
 44 Odell gives a good case study of a traditional vilIage kgotla. To him, it is the first institution of
local government to be established when any group of people seek stability and guidance when
settling far from permanent and recognised communities. Odell Jr, "The Evolution of a Planning
and Development Strategy".
145 In 1956 Phiri Kgote (an oldman and former schoolteacher in Mochudi) was introduced as the
first 'kgosana'. He was replaced by Sephitse Tau in 1957 who also died within two years. See for
instance, B.N.A. S.442/10: Report on Investigations into the Zionist Settlement at Loensa-ya-
Moridi Farm, Government Secretary to District Commissioner, Serowe, 2 August 1956.
\46 Interview with M. Tsheole, 56 years, Motlhabaneng, 22 June 1998.
147 Interview with M. Dintwe, S4 years, Gaborone, 9 August 1998.
148 Both government officials and the Zionists alluded to this statement.
149 Sundkler Bantu Prophets.
150 Interview with R Madisa, 80 years, Lentswe-Ie-Moriti, 15 June 1998. The fact that these two
men were related would seem to suggest that the Zionist's most senior post in the church was
hereditary (at least in this particular incidence only).
\5\ Interview with M. Dintwe, 54 years, Gaborone, 9 August 1998.
152 Interview with K. Lebotse, 33 years, University of Botswana (Gaborone), 6 August 1998.
153 Kileff & Kileff, "The Masowe Vapostori" p.159.
154 Interview with kgosi Mmirwa Malema, 78 years, Bobonong, 30 June 1998.
155 Interview with M. Tsheole, 56 years, Motlhabaneng, 22 June 1998.
156 They reject an institution which is indirectly serving them some function Similarly, although
the Vapostori reject the servitude of the industrial society, they seek to enjoy the benefits of it in
the form of consumer goods. Kileff & Kileff, "The Masowe Vapostori" p.162.
157 This was welcomed by the entire community. But few informants ( migrant workers) have
expressed concern that they are disturbed by this procedure. They feel that they should have their
own kgotla which wiII relieve their relatives from going to outside kgotlas to register for omang
                                                   136


   cards (identity cards). Therefore it is most likely that some other Zionists are also sharing the
   same view especially that at one point some of them wanted bogosi to be introduced.
   158 Interview with J.J.Maruatona, 68 years, Bobonong, 2 July 1998.
   159 See for instance, G.Molapisi, "Bobirwa Farm Reserved for ZCC," in M. Mpaphadzi
  (ed.), Kut/wano, Volume 35, no.6 (June, 1997), p.13.
   160 N.S. Booth Jr, African Religions: A Symposium (New York: NOK Publishers, 1977),p.269.
   161 The reason thereto stems from the 1949 succession dispute which led to the ZCC schism.
   162 The reader is again reminded that the term "Zionism" in the context of the ZCC should not be
  confused with "Zionism" in the cO!'!textof Judaism or Jewish history.
  163 Interview with O. Moleofe, 62 years, Lentswe-Ie-Moriti, 15 June 1998.
  164 Deuteronomy 6: 21-23 (NIV). See J.B. Mzizi, "Swazi Zionism and the Royal Politics of the
  kingdom," in Oosthuizen, p.55.
  165 Sundkler, Bantu Prophets, p.1 02.
  166 Scholars on rural development in Botswana generalIy agree that the institution is reducing the
 powers of the dikgosi insofar as its discretion dictates terms in village development process.
  167 A. Giddens, Sociology (Cambridge: Polity press, 1989), p.468.
  168 Interview with K. Lebotse, 33 years, University of Botswana (Gaborone), 6 August 1998.
  169 P. Walshe, "Christianity and the Anti-Apartheid Struggle: The Prophetic Voice within Divided
 Churches," in R. Elphick & R. Davenport, Christianity in South Africa, p.389.
  170 See H. Turner, "Independent Churches of African origin and form," in C. Geffre & B. Luneau
 (eds.), The Churches of Africa: Future Prospects (New York: The Seabury Press, 1977), p.11 O.
 171 Interview with K. Lebotse, 33 years, University of Botswana (Gaborone), 6 August 1998.
 172 Today the government intends to repatriate Basarwa communities to areas where they are
 supposed to easily receive social amenities like other citizens. This can be achieved because,
 unlike the Zionists, the Basarwa occupy non-Freehold land where government can easily exercise
 its powers.
 173 Interview with J.J.Maruatona, 68 years, Bobonong, 2 July 1998.
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                                                 137


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                                                138


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                                                139