The article uses the case of the San to historically examine the dynamic nature of public welfare in the face of aggressive postcolonial assimilationist pressures. To operationalise the concept of social exclusion, government policies and programmes are used as a yardstick against which progressive entitlements, or entitlement failures, can be measured and monitored over time. The analysis demonstrates that power relations and institutional structures of decision-making have not only eroded extant and potential entitlement relations in mineral-rich Botswana, but also negated San citizenship. Social exclusion has engendered insecurity, uncertainty, and social and economic vulnerability. In the light of Vision 2016, a national manifesto that will guide development in the new millennium, specific innovative approaches are needed to combat San social exclusion. The answer to this problem is not only the evolution of pluralist political parties and cultural organisations. Institutional economic innovation and San integration into factor markets deserve more analytical attention.
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