Although the territory that is now Botswana became a British colony in 1885, and the very same British almost incorporated Bechuanaland into the Union of South Africa after 1907, history ‘only’ tells us that 3 Botswana Kings went to Britain to ask for protection in 1895.
And, of course, we are not told of the ‘anti incorporation’ Coloured and Native People’s Delegation that went to London in 1909 to pursue the British parliament and public to side with them in resistance of being incorporated into South Africa. The Delegation included, among others, representatives of the Basutoland, Bechuanaland and Swaziland ‘protectorates’.
According to Odendaal (2012), “the Coloured and Native Delegation drew support from humanitarian, Liberal and church groups such as the Anti-Slavery and Aborigines Protection Society, the London Missionary Society, the Quakers and the South African Native Races Committee, as well as influential individuals such as Sir Charles Dilke, the Labour Party leader Kier Hardie, Ramsay MacDonald, the Liberal MP and historian G.P. Gooch, the Liberal peer Lord Courtney and other parliamentarians” (p.425).
References: Ramsay, Morton and Mgadla, 1996; Mogalakwe, 2006; Odendaal, 2012
Blessing Kgosi e tsile Kgasa 