Elite interests and political participation in Botswana, 1966–2014

ABSTRACT

Botswana’s tiny economy is overwhelmingly government-driven and political participation, particularly on the side of the ruling party, is critical for one’s economic survival and prosperity. This has led to enduring intrigue and conflict among the country’s political power elite. Opposition party activists traditionally have embraced leftist policies and claimed to be representing the country’s poor and downtrodden while castigating the ruling Botswana Democratic Party (in power since 1966) of being pro-rich and politically connected business. Ironically, some members of the opposition elite also engage in business ventures with their ruling party counterparts. The scramble for economic opportunities has fuelled debilitating factionalism within both the ruling and opposition parties over the years. In some instances tribalism was mobilised in intra- and inter-party elections for positions of influence even though voters are more interested in service delivery than traditional ethnic issues. Our paper considers the question: ‘Whose interests do Botswana’s politicians represent?’

KEYWORDS:

• Elite
• political participation
• ethnicity
• tribalism
• ‘opportunism’

Acknowledgements

We are grateful to Henning Melber and Rodger Southall who organised a panel in which an earlier version of this paper was presented at the United Kingdom African Association conference held at the University of Leeds in September 2012.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes on contributors

Christian John Makgala is a Professor in the Department of History, University of Botswana. He has published articles in numerous acclaimed journals. He has also published numerous book chapters. His books are Elite Conflict in Botswana: A History (2006), History of the Bakgatla-baga-Kgafela in Botswana and South Africa (2009), edited History of the Botswana Manual Workers Union (2007), co-authored History of Botswana Public Employees Union (2010) with Zibani Maundeni. He has also co-authored a book entitled The 2011 BOFEPUSU Strike (2014) with Ikanyeng Stonto Malila. He is also a literary critic and novelist with two historical novels entitled The Dixie Medicine Man (2010) and a sequel The Paroled Pastor (2014). He is the editor of Botswana Notes and Records journal. His research interests include the colonial indirect rule in Botswana; race relations in South Africa and Botswana; Botswana’s economic diversification effort; monetary history of Botswana; refugees and illegal immigrants in Botswana and South Africa; Democracy in Botswana; trade unionism in post-colonial Botswana; the liberation struggle of Southern Africa; national symbols, work ethic; witchcraft and magic in Southern Africa; and Intellectual Property Rights Infringement in Botswana. He can be contacted at [email protected].

Mokganedi Zara Botlhomilwe is a Senior Lecturer in the Department of Sociology at the University of Botswana. His research interests are in the area of political sociology and he has published widely in this area. His publications have appeared in academic journals such as Politea, African Review, Journal of Leadership, Public Administration and Journal of Contemporary African Studies. He has also authored several book chapters. He can be contacted at [email protected].

Additional information

Funding

Funding from the Working Group on ‘Europe and Transitions in (Southern) Africa’ and the European Association of Development Training and Research Institutes (EADI) enabled participation at the conference.