| Pioneering in Botswana |
| Written by Frank Leslie Boswell | ||||||||||||||||||
| Friday, 02 September 2011 14:08 | ||||||||||||||||||
EARLY DAYS OF BOTSWANABotswana historyFor approximately eighty years until its independence on the 30th Sept. 1966 Botswana was a British Protectorate. It was then known as “Bechuanaland”. The British intervention was to stop the hostilities between the Twanas and the Ndebele. The section between the Ramaquabane River and the Shasi River to where it met the Tati River was declared “No Mans” land. The Ramaquabana River forms the boundary between Zimbabwe and Botswana. The Tati Company later received the right to use the land. They in turn would rent out farms in the area for virtually nothing on condition the farmer was prepared to erect and pay half of the fencing materials. Botswana between 1967 and 1973In April 1967 we arrived at Francistown Botswana to start my employment with Botswana Government. As this was 6 months after obtaining its Independence we could consider ourselves as its pioneers. It must be remembered that when Botswana got its Independence in 1966 it was regarded as one of the poorest countries. Its population was around the half million with most of its citizens living in towns situated close to the railway track. The rest of Botswana which is mainly desert was left to the minority of its citizens leaving mother nature very much in control. My initiation to BotswanaWith my arrival to Botswana I had to undergo a medical examination. I was told that one of the doctors was a woman. Having a woman examining a male patient was unheard of and to crown it all she was black. I went to Louis Koekemoer who then was the Post Master and he told me that the woman doctor was Moeti. Armed with this information I went to the hospital to make my appointment. I asked the nurse on duty when Dr Moeti was on duty. When she told me I told her that I would not be available on those days and that she must make an appointment for me to see the other doctor. Come the day I froze in my tracks as there behind the desk sat the lady doctor. There was no turning back. When it came to the time that I had to cough it was without doubt one of my most embarrassing moments. Yes she was Dr Moeti but she practiced under her maiden name Mashalaba I soon learnt to respect her as a doctor. We spent many a night together playing bridge or socializing at the golf club. Simon her husband would go out of his way to arouse an interest in bridge. A brief summary of KasaneIn the sixties Kasane only had a handful of white families. They were:-
Some of my pioneering activities.A) Constructing open wire routes in Kasane Kasane was served with a farm line also known as a party line from Zambia. A party line is a single telephone line serving normally a maximum of ten subscribers. Only one subscriber at a time could be connected to the manual exchange. With business subscribers in Kasane plus the immigration and customs post in Zambia connected to the one line led to a lot of frustration. The worst was that there was no privacy as any one of the subscribers connected to the line could listen in on your conversation. There was also the continuous ringing as all the phones rang with incoming and outgoing calls and the termination of calls. Code ringing was used for each subscriber. The Zambian Border Post officials would disconnect Kasane if they wanted to use their phone and the line was in continuous use. They would normally reconnect Kasane after they had made their call. Then there were the times that they would forget to reconnect Kasane and I had to travel from Francistown to Kasane via Buluwayo and Victoria Falls a round trip of approximately 1600km just to replace the fuse at the Zambian Border Post. I would however make use of this visit to Kasane to do some routine inspections. When building construction started on the Chobe Lodge in the Chobe National Park it was decided to connect Kasane to the Rhodesian telephone system and then to Automate Kasane. A1) Malaria Open wire routes from Kazungula to Kasane and from Kasane to the Chobe National Park to serve the Chobi National Park and the Chobe Lodge had to be constructed. My biggest fear during the construction was the snakes in the long grass near the Chobe River. The mosquito however proved to be our biggest enemy. Pauline and some of the crew really had malaria in a bad way. There were no doctors in Kasane but the nursing staff certainly knew how to treat Malaria. A2) Gang violence To clear the bush for the open wire routes I hired some of the locals. I soon realized that these guys were not pulling their weight. When I approached them I knew I had a bunch of trouble makers. After warning them I went to see Kingsley Sibele the District Commissioner and cousin to Sir Seretse Khama and informed him of what had transpired. The next day it was decided that the permanent crew finish off a section of their work and then go and assist with the bush clearing. After completing the section I went ahead of my permanent crew leaving them to clean up. Arriving at the temporary workers I found that very little progress had been made and in fact some of them were missing. When I told them that they were all fired in no uncertain terms I was confronted with an angry mob wielding pangas. I knew one wrong move and it was all over as some of them started crowding me. I kept up a bold front and shouted back at them as loud as I could and at the same time praying that my permanent crew would arrive soon. When they arrived they armed them with anything they could lay their hands on like picks, axes spades etc. The temporary crew was taken to the District Commissioner. After hearing both sides he told the temps that they were a disgrace to Botswana and that he endorses my decision to fire them. B) Installation of the first automatic telephone exchange in Kasane In between the construction work I started with the installation of an automatic exchange. I had to modify a P.A.B.X. to function as an automatic exchange. I was not happy with the equipment used as I knew that its selectors required regular maintenance. The automation of Kasane was however accepted as a vast improvement. The Chobe Lodge prior to opening wanted the Chobe Safari Lodge in Kasane to swap names. They felt the name Chobe Safari Lodge was more applicable to them as they were in the Chobe Nat. Park. Their request however went unheard. C) Marking out sites for microwave and VHF towers. C1) The section between Palapye to Francistown and from Francistown to Maun In the early 1970’s the United Nations sent out a team to select sites for microwave and V.H.F. towers. The main reason for this exercise was to break all links with Rhodesia and use Zambia as a standby route for its communication with South Africa as its main route. To accomplish this exercise we had to make up two teams using a 3/4ton and a 1ton Bedford truck. With their first visit I joined them at Palapye. The sections from Palapye to Francistown and Francistown to Maun were completed with their first visit. Before returning to the U.K. for a short break they informed Mervin Spence the Engineer that they refused to continue their second visit unless they were supplied with tents. (Mervin Spence and Maddoc Nel who was in charge of the Nkana Mine Telephone Exchange during the sixties) installed most of the microwave links in Northern Rhodesia in the nineteen forties.) The fact that I had a rifle with me meant nothing to them as at night I would lie snoring and they could not sleep with lions and other wildlife coming close to our camp. I was supplied with two tents. One for the two U.N.officials and myself and the second was for my labourers. C2) The section between Kasane to Nata With their second visit we had to cover the sections from Kasane to Nata and Kasane to Maun. If the PWD could supply us in time with a map indicating the new proposed road from Rakops to Orapa we would do that section as well. With the section between Kasane and Nata we had to find sites close to the new proposed road. We had no tracks to follow and the only guide we had was the odd clearing made during the surveying of the new 359km road. To complete this section took just over 7days as we were regularly stuck in the sand and had our fair share of punctures. Whenever we were held up between readings we had to start from where the last reading was taken which was approximately 5 km back. We were however prepared for this as the Government had issued me with a pot license which we could use provided we had been away for more than 24hrs from the nearest butcher. The amount of game you were allowed to shoot could last us for at least a month. C2.1) The close encounter with lions Close to Nata in the early hours of the morning I found myself in the centre of a pride of lions. Later that morning looking at my tracks & that of the lions did it really sink in how lucky I was to come out alive. A more detailed version will be given in another article I wish to write soon. C3) Our visit to Victoria Falls Arriving back in Francistown the U.N. officials informed Mervin that after my experience with the lions near Nata they were going to make use of approved accommodation regardless of how far we had to travel backwards and forwards. One of the officials returned to the U.K with the results and would meet us in Maun once we had completed the section between Kasane and Maun. Mervin suggested that when we returned to Kasane we must go via Buluwayo and Victoria Falls. The Rhodesian immigration during this period stamped a blank sheet of paper as prove of entry. Countries that did not support Rhodesia then were not aware that their citizens were in Rhodesia. If it was not for the Victoria Falls I doubt if my companion would have accepted the invitation as his impression of Rhodesia was based on propaganda. He could not believe what he saw. His expected to see blacks treated as slaves and the country in total collapse. We stayed in the Victoria Falls Hotel and he could not believe how happy and well trained their black staff were. After speaking to several blacks he said he wished more people oversees would visit Rhodesia before accepting the propaganda they were receiving. When we met up again with his partner in Maun he could not wait to tell him what he had experienced with his visit to Rhodesia. C4) The section between Kasane and Maun We spent our evenings in luxury while working in this section. On the first part of the section we slept in the Chobe Safari Lodge. The stretch midway between Kasane and Maun we spent our evenings in the Khwai River Lodge. The lodge was on the eastern section of the Moremi Game Reserve. The lodge attracted the tourist who wanted a tour of the Moreme but still sleep in luxury and at night when they heard the lions roaring or sounds from other animals they felt safe. The lodge would take their guests to see a Bushmen clan of about twenty which had settled some 12 kilometres from the lodge. Their settlement was where the track from the hotel met the track from Kasane to Maun. This settlement had already been westernised but when they heard the Land Rover of the lodge approaching they would strip down to their traditional clothing. The tourists could not get enough photos of them and they would empty their purses for these poor people. I do believe the only reason that the tourists made their way back to the lodge was the smell of these Masarwas as my labourers called them. To be honest how they survived is a mystery as the only water they had was that which was supplied by the lodge with their visits. To crown it all the area was riddled with Tsetse flies. I hired them to help us get through the heavy sand in the vicinity. In the mornings they would wait for us at the start of the sandy patch and in the evenings it was in the opposite direction. They would jump on the back of the vehicles and as soon as there was a possibility of being bogged down they would jump off and start pushing. Places where we got stuck they would return and pack grass in the tracks and flatten the high sandy islands. For this we paid them sixty cents /day. Another problem we faced was sand getting in the carburettor. At the end of the trip I could clean a dirty carburettor within a half hour. . Whenever I was in this vicinity my labourers would approach me for money which they needed to satisfy their sexual needs with these Masarwas. I would always give them more than requested with the understanding that they purchase any skins that the Masarwas might have as they were reluctant in doing business with a white man. I still have two karosses (skin-rugs made from jackal hides) which I got at R20 each. Most of my labourers as a bonus ended up with syphilis. C4.1) Tsetse flies During our time is this area we were unceremoniously stung by tsetse flies. As you motored along the sandy tracks at low speeds the tsetse flies would gather in your slipstream. As soon as you stopped they attacked. To overcome this I armed each labourer on the back of the trucks with a tin of Doom (insect spray) which I got from Khwai River Lodge. After every 5kms we had to stop and take our readings but before stopping we would knock on the rear window and out came the Doom. The tsetse flies came in the cab although all the windows were closed. They were tough and those you squashed in the cab somehow always seemed to come alive again. When we approached Maun we slept at the Crocodile Camp then owned by the Wilmot’s. The only accommodation available at the time was the honeymoon suite, which I had to share with the United Nations representative. Don’t worry they gave us an extra bed. The second night there my companion woke me up, as he wasn’t feeling well at all. He had a high temperature with a severe headache and he complained of feeling sore all over. The first thing I did the next morning was to ask Miss Wilmot if she had something for my companion. She advised me to take him to Maun hospital immediately as it sounds as though he has sleeping sickness from the tsetse flies. Suddenly I developed the same symptoms. When I spoke to the labourers they too suddenly had the same symptoms. At the hospital in Maun I found a doctor and I told him that there is a strong possibility that we all have sleeping sickness as we were badly stung by Tsetse flies for the last week. Believe me by now we were all feeling pretty grim. He started to laugh which did not amuse us at all. Once he told us that the incubation period was fourteen days we all started feeling better. As a matter of fact we needed no medication except the U.N. representative who had a bad dose of flu. Here I realized how strong mind over matter is. C5) The section between Rakops and Orapa C5.1 Preparation for this trip. On completing the Maun to Kasane section we stayed a few days at Rileys Hotel as we had to wait for the U.N. official who had returned to the U.K. If I remember correctly his name was Bob. It also gave us time to study the map received in the post indicating the proposed new road from Rakops to Orapa and I could also do outstanding telephone faults in Maun. On seeing the position of the proposed road I sent a radio message from the Agricultural depot to Mervin. I requested he contact Frans Du Toit (son of Du Toit’s mentioned on page 6) at Orapa as he got to know the area fairly well while building the canals leading to Mopipi Dam which De Beers had recently built to supply Orapa with water. Frans was one of those hardy characters. He could jump on a donkey that had not yet been ridden and all he had to hold on was its mane. Frans would only get off once the donkey was exhausted after trying every acrobatic trick to throw him off. Frans was to meet us at a camp site which if I remember correctly belonged to Hunters Africa which was close to Rakops. This camp site was used for tourists on photographic safaris in the Makgadikgadi Pans National Park. We had to fend for ourselves as the camp site was vacant at the time. Since we were not allowed to shoot in the area we had to rely on buying meat at Rakops. C5.2 Close encounter with crocodiles. On our way to the campsite we met the Camp Manager on his way to Maun. He told us that the ferry he uses to get to Rakops is on the other side of the Boteti River and informed us that there should be no problem in getting the ferry if someone was prepared to swim across the river. Once settled in at the camp we went looking for the ferry .We found the ferry and I had stripped down to my underpants ready to swim across. As I was about to dive in my foreman Ben Keruliman stopped me and pointed about 10metres to the right of the ferry and there was a least six crocodiles in the water. I got dressed without any prompting and we walked along the Boteti River until we saw someone on the other side from Rakops. Ben told them that we wanted to buy a goat and that we were staying in the campsite. Half an hour later they arrived with two goats. After much negotiating we bought one. Two nights later they were back with another goat. The goats cost us R5 apiece and in Francistown the labourers got R2 for the skins. Goat meat was preferred to mutton in Botswana. C5.3 Starting our last section From our camp site to Orapa was virgin territory as no vehicles had as yet covered this section. The next day we had to collect Frans on the Maun/Francistown road as prearranged. Once at the camp site Frans had a discussion in fluent Tswana with my labourers that were to accompany the U.N. officials to familiarize them with the area. We often lost each other. One night it was about 21H00 before the two U.N. officials could get to us as somehow they got hopelessly lost. We made use of the flare gun I had to attract their attention. When we saw their lights we would point our vehicle in their direction and keep our lights on. At times they were close to us but they had to backtrack as the route they had taken led to a dead end with either some stream or deep donga. There were so many spring-hares in this area that the reflection of the vehicle lights shining in their eyes gave you impression of a city in the distance. Many a time our vehicles got bogged down in collapsing tunnels made by them. D) Installation of a PABX and laying of underground cables in Orapa. Just before going permanently to Orapa the Botswana Government gave me a Government house No T29 as my plot was in the throws of being sold. In the beginning stages of Orapa it was only necessary for us to visit the mine when required. Once the new offices and houses were completed Orapa Mine wanted a P.A.B.X. installed with extensions to the offices, plant and houses. I was asked if I wouldn’t mind doing the job as I had just completed laying a cable to the outskirts of Francistown and the construction of an open wire route up to the Orapa turn off. Digging the trench for the cable I hired 20 temporary labourers. To spend more time with the open wire construction squad I split the temporary labourers up in pairs. Each evening I would measure out a section that they had to complete for the day. On the third day I arrived at the site around 1100hrs and found they had all completed digging their sections and had already left. I was highly disgusted with myself thinking that I had underestimated the distance that each pair could dig in a day. The next morning at 0800hrs I was on the site. Instead of finding 20 labourers digging there must have been around sixty digging or wielding a pick. These labourers had brought their wives and children along with the necessary implements to help them dig. They would start digging as soon as it was light. If I accepted the government’s request it meant that I would be in Orapa for sometime. The Government agreed that I could retain the house in Francistown and that I could make use of government transport to transport Christine and Stephen to and from boarding school in Marula approximately 68kms south of Bulawayo. With my meeting I had with the Orapa mine manager he offered me a house (number D41) fully furnished with air conditioning and I would also be allowed to make use of all the mine facilities free of charge. He informed me that no telephone wires had to be above the ground. To meet this requirement the mine was prepared to give me accommodation for a maximum of six labourers to assist with tasks such as the fitting of telephones, the installation of the PABX, installing of distribution points and cable jointing. The digging and closing of the trenches and helping with laying of cables would be done by the mines. He told me if there is anything I needed I must just approach the person in charge and should there be any problem I must refer them to him. The mines were also prepared to pay for the cable When I left Orapa I sold my buffalo mount to the Orapa Club for R150. On arriving in Orapa the first thing I did was to mark out the cable runs so that the mine labourers could get started. Once the mine employees started digging the trenches we had to spark to get our cables laid. While the mine had labourers digging trenches in the built up areas they had a front-end digger on the open stretches. It must be said that the laying of the cables were completed well ahead of the scheduled time. Instead of making dugouts or manholes I designed a pillar so that the cables could be joined above the ground. When I started teaching one of my labourers’s how to join the cable I found that he often got the sequence wrong as he had difficulty in distinguishing between blue and green. To overcome the problem I got him to keep some green grass or leaf with him so that he could compare the colours. Believe it or not this worked. According to him a similar idea was used to help their parents during the last world war. They apparently could not get use to the Left – Right instructions when marching. To overcome this they were told to hold grass in their left hand and paper in their right hand. While marching they would receive the instruction Gras – Papier, Gras –Papier (Afrikaans for Grass- Paper) .With the instruction “gras” they would raise their left arm holding the grass and on the command “papier” they would raise their right arm holding the paper. E) First telephone in Letlakane I installed the first telephone in Letlakane making use of a radio link from Orapa. F) First registered dairy I was the first person to register a dairy in the Francistown jurisdiction. When I asked Cyril Challis the Senior Dairy Officer what I was required to do to meet the health requirements he thought I was joking as they could not enforce the rules. All the locals were selling their milk out in the bush. However after meeting with the necessary requirements to my dairy I requested Cyril to carry out his inspection. The dairy was accepted on 11-2-1970. When Cyril had to issue me with the registration certificate we spent sometime turning his office upside down looking for the book. President Sir Seretse Khama On the few occasions that I had some contact with Sir Seretse Khami it was obvious that he had a great love for cattle and the outdoors. Sir Seretse Khama owned a farm just outside Francistown. When he visited this farm I had to transfer the other telephone subscribers from the farm line that served his farm to a second farm line. This required making some adjustments and modifications to the second farm line to compensate for the additional phones as ten phones per farm line was the norm. This gave the President not only privacy and sole use of the line but he would not be disturbed with the continues ringing on the line. With my first visit to the farm I visualized a farm house with all the luxuries. To my surprise the house needed attention. The furniture was very basic and the kitchen was equipped with an anthracite stove. His bed was an old metal frame. In front of his bed was an old Kudo skin on the cement floor. I certainly would not swap my bed with his after trying it out. After speaking with the labourer who looked after the farm it was clear that Sir Seretse Khama was the happiest when he was close to his cattle and I quote “As hy die beeste sien dan is hy baie bly” (When he sees the cattle he is very happy). I still have a sjambok made of giraffe skin which his labourer gave me. To get away from the hustle and bustle he would spend sometime in the guest house in the Chobe Game Reserve. At the time the South Africans were patrolling the Zambezi and Chobe Rivers. While he was at the guest house they would stay clear of the Chobe on his request. His time was spent listening to the wild life and birds around him. With his visits to the Chobe Safari Lodge the security guards were ambiguous with their absence. When he was not so well he relied on Doctor Pearl Mashalaba. She and her husband Dr Simon Moeti both practiced at the government hospital in Francistown. Every year with Botswana’s independence I received an invitation to attend a dinner in Gaberones The backbone to success in BotswanaIn my view no farmer before and during my time could succeed unless his wife could stand up to the occasion. To me these women were true pioneers. There were the Du Toits who stayed across the Tati River. If they happened to be on the other side of the river when in flood they had to leave their transport behind and negotiate the 50metre wide river by hanging onto a steel cable suspended across the river. With one of my visits to their farm the Tati River was in flood. Looking at the cable I found it hard to believe that anyone could actually cross the river on these conditions let alone a woman. Imagine your feet above the ground at times and most of your body submerged in a strong flowing river and there is no chance of giving up when your hands hurt or if you got tired. To my way of thinking she was either crazy or very strong. I decided to come back the next day as the Tati River subsides rather quickly. Marie Eloff could slaughter, cut up, pack and deliver twenty goats to a prospecting company by lunch time. Everything was done by hand. Their first house was swept away when the Tati River flooded its banks so they built their second house on a hill in less than a week. Hessian formed the bases of the walls. This was painted with a mixture of salt water and cement. Salt was added to the water until an egg would float in it. Once set it became water tight. Before they went to bed at night they had to check for snakes and scorpions. Frikkie her husband was as strong as an ox. We once went out hunting and shot a Kudu bull. The nearest we could get the vehicle to the Kudu was about fifteen paces. It was decided to remove the innards and then Frikkie would place the Kudu on the shoulders of his brother Theuns and me. When he let go we went down like a bag of potatoes. Theuns and I nearly died of suffocation as the weight of the Kudu had our heads buried in the sand. Once recovered we put the Kudu on Frikkie’s shoulders and he carried the Kudu to the vehicle. Frikkie and Theuns would catch some of the biggest Mambas I have ever seen with their bare hands and then milk them. I hated watching this as I knew if one of them were bitten he would not live to see another day. Theuns once became constipated after eating too many prickly pears. Frikkie solved the problem with a bicycle pump and soapy water. One evening some Transvalers (people from the Jo’Burg area) were invited to a barbeque on Frikkie’s farm. One self centered character really started to bore us. The worst he could do was to boast that he would catch a Duiker with his bare hands. Before he knew what was happening we were all on Frikkie’s truck armed with some search lights. A Duiker was brought to a standstill with the searchlights in its eyes. Without any persuasion he got off the truck and went for the Duiker. Before this fellow knew what was happening the Duiker had punched a few holes in him with its sharp horns and his army coat was in shreds from its sharp hoofs. I don’t think he had much to boast about on his return to the Transvaal. The walls and flat roof of the Prinsloo’s was corrugated iron with no insulation. Hessian was suspended from the roof to act as the inner walls. A car battery served as a source of lighting. When it went flat they would swap it with that in the truck. The bath of Japie Straus was made of a 44 gallon drum cut length ways in half with two ends removed and welded together. In April 1968 I moved to plot 940 a small holding just outside Francistown on the Tati River which I had purchased. The change from what we were accustomed to, to what we now called home was enormous. The house had no ceilings, no hot or cold water, no electricity, no built in cupboards and the floor was plain cement. With our roof wetting we had to wet the floor to keep the dust down created during the dancing sessions. Before arriving home a labourer would warm water on an open fire for our bath. The outside toilet with its long drop had to be inspected for snakes and spiders before put into use. The second bedroom was on the stoep. Then there were the twenty Jersey cows that had to be milked and the collection of eggs. Later there were ducks, geese and pigs. When we sold the small holding we had tiled floors, hot and cold running water, flush toilet, a built in fireplace, 3 bedrooms with built in cupboards and a separate lounge. Joe Howard who came from Salisbury and was in charge of a building construction company based in Francistown played a big role in these changes. The infrastructureDirt roads In 1967 the only tarred roads in Botswana was in the towns of Lobatsi, Gaberones and Francistown. All the main roads were dirt roads. In many places the road was below the ground surface and when it rained the road became a river. It became a real quagmire and in many cases you would bypass these sections and travel next to the road where the ground was higher. The roads were very seldom graded. The dirt roads were however often leveled by dragging a large branch of a thorn tree behind a tractor. This was quite effective but it had its drawbacks. A second person facing towards the rear of the tractor had to advise the driver to stop when he spotted a vehicle approaching from the rear. More than often you had to wait until the dust subsided before you could actually go pass the stationary tractor. The other drawback was that the pieces of the branch that broke off had become sharp. Riding over these sharpened pieces of the branch was a sure recipe for a puncture. The road from Nata to Kasane or Kasane to Maun was nothing more than dirt tracks. Our transport in the early days of Botswana was Bedfords and with stretches of sand or turf getting bogged down was the order of the day. Before embarking on a journey between these towns you would ensure that you had two spare wheels, a spade, an axe, a pump, patches and solution, a 44 gallon drum filled with petrol and a second filled with water. The axe was a necessity especially near Kasane as the elephants would push trees over the track in an effort to prevent vehicles from entering in their area. Having a mechanical knowledge when traveling on the above dirt tracks was a big advantage. A young Irishman by the name of Jerry Hammond soon found this out when he embarked on his first trip to Kasane. From the beginning his Irish luck had run out. Just outside Nata was a police post. Here the police would take down your particulars and you had to tell them what track you intended using to Kasane and your expected time of arrival at Kasane. Once you went through they would radio Kasane Police station with your particulars and which track you were using. If you did not report to Kasane Police within your expected time of arrival they would give you a certain amount of grace before they sent out a search party. Somewhere along the track the vehicle developed an airlock in the fuel line and Jerry and his companions had no clue on how to rectify it. He soon realized that they had insufficient food and water but this did not worry him too much as he knew the police would soon come looking for them. This was not to be as they had gone off on some other track. The police fortunately found them just in time as they had already drank the water from the radiator. To clear the airlock took less than ten minutes. Flooded roads Groblersbrug to Palapye:- Coming back from a vacation in Durban we decided that we would sleep at the Sherwood Ranch Hotel. It was an old place but had a lot of character and the food was good. When we got to Potgietersrus it was raining cats and dogs and at times I had to slow down. When we reached the Border Post at Groblersbrug we found that they had already closed. Pauline and I decided that it would be better to sleep at the Border Post in the car than to drive back to Potgietersrus some 200kms away. We had just settled in when another car arrived. The driver wanted to know if we would like to go through as he was going to speak to the Border Post officials. I gathered they knew each other as they were on first name terms. The official only let me through once I convinced him that we were going to sleep at the Sherwood Ranch Hotel. According to him the road from Sherwood Ranch onwards was flooded and no cars had been able to reach Sherwood Ranch from Palapye. The next morning we had hardly left Sherwood Ranch when we realized why no cars could get through the previous day. The road in places had become a river and in other places it went through lakes. With the latter being acquainted with the distance that telephone open wire routes were from the road I could easily judge where the centre of the road should be. Cars that had tried to negotiate the road the previous day stood stranded along the road. For most of the 100km stretch the road was approximately 200mm under water. To cover the 100km took us just on seven hours. Palapye to Francistown:- We reached Palapye after lunch and I decided to stop at Neville Parr’s house for something to eat or drink as we were by now feeling hungry. Neville Parr was the Post Office Technician stationed at Palapye. After we had something to eat and drink we were once more back on the road. We expected to cover the 167kms in two hours. That was not to be. Just outside Palapye one of the streams running into the Lotsane River was still in flood and vehicles could not pass. Some good Samaritan eventually pitched up with a tractor and started pulling the trucks through. I had with me a roll of masking tape and I used it to tape up all the doors except mine and requested the tractor driver to pull us through. The water came up to the door handles and within days my wheel bearings and breaks had to be replaced. A farm road near Tsessebe:- Don Bush who had recently started working with us requested that he accompany me when I go out on a farm line fault. I waited until I had a fault on the longest farm line, which ended near to Totome, which is west of Ramaquabane where Haskins and Sons had a shop. To save time I decided to start working from the tail end as I could use the Francistown to Maun road close to Dukwe and then travel in a northeasterly direction to the farm line. Although all the main roads were gravel it was far better than using the farm roads as on them your average speed was about 16kms per hour on a good day. With this trip we were lucky that I had a Land Rover but the bad luck was on our way the rain came down in buckets. Just before reaching the shop we managed to get through a stream, which was by now rising fast. Once we crossed we realized there is no turning back and the Land Rover would have to remain in four wheel drive. With the Bedford truck I would make my way to the nearest farm and stay there until the road was negotiable. We found the fault close to the shop and fortunately by now the storm was starting to subside. I told Don if we can get through the next 20kms or so we will be OK as I could make a detour to Tsessebe and from there use the main road to Francistown. Don was surprised to hear that conditions were going to get worse. With large flooded sections where I was not sure of the depth I would remove the fan belt. At times we traveled in water not knowing where the track was until some locals would help us back on track. At one place we got horribly stuck with water running through the cab and fortunately by manipulating the aluminum ladder under the water we managed to get out. By now Don was starting to panic so I told the boys not to mention the bridge, which was still to come. As I suspected the bridge was flooded. The river was close on forty-five metres wide at this point with the bridge somewhere in the middle. The bridge had no side pillars and was about 15metres in length and about 3 metres above the river bed. I spoke to my labourers and told them what I had in mind and one of them agreed to take up the challenge. When I told Don what the plan was he nearly wet himself. I thought it was a big joke but if I think back I now realize that the older you get the more cautious you are and Don at the time was no spring chicken. I tied the labourer to the Land Rover using a length of insulated wire. He was given a pair of pliers to cut the wire in case something went wrong and a survey rod to determine the condition of the road surface and to make sure where the sides of the bridge were as the water was very muddy. Stripped down to his under clothing we started our crossing. We estimated that the depth of the water over the bridge was around 600mm. What really worried me was the fact that the current was fairly strong. Before crossing the bridge the labourer had to first check the entire length of the bridge to ensure that the track on the other side of the bridge had not washed away as reversing back over the bridge would create a problem. We were lucky as every thing was still intact. Going over the bridge the water came in the cab. This is without doubt the longest 45metre stretch I have encounted. Luck was with us as the river we had to cross with our detour to Tsessebe was not in flood. I do believe Don will always be remembering this trip as he swore he would never go out on a farm line again when it rains. Between Tsessebe and Ramaquabana:- Christine and Stephen were in Marula boarding school. It is situated between Plumtree and Figtree in Rhodesia and catered for the farming community children up to grade eight. It had about fifty pupils. The school was later closed due to possible terrorist attacks. As a matter of interest Plumtree High School up to the early 1970’s was recognized as the best high school in Southern Africa. With one of the school holidays it was our turn to collect some of the children from Francistown also attending school in Marula. As Murphy would have it, it was during our rainy season and Pauline had to go on her own. Somewhere near Tsessebe on the main highway to Rhodesia she got horribly stuck in a real muddy section of the road. With help from some of the locals they managed to get the car out of the mud. The police at Ramaquabana who then acted as Immigration and Customs officials took her shoes and cleaned it for her without being asked. It must be said that we were always treated with the greatest respect when going across the border. They knew that I liked what we called “Snot Apples” (excuse the name but it was some wild fruit and the name used describes its sweet flesh) and when it was in season they would always put some aside in case I came by. Just outside Francistown:- A group of us were spending a social evening on a farm when it started raining heavily. When one couple decided to leave I decided to follow them. Five kilometers from Francistown we came to a halt as the river crossing was flooded. The turf on either side was as slippery as a bar of soap. After checking the road surface we found that although the water was knee deep the surface appeared to be negotiable. The first car managed to make it halfway. Once we got the Volkswagen out I followed but with my front wheels almost out of the water it was my turn to come to a halt due to some loose rocks which became wedged under the rear axle. We were able to dislodge the rocks by jacking up the car. Fortunately every one saw the funny side as jacking up a car and removing rocks under a car in pitch darkness and that under water had its hilarious moments. I must admit we did have a torch. Once we got rid of the rocks I got behind the wheel and the rest started pushing. They had to push even when I was out as there was no chance that I could get up the bank from a standing start. Once I hit the turf slope I felt the wheels starting to spin. I put my foot down and kept it there until I was on top. Little did I know that in the process I was spraying turf all over those pushing. When I got out and saw them and especially Pauline I could not help laughing. There they were covered in turf from head to foot and the best was to come when they started laughing at each other. They had to wash them down in the river before I would allow them in the car. Ralf Merton lost one his of shoes in the process. Ma TaxiMigrant workers from Malawi, Mozambique and Rhodesia:- Ma Taxi was known by all in Francistown and Orapa. If you saw her you would probably guess it was because of her size as she was a colossal woman. She however earned the nick name as she ran a taxi service from Francistown to her shebeen (unlicensed house selling alcoholic liquor) and brothel just outside Francistown. It all started with the migrant mine workers housed in the Wenela complex (See brief summary of Kasane on page 1). When the train left Francistown for the Jo’burg gold mines the migrant workers had just the clothing on their backs. However on their return you could hear the train’s arrival long before it reached Francistown Station. Every one had a portable radio which was at full blast and they were loaded with luggage. The sad part is that many had to take the next train back to the mines as they had virtually nothing left by the time Wenela could fly them back to their homelands. Yes Ma Taxi and her girls had cleaned them out. A labourer underground was earning R193p/m and a surface worker R160p/m. Irish Fusiliers:- The United Nations had installed a radio transmitter in Francistown around 1966 to block all radio transmissions from Rhodesia to Botswana. They were however scared that the radio transmitter could be targeted by some extremists. This was based on two incidents. The first was the refugee camp that was built to house all the political refugees from South Africa and Rhodesia. On completion it never housed one refugee as it was blown up. The second incident was the Dakota used to fly the refugees out of the country that was also blown up. It was therefore decided to get the Irish Fusiliers in to guard the transmitter. The problem was that they were stationed somewhere in North Africa and had not seen a woman in nearly six months. Ma Taxi and others soon exploited the situation. The Post Master Louis Koekemoer had a very secluded garden in front of his office where he would enjoy his tea and lunch breaks. With the arrival of the Irish Fusiliers his cleaner had to remove the evidence every morning left behind the previous evening which indicated that a good time was had on his lawn. Mine employees in Orapa:- When De Beers started mining diamonds in Orapa they only had the single quarters completed for the labourers. Ma Taxi quickly seized the opportunity and opened a shebeen and a brothel in Letlakane. Ma Taxi’s transport was a regular feature at the mine gates. Here she also concentrated on diamond smuggling. Jock Moncur the chief security officer was aware of this but she was always one step ahead of him. Every time she crossed the border into South Africa she and her transport were thoroughly checked but they could find nothing. However on return to Botswana her bank balance had increased with a considerable amount. They suspected she was using runners to cross illegally into South Africa and they would meet at some prearranged venue. Jock did manage to catch her once but she once again was too smart for him. When he caught her the female police officer had to sit in the centre as there was no ways that Ma Taxi could sit there due to her size. On the way to Letlakane police station she threw her handbag out of the window and on retrieval Jock kept it with him. On opening the handbag at the police station there was the diamonds. She admitted it was her handbag that had fallen out of the truck but insisted Jock had put the diamonds in her handbag when he went to pick it up. The case was dismissed. Jock then got the South Africans to help him catch her. In no time she was caught. The day of her court case she arrived with a witch doctor to defend her. When the black detectives from South Africa heard who was defending her they all suddenly had a loss of memory. She was once again a free woman. WitchcraftWitchcraft was still practiced during my stay in Botswana. I lost three of my labourers with their believe in witchcraft. How they knew that the spell was cast on them I don’t know. They would pitch up for work and nothing strange was suspected until they would simply tell you that they were going to die soon due a spell cast upon them. Take for example the last one to die as a result of witchcraft was Abraham. We were on our way to Shashi and everything appeared normal. I stopped at my place to pick some mealies which he asked for. While we were picking the mealies he collapsed and informed me that the witch doctor had got to him. The next day he passed away. In episode three in my article entitled “Times to remember” I mentioned that I had a set of bones made from Warthog tusks which I received from an African Chief near Kasane. With these bones I had some unbelievable results when using them to look into the future. Here are a few results:- Aubrey and Barbara Love of Orapa were expecting a baby. Due to certain circumstances she was advised to see a specialist in Jo’burg. When she returned she asked me to throw the bones to determine the date and time of birth and also the sex. When I gave her my prediction she laughed and said she is now convinced that the bones is just a gimmick as I was out by three months according to her specialist. She soon spread this information around Orapa and I was teased by all I came in contact with. It was another story when in the end I was out by only one hour as the specialist was for some reason way out. They intended giving the boy the nickname of “Bosman” (Afrikaans for Bushman) After leaving Botswana I went back for a holiday and stayed with Japie and Annetjie Straus on their farm. Japie had endless trouble with a Kudu that was eating his vegetables. He spent many a night trying to shoot the Kudu with no luck. He later erected a shack in the middle of the vegetables and gave his labourers the rifle. They too had no luck. I noticed one of his labourers had a set of bones. After throwing their bones I told Japie that before I leave we would shoot the Kudu. I won’t mention what he thought of my prediction but I will mention that he went into fits of laughter when I told him exactly what would transpire prior to the shooting of the Kudu and from whom we should take our advice. Everything went as predicted and Japie then agreed to have the head mounted for me. When I sold my house in Dana Bay in March 2002 I sold the head mount to a biltong shop in Mossel Bay. A middle aged woman wanted to know if there was any future with her new boyfriend. She was not impressed when I informed her that the relationship would not last long as the boyfriend is a homosexual. Two weeks later she came and told me that the boyfriend had admitted he was gay after she presented him with some proof she had. He was going out with her to spite his ex-boyfriend. Francistown recreational clubFrancistown Club gave a cinema show once a week to its members. The film projectionist was Mike Ives. It was held outside but it at least had a six-foot enclosure. In winter we would arrive well prepared with blankets and warm cloths. In summer it was the mosquitoes and goggas. It might sound crazy but honestly I miss those times where we had to rough it and no one complained about it. We actually looked forward to our cinema show and we were highly upset if it rained. When I joined the club I decided that the only recreation for me was golf. To familiarize myself with the golf course I decided to play a game during the week on my own before playing in the Saturday competition. I was shown the change room but I came quicker out of the change room than I had entered it. I was baffled as on the door was the Gents sign but the change room was full of ladies nylon stockings. The barman assured me I was in the correct change room and when he explained the reason for the nylon stockings I was quite impressed by the innovation of the golfers. He explained that all the golfers wore the nylon stockings over their long socks. By the end of a game the nylon stockings were covered in black jacks. On removing the nylon stockings with all the black jacks it left their long socks free of black jacks. Teeing up on the fairways was allowed. Getting the tee in the ground on the fairways and the tees was nigh impossible as the ground was rock hard. Putting on the sand greens was a nightmare. After the second hole I gave up. Coming back in the club I went to the bar after the shower. Chatting with the barman he helped me right. He informed me that most of the golfers used a short length of hosepipe to which they tied a length of string with any object on the other end so that it can easily be found after teeing off. When putting you made use of a scraper. Before putting you were allowed to scrape the sand level from the hole to where your ball was. The barman loan me a spare he had until I got my own. I soon adapted to the conditions but I must be honest there were many occasion when I thought of the lush greens of Nkana Golf Club and the Mashie Golf course of the Ravens Club belonging to the Power Corp. Some costs at the timeHere are a few examples how cheap things were in Botswana during our stay from 1967 to 1973 and in Rhodesia in 1993 while on holiday. Botswana:-
Rhodesia:-
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