The Language Situation in BotswanaLydia Nyati-RamahoboFaculty of Education, University of Botswana, Private Bag 0022, Gaborone,BotswanaThis monograph provides an overview of the language situation in Botswana.1 Itdescribes the language profile of the country, including the number of languages anddialects spoken, the number of speakers of each language and the various roles eachlanguage plays in society. The paper provides a historical development of languagein-education policies. The objectives of learning,methods of assessmentand language use in the media also are examined. The third part of the monograph describeslanguage planning and implementation efforts and the agencies involved in the planningprocess and the development of legislation. There is tension between policyformulation and implementation, and an imbalance in social justice.Majority communitiesare treatedasminority communities based on the language(s) they speak.Whilepressure from the civil society has led government to make progressive policy decisions,there is no intrinsic motivation for their implementation. Non-governmentalorganisations are encouraged by these positive policy decisions but their efforts arefrustratedby covertly negative attitudes to change from the leadership.There is a needfor commitment from the leadership to support the preservation of all languagesspoken in Botswana. Currently an assimilationist model permeates the social,economic, political and cultural aspects of life in Botswana.IntroductionThemonograph has elements of a descriptive study and a case study, in that itdescribes the language situation in Botswana. Specifically, it describes thelanguage profile of Botswana, the spread of Setswana, language planning andpolicy activities and both formal and informal efforts to promote and preservethe languages of the country. Data utilised for this work were collected fromJanuary 1989 to September 1990. This data collection process covered languageplanning activities since independence, mainly in the period between 1977 to1990, when government was in the process of implementing the recommendationsof the first National Commission on Education (NCE 1). The Commissionhad reviewed the education system from independence until 1976. It completedits work in 1977 and its recommendations, contained in the Government WhitePaper No.1 of 1977: National Policy on Education, were endorsed by Parliament inAugust of the same year (Republic of Botswana, 1977).Data for thismonographwere further updated between June 1996 and May 1998. This was after thecompletion of thework of the Second NationalCommission on Education (NCE2). This Commission reviewed the education system between 1978 and 1991.Thesubsequent endorsement of its recommendations, contained in the GovernmentWhite Paper No.2 of 1994: The Revised National Policy on Education (RNPE), cameout in 1994 (Republic of Botswana, 1994). These two documents providelanguage policy directions as part of the overall education policy. The study also

has utilised data thatwere collected for the Directory of Language Bodies in Eastern1466-4208/00/02 0243-58 $16.00/0 ©2000 L. Nyati-RamahoboCURRENT ISSUES IN LANGUAGE PLANNING Vol.1, No.2, 2000243The Language Situation in Botswanaand Southern Africa coordinated by Kamanakao Association on behalf of theInternational Development Research Center, Nairobi office, from January toSeptember 1999. The study therefore presents the language situation inBotswana as it was up to October 1999.Formal interviews with policy makers and practitioners in the schoolsprovided the data for the formulation and implementation of the language policiesin education and society. Observations fromsocial domains, social services,the media and the Government Printer’s Department provided data for theimplementation of the language policy in society and the use of Setswana andEnglish by the government.An analysis of policy documents and literature in theareas of language planning, bilingual education, literacy, religion, the media andhistorical accounts has provided baseline data on language policy formulationand implementation by both government and non-governmental organisations.The editors of Current Issues in Language Planning have provided a format for thepresentation of this data to facilitate comparability with other polities.BackgroundBotswana is situated in the centre of Southern Africa. It shares borders withZimbabwe, to the east,Namibia to the west and part of the north, South Africa tothe south and Zambia to the north (Map 1). It is landlocked and most of its goodscome through South African seaports. It straddles the Tropic of Capricorn in theSouthern African plateau (Republic of Botswana, 1997: 8:3). Botswana is about1000mabove sea level and the land area is 582,000km2 (222,000 sq.miles), aboutthe size of Kenya or France.Most of Botswana is flat with a fewrocky outcrops and undulations (Republic ofBotswana, 1997: 8:3). In the north-west district is the Okavango Delta, an area ofwetlands measuring 16,000 km2 (6106 sq. miles) (Tlou, 1985), with a variety of wildlifeand birds. To the west is the Kalahari desert also blessed with wildlife. In thecentral part of the country are theMakgadikgadi saltpans. All of these areas attracttourists.The climate is often described as arid or semi-arid as the country is situatedclose to the high-pressure belt of the southern hemisphere. The minimum rainfallranges between 250 mm in the south-west and 650 mm in the north-east. Mostrains come between December and March. There aremainly two seasons:winter(May to July) and summer (August to April). Minimum temperatures rangebetween 33 degrees Celsius in January and 22 degrees in July (96–74º F).Maximumtemperatures range between 43 degrees and 32 degrees Celsius (116–74º F).Botswana’s economy is largely supported by the mining industry. At independence,Botswana was considered one of the poorest countries of the world.However, in 1967,diamonds were discovered atOrapa, one of the largest knownkimberlites in the world, and later at Letlhakane and Jwaneng. Copper andnickel were also discovered at Selibe-Phikwe. Currently Botswana has threediamondmines, two copper and nickel smelters, a coalmine, soda ash and a salt

extractionplant. Mining has transformed the economy to one of the fastest growingin Africa. Available data indicates that in 1994/95 mineral resources contributed34% of the gross domestic product (GDP) and 74.9% of the country’s exportearnings. It also contributed over 50% of government revenues (Republic ofBotswana, 1997). The beef industry has contributed to the economy as well. For244 Current Issues in Language Planninginstance, in 1994/95, it contributed 3.7% of the GDP, a decline from the record40% before the mining era. Most of the beef is sold to the European Union. Thepopulation of Botswana remains rural and a large part of it depends on agriculturefor its living, mainly subsistence farming, crop production and cattle rearing.Agriculture also contributes about two per cent of formal employment.Other sources of revenue are manufacturing, tourism, transport and construction.There are efforts to diversify the economy to reduce dependency ondiamonds. These efforts include encouraging foreign investments in areas suchas manufacturing and tourism.Before the advent of the British to Botswana, the system of governance wasthrough chieftainship. Each tribe had a chiefwith absolute powers (Somolekae&Lekorwe, 1998). Some tribes,which lived in smaller groups,would have a leaderfor each group with absolute powers,whomtheywould refer to as chief or elder.Chieftainship is hereditary fromthemale line inmost Setswana speaking tribes.The chief’s eldest son would inherit the position. Inmatrilineal tribes, such as theThe Language Situation in Botswana 245Map 1 Botswana’s location in Southern Africa and other features (Wayeyi areas,mining towns)Wayeyi, chieftainship was hereditary from the female line. In other words, thechieftainship would pass to the chief’s sister’s eldest son. Chiefs command a lotof respect amongst their people and other tribes. A chief had responsibilities forhis people aswell. He had to protect his people fromwar,hunger and other naturaldisasters. He was to perform ceremonies to launch the hunting and theploughing seasons. He was a medicine man who would perform certain religiouspractices for his people to protect them from disease and mishap. Hewould also marry people, distribute land, and mediate disputes (Mgadla &Campbell, 1989; Mgadla, 1998). Naturally, a chief would have assistants in theform of sub-chiefs. In most cases, these would be close relatives. He would alsohave his mophato (a team of his age peers). The chief had to be generous, sensitiveto the rule of lawand had to live up to the expectations of his people. The expressionkgosi ke kgosi ka batho (a chief is only a chief because of his people) was thefundamental principle. Without the support of his people, he was nothing, andso it was critical for him not to abuse his powers.In January 1885, the British enforced an Order in Council that declared theirintention to occupy southern Botswana. In 1890, this order was extended to thenorthern part of the country, and actual colonial rule began. The motive behindthe order was to keep the Germans from occupying the area as had alreadyoccurred in South-West Africa in 1884 (Ramsay, 1998). Through this order, Britaininformed Botswana chiefs that the Britishwere coming to protect them fromthe Germans. This meant that the protectorate was actually imposed on the

chiefs; it was not requested as has been stated in some historical accounts(Ramsay, 1998).Three of the chiefswere summoned to England for consultationson the acceptance of the protectorate. These were Kgosi (Chief) Khama III of theBamangwato tribe in the Central District, Chief Gaseitsiwe I of the Bangwaketsetribe in the south-western part of the country and Chief Sechele I of the Bakwenatribe. While Khama III embraced the idea, the others accepted it with somedegree of reluctance (Ramsay, 1998). During the period between 1885 and 1965the countrywas known as the Bechuanaland Protectorate. The British divided itinto nine reserves each led by its chief. While traditionally the chiefs had hadcomplete legislative, executive and judicial powers, the Order in Council of 1890transferred those powers to the British High Commissioner. The chiefs were nolonger recognised as the ‘sovereigns of the soil’. Land concessionswere awardedto the British South African Company, which came in and forced out othercompanies. Queen Victoria was regarded as the ‘sovereign of the soil’.Another Order in Council of 1891 gave more legislative powers to the HighCommissioner to enact laws for the administration of justice. However, he wascautioned to be sensitive to native laws as long as they were not in conflict withthe interests of the British. In 1895, the three chiefs previously mentioned sent apetition to London, resisting the erosion of their powers on their own lands, butthis was ignored. By this time, their role had been reduced to the collection of ahut tax to raise funds for the running of the colony. In 1934 the most direct pieceof legislation, the Native Administration Proclamation, was introduced; itreduced the powers of chiefs and changed Tswana custom and law. It requiredthe chief’s successor to be appointed by the whole tribe and to be recognised bythe High Commissioner (Somolekae & Lekorwe, 1998). This eroded the hereditaryaspect of chieftainship and subjected the appointment of the chief to the246 Current Issues in Language Planningapproval of the High Commissioner. It enabled the British to select chiefs whowere sympathetic to their interests and not necessarily to those of their people.Consequently, the High Commissioner could hire and fire chiefs. The NativeTribunal ProclamationNo. 75 of 1934 further eroded the legislative and judicialpowers of chiefs. Chiefs’ responsibility to hear cases of rape, murder and homicidewas removed. These powers were maintained after independence and theessence of all these pieces of legislation are still alive within the current regulations.Chiefs and sub-chiefs are employees of theMinistry of Local Governmentwhich has the power to dismiss them.The constitution of Botswana provides every citizen with fundamental rightsand freedoms. It is based on the four national principles of democracy, unity,development, and self-reliance. Elections are held every five years. It providesfor the legislative, executive and judicial structure (Figure 1). The legislativeThe Language Situation in Botswana 247Permanent Secretaryto the PresidentAttorney General’sChamberOffice of the

PresidentAdministrator ofJusticeClerk of NationalAssemblyCabinetThe Executive The JudiciaThe Legislature ryNationalAssemblyH.E. ThePresidentCourt ofAppealHigh CourtMagistratesCourtsTHECONSTITUTIONH.E.The PresidentVPHouse ofChiefsM i n i s t r i e sFigure 1 Top central government in Botswanastructure consists of the national assembly, composed of 40 members of Parliament,one fromeach constituency. In addition to electedmembers of Parliament,four are especially elected by Parliament to provide for special skills and expertisecritical to the proceedings of Parliament.Thiswas the situationin Parliamentafter the October 1999 elections. The number of women increased from two toeight, four ofwhomareministers, two are assistantministers and twowere especiallyelected.The legislative branch also contains the House of Chiefs. Currently there are15 members of the House. Eight of them are Paramount Chiefs of the eightSetswana speaking tribes (see Table 1 in Note 1),meaning that they are chiefs bybirth. Four are elected sub-chiefs from areas where languages other than248 Current Issues in Language PlanningMap 2 Botswana tribal distribution by district (Source: Nyati-Ramahobo, 1999a: 83)Setswana are spoken that do not fall under any of the eight Paramount Chiefs;these include the North-east, Kgalagadi, Gantsi and Chobe districts (Map 2).Those tribes in the North-west, including the Hambukushu, Herero, Subia,Wayeyi, Baciriku (Baqcereku), and Basarwa are represented and ruled by theBatawana and are regarded as such (Map 2). The House elects three additionalmembers by special election. Tribes, whose members do not speak Setswana asmother tongue, are not allowed to be represented by their Paramount Chiefs.They have to be represented by someone who speaks Setswana as a first

language. This is an attempt to assimilate everyone into the Setswana languageand culture.TheHouse ofChiefs is highly symbolic, as its role is to express the total cultureof the country and to influence policy from a cultural point of view. The currentcomposition of the House has been challenged since independence as it deniesother ethnic groups the opportunity to contribute to the decision-makingprocess. Furthermore, it violates the democratic principle of representation. Thecontinued imposition of chiefs and sub-chiefs fromone tribe on another has beenamatter of contention since independence. In someareas of the country, even forsome of the eight so-called major tribes, tribe members are ruled by others. Thishas provoked some resistance; for example, the Bakgatla living in the Bakwenaarea are resisting the Bakwena rule and the Barolong in the Bangwaketsi area arealso resisting Bangwaketsi rule.Many observers have called for an increase in thenumbers in the House of Chiefs to make it more inclusive (Molutsi, 1998a).The issue of chieftainship has also been highly politicised. Since most peoplein the country still hold their chiefs in respect, they tend to vote for the party towhich their chief is sympathetic.As chiefs are governmentemployees, they naturallypay allegiance to the government. This is one of the factors that has ledBotswana to be described as a one party state (Molutsi, 1994). Under thesecircumstances, there is little prospect for other parties to gain widespreadsupport.As long as people respect their chiefs as the custodians of their cultures,and as long as the ruling party ensures the loyalty of all civil servants, the statusquo is likely to remain (Molutsi, 1998b). Chiefs who have not showed sympathyfor the ruling party have been intimidated. For instance, the paramount chief ofthe Bangwaketsi, Chief Seepapitso IV, has been a supporter of the oppositionBotswana National Front (BNF), and that area supports the BNF. Havingsupported the opposition for a long time, the Minister for Local Governmentsuspended him in 1994 (Somolekae & Lekorwe, 1998). It was only after a courtbattle that he was returned to a position of power.As chieftainship is related to ethnicity and language, it is against the abovebackground that government continues to promote an assimilationist policy. Ifeveryone were Tswana speaking, then everybody would be loyal to the rulingparty, as long as it is led by aMongwato (Table 1, see Note 1). After the death ofSeretse Khama, the first president of Botswana, who was the chief of theBamangwato tribe, President Masire who is a Mongwaketsi had to appease theBamangwatoby appointing Seretse’s cousin, Lenyeletsi Seretse to the Vice-Presidency.Equally, in 1999 President Mogae had to appease the Bamangwato byappointing Seretse Khama’s son, Ian Khama to the Vice-Presidency. Ian Khamawas also expected to use his chieftainship to the Bamangwato throne and hisfather’s charisma to win the elections for the ruling party, which had lost face inThe Language Situation in Botswana 249the 1994 general elections. Issues of ethnicity, language and chieftainship willcontinue to dominate the political debate in the country. The modernistassimilationist model enshrined within Sections 77 to 79 of the constitution, theChieftainship Act and the Tribal Land Territories Act fosters their continuedprominence.

The legislative wing of government is therefore made up of the NationalAssembly and the House of Chiefs (Figure 1). There is also the Speaker of theNationalAssemblywho is elected by the assembly. The AttorneyGeneral is alsoselected from the National Assembly to advise Parliament on legal matters.The secondwing of theGovernment is the Executive. It is made up of the Presidentand his cabinetministers and the Permanent Secretary to thePresidentwhois in charge of the civil service. Finally, there is the Judiciary, which includes theCourt of Appeal, theHigh Court, theMagistrateCourts and the AdministratorofJustice (Figure 1).Part I: The Language Profile of BotswanaTheoretical FrameworkSkutnabb-Kangas&Phillipson (1989)describe language rights as existing onacontinuum fromassimilationto maintenance.On this continuum, there are lawsand regulations, which may prohibit, tolerate, prescribe non-discrimination,permit or promote the use ofminority languages, either overtly or covertly.Theygive the United States as an example of a covert assimilation-prohibition situationbased on Senator Huddleston’s draft English language amendment whichreads ‘The English language shall be the official language of the United States’(Skutnabb-Kangas, 1990: 27). This proposed legislation was meant to assimilateall other groups to English and prohibit them from using their own languages.Other languages are not mentioned and that means that they are indirectly orcovertly prohibited.2An assimilation-tolerancemodel exists when the lawprescribes one languagebut provides room for other languages without any commitment to them. Anexample of thismodel is Zimbabwe where minority languages such as Karangaare used on the radio without any commitment to their development for use inother social domains. An example of a maintenance-permission continuum onthe other hand, is South Africa. The Freedom Charter of 1955, also upheld in thecurrent legislation, stated that ‘All people shallhave equal rights to use their ownlanguages, and to develop their own folk culture and customs’. The intention istomaintain asmanylanguages as possible, hence permitting theirdevelopment.In the discussion in Part III of this monograph, I note that the constitution ofBotswana is silent on language policy. However, Sections 61(d) and 79(c) of theconstitution state that the ability to speak and read English are requirements foronetobe amember of theHouseof Chiefs or theNationalAssembly. This indicatesthat English is the only language that is permitted for use in Parliament and theHouse of Chiefs. The constitution therefore covertly prohibits the use of otherlanguages. In 1998, Setswana was permitted to be used in Parliament; this was a250 Current Issues in Language Planningmove from prohibition to tolerance for Setswana on the assimilation continuum.However, the use of other languages is still prohibited. The Botswana case, therefore,can best be described as assimilation prohibition, in which speakers of otherlanguages are prohibited from using their languageswhile having to assimilate toSetswana and English. Practice over the past 33 years further indicates that onlySetswanaandEnglish arepermitted for use in socialdomains including education.Le Roux (1997) has described three types of assimilation. The first he calls

assimilation, a one-way process in which minority groups give up theirlanguages, cultures and traditions and assume those of the dominant group. Hecalls thismodel the ‘ice-creamplus salt theory’. The second is, amalgamation, alsocalled the melting pot, another type of assimilationinwhichminority andmajoritycultures mix to form a new and unique culture, with characteristics distinctfrom the original cultures. Finally, he describes structural assimilation or the‘blender’ approach inwhich there is total rejection of any kind of grouping on thebasis of religion, language, ethnicity and so on. This is also called the ‘opencommunity’ ideology. Under this approach, groups have no rights and individualrights are regarded as the core of social order. Proponents of this approachbelieve that group rights restrict individual rights to some extent, and theyregard assimilation and amalgamation as anti-pluralistic. As this monographdemonstrates, the Botswana government has adopted the assimilationapproachin which speakers of languages other than Setswana must assimilate into theculture of Setswana speaking groups.Ruiz (1984) proposed three orientations towards language planning. Theseare: language as a problem, a resource or a right. He believes that ‘basic orientationstoward language and its role in society influence the nature of languageplanning efforts in any particular context’ (Ruiz, 1984: 15). He defines orientationsas a ‘complex of dispositions toward language and its role – which arerelated to language attitudes in that they constitute the framework in which attitudesare formed’ (Ruiz, 1984: 16). Orientations are largely at the subconsciouslevel but could be inferred from existing policies and practices. As Table 2 indicates,how language planners view language determines the strategies theyemploy to address language problems.…When language planners view language diversity as a problem, they adoptthe assimilationmodel. In status planning their goalwould be to eradicateminority languages and corpus planning activities would be characterisedby the development of the national language only and neglect ofminoritylanguages. Under the influence of this orientation, acquisition planningactivitieswould involve teaching and developing materials in the nationallanguage only.…When planners or policymakers view language as a right, their status planningactivities would include the recognition of minority languages andgive overt permission to speakers of those languages to use them. In corpusplanning, efforts would be made to develop and standardise minoritylanguages to facilitate acquisition planning. Children speaking minoritylanguages would be allowed to learn in their mother tongue.…When linguistic diversity is viewed as a resource, policy statements instatus planning would be geared towards the development, preservationThe Language Situation in Botswana 251and use of as many languages as possible. More languages would begiven functions within the life of the nation, such as for use in churches,voting, the media and many other social domains, as is the case in SouthAfrica. Corpus planners would then develop written forms of as manylanguages as possible. Acquisition planning process would produce

teaching materials to facilitate learning of these various languages.Table 2 indicates the relationship between language planning orientations, goalsand types of planning.Nyati-Ramahobo (1999a) maintains that language planning in Botswana hasbeen influenced by the orientationof language diversity being viewed as problem,in which minority languages, cultures and identitiesmust be eradicated. All childrenmust learn Setswana and use it as medium of instruction. Theymust assimilateto the Setswana language and culture. Democracy demands that group rightsbe granted and, consequently, groups such the youth,womenand the disabled aresupported. Similarlyminoritygroup rights have to be toleratedandgroups shouldbe allowed to form registered organisations along ethnic and linguistic lines. Suchrights would create tensions between an assimilationist model and democracy.One of the reasons why ethnic identities have not disappeared is that within ademocracy people can no longer be imprisoned for developing and using theirlanguages. This issue is discussed further in the role of non-governmental organisationsin language maintenance in Part Four of this monograph.Major and minor languagesEnglish is the official language of Botswana. It permeates the social, economicand cultural lives of all educated Batswanaandthe government prefers theuse of252 Current Issues in Language PlanningTable 2 Language planning types, orientations and goals (Nyati-Ramahobo,1998b: 55)OrientationsProblem Right ResourceGoals: Assimilation LinguisticaffirmationLinguisticpluralismTypesStatus planning(Languagefunctions)MinorityeradicationRecognise minority Preserve anddevelop as manylanguages aspossibleCorpus planning(Languagestructure)Standardisation ofthe nationallanguage only andneglect of minoritylanguage

Graphisation andstandardisation ofminority languagesExtension ofminority languageslexically andsociolinguisticallyAcquisitionplanning(Languagelearning)Curriculumdevelopment andteaching of thenational languageonly; learning inminority languagesCurriculumdevelopment andteaching andlearning inminority languagesHuman resourcedevelopment,materialproduction, literacyskillsEnglish to any other language in the country. Setswana is the main language ofBotswana. Some scholars estimate that it is spoken by about 80% of the populationas a first language (Obondo-Okoyo & Sabone, 1986, also refer to Map 1).Others maintain that, taken individually, most Tswana speaking tribes areminorities in Botswana,while collectively they may or may not form a majorityover non-Tswana tribes taken together (Mpho, 1987). For instance, Parsons(1985: 27) maintains that the concept ofTswanadomthat is both philosophical and territorial has led many observersto assume that Botswana is amono-ethnic state . . . [but] only in so far asthe Tswana minority has successfully imposed its culture on the majoritypopulation of the extreme diverse origins…[and even then] ethnic identitieshave not disappeared.However, because of this imposition, speakers of the eight dialects,whichmakeup the Setswana language, are regarded as themajority tribes in the country. TheChieftainship Act, Cap.41: 01 (Republic of Botswana, 1965) states that ‘tribemeans, the Bamangwato Tribe, the Batawana Tribe, the Bakgatla Tribe, theBakwena Tribe, the Bangwaketse Tribe, the Bamalete Tribe, the Barolong Tribeand the Batlokwa Tribe’ (41:3) (refer to Table 1, Category one). The Tribal TerritoriesAct (Cap.32: 03 (Republic of Botswana, 1965) also defines tribal territory

with respect to these tribes meaning that only those tribes are sovereigns of theland.Most of these tribes originated fromSouthAfrica during theDifaqanewarsin the 1820s and 1830s (Tlou &Campbell, 1984: 101;Ncqocqo, 1979;Ramsayet al.,1996: 61). The Bakwena, Bangwato and Bangwaketsi are the descendants ofMalope (Tlou, 1998),which in the 1800s became separate tribes by the Difaqanewars. Currently, the Bangwaketsi live in the south-western part of Botswanawhile the Bangwato (or the Bamangwato) live in the central and the Bakwena inthe southern part (Map 2). About 10%of the population nowspeak Setswana as asecond language (Obondo-Okoyo & Sabone, 1986).Other tribes speak languages that are regarded as sub-dialects of Setswana.However, the speakers regard themselves as autonomous tribes. These are theBabirwa, Batswapong, Bahurutshe, Bakhurutshe and Bapedi. Most of thesetribes also originated from South Africa and live on the eastern border ofBotswana with South Africa. By 1800, the Bapedi had settled throughout theCentral District, and in 1913 the Bakhurutshemoved to the interior of the CentralDistrict (Ramsay et al., 1996: 15). The Bahurutshe live in the Kweneng Districtcloser to the Southern border of the two countries (Table 1, Category 2 and 3).Other language groups include Bakalaka, Basarwa, Wayeyi, Hambukushu,Baherero, Basubiya, Baciriku, Bakgalagadi, Bakgothu, Bashaga and Banabjwa(Map 2, also Table 1,Category 3). It is estimated that these groupsmake up about15 to 20%of the population (Obondo-Okoyo & Sabone, 1986; Janson& Tsonope,1991: 86–7). They speak different languages that are neither related to Setswananormutually intelligible. The Basarwagroup ismade up of about seventeen Sanethnic groups who speak different languages (Appendix 1).All the tribes described in the previous paragraph are regarded as minoritytribes. The terms minority and majority have, by definition, no numerical significancein Botswana.What determineswhether a tribe ismajor orminor iswhetherit belongs to one of the eight Setswana tribes and speak one of the eight SetswanaThe Language Situation in Botswana 253dialects. For instance, the Bakalaka are believed to be the largest tribe in theCentralDistrict, and yet they are regarded as a minority tribe because they speakIkalanga, which is not related to Setswana. TheWayeyi constitute about 40% ofthe population of theNgamiland district (Anderson & Janson, 1997; also refer toKamanakaoweb-site in the reference section). By contrast, the Batawana constituteone per cent of the population and yet the former are regarded as aminoritytribe and the latter as a majority tribe. The Batawana rule over theWayeyi, andthe Batawana Paramount Chief represents the Wayeyi in the House of Chiefs.The government does not recognise theWayeyi ParamountChief and thismatteris presently before the High Court. The Balete and Batlokwa have small populationsoccupying one village, and yet they are regarded asmajority tribes and arerepresented by their Paramount Chiefs in the House of Chiefs.The general pattern is that Setswana speaking groups rule over all thenon-Setswana tribes. The village capital of the major tribe is the capital of all theother tribes nearest to it. It is the place where government services are providedirrespective of the distance to be travelled. This is the way in which linguisticimperialism has penetrated the social and economic lives of those tribes which

do not speak Setswana as a first language. In all nationalevents, themajor cultureportrayed is that of the eight major tribes. Minority languages and cultures aresuppressed and their use in public domains is discouraged. These policies aremeant to foster national unity and a national cultural identity. They are congruentwith an assimilationist model and are underpinned by an orientation thatviews linguistic and cultural diversityas a problem and a threat to national unity.Language of religionAmanze (1998: 1) maintains that ‘traditional religion is a living faith amongBatswana today’. This is so because ‘they have revived and continued to observea great number of their religious beliefs and practices some of which wereattacked by the early missionaries as evil and detrimental to the spiritual life ofBatswana’. He further observes that people in Africa are ‘born, live and die intheir traditional religions’ (1998: 2). A recent newspaper report has indicatedmost Batswana, including the highly educated, still rely on traditional medicine(The Voice, Friday, 21May 1998). Traditionalmedicine is closely related totraditional religion. It is this religion that protects the people from witchcraft,sorcery, drought, uncertainty, disease, misfortune and other physical, spiritual,economic and social phenomena (Amanze, 1998: 3).Like most Africans, Batswana believe in one supreme being (Modimo inSetswana,Urezha in Shiyeyi (Tlou, 1985),orNyambe in Thimbukushu or Nzimu inIkalanga. For all ethnic groups in Botswana this one God is always described inanthropomorphic terms. He can see, hear, get angry, forgive, answer and so on.This is reflected in given names of people such as Oarabile (He has answered).They also believe in ancestral spirits (Badimo) in Setswana, or Wazumu in Shiyeyi.The dead are considered to continue to exist in a spiritual form, and they serve asthe mediator between the living and God. The spirits can also neglect or punishthe living; they can forgive, protect and come closer to them in times of need.When they are angry theymay bring disease, misfortune, or death. Certain practicesneed to be followed tomake them happy. These practices have stoodthe testof time and people in towns go to villages on weekends to perform such rites.254 Current Issues in Language PlanningThis phenomenon has maintained a strong bond between the working class intowns and their traditionalvillages.While some practices such as initiation ceremonieshave ceased, those practices related to health and fortune continuedespite attempts by the missionaries to abolish them. Some of the practicesinclude birth rites to protect the child fromdisease and bad spirits andmarriagerites to ensure that the couples do not divorce.The priesthood in the African religion includes diviners, medicine men andrainmakers. Chiefs also hold religious powers. During colonial rule, the Britishovertly banned some religious practices. They felt that practices such as bogwera(male initiation) took a lot of the chiefs’ time from their work for the colony. Forinstance, in 1931 Kgosi Sebele II of the Bakwena tribe, a traditionalist, wanted tofollow the bogwera which one was required in order to be a chief or a respectedmale adult (Ramsay, 1987). The British collaboratedwith his relatives who wereagainst his policy of promoting commoners to chieftainship duties. They usedtheir complaints tomake Sebele II a political prisoner. The real reasonwas that he

insisted on practising bogwera. Currently, only the Kgosi Linchwe II Kgafela ofthe Bakgatla still practises bogwera.As chiefs are now elected and not necessarilyborn into ruling positions, their religious powers have been reduced. They actonly as clients to medicinemenwho strengthen them and protect them from eviland opposition. In 1998 the Wayeyi informed Kgosi Tawana that theywould liketo have their own chief. He said in a kgotla3meeting ‘I am not afraid that youwilltake my chair [meaning chieftainship seat] because I have put some powerfulcharms under it and no one can take it away’ (Davies, 1998). It was not KgosiTawana but the medicine men who provided the charms, and that was understoodby the Wayeyi. Chiefs no longer have powers to bring rain and providegood harvest for their people. They have lost their religious powers.Missionaries from the London Missionary Society (LMS) came to Bechuanaland(Botswana) in the first half of the 18th century to spread Christianity. Themissionaries’ first task was to convert each of the Paramount Chiefs of the eightmajor tribes to Christianity. This practice resulted in the LMS playing a majorrole in the development of Setswana both in Botswana and in South Africa. Itwasthe first language south of Ethiopia to have a translation of the Bible, a task thatwas completed by the 1850s (Parsons, 1998). The LMS built three senior secondaryschools in Botswana that still operate today: Moeding and Moeng Collegesand Maun Secondary School. They also built hospitals, which continue toprovide medical care. During this period the use of Setswana in religion wasobvious, as morning prayers in schools and hospitals were conducted inSetswana.When deacons and other church leaders visited hospitals to pray forthe sick, the services were conducted in Setswana. After independence, morningprayers in schools began to be conducted in English. Christianity has thereforeplayed a major role in the promotion of Setswana and English in the church andin the exclusion of other languages in accordance with the assimilationistmodel.Chiefs were often tutored by missionaries or local priests who were trained byand worked for missionaries. For instance, Kgosi Seepapitso II of the Bangwaketsiwastutored as a child by Moruti (Preacher)MothowagaeMotlogelwa ofthe LMS and later went to Lovedale Institute, a missionary school in SouthAfrica. Religion therefore played a significant role, not only in building schoolsbut also in schooling the chiefs and teaching them English. This was helpful inThe Language Situation in Botswana 255maintaining traditionalways, as some dikgosi (chiefs) like Seepapitso used theireducation to resist some of the changes the British wanted to implement. LikeSebele, hewas a traditionalistwho believed in Christianity without abandoningTswana lawand custom(Ramsay, 1987). He spoke English very well and consequentlywas able to put his point of view to the British. As he himselfwas fluentin English, he did not oppose its use in the church along with translations intoSetswana.While the majority of the people in Botswana believe in their ancestral sprits,Christianity is the official religion in the country.About 176Christiandenominationsare represented in Botswana (Amanze, 1994).Other religions such asBahai,Islam, Buddhism and Hinduism are also present (Table 3).Amongst the Christian churches there are three types (Amanze, 1998: ix): the

mission churches (30.5%),which came because of missionarywork in Africa, thePentecostal churches (6.58%) and independent churches (64.93%), mainly ofAfrican or specifically Tswana origin (Sic, percentages add to more than 100%inthe original). The latter are mostly a blend ofWestern and African philosophiesof religion. The independent churches have upheld the African religions andtraditions. Within the mission churches, the largest is the Roman CatholicChurch with 47,000 members followed by the Lutheran church with 24,000members (Amanze, 1994).A denominational classificationofChristian churchesin Botswana includes: Roman Catholic, Lutheran, Presbyterian, Anglican,Congregational, Methodist, Baptist, Seventh Day Adventist, Pentecostal andIndependent churches (Amanze, 1999). Their approaches to religion includethe apostolic, the prophetic, the evangelical and the spiritual.While traditionalreligious acts such as drinking, concubinage, pre-marital sex, polygamy, andsmoking were not banned, most churches, including independent churches,discourage such practices, of coursewith varying degrees of success. The methodsof worship, more especially in independent churches, have blended bothWestern and African styles. Dress is formal as it is in theWest but the proceedingsinclude African styles such as hand clapping, drumming, dancing and theuse of African music.Religion has increased the use of Setswana and English.Astudy conducted byNyati-Ramahobo (1991) concluded that most churches use English and Setswana,with the former playing amajor role in the proceedings of the church. Forinstance, in the United CongregationalChurch of Southern Africa (UCCSA), themain message of the sermon is delivered in English with translations into256 Current Issues in Language PlanningTable 3 Religions and their membershipReligion Membership %Christians 392, 035 30.00Bahai 5,000 0.38Muslims 3,848 0.23Hindus 2,000 0.15Buddhists 150 0.01Sikhs 144 0.01Source: Amanze (1988: x)Setswana. Batswana ministers in urban areas use English to deliver theirmessages. In making announcements, the secretary may use his/her discretionas to which announcements are to be in both Setswana and English and whichones are to be monolingual in Setswana. The church choir sings hymns both inSetswana and English, while the congregation sings hymns in Setswana. TheScripturemay be read in Setswana or English, but not necessarily the same text inboth languages. The increase in the use of English in urban churches is a result ofan increase in the number of younger church leaders and of a greater participationof younger parishioners in church activities. However, Setswana is dominantin rural churches.In the spirit of the assimilationistmodel inwhich language diversity is viewedas a threat to peace, minority languages are rarely used in church. However, in

the 1980s the Lutheran Bible Translators based at Aurora, Illinois and theBotswanaChristian Council have played a significant role in the development ofminority languages such as Ikalanga as discussed below. The translation of theNew Testament into Hambukushu and Ikalanga has led to the informal use ofthese languages in some churches in the north-east and north-west of the country.The development of the Shiyeyi orthography has resulted in the translationof some hymns into Shiyeyi. These hymns are sung at some funeral services.Increasingly religion is playing a crucial role in the development of minoritylanguages and their gradual introduction into rural churches which otherwiseuse Setswana in their proceedings. Membership of other religions is essentiallycomposed of foreigners who usemainly English except for Islam andHinduism,which use Arabic or Indian languages.Socio-linguistic Complexity of the CountrySince independence, the national population and housing census has notincluded data on the ethnic and/or linguistic composition of the country. Sincelinguistic diversity is regarded as a problem, such data might promote ethnicawareness and disrupt the assimilation process. Implied in this practice is thepromotion of national identity over ethnic identity. Another reason is that, withthe definition ofmajority andminority being non-numerically determined, suchdata would quickly bring to the attention of the people the fact that what thegovernment regards as major ethnic groups are actually a numerical minority.This absence of ethnic and/or linguistic informationin the census has hamperedeasy access to empirical and scientific data that would provide an accuratedescription of the socio-linguistic complexity of the country. Because of thisproblem, scholarswho haveworked on the various languages and ethnic groupsof Botswana have based their information on estimates. Table 4 presents censusdata from pre-independence in one district, Ngamiland (Map 2). The 1936 and1946 censuses were the last to include ethnicity (Tlou, 1985, from Shapera, 1959).These figures can only serve as a rough guide as these ethnic groups are alsorepresented in other parts of the country,while other ethnic groups are not representedin this district. Table 4 indicates that theWayeyi were themost numerousgroup in both periods, and yet by government definition they are considered aminority tribe.Tlou (1985) cautions against the use of census figures during that period sinceThe Language Situation in Botswana 257only major villages were included. The census for 1946 may have been doneduring theploughing seasonwhenmost peoplewere away in the fields. Anotherpossible explanation for the decrease between 1936 and 1946was that the countwas conducted at the height of the conflict between the Bayei (Wayeyi) andBatawana, just before the 1948 court case. During that period most minoritygroups were intimidated and were forced to identify themselves as theBatawana.This seems tomake sense in that the Batawanapopulationwas seen tohave increased but others (like BaYei, Hambukushu and BaKgalagadi) haddecreased.Mpho (1987) presents figures for the 1946 census in the Central District (seeTable 5). The Kalanga were the most numerous in this reserve, and yet at independence

they were declared a minority and their language was banned fromuse in school since itwas not Setswana, and recognising itwould not promote theconcept of Tswanadom.Table 6 provides post-independence figures along with the most recent estimatesby scholars.The compilation in Batibo et al. (1997) has relied on Andersonand Janson’s estimates. The figures forWayeyi could be higher due to denial ofShiyeyi identity by manyWayeyi at that time. In fact Anderson & Janson (1997:73) estimate that the Wayeyi could be between 28,000 and 37,000. While thedenial syndrome is not exclusive to theWayeyi, the Batawanamore extensivelysubjected themto slavery thanany other tribe.Most of them have become assimilatedand cannot speak Shiyeyi, while others speak it but do not admit that theydo due to the low status of the language through its association with slavery.However, thingsmay have changed slightly since 1995,after the formationof theKamanakao Association (see Part IV). The figures for the BaHerero could bemuch lower. They immigrated to Botswana in 1904/05 (Anderson & Janson,258 Current Issues in Language PlanningTable 4 Population in Ngamiland by ethnic group in 1936 and 1946Bantu 1936 (census) 1946 (census)BaGcereku – 1,513BaHerero 2,933 5,798BaKalaka – 728BaKgalagadi 2,270 1,918BaRotsi – 744BaSarwa 3,067 3,704BaSotho – 42BaSubiya – 486BaTawana 7072 8,124Bayei/Wayeyi/Bayeyi 16,496 13,261Hambukushu 5,919 5,286Matebele – 103Others 4,402 –Total 42,158 41,707Source: Tlou (1985: 9)1997) but continued to consider themselves to be Namibians. After Namibia’sindependence in 1996, somemoved back,while others remained in various partsof Botswana.The 1991 population census indicated that 54%of the population ofBotswana live in the rural areas (Central StatisticsOffice, 1995: 5).Due to the lackThe Language Situation in Botswana 259Table 5 Population of the Bamangwato Reserve (now Central District, see Map 1)Group PopulationBakalaka 22,777spalphaBamangwato 20,159Batswapong 11,237Babirwa 9,636San 9,567Bakhurutshe 5,441

Bakgalagadi 3,963Batalaote 3,538Bakaa 3,055Bapedi 2,572Baphaleng 2,409OvaHerero 1,013Balozi 1,006Bakwena 892Baseleka 889Banajwa 844Bayei/Wayeyi/Bayeyi 724Table 6 Estimated number of speakersEthnic Group Population & per cent of populationBatibo et al. (1997) Anderson & Janson (1997)BaHerero 31,000 (1.7) 31,000 (2.2)BaKalaka 150,000 (11) 150,000 (11)BaKgalagadi 15,000 (1.4) 10,000+ (?)BaSarwa(Khoisan)39,800 (2.8) 40,000 (4)BaSubiya 7,000 (0.5) 7,000 (0.5)BaYei/Wayeyi/Bayeyi 20,000 (1.4) 37,000 (4)Hambukushu 8,000 (0.6) 6,000+Batswana* 1,100,000 (79) 1,100,000+ (80)Others 20,000 (1.4) –Totals 1,390,800 1,381,000*Batswana refers to the eight dialects spoken by the eight so-called major tribes. Therehave been no data on the numbers for each of these tribes for the past 63 years.of reliable data, it is difficult to estimate the percentages of each ethnic groupliving in rural or urban areas.The numbers in Table 6 should be treated with great caution; they are estimatesbased on the 1936 and 1946 census figures for theNgamiland and CentralDistricts only. The discrepancy in the totals confirms that these are only estimates.It is not possible to use figures that are 63 years old to work out currentfigures, especially in a situation in which language shift has been accelerated bydeliberate policies. Smieja andMathangwane (1999) have also discussed the rateof language shift; Sommer and Vossen (1995) suggest that estimates such as thesemay not be reliable. Language shift suggests a shift in self-perception and identity.The 1991 census did not include ethnic or linguistic information. Secondly,Batibo and his colleagues relied heavily on Anderson and Janson’s figures.Hence, they do not provide an alternative level of analysis.Part II: Language SpreadDevelopment of Language-in-education PoliciesEducation provision after independenceDuring the Colonial period, education was provided by only four missionschools. Few people had access to these schools and at independence there was

an acute shortage of manpower to lead the country. The education sector hasexperienced a tremendous amount of expansion during the past 33 years, interms ofnumber of students, schools and teachers. In 1974, eight years after independence,the first President, Sir Seretse Khama, appointed a commission toassess the entire education system andmake recommendations for implementation.The National Commission on Education (NCE 1), chaired by ProfessorTorsenHusen, thenDirector of the Institute for InternationalEducation at Stockholm,started its work in 1975 and brought it to completion in 1977. One of themajor findings of this exercise was that the education sector was expanding interms of student enrolment (Table 7). However, a number of problems wereidentified including lowachievement rates.TheCommissionstated that ‘schoolsare not even achieving their narrow academic objectives well’ (NCE 1977a: 18).The system was based on European models and has not been changed toaccommodate local needs in terms of curriculum content. Assessmentwas basicallyused for selection into the next level, and ultimately preparing learners forwhite-collar jobs. The rapid expansion in enrolment at the primary level (74%)and at secondary school (a six-fold increase between 1966 and 1976), imposed agreater demand for increases in teacher training, buildings, equipment andadministrative levels. Thus,whilemore children were coming into the educationsystem, not enough was happening to provide for their education. There was ashortage ofmanpower in the Ministry of Education. Consequently, schoolswerenot inspected on a regular basis. There was no curriculum review being carriedout and goals and policies meant to improve the system were not being implemented.The other problem identified was that the Ministry of Education had260 Current Issues in Language Planningfocused on secondary and higher education in terms of quality issues whileprimary education was neglected; for instance, most teachers at the primaryschool level were not trained. They were also disparities between urban andrural areas in terms of the provision of education. For instance, in rural areasmost children had to walk long distances to get to a school, and sometimes theyhad tomove to a different village to go to school.Therewere alsomore untrainedteachers in rural schools and poorer facilities. Finally, children in rural areasspeak non-school languages and have problems comprehending instruction inthe national language.The Commissionmade recommendations to address some of the most pressingissues facing the education system at that time. Amongst these were thefollowing.(1) The need to give priority to primary education as the foundation for otherlevels of education; specifically to attend to both quantitative and qualitativeissues at this level eg, the curriculum should ensure that each childacquires basic literacy and numeracy skills.(2) An increase in opportunity to enter junior secondary education in severalways was recommended, including part-time study, lifting age restrictionto entrance, expansion of facilities, and the development of teacher trainingcolleges and more schools. It also recommended the development of a

coherent system between technical and vocational education.(3) The examination marks for Setswana should be included in the PrimarySchool Leaving Examinations’ (PSLE) mark, and a compensatory programmeshould be developed for children who speak other languages.(4) The education system should foster the four national principles of development:self-reliance, unity, and democracy –which culminate in the philosophyof Kagisano (social justice). The report this Commission produced wascalled Education for Kagisano, and the accepted recommendations arecontained in Government White PaperNo. 1, theNational Policy on Education,passed by Parliament in August, 1977.The Language Situation in Botswana 261Table 7 School enrolment: 1966–1976Year Primary Secondary University1966 71,546 1531 01967 71,577 1854 01968 78,963 2299 01969 82,214 3099 01970 83,002 3905 01971 78,442 4740 421972 81,662 5564 701973 95,511 6152 1321974 103,711 7055 2011975 116,293 8434 2891976 125,588 9558 465Source: National Commission on Education (1977: 14)(5) The Commission recommended a change in the education structure from7:3:3:4to 7:2:3.4(primary, junior secondary,senior secondaryanduniversity).(6) The Commission recommended the Establishment of the Department ofCurriculum Development and Evaluation.(7) The Commission also made recommendations on the use of Setswana asmedium of instruction and other language related issues. These will bediscussed in detail in the following sectiononlanguage-in-education policies.From 1977 to 1992, the Ministry of Education (Figure 2) tried to implement therecommendations of the first National Commission on Education and delivereducation for social justice. In 1992, the second President, Sir Ketumile Masire,appointed the second National Commission on Education (NCE 2), to reassessthe entire system and indicate its strengths and weaknesses with a view to forginga way forward into the nextmillennium. This thrust developed in light of thefact that there had been many societal, economic, political and cultural changessince 1977. Mr Ponatshego H. Kedikilwe, then Minister of Presidential Affairsand Public Administration, chaired this Commission. He was the Minister ofEducation, and many people thought that he had the opportunity to implementhis own recommendations. However, he later resigned his cabinet post. TheCommission started itswork in April 1992 and completed it in 1994. It identifieskey areas where improvements had taken place since the last Commission andareas that needed attention within the system. The following improvements

were reported to have taken place:…enrolments had continued to expand (Table 8);…the Department of Curriculum Development and Evaluation had beenestablished, and the curriculum was generally sensitive to the philosophyof Kagisano;…therewere great improvements in the curriculum and new teachingmethodsand approaches had been put in place to facilitate learning;…universal access to primary education had been achieved and there wasgreater access to junior secondary education (Figure 3);…the Department of Primary Education had been established at the Universityof Botswana in 1981 to train teachers to diploma level and educationofficers to degree level. Thus there was a steady decrease in the number ofuntrained teachers from 38.6% in 1978 to 13.3% in 1991.The following areas still remained problematic:262 Current Issues in Language PlanningTable 8 Education enrolment 1979–1991Year Primary Junior Secondary Senior Secondary University1979 156,664 14,165 2,551 –1984 209,772 23,500 3,864 –1988 261,352 27,989 12,368 –1991 298,812 52,866 22,496 –1997/98 8,302Sources: National Commission on Education (1993); Central Statuistics Office (1999)…access to senior secondaryeducationwas still a problem (NCE 2, 1993:148);…there was still need for equity in the provision of education between ruraland urban areas;…therewas still an imbalance in the provision of education between secondaryand primary education. Primary school teachers still had no housing,the schools were not electrified and therewas still a shortage of classrooms.These problems still persist today. There are still large numbers ofuntrained teachers found in primary schools.The Commission then made recommendations in four major areas:(1) Equity: Not only was equity necessary between rural and urban areas, andbetween primary and secondary education, but also for children withspecial abilities or disabilities in and out of school education, and by gender.The Language Situation in Botswana 263The Honorable Ministerof EducationPermanentSecretaryUniversity ofBotswanaCoordinatorof RNPE*Exams, Research& Testing

Planning, Statistics& ResearchDeputy Permanent Sec.(Support Services)Deputy Permanent Sec.(Educ. Dev. Serv.)ExternalAgenciesMLGHOtherMinistriesDEPARTMENTS DEPARTMENTS* The Revised Policy on EducationFigure 2 Structure of the Ministry of EducationIt noted the high access rate to primary education by girls, but their highdrop-out rate at junior and senior secondary level. It further noted theunder-representation of females in science-related areas at tertiary level.Some of the recommendations in this area, including the use of mothertongue at pre-school level and upon demand at primary level,were rejectedby Parliament, and hence are not contained in Appendix 2.(2) Quality:Academic achievement at primary schoolwas still very low, with aslight improvement at secondary level over the years. The Commissionfurther recommended that the education system should now address qualityissues and reintroduce the 7:3:2:4 system. The development of the teach-264 Current Issues in Language PlanningPre-SchoolCurrently not in Place(only run by NGOs)Age222120191817161514131211109876

54Adult Basic Education(National LiteracyProgramme)Primary SchoolStandard 1–7(7 Years)Senior SecondaryForm 4–5 (2 Years)TertiaryInstitutionsVocationalTrainingLevelDistanceEducationandPart-TimeStudyJunior Secondary SchoolForm 1–3 (3 Years)EarlyChildhoodEducationPrimary Secondary TertiaryWorldofWorkFigure 3 Structure of education and traininging profession has been identified as the main strategy for addressing thequality of education as teachers have the greatest impact on performance.This development should include enhancing the status of teachers, providingbetter working conditions and incentives and improving teacher-trainingprogrammes.(3) School management: The Commission noted that poorly managed schoolsperformed poorly, and recommended measures to address this matter. Forinstance, the role of head teacherswas to be clearly defined as instructionalleaders and the appropriate training was to be provided.(4) Finance: The Commission noted that the education system required costrecovery and effective financing systems.The development of educationalmanagers and review of the delivery system are critical to improvingeducation.A total of 134 recommendationswere made and those which were accepted arecontained theGovernmentWhite PaperNo. 2 called the RevisedNational Policyon Education (RNPE) passed by theNational Assembly in April 1994. Since thenefforts have been geared towards implementing these recommendations. Those

recommendations dealing with language are provided in Appendix 2.The latest available data is for 1997, and this does not indicate how the systemhas been performing since the report. However, it indicatesminority-dominatedareas such asKgalagadi,Ngwaketse, Kweneng, Gantsi andNgamiland have thehighest number of school drop-outs, the highest repetition rates, the highestnumber of untrained teachers and the greatest shortage of classrooms (CentralStatistics Office, 1999: 24, 30,36).Language-in-education policiesAt independence in 1966, there was no clear policy regarding the mediumof instruction in schools. However, there was a general understanding thatEnglish (the official language, required by the constitution) would constitutethemediumof instruction.Due to the relatively lowqualifications of teachers,and their inability to communicate in English, the use of Setswana was toleratedin lower grades.Other languages, such as Ikalanga,whichwere taught inschool before independence, were banned from use in school at independence.The policy assumed the use of English as the medium of instruction at alllevels, with tolerance for Setswana when communication problems occurred inStandards 1 and 2. On the other hand, practice indicated that teachers actuallycode-switched between Setswana and English throughout the primary andsecondary school levels (NCE, 1977a). Practice further indicated that in theNorth-east District, Ikalanga continued to be used as an informal medium ofinstruction in schools despite its ban. Despite this reality, some officials in theMinistry of Education continued to believe that English was the essentialmedium of instruction. More efforts and resources were, therefore, allocatedtowards the improvement of the teaching of English and its use as themedium ofinstruction rather than Setswana, which was at that time a non-examinablesubject. The FirstNational Commission on Education (NCE 1, 1977a: 76) viewedthis situation as one that neglected the national language. It noted that:The Language Situation in Botswana 265The introductionof English as amedium of instructionas early as Standard3 …clearly discriminated against the national language. The Commissionfeels strongly that every nation ought to give a prominent place to itslanguage in its education system.The Commissionfurther argued that first language education facilitates not onlyearly concept formation but also the acquisition of other languages. TheCommission then recommended the use of Setswana for the first four years ofprimary education. However, it did not make any recommendations on the useof minority languages in education, but rather recommended that a compensatoryprogramme should be developed for children who speak other languages.Komarek & Keatimilwe (1988) conducted a feasibility study for the programme.They recommended a transitional model of bilingual education, from mothertongue to Setswana and to English for areas where Setswana is not spoken asmother tongue. However, the government did not accept this recommendation,as it would have contradicted the policy of assimilation.The second National Commission on Education (NCE 2, 1993: 113) reducedthe number of years for Setswana as medium of instruction from four years to

one. This Commission felt that ‘[t]he present language policy denies the childmastering of themain language needed for better achievement in primary schooland in further education and in working life’. The Commission viewed firstlanguage education as hindering the child’s access to the language of business,which is English. The argument had little to do with the role of the first languagein the learning process. It also ignored the reality that, before the 1977 policy, lowacademic achievement characterised the education system and yet English wasassumed to be the medium of instruction at that time. Hence, first language usecould not be solely responsible for lowachievement. ThisCommission,however,recommended the use of the first language, including minority languages, atpre-primary education, but the recommendation was rejected by Parliament.The language planning processes in Botswana are influenced by an orientationwhich views language diversity as a problem, a reversal or negation ofdemocratic gains, a threat to unity, social harmony and to development(Nyati-Ramahobo, 1991: 201). The first President, Sir Seretse Khama, informedthe nation that his party ‘stands for a gradual but sure evolution of a nationstate …to which tribal groups will, while in existence, take secondary place’(Carter&Morgan, 1980: 291). In 1989 the second President, Sir KetumileMasire,asked Batswana…not to spoil the prevailing peace and unity in the country by fighting forethnic language groupings to take precedence over Setswana, and thattribes insisting that their languages become media of instruction withintheir respective areas would break up the nation. (Botswana Daily News, 30June 1989, no 123:1)These statements reflect an overt prohibition of the use of other languages. PresidentMogae, then Vice-President, visited the villages of Dukwe and Mosetse intheCentralDistrict to diffuse tension between the Bamangwatoand the Bakalakatribes after twosub-chiefs from the former were imposed on the latter.Ajournalistreporting on the visit wrote:266 Current Issues in Language PlanningHe [Mogae] is reported to have told residents ofDukwi andMosetse that allpeople who live in the Central District should consider themselvesBangwato, thus justifying Ngwato hegemony over tribes like Basarwa,Bakalaka, Babirwa, Batswapong and others. …Mogae failed a leadershiptest. This was an opportunity for him to rise to the occasion and concedethat there is indeed a rather skewed constitutionalarrangement. Instead,hecontinued the tradition of pandering to the whims of the ‘principal’ tribes.There is sufficient evidence that advocates of tribal equality are all fornational unity, but not at the expense of their integrity. (Moeti, 1998: 9)This is clearly the assimilatory model of ‘ice-cream plus salt’. The President issaying these tribes have tomelt and give up their cultures and completely assimilateinto the Ngwato culture. It is overt prohibition of the actualisation of thecultures of these people. The trendwithin the ruling BotswanaDemocratic Partyis to uphold the constitution,discriminating as itmay be, and thosewho point tothis problem are quickly labelled ‘tribalistic’ and ‘engineers of ethnic conflict’. Forfear of being labeled as such, critics tend to remain silent. Because of the push for

monolingualismandmonoculturalismby the ruling party, the Revised NationalPolicy on Education, approved by Parliament in April 1994, contains only thoserecommendations of the NCE 2 which deal with teaching of Setswana andEnglish (see Appendix 2).It is worth noting that,while the new policy has advocated the use of Englishas the medium of instruction (18(a)) at the expense of Setswana, the rest of therecommendations advocate the use of Setswana in education. Recommendation3, which calls for the formulation of a comprehensive language policy, couldpossibly promote Setswana in other social domains, such as business, technology,government, law and in the political structures. It is also worth noting thatrecommendationnumber 46(b) assumes that job opportunities requiring competencein Setswana are available. Research indicates that such job requirementsare currently rarely found in advertisements as compared to those requiringcompetence in English (Nyati-Ramahobo, 1991). This practice constitutes amajor demotivating factor for both learners and teachers of Setswana. Theeconomic use of Setswanamust diversify beyond radio announcers, court interpretersand teachers to accommodate Setswana as a language of socialmobilityand consequently, must absorb the products of the education system.A comprehensivelanguage policy will have to take this issue very seriously in order tofacilitate the implementation of recommendations 31 and 46(b). Five years afterthe approval of the policy, none of the recommendations has been implemented,except that preparations are currently underway to implement 18(a), dealingwith the use of English at Standard 2. More resources continue to be directedtowards the use of English in all social domains including education. This practicehas led scholars and citizens to believe that the government is pushing formonolingualism in English and, to some extent, recognition of the role ofSetswana.The language-in-education policy therefore relates to the specific use ofSetswana and English in education. Since none of the recommendations of theNCE 2 have been implemented, theNCE 1 policy concerning medium of instructionis still in place. Setswana is therefore themedium of instruction in StandardsThe Language Situation in Botswana 2671 to 4 while English is taught as a subject in those grades. English then becomesthe medium of instruction in Standard 5 and extends through the tertiary level,while Setswana is taught as a subject (Republic of Botswana, 1977: 4). This policyapplies to all government schools in the country. Private schools use English asthe medium of instruction from Standard 1 onward, but they have a flexiblepolicy on the number of years they teach Setswana as a subject. Since independence,a credit in English has been a requirement in order to matriculate.However, there are plans to change this policy as from the year 2000. Access tothe university requires a pass in English except for science subjects. A degree inSetswana is offered in English and a pass in English is required to enter theprogramme.The assimilationmodel,which is guided by the orientation viewing languagediversity as a problem, is quite evident in the language-in-education policy.There is an overt prohibition of the use of other languages for learning. Subsequently,

minority dominated areas continue to be educationally disadvantaged.The overemphasis onEnglish ismeant to expose learners to the language of technology,social mobility and globalisation. There is tension, therefore, in balancingthe role of the various local languages against Setswana on the one hand, andbetween Setswana and English on the other hand. Arthur (1996: 46) argues thatthis ‘inequality reflects and perpetuates hierarchical language values in Botswanasociety, as does the official exclusion of languages other than English andSetswana from classroom use’. English is most valued and most people wouldreport that they speak it even if they cannot (Vossen, 1988). This is furtherreflected in the allocation of resources in which English receives the greatestshare in terms of qualified teachers, time tabling and, of course, policy direction.Setswana is second, though policy direction and its recent use in Parliamentrecognises it as the national language. Minority languages are the least valuedand are addressed neither by policy nor by practice. Wolfson & Manes (1985)argue that one’s native language is so much a part of one’s identity that to denigrateit is effectively to deny one’s human ability to communicate (foreword).Devaluing one’s language is equivalent to devaluing that person. In this regard,assimilationist policies that deny children the opportunity to learn in theirmother tongue are viewed as inhuman.Objectives and assessmentSyllabi are prepared by Curriculum Development Officers (CDOs) in theMinistry of Education’s Department of Curriculum Development and Evaluation.Some of the responsibilities of CDOs include setting out the broad goals ofthe syllabus, aswell as advice on howmaterials are to be used in the teaching andlearning situation to achieve the objectives of the syllabus.The objectives of the Setswana and English syllabi are quite similar and can besummarised as follows. Both syllabi are written in English:…to help children in acquiring the very necessaryskills of listening, speaking,reading and writing;…to ensure that children apply these skills in communicating in their environment,with other children, adults and the mass media;…to serve as a basis for further education;268 Current Issues in Language Planning…to lay a sound foundation for the growth of Setswana and English as themedia of instruction;…to promote creativity on the part of children;…to encourage the study and preservation of Setswana culture;…to help children appreciate that good spoken Setswana will be acquired athome as well as at school;…to provide a curriculum that will strengthen Setswana as an importantinstrument in nation building (Ministry of Education, 1982: 1).Data from interviews indicate that the main purpose of teaching Setswana iscultural identity and early concept formation. It is believed that cultural identityand preservation will be achieved if books arewritten in Setswana for children inStandards 1 to 4 (old policy, NCE 1) or in Standard 1 only (new policy, NCE 2).The question of early concept formation seems to be defined as early as Standard

4. The purpose of teaching English is that it is the language ofwider communication,business and the world of work.The methodology for teaching both Setswana and English is said to be thecommunicative approach. The decision to change to this approach came as arecommendation from the first NCE, which thought that language teachingconcentrated on grammar and proverbs at the expense of literacy skills of readingand writing. The rationale for this approach is that ‘we don’t expect childrento analyse the language before they can use it’ (Ramatsui, 30 July 1989, personalcommunication). It is also necessary for the ten years of the basic educationprogramme,which seeks to provide children with skills they need in their dailylives. The communicative syllabi, developed after the Commission’s recommendation,came out in 1982 providing a few communicative topics, but remainedlargely structural.However, the syllabi were further revised in 1995. Books thatwere developed by publishing companies in 1998 for handling the new syllabiwere based on the communicative approach to teaching and assessment. Thesehave only been used in schools for one year so far, hence their impact and relevancehas not yet been assessed.Examinations are taken after seven years of primary schooling, three years ofjunior secondary and two years of senior secondary education. The firstCommission had recommended continuous assessment and remedial teachingto enhance performance. These recommendations have not been implemented.The achievement of universal primary education and ten years of basic educationhave meant that the primary school leaving examinations (PSLE) haveceased to be a selection tool.About 95.3%of students proceed to junior secondaryschool (Central Statistics Office, 1999: xiv). Consequently, examinations havechanged fromnormreference to criterion reference. A child’s performance is notcompared with other children, but with a set of criteria.The new syllabi emphasise that assessment techniques should focus on findingout whether children can read, write, speak and listen. The teacher shouldfocus on assessing students’ ability to read for different purposes, to write ondifferent topics for different audiences, to listen and speak in different situations.If children can perform these four language skills as defined for each skill objectivefor each grade level, it automatically means they have the ability to uselanguage rules at the competence required at the equivalent grade level. The newThe Language Situation in Botswana 269syllabus further states that continuous assessment should be an integral part ofthe language assessment procedure. For instance, students should be assessedbased on the number of books they have voluntarily read, written reports andtalked about in class.Criterion-reference testing should be useful especially if theskill objectives are to be used as the assessment criteria. This type of testing wasimplemented for the first time in 1997 and there is a general belief that performancehas improved (Central Statistics Office, 1999: 107). The overall pass ratehas improved when grades C and D form part of the aggregate. However,whenonly A and B grades are used to formthe overall pass grade there is no improvement.It is appropriate to include students in grades C and D as they are alsoadmissible to junior secondary school.

While the official approach to language teaching is communicative, there isevidence that assessment has continued to reflect the structural approach, evenin the wake of criterion-reference testing that has been adopted for all subjects.All primary school leaving examinations and all other examinations (except forthe subject Setswana) at secondary school level are in English. The attainmenttests for mathematics, English and science which are written at the end of Standard4 are in Setswana. Tests on the subject English are written in the Englishlanguage. The tests are meant ‘to determine whether children have achievedbasic literacy in Setswana and basic competence in English and Mathematics’(Republic of Botswana, 1977: 4). However, it is not a pass-or-fail test as there is apolicy of automatic promotion.Rather, the Standard4 attainment test is meant tocurb the shortcomings of the automatic promotion policy in the sense that it isintended to identify those children who need extra help before they proceed to,or when they enter, Standard 5. It is, however, reported that remedial work is notalways provided since teachers either are not trained in remedial teaching or donot have enough time to do it (Nyati-Ramahobo, 1999a).Media LanguagesThe role of themedia in national life in Botswanadates back to 1850s (Sechele,1998). It was part of whatwas called the ‘Tswana Press’ in South Africa. Sechelereports that the Tswana Press was:…a journalismthatwas based on the Setswana language in the areas occupiedby Setswana-speaking people of Bechuanaland protectorate (nowBotswana), Northern Cape, the former Transvaal, and the former OrangeFree State in South Africa. (p. 412)The printed press written in Setswana contributed to the spread of Christianityand the acquisition of literacy skills. It also contributed to the quality of life ofBatswana by providing information on events around them. For instance, in1886, a newspaper called Mahoko a Bechuana published an article about a whitemanwho delayed village development by selling liquor to the Bakgalagadi tribein Lehututu (South Africa). The Abantu-Batho (People) which reported in Zuluand Setswana played a major role in developing political awareness in the Africanmasses and became a strong organ of the African National Congress. Therewere also newspapers based in Bechuanaland: Lesedi la Sechaba (the light of thenation), which was based in the Kgatleng district, the Lebone la Bechuana (the270 Current Issues in Language Planninglamp of Tswana people) and Naledi ya Batswana (the star of the Batswana).Botswana’s second President, Sir Masire Ketumile was a reporter for the latter.This paper reported on the chieftainship issue between the Batawana and theBayeyi in 1948. All these papers reported in Setswana.While there was no overtprohibition of the use of other languages, there was no overt permission norpromotion of these languages in the media either, because the missionaries hadonly codified Setswana. It is not clear why, but the Setswana language press nolonger exists, not even in South Africa.There are currently eight private newspapers in the country. All of them arewritten in English. One of them includes pages in Setswana and a column inIkalanga. They circulate mainly in larger villages and towns. Since their birth in

1982, the independent media have provided an alternative voice in a countrydominated by government media (Sechele, 1998). Many believe that the independentmedia have exposed corruption, political arrogance, insensitivity, lackof transparency and accountability on the part of government (Grant & Egner,1989).Most people believe that itwas thismedia coverage that led to the increasein opposition seats in Parliament from three to thirteen in the 1994 general elections(Sechele, 1998). The independent media continued to serve this function inthe 1999 general elections. The landslidewin by the ruling party is attributed notto the fact that Batswana have gained confidence in that party but rather toin-fighting and the subsequent split of the opposition party twelve monthsbefore the general elections. The ruling party is viewed by many as having runout of strategies to win elections other than to divide the opposition party. Thetwelve constituencies that the oppositionwon in 1994 still voted for the oppositionin 1999, despite the split. A stronger opposition would have weakened theruling party even more thanin 1994.Themedia is seen as central in strengtheningdemocracy in Botswana.However, the media have problems which limit their impact. These includethe lowlevels of literacy in rural areas, self-censorship by some editors for fear ofvictimisation, lack of facilities, untrained staff and insufficient motivation on thepart of reporters. The language policy which promotes English and to someextent Setswana limits the effective flow of information to the rural areas. As aresult, voter and AIDS education are limited to towns and major villages(Sechele, 1998). Legislation has also limited the freedom of the press. Forinstance, in 1995 the Directorate onCorruption and Economic CrimeActwas putin place to prohibit journalists fromreporting on cases that are still under investigation.The Directorate investigates white-collar crimes, including those thatmight be committed by ministers.TheGovernment Printer provides a special service specifically for the government.It prints all government documents. Government ministries and departmentsplace orders which are entered in a register indicating the date the orderwas placed, the type of job to be done, the number required and the date the orderwas collected. The Ministries of Agriculture, Commerce and Health wereselected for a study to find out the language in which the government communicateswith the general public. The Ministry of Agriculture was a suitable choicesince a large portion of the population depends on agriculture,whichmakes up asignificant part of the economy. In 1982 the government, through the Ministry ofCommerce and Industry, introduced the Financial Assistance Policy (FAP) toThe Language Situation in Botswana 271encourage ordinary citizens to start small-scale businesses by lending themmoney. This policy was designed to create employment opportunities and tohelp Batswana to take part in the business world (Republic of Botswana, 1985:239). One might expect, as a consequence of this policy, that an increase incommunication between the government and the general public, informingthem about these programmes, about how to get started and about future plans,would occur.The Ministry ofHealthis an agency thatdealswith issues that affectthe whole population, not just a segment of it, and especially within the framework

of the HIV/AIDS pandemic. Thus communication with the people abouthealth matters is vital and inevitable.Data collected from the three ministries indicated that 61%of the documentsfor public consumption in the Ministry of Agriculture were written completelyin English, while 95% of those for the Ministry of Commerce and Industry werewritten in English aswell. These English documents included all the formswhichmembers of the public have to complete when applying for financial assistance.TheMinistry of Health hadmore bilingual documents (42%) than those either inEnglish or Setswana. Within the three governmentministries, themain languageis English. Thus 100%of the documentswhich were not for public consumption,were in English,while 59%of the documentsmeant forpublic consumptionwerealso in English. The government, therefore, communicates on health, agricultureand commercial issues to the general public in written English. For instance, it isnot unusual to find health posterswritten in English in themost remote areas ofthe country. The forms designed to obtain financial assistance are all in English,irrespective of the level of education of the applicant (Nyati-Ramahobo, 1991).This situation is unlikely to change in the next decade.Programmes aired each week by the government-owned stations wereanalyzed to find out the language of broadcasting. The private radio station,which focuses on the needs of the youth, broadcasts mainly (70%) in English.Data on the two government stations indicated that 36 (42%) programmes werein Setswana, 19 (22%) in English and 30 (35%) were in both Setswana andEnglish. An analysis of the programmes generated by each of the threeministriespreviously mentionedwas carried out. The results indicated that 62%of the totalnumber of programmes in the three selected ministries were in Setswana.The government also owns one newspaper, the Daily News. That newspaperconsists of eight pages, of which six and a half arewritten in English. The last oneand half pages are translations into Setswana ofmaterial on the previous pages.The government therefore communicates with the general public mainly inEnglish. It is worth noting that the newspaper does not reach the more remoteareas of the country; as a consequence, only people in major villages and townshave access to the paper. Based on the data about the newspaper and radio, itmay be concluded that the government seems to prefer Setswana on the radioand English inwritten format.Only these two languages areused in the media.The government has been reluctant to provide radio licences for privatelyowned radio stations. For many years, people were made to believe that theOffice of the President was responsible for issuing such licences. This office inturn kept informing the public that no legislation exists to allow such licencing.When a young lawyer, Patrick Gunda, took the government to court on thismatter in 1994, it became clear that the Botswana Telecommunications Corpora-272 Current Issues in Language Planningtion was chargedwith that responsibility. Previous references to the Office of thePresident were meant to discourage privately owned radio stations, wheregovernment censorshipwould bemore difficult. Stations could also broadcast inminority languages.Mr Gunda lost his bid for a radio stationlicence, as his applicationindicated the intended use ofminority languages. This suggests that there

is a covert prohibition on the use of minority languages in the media. Manyattribute the rampant spread ofHIV/AIDS in the country to the lack of relevantinformation in the languages in which people have high comprehension ability.Other educational campaigns on issues of national interest also do not reach thepeople. Crucialmessages reach only about 40%of the population, and this inefficiencyin communication inevitably affects development.ImmigrationThemovement of the Bakalaka tribe fromZimbabwe andparts of SouthAfricainto north-eastern Botswana in the 1600s (Tlou & Campbell, 1984) has renderedthat part of the country mainly Ikalanga speaking. The Kalanga were thenenslaved by the Bangwato tribe and brought to the Central District (Map 2).Currently, Kalanga people predominantly inhabit Serowe, the capital of theBangwato, though most of them have assimilated into Bangwato culture. TheWayeyi (also known as Bayei or Yei) came to Botswana from Central Africathrough Malawi and Zambia. They settled in a place called DiYei in the CapriviStrip (Nambia). Tlou (1985) estimates that they must have come to Botswanaaround 1750 or earlier. Murray (1990: 4) estimates that they may have come asearly as AD 1000; others say they came around 1400 (e.g. Gazette, 1999).Nyati-Ramahobo (1999b) concurs with Murray because the Shiyeyi languageadopted click sounds fromKhoisanlanguageswithwhich they came into contactin the Okavango delta. For this process to have taken place the two groupsmusthave lived together for a long time. The Khoisan are believed to be the originalindigenous people of Botswana. The Hambukushu came into Botswana at twodifferent periods. The first group came between 1876 and 1890 and the second in1969 because of the war in Angola. The Herero came to Botswana between 1897and 1906 (Murray, 1987), escaping German rule in the then South-West Africa(Namibia).The distributions of Setswana speaking tribes caused by tribal wars and othersocial events in the 1800s (Tlou & Campbell, 1984: 57–100) have contributed to thespread of Setswana to all parts of the country. For instance, the war between theBangwatotribal sons in the Central District in 1795(Sillery, 1965)caused one of thesons (Tawana) tomove intoNgamiland (North-west District) where theBatawanatribe nowlive; this is the majorway Setswana spread to that part of the country. Asthe Batawana ‘imposed themselves’ (Sillery, 1965: 22) on the majorityWayeyi inthe area, they forced them to speak Setswana and punished them for using theirownlanguage. Some of theWayeyi then escaped into the Central District avoidingTawana’s subjugation and sought refuge from Khama III, the chief of theBangwatotribe andfather of the first President of Botswana,Sir SeretseKhama.Heaccepted them on condition that they speak Setswana so as to communicate theirgrievances to him effectively and to enable him to defend themat the kgotla duringtheir court cases and in other important circumstances. Consequently, mostThe Language Situation in Botswana 273Bayeyi do not speak Shiyeyi. Equally, the Bakalaka were discouraged fromspeaking Ikalanga, and most of those in Serowe only speak Setswana.The movement of the Barolong tribe in the 1600s from Transvaal in SouthAfrica to the north-east introduced Setswana to that part of the country.

Setswana is, therefore, the lingua franca of the country; most children learn it athome and at school. This factor made the choice of Setswana as a nationallanguage easier. Foreigners learn the Setswana language and culture at theBotswana Orientation Center. The spread of Setswana was, therefore, facilitatedby the spread of Setswana speaking groups to other parts of the country. Thespread of Setswana has been further facilitated by its use in school as the onlylocal language and by the prohibition of the use of all other languages representedin the country after independence.Unlike the situation in a number of other African countries, there has been nosignificant European orAsian settlement in Botswana; after independence othernationalities came as individuals and have served as expatriates or have becomecitizens. As communities have not formed, language or place of origin is not yetan issue for these individuals.Part III: Language Policy and PlanningBotswana’s language policy is not written; it is understood, inferred andobserved fromreality. It is referred to in various documents such as the Constitutionas previously discussed, in reports of National Commissions on Education,in the national development plans, as well as in several curricularmaterials andin the media. These sources only refer to it, not defining it ormaking it the subjectof discussion. They refer to it when addressing other issues related to languageand education. For example, while discussing the qualifications for election tothe National Assembly and the House of Chiefs, the constitution states that:…a person shall be qualified to be elected as a member of the NationalAssembly if, and shallnot be qualified to be so elected unless…(d) he is ableto speak, and unless incapacitated by blindness or other physical cause, toread Englishwell enough to under take an active part in the proceedings ofthe Assembly. (Section 61(d):00:37 & Section 79(4)(c) 00:46)Other sections of the constitution allude to language policy when discussingpeople’s fundamental rights and freedoms. For instance, Section 10(2)(f) statesthat:Every person,who is chargedwith a criminal offense, shall be permitted tohave without payment the assistance of an interpreter if he cannot understandthe language used at the trial of the charge … (00:11)At independence, English was indirectly declared the official language throughthe constitution, as previously indicated. English is currently used in the judiciary,in administration, in education, and in the business sector and, until late1998, itwas used in Parliament.All government correspondence and records are274 Current Issues in Language Planningin English. All meetings in the civil service are conducted and recorded inEnglish. It is spoken and read by 40% of the population (Obondo-Okoyo, 1986:12), mainly by the educated élite living in towns. Setswana is understood to bethe national language, but the constitutionmakes no reference to it. It is mainlyused in informal settings and in traditional matters.The national adult literacy programme is conducted in Setswana irrespectiveof the existence of other languages found amongst the communities in which it isoperating. The Revised National Policy on Education recommended goals for

out-of school programmes as follows:(1) To establish a learning society in which education is seen as a lifelongprocess.(2) To guarantee universal access to basic education for school-age childrenand adults in order to promote equity and social justice.(3) To provide opportunities for young people and adults to further their initialeducation to higher stages in order to raise the general level of education ofthe population.(4) To provide opportunities for adults to acquire work-related skills that willimprove their productivity and standard of living, and promote economicgrowth.(5) To increase the ability of adults to take part in social, political, cultural andsporting affairs in order to improve their quality of life and promote greaterparticipation in the development process. (Republic of Botswana, 1994:34–5).The policy calls for the provision of adult education as a life-long learningprocess. The policy should also provide opportunities for school-age childrenwho missed their chance for one reason or another to further their education. Itfurther calls for an educated and informed society through an increase in learningopportunities beyond normal schooling. Public education is expected tomake people aware of skills needed for life.Non-governmental organisationshave been pushing for the recognition of theexistence of other languages and ethnic groups (see Part IV). This has to someextent had an impact on government; e.g. Parliament has passed the followingmotions to allow the use of these languages in education and on the radio.However, there are no efforts being made at the moment tomake these motionsinto laws or to implement them.…In 1995Parliament approved the review of sections 77 to 79 of the constitutionwhich stipulates that only chiefs of the eight tribes can be ex-officiomembers of the House of Chiefs.…On Friday, 8 August 1997 Parliament passed a motion to allow alllanguages to be taught in schools, used on the radio and in other areas asnecessary.…The second President of Botswana, Sir Ketumile Masire, constituted a taskforce to develop a national vision for the country in the new millennium.The task force, led by the then Manager of the Bank of Botswana andcurrent Minister of Finance and Development Planning, Mr BaledziGaolathe, produced a document known as Vision 2016. This documentThe Language Situation in Botswana 275states that ‘there is a challenge to recognise and develop equally alllanguages in Botswana’ (Presidential Task Group, 1997: 21, summaryversion).…Vision 2016 further states that ‘Botswana’s wealth of different languagesand cultural traditions will be recognised, supported and strengthened inthe education system. No Motswana will be disadvantaged in the educationsystem as a result of a mother tongue that differs from the country’s

two official languages’ (Presidential Task Group, 1997: 5).All of these parliamentary resolutions are positive signals of a commitment topluralism as a necessary ingredient for nation building. They are an acknowledgementof the fact that the suppression of the languages and cultures ofBotswana is not one of the ingredients for democracy or development. Indeed,suppression of languages and cultures could defeat the government’s purpose,to build a united and proud nation. As I argued on 26 October 1999 in a paneldiscussion for theMillennium lecture series, organised by the Gender Policy andProgramme Committee on Vision 2016, which included government ministers,the government’s reluctance to implement the actions surveyed above suggests alack of political will. It indicates that parliamentary motions may be passedsimply as a result of pressure fromthe electorate,without any commitment to theunderlying ideals by the government leadership.Statements made by the three Presidents cited previously in this monographindicate thatwhile documentswrittenby professionals provide positivepolicies,the political leadership may only accept them with low levels of commitment.This creates tension between policy and practice. While policies on paper areprogressive and point to reform, practice is conservative. The government seemsto be still committed to the assimilationmodel and still views language diversityas a problem. On the other hand, the public calls for themaintenancemodel andfor an orientationwhich views the linguistic diversity present in the country as aresource and a right. Many non-governmental organisations take the view thatlanguage and culture are human rights issues (refer to Part IV).Language Planning AgenciesIn 1979 the Minister of Education constituted the Setswana NationalLanguage Committee (SNLC) to revise the 1937 orthography, which had beendeveloped in SouthAfrica. This revisionwas necessary because the orthographywas based on the Setlhaping dialect, which is not represented in Botswana. TheCommittee carried out the review and produced the 1981 Setswana StandardOrthography.Two years after the publication of the 1981 orthography, users began toexpress dissatisfactionwith it, indicating the need for yet another revision. TheNational Setswana Language Council (NSLC) was formed in 1986 through apresidential directive and charged to review the 1981 orthography andmake thenecessary recommendations with regard to the teaching and learning ofSetswana as a national language. The Council mainly was concerned about thelack of consistency in the use of the Setswana orthography by authors. Childrenwere under-performing in Setswana examinations; under-performance wasobservable especially among those who spoke languages other than Setswana.276 Current Issues in Language PlanningThe Council also made some recommendations regarding the low status ofSetswana as compared to English and the resulting deterioration of the Setswanalanguage and culture. The work of the Council was carried out through fourmain committees.(1) The Book Review Committee was to review books used in schools to ensurethat they were morally acceptable.

(2) The Orthography Committee was to review the 1981 orthography.(3) The Terminology Committee was to compile all foreign words in order tocoin Setswana equivalents.(4) The FinanceCommittee administered funds from the Ministry of Educationfor the work of the Council.Recommendation No.3 of the Revised National Policy on Education said that‘theNational Setswana Language Council be renamed the Botswana LanguagesCouncil and be given new terms of reference including the responsibility fordeveloping a comprehensive language policy’ (Republic of Botswana, 1994: 13).The second President of Botswana formed another task force in the Ministry ofEducation and charged it with the responsibility for the establishment of theBotswana Languages Council. This task forcewas chaired by the Coordinator ofRevised National Policy on Education and former Permanent Secretary in thesame ministry, Mr Jake Swartland (Figure 2). The assignment of the task forcewas to stateclearly themissionand vision of the BotswanaLanguagesCouncil, toformulate its terms of reference, to define its structure membership, and tosuggest its home. The task force began its work in March 1997 and ended inAugust of the same year. The report of the task force was presented to Cabinettowards the end of 1997,but itwasnot approved.As a result,neither theNationalSetswana Language Council nor the Botswana Languages Council are currentlyfunctional as language planning bodies. In other words, formal language planningactivities ended in 1997 after the completion of the work of this task force.Informal language planning activities carried out by non-governmental organisationsthat are concerned with the imminent death of their languages arediscussed in the following section.Part IV: Language Maintenance and ProspectsIntergenerational Transmission of SetswanaThere is a widespread popular belief that Setswana is losing ground toEnglish.While in the past English was confined to formal social domains, and toconversations involving foreigners, it is not unusual to hear Batswana conversingin English at a bar, in thework place and on the street.Most young people useat least some English, and a few homes are beginning to use English as the mainmedium of communication between family members. Some families arereported not to be using Setswana at all in the home.4 This process, while slowand insignificant at the moment, seems to suggest a dark future with Setswanaeventually becoming a language for only the old and the uneducated. This isThe Language Situation in Botswana 277indicated by the fact that even adult learners are beginning to demand the introductionof English in the non-formal educational curriculum, since it is nowrequired for all types of jobs (Nyati-Ramahobo, 1996). This is not surprising,since, as stated earlier, recommendations meant to enhance the status ofSetswana in education and in society have never been implemented. Janson &Tsonope (1991: 75–6) note that:The language has been neglected in the sense that it has been seenmainly asa part of the traditional society, and by that token not very interesting forthe generation of planners that has been busy leading Botswana on the way

to development. … Official policy shows a degree of indifference to questionsconcerning Setswana.The same can be said for the other indigenous languages of Botswana. It is thisattitude from the leadership that is threatening not only the existence ofSetswana but also its value to future generations.The radio is an effective means for the intellectualisation of language and forsupporting the transmission of language fromone generation to the next. Radioannouncers and members of the public code-switch between English andSetswanawhen speaking on the radio. There is no conscious effort to speak pureSetswana so that the youngmight be able to learn good Setswana.Consequently,young people acquire borrowed English words under the impression that theyare Setswana words. The use of English words is common even in cases whereSetswana equivalents exist. For instance,most people seem to prefer the Englishword ‘change’ – rendered as chencha – instead of the Setswana equivalent fetola orfetoga. Young people find it difficult to express themselves exclusively inSetswana.On the other hand, a renewed sense of nationhood seems to be growing. Thismay be seen from three recent examples:…the topical debate on the rights ofminority groups, which became an electionissue in 1999 and led to the appointment of the presidential commissionof enquiry into sections 77 to 79 of the constitution, in August 2000;…the publication of a book on the status of Setswana as a national language;and…the fact that Miss Universe for 1999 was from Botswana.When Miss Universe returned from the success at the Pageant, her first wordswere in English and so washer address to the nation, to the great disappointmentof most Batswana. This disappointment was expressed on a radio programmecalled Maokaneng, in which the general public discusses issues of national interestby telephone in Setswana. Upon her second visit, Miss Universe was todeliver her HIV/AIDS message at a concert organised in her honour by theMinistry ofHealth.On that occasion she was reduced to tears when the youthfulcrowd demanded that she deliver her speech in Setswana. Despite her tearfulclaim that it was difficult for her to do so, the crowd insisted and she finally did(Ndlovu, 1999). Every year Batswana express disappointment that the Presidentdelivers his independence message in English (Kgengwenyane, 1996). Thispublic attitude could be a signal of a quest for national identity by the generalpublic.278 Current Issues in Language PlanningOther positive signs are:…as stated earlier, beginning in 1989, one of the private newspapers hasprovided an insert in Setswana;…other newspapers are beginning to accept articles in Setswana as well;…while Setswana is losing some of its distinctive features, such as idioms andproverbs,more Setswanawords are being coined for new concepts (Anderson& Janson, 1997); and…Setswana continues to be the main language in the traditional courts in

villages and towns alike.These efforts signal the desire among the people to promote andmaintain the useof Setswana or the natural persistence of Setswana as a dominant language. Thesuccess of various efforts to preserve Setswana will depend on the breadth ofsupport and/or political will. Should the current official attitude continue,Setswana is likely to become an endangered language in the next three decades.The future of other minority languages, which are not recognised by governmentunder the assimilation model, is even bleaker (Tsonope, 1995) if currentpolicy does not change to be more inclusive. The role of the élite in promotinglanguage death is critical.Most parents see the use ofEnglish in the homeas facilitatingthe acquisition of English at school, and indeed, it does. As English isrequired for matriculation,with limited spaces at senior secondary and tertiarylevels, most parents view the use of Setswana as a medium of instruction as acontributing factor to low academic achievement. They therefore send their childrento English medium schools, where all instruction is in English, withSetswana as a subject. Children fromthese schools rarely speak Setswana, exceptthrough code-mixing.Language Death and Language MaintenanceThismonograph has demonstrated that, at independence, the Government ofBotswana adopted the orientation that language diversity was a problem andaimed to eradicate all minority languages. Economic prosperity and the provisionof social amenities such as schools, clinics and roads led many Batswana toaccept this position for a long time. Because of this policy, minority languageswere banned from use in all social domains. Under such circumstances, onewould not be surprised if by now all languages in Botswana were extinct exceptSetswana and English. However, as assimilation occurs over a period of time,and is influenced by factors such as self-esteem, 26 languages (BotswanaLanguage Use Project, 1996) are still spoken in some parts of the country.Most ofthem are spoken by adults over 40 years of age. In some cases, children aged 17speak the language,while in others, children younger than 17 may only comprehendthe language.However, Kalanga, Subiya, Thimbukushu, Herero, andsomeKhoisan languages are still spoken by young children in some communities.Vossen (1988) conducted a socio-linguistic survey on language use inNgamiland (North-west District)(Map 2). The study included 13 languages in 19schools situated in 12 villages.While the population of the Tswana (Batawana) isless than that of all other languages collectively, he observed thatmost childrenin the survey reported a greater knowledge of Setswana than of any otherThe Language Situation in Botswana 279language. He further observed a general decline in the use of the mother tongueamongst his informants in some areas, indicating some degree of language shift.Higher levels of language maintenance were observed amongst the Mbukushuand Herero in some areas rather than others. He concluded that Shiyeyi was themost threatened language inNgamiland, as children no longer spoke it.Work bySommer & Vossen (1995) later complimented Vossen’s study.As indicated previously, the Batawana enslaved the Wayeyi for over 250years. Even after the abolition of slaveryworldwide, the majority ofWayeyi still

continue to be ruled by the minority Batawana, despite their efforts since 1936 toachieve autonomy. As a result, the Wayeyi suffer from low self-esteem; manywould prefer not to reveal their true identity, but rather say they are Batawana,particularly to outsiders who have no reason to know anything to the contrary.Those who can still speak the language are reluctant to use it in public places.This situation, therefore, implies that Vossen’s data may primarily indicate anidentity crisis and the lack of overt language use but not an accurate picture oflanguage knowledge. On the other hand, it is also correct to suggest thatlanguage knowledgewithout language use leads to language death. It is difficultto say to what extent Shiyeyi is dead, or to what extent revival efforts would belikely to succeed.As previously indicated, the attitude of the government towards Setswana isaccompanied by intolerance for all other languages spoken in Botswana.Becauseof this suppressive attitude, it is proper to say that all languages in Botswana aresomewhat threatened. Evidence that young people are not able to speak theirfirst languages is also showing up in other languages including Setswana.Smiejaand Mathangwane (1999) also observed a high degree of language shift amongstthe non-Tswana speakers such as the Babirwa, Kalanga, and Batswapongtowards Setswana and English.A great deal of cultural and linguistic loss amongmany minority groups has been observed (Vossen, 1988). This has causedconcern, and some minority groups have begun to form organisations to revivetheir languages and cultures. The work of some of these is described in thefollowing sections.Informal efforts in language maintenanceWithin the Ministry of Labor and Home Affairs is the Registrar of Societies’Office. Since group rights are granted, through the right to associate, the mainduty of this office is to register non-governmental organisations (NGOs), underRegulation 5 of the Societies Act No 19 of 1972. In order to be registered, anorganisation must have a constitution, with clear objectives, activities andmembership. Itmust indicate the specific areas onwhich itwill focus. Itmust alsostatethe geographical region inwhich itwill operate.Aregistered organisationisa legal entity in its ownright; it can sue or be sued. It has the right to receive donationsfrom individuals and other local and international bodies. In Botswana,there is a mother body for all registered NGOs, called the Botswana Council ofNon-Governmental Organisations (BOCONGO). Its role is to assist its membersin three main areas: (1) policy research and advocacy; (2) capacity building, and(3) networking and information dissemination. To become a member ofBOCONGO, an organisation pays an initial enrolment fee and an annualsubscription fee. Benefits include receiving invitations to training programmes,280 Current Issues in Language Planningwhich BOCONGOmounts for its members. For instance, it provides training inmanagement, accounting and marketing strategies. NGOs may send theirpersonnel to suchseminars free of charge.Other benefits include general disseminationof information on what other NGOs are doing, including work on theinternational scene. BOCONGO also places all valuable information on eachmember on its ownwebsite for dissemination.Once registeredwith BOCONGO,

an organisation will also have access to donors who are interested in its field.Currently there are 81NGOs registered with BOCONGO. It is difficult to tellthe number of those that are not members of the mother body, since data onthese is not readily available. These NGOs fall within nine categories. In eachcategory, oneNGOis selected by BOCONGOto be the lead organisationin thatarea (Table 9).Registration with the Registrar of Societies gives an NGO liberty to operatewithin the legal framework, while registration with BOCONGO gives it theopportunity to network with other bodies with similar interests. BOCONGOalso offers these NGOs a united voice to speak to the government on issues ofmutual interest.Due to the high fees charged by BOCONGO, not allNGOs registeredwith the Registrar of Societies are members of the BOCONGO. An organisationdealingwith language and or culturewould fall under theHuman Rightscategory; their lead agency is Ditshwanelo (a Setswana word for rights), TheBotswanaCentre forHumanRights.Within the framework of the assimilationistpolicy, speakers of languages that are not recognised by the government viewthis policy as a denial of their human rights, i.e. denial of the ability to accessinformation in their own languages. Their work therefore focuses on revivingandmaintainingtheir linguistic andcultural rights. Those dealingwith languagefroma religious perspective fall under the ecumenical category. Currently, thereare six organisations dealing with language and culture from a human rightsperspective.The Society for the Promotion of Ikalanga Language (SPILL)Within the limitations of data reliability, theKalangas are considered the largestof the so-calledminority groups in Botswana. The 1946 census indicated thatthere were 22,777 Kalangas in the Bamangwato (Central) District (Mpho, 1987:The Language Situation in Botswana 281Table 9 Non-government organisations (NGO) by categoryCategory Lead NGODisability Botswana Council for the DisabledWomen Women NGO CoalitionstrightHealth/AIDS Botswana Network for AIDSHuman rights DitshwaneloChildren and youth Botswana National Youth CouncilAgriculture Forum for Sustainable AgricultureEcumenical Botswana Christian CouncilCommunity Botswana Comm. Based NetworkMedia Media Institute in Southern AfricaSource: BOCONGO (1999)134, see Table 5). This excluded those in the North-east District (Table 6).Kalangas have a strong sense of identity. Currently, they are one of the fewminority groups whose children speak Ikalanga at home, including those inhomes in the upper and middle class areas living in cities and towns.This is quitephenomenal given that the Bamangwato tribe enslaved them in the 1800s.Thereis a popular belief that, due to this oppression, the Kalanga developed a codingsystem for gaining access to educational opportunities. When applying for

entrance to schools, each Kalanga applicationwould have a drawing of a peanutat the lower right-hand-side, their staple food. Education officers who weremostly Kalanga would then ensure school admission. Many Batswana believethat this is the main reason they are currently the most highly educated and holdhigh government posts. Due to pressure from the Tswana presidents, Kalangaministers overtly support the assimilationmodel, but they covertly support thepromotionof theKalanga to high positions as an alternativeempowerment strategy.Because of the banning of the Ikalanga language fromthe educational systemat independence, the language was formally relegated only to the home environment.For this reason, the culture of the Kalanga people has been slowly disappearing.Based on this realisation, the SPILL was formed by the Kalanga élite in1981 to develop and maintain the Ikalanga language and culture. Also embeddedin thework of the societywas the issue of land rights and the right to self-rulethrough the chieftainship structure. When SPILL started, it created a negativereaction from within government quarters. It was perceived as tribalistic anddivisive. Therewas a strong campaign to shun it and to denounce it as a threat tothe peace and stability prevailing in the country. ThoseKalangaswho believed inthe movement, saw this as an intimidating strategy to discourage them andpotential donors from developing Ikalanga. There were also divisions amongstthe Kalangas themselves. Some, especially those holding high government positions,were against the formation of SPILL, at least in public. They feared victimisationat their jobs should their loyalty to government be doubted. Therefore,while the Kalangas are highly influential in government circles, they could notuse that influence to convince government to allow the use of Ikalanga on radioor in education, prior to the presentation of the 1997 motion which has not yetbecome law.The SPILL began its work with the revival and revision of the pre-independenceIkalanga orthography, which was published in 1995. The organisation hasnow published a hymnbook in Ikalanga.TheNew Testamenthas been translatedinto Ikalanga as well. The Mukani Action Campaign (MAC), the educationalwing of SPILL, has developed 14 literacy booklets for informal teaching ofIkalanga and for future use in schools as soon as government implements the1997motion. TheMAC also publishes a newsletter and encourages the publicationof news articles in Ikalanga.One of the independent newspapers publishes aweekly column in Ikalanga. Their major donor, as previously indicated, is theLutheran Bible Translatorsbased in theUnited States, an organisationwhich hasprovided technical support to run an office in Francistown.This officewas at theforefront of the development of the orthography and the translation of the NewTestament. Through the Department of Adult Education at the University ofBotswana, UNESCO is funding a project on the use of minority languages in282 Current Issues in Language Planningadult literacy. The project includes Kalanga and Shiyeyi. With respect to theKalanga project, it funds trainingworkshops for members of theMAC aswell asthe production of some of the materials. The other source of funding is throughmembership fees. SPILL raises funds using several strategies, and the funds areused to run the daily work. Further details on SPILL are available on the reference

section of their web-site.One of the issues that the Kalangas have been pushing for is the right to berepresented in the House of Chiefs by their Paramount Chief. As indicated inPart I, politically, they are regarded as members of the Bamangwato tribe, andtheir ParamountChief is that of the Bamangwato.Within their immediate localities,they can have Kalanga sub-chiefs. Currently, there is a Kalanga sub-chief inthe House ofChiefs, but he is not regarded as representative of all Kalangas sincehe is not a Paramount Chief. The SPILL is, therefore, playing a crucial role inlanguage planning. It is one of those bodies promoting the orientationto viewinglanguage diversity as a right and a resource for development.Kamanakao AssociationThe Wayeyi live inNgamiland (North-west District,Map 2). Politically and inaccordance with the assimilation policy, every one in this district is called aMotawana, since the Tswana speaking Batawana tribe rule them. As indicatedpreviously, the Batawana subjected the Wayeyi to slavery. There are two mainreasons why theWayeyi were the most subjected: first there was direct contactbetween them and the Batawana on the arrival of the Batawana in Ngamiland;the second reason was the soft and peace loving nature of theWayeyi. In 1962,Pitoro Seidisa (a Moyeyi from Gumare) started someworkwith Professor ErnstWestphal of the University of Cape Town to develop the orthography for theShiyeyi language. Due to the conflict between the Wayeyi and Batawana overserfdom, the then Queen Regent of the Batawana, Pulane, ordered the arrest ofMr Seidisa for presuming to develop Shiyeyi. The Batawana thought that thedevelopment of Shiyeyi might raise the consciousness of the Wayeyi andstrengthen their struggle for freedom fromslavery.WhenWestphal realised theunacceptability of the Shiyeyi language among the ruling Batawana, he discontinuedhis work on the language and stated in his will that all the material onShiyeyi should be burnt after his death. By the time of his death, the orthographyhad been completed, a dictionary was still incomplete and Chapter 8 of theGospel of Matthew as well as a few hymns had been translated into Shiyeyi.After independence in 1966 the language policy continued to discourage thedevelopment and use of any languages other than Setswana. The KamanakaoAssociationwas founded in 1995 by theWayeyi élite to continue the work of MrSeidisa and ProfessorWestphal. Its aimwas to develop and maintain the Shiyeyilanguage and culture. The work on orthography was completed in 1998 andwork on materials production and training is on going. The Association hasproduced a draft of an interdenominational hymnbook, a phrase book for teachingShiyeyi and a booklet containing songs, stories and poems. It also produces acalendar in Shiyeyi.The Kamanakao Association has three main sources of funding for itsprogrammes. The Lutheran Bible Translators funded the development of theorthography and some of the publications previously mentioned. They continueThe Language Situation in Botswana 283to fund the translationof hymns and the translationof the Jesus Filminto Shiyeyi.Currently, plans are under way to translate the Gospel of Luke. The UNESCOproject has three phases concerning the development of Shiyeyi: the first phase

covers the training of secondary school leavers in using the Shiyeyi orthographyto write stories on cultural themes; the second phasewill subsume thewriting ofthe stories and songs, and the last phase will involve writing primers for adultliteracy. Currently, the training is going on simultaneously with story and songwriting. The third source of funding is from the communities. The KamanakaoAssociation has nine branch committees throughout the northern part of theCentral District and in Ngamiland. These communities are responsible for thecultural aspects of the organisation.They organise cultural activities and are alsoresponsible for hosting the Shikati (Chief in Shiyeyi) Kamanakao5 as he visits thevillages. These committees fund their own activities. They raise funds for theassociation through the sale of T-shirts, booklets, bags and calendars and ofcourse through cultural activities.The relationship between these two organisations and the government is oneof uneasy tolerance.While the Ministry of Labour and Home Affairs authorisedtheir registration in accordance with the right to associate, they are seen asmoving against the assimilationist policy. This is particularly so in regard to thechieftainship issue. The Wayeyi élite holding high government posts are tornbetween supporting a just cause in which they believe and risking their jobs.Consequently, they tend to remain neutral and unpredictable. Some Wayeyi,especially politicians within the ruling party, have been used to campaignagainst the work of Kamanakao Association. They have portrayed the Associationas tribalistic and have worked against the acceptance of Shikati Kamanakaoto represent the Wayeyi in the House of Chiefs. The Wayeyi have taken thegovernment to court for discriminating against their Paramount Chief. On theother hand, someWayeyi élite and academics have been successful in taking themessage of the Association to the people, through the village or branch committees.The message is understood as linguistic human rights as well as politicalrights in terms of representation.After his installation as Paramount Chief of theWayeyi, in April 1999, Shikati Kamanakao has taken his role to be that of educatinghis people about their rights to develop and maintain their language andculture through public meetings. His meetings have been attended by CriminalInvestigation Officers from the Police Department to try and intimidate peopleattending. After a year of public education campaigns, people now feel free toattend and participate in village committees and other cultural activities. Theyare gaining confidence in demanding their rights to representation. They havecontributed money towards the costs of the lawsuit.This lawsuit may have some influence in expediting the government’s decisionto review Sections 77 to 79 of the constitution, which discriminate alongtribal lines concerning representation in the House of Chiefs. In February 2000,an independent newspaper reporter held an interview with President Mogaethat was reported as follows:Mmegi: Parliament passed a motion for the amendment of Sections 77–79of the constitution which were deemed offensive but last year during theelections you said there is no discrimination in terms of tribe.Would I have284 Current Issues in Language Planninga member of my tribe as an ex-officio member of theHouse of Chiefs in my

lifetime? (the reporter is Kalanga).President Mogae: I don’t know where you get the impression that I havegone back on anything. I and Parliament never said that the constitutiondiscriminates against tribes. We have said those sections you havementioned should be amended and I have said yes, if there is any section ofthe constitution that causes irritationto anymember of our societywemustlook at them and amend.We are going to do that.We have appointed a taskforce to go around asking Batswana including yourself. Itwould startworkearly next month. (Chilisa, 2000: 19 (11–17 February)).While the President’s promise is not a new thing, many people believe that thelawsuit is likely to end the unreasonable delay in action on the constitutionalamendment. However, speculation is rife that the government is lobbying thegeneral public to accept the status quo. In fact, the President mentioned his ownpreference for the statusquo during the interview.He said, ‘I havemy ownviews…the arrangementwith regards to the North East, Kgalagadi and Ghanzi is thetype I will be inclined to. It’s more democratic but Batswana believe in chiefs bybirth and I am not going to change that’ (Chilisa, 2000: 19 (11–17 February)).As stated above (Background section), the areas mentioned here areminoritydominated and they are represented by elected sub-chiefs in theHouse ofChiefsand not the ParamountChiefs by birth of theseminority tribes.This is in line withthe assimilationtheory that only Setswana speaking tribes can be represented bytheir Paramount Chiefs by birth. Minority groups can only be represented byelected sub-chiefs to ensure that the people elected are sympathetic with theruling party policy of assimilation into Tswanadom. In the case of Ngamiland,the tribes there are represented by the Tswana speaking Batawana chief. Accordingto theWayeyi, they are not represented, since imposing a Motawana chief onthemand rejecting their ParamountChief is not democratic.The consultations tobe heldwith the people are less likely to change the current situation, as lobbyingwill follow the elections pattern where people are alleged to have been bribedand misinformed in house-to-house campaigns. The rural population is lessinformed as it has no access to information, and it is likely to accept informationprovided by the government. For this reason, the status quo is likely to prevailafter the consultations.On the other hand, should the educated élite make writtensubmissions to the task force, and work with NGOs to put pressure on thegovernment to change, there is a windowof opportunity for change. Should thetask force complete its work and the relevant sections be changed, while thelawsuit is still delayed in court (the hearing had been postponed twice betweenOctober and December, 1999), the ruling of the court would contribute to therecommendations of the task force. The work of the task force may also lead tothewithdrawalof the lawsuit.Both Kamanakaoand SPILL are locally driven andmembers of BOCONGO.The Etsha Ecumenical Community (EEC)The Etsha Ecumenical Community was an initiative by the Botswana ChristianCouncil in 1970. The Council is composed of twenty churches and sevenchurch-related organisations (Hopkins, 1995). It runs a number of ecumenicalThe Language Situation in Botswana 285

projects for disadvantaged groups including the disabled, women, and streetchildren. The Etsha project focuses on the development and use of theThimbukushu language for religious purposes (see Table 1). It utilises readingmaterial developed in Namibia and by other linguists elsewhere on Thimbukushuto conduct literacy classes at least three times a week for female adultsamong theHambukushu people. Some of its activities include: training in basketweaving amongst the Hambukushu andWayeyi females at Etsha,marketing thebaskets outside Botswana, running a pre-school in Thimbukushu, running apoultry project for out-of-school youth, and running a guest house. This workhas served as a source of inspiration for the revival and maintenance of theThimbukushu language in Botswana. Currently, there are efforts to register aThimbukushu cultural organisation by the Hambukushu people.The Basarwa (Bushmen) belong to about 17 main Khoisan language groups(Appendix 1). They are the indigenous people of Botswana and are nomadic. It isestimated that there are about 40,000Basarwa in Botswana,making up about fourper cent of the population. They are mainly hunters and gatherers. Due to theirnomadism, they are found in seven of the eight administrativedistricts(Mazonde,1997). Their main areas of concentration are Ghanzi,Kweneng, parts of Ngamilandand Ngwaketsi districts and they have a high degree of language maintenance(Smieja & Mathangwane, 1999). From time immemorial, the Basarwa haveworked for the wealthy Setswana speaking groups who use themas herd-boys forlow wages, providedmainly in the form of food. They own no land and are ruledby the Setswana Paramount Chief in whatever area they happen to reside. Forinstance, those in Kweneng are considered Bakwena and ruled by the BakwenaParamount Chief. Mogwe (1994: 57) best describes the plight of the Basarwa.The Basarwa are the poorest of the poor.… Why have developmentprograms aimed at the improvement of their standard of living focusedinstead on assimilation or integration without informed choice and withoutthe participation of the Basarwa during both planning and implementation?…Rampant discrimination against the Basarwa peoples hasmeantthat they have become marginalised culturally, politically, socially, andeconomically.… The state imposes leaders on them who are not of theirculture or language group. This in turn has exacerbated their position ofmarginalisation. Attempts to use the law are frustrated because they lackthe operation language of Setswana customary courts.In 1999, two Basarwa who had been sentenced to death by the high court formurder; their case was appealed by Ditshwanelo, the Botswana Center forHuman Rights (see Table 9). It was discovered that the Basarwa were not givenan opportunity to speak in their language in court andwere not listened towhenthey struggled in Setswana to air their unhappiness about their lawyer. The highcourt did not listen to their pleas but sentenced them to death.However, in 1999,the appeals court ordered a retrial. Mogwe argues that the human rights of theBasarwa have neither been respected nor protected by the state. The state hadargued that Ditshwanelo had no right to represent the Basarwa, further violatingtheir right to representation by challenging Ditshwanelo’s efforts.Due to the marginalised status of the Basarwa,many international organisations

have come to Botswana to establish community based development286 Current Issues in Language Planningprojects. Three such projects operating under registered organisations will bebriefly described in the following sections. They were a result of external initiativesand mainly funded by church organisations in The Netherlands and bydevelopment agencies such as CIDA, UNICEF, World View, the Norwegiangovernment and others.The Kuru Development Trust (Kuru)Fidzani (1998)maintains thedistribution of cattle in Botswanais uneven.Onlyfive per cent of the population own 50%of the national herd, and 45%of the ruralhouseholds do not own any cattle. This means that rich cattle owners also ownmost of the land. It is therefore difficult for the nomadic Basarwa to own land.The tourism policy of the government of Botswana calls for their removal fromareas with tourist attractions. In 1979, the government grouped all Basarwaliving inside the Kalahari Central Game Reserve (KCRG) in one place within areserve called Xade. In 1986, the government decided to freeze developments inthis area and move the Basarwa outside the reserve to New Xade (Mazonde,1997). With the support of two external agencies based in The Netherlands, theKalahari Support Group and the Kalahari People’s fund, Basarwa communitiesin ten villages in the Ghanzi District in 1986 established the Kuru DevelopmentTrust. The main aim of the organisation is to facilitate active participation ofBasarwa communities and individuals in the development process and tosupport the acquisition of land and land rights.Mazonde (1997)observes that thehunger for land has resulted in BasarwainGhanzidemanding their own district,aswell as aMosarwacouncillor, aMosarwamember of theHouse ofChiefs and aMosarwa member of Parliament. The Kuru Development Trust has been sensitisingthe Basarwato standup for their rights and achieve their dreams.They too,like other groups, need to reapthe fruits of democracy.The assimilationistmodelhas not proved to be fruitful for them. In the 1999 general elections, a Mosarwalady stoodfor council elections inGhanzi,but unfortunately she lost.AMosarwasub-chiefwas installedin Xade, but he is not yet amember of theHouse ofChiefs.Some of the activities of the Kuru include the development of enterprenialskills among Basarwa, to promote participatory learning processes for selfawarenessand development. Kuru also promotes agriculturalactivitiesby introducingalternative agricultural methods. Kuru is heavily involved in socialeducation, language development and cultural identity. It hosts an annualcultural festival, featuring songs and dances in theNaro and Ju/hoan languages(Appendix 1).Kuru runs amuseumfunded by theBernardVan Leey foundation.This museum displays the history of the Basarwa and has a good collection oftheir artefacts. The trust also collects Sarwa artefacts and markets them at bothnational and international levels. The Kuru Development Trust has a languagewing, specifically working on the Naro language through the Naro LanguageProject which was started in 1991 and is funded by the Christian ReformedChurches in the Netherlands (Visser, 1998). By 1997 the project had produced anorthography and phonology of Naro. A number of publications (e.g. primers, adictionary and literacy material) have been produced. The Language Project

runs pre-school classes in Naro; adult literacy classes are conducted in Naro inthe Ghanzi District. Currently, Kuru runs a leather tannery, a carpentry shop, aThe Language Situation in Botswana 287fence-building workshop, a silk screen craft production project and workshopson HIV/AIDS, business skills and negotiation skill in Sarwa languages.In 1998,Kuru expanded its activities into theOkavango delta. Kuru has establishedan office at Shakawe to provide community development work amongstthe Bugakhwe and Xanikhwe San peoples, the Wayeyi, Hambukushu andGiriku, with specific focus on the development of cultural tourism. Kuru iscurrently assistingthese communities to form and register trusts and to apply forland for tourist activities. The work of this trust has not been easy. Like mostethnically oriented organisations,Kuru was perceived as inciting the Basarwa todisobey government orders and to impede the government’s effort to providesocial amenities to the Basarwa at New Xade.The missionaries from The Netherlands who were working with Kuru wereseen as people who were in Botswana to pursue their own personal interestsrather than those of the Basarwa.Consequently, in 1993 the government issued adeportation order against Reverend Le Roux for his activities with the KuruDevelopment Trust.He was seen to be influencing the Basarwa not to move outof the Kalahari Game Reserve. While human rights organisations managed toput pressure on the government to lift the deportation order, they did notconvince the government to reverse the decision tomove the Basarwa out of theKCGR. Eventually the Basarwa of Xade became divided, some supporting themove toNew Xade and others choosing to stay in the OldXade in theKCGR. Thegovernment has viewed its own policies and efforts as intending to modernisethe Basarwaand bring them into themainstream. Development agencies, on theother hand, saw such policies as assimilationist and aimed at eradicating thelanguages and cultures of the Basarwa and, most importantly, to disempowerthem economically. The removal of the Basarwa from the KCRG to New Xademeant that they could not hunt and gather fruit, but would be more dependenton government subsidies. In turn, this would make them loyal to the rulingparty. The assimilationist model is not only intended to assimilate minoritygroups into Tswanadom but into the ruling party as well. The covert goal is tohave one language, one nation and one party.The First People of the Kalahari (FPK)The First People of the Kalahari was established in 1992 to fight for the landrights of the Basarwa people, specifically the San/N/Oakhine group (seeAppendix 1). Like Kuru, it was established with the support of the KalahariSupportGroup and the Kalahari People’s Fund. The issue of land rights is fundamentalto the survival of theBasarwawho aremainlyhunters and gatherers.FPKis one of the organisations trying to address the issue. Its founder, JohnHardbattle, died in 1996 at the height of the New Xade controversy.While the FPK was formed by an identifiable ethnic and linguistic group, andsome of its activities have included language development, themain objective ofthe organisation is the achievement of Basarwa human rights, specifically theright to own land. The statemaintains that the Basarwa, being nomads, have no

right to land (Mogwe, 1994). This defineswhere they can hunt and gather fruit, asthe non-nomadic groups own and control the land. This has serious consequencesfor the daily living of the Basarwa. The only option for them is to workfor the wealthy for low wages. FPK serves as a national advocate that strength-288 Current Issues in Language Planningens, organises and coordinates development projects within the settlements andcommunities in Ghanzi towards the acquisition of land and land rights to gatherand hunt. It links these communities to those in neighbouring countries likeSouth Africa and Namibia. It has an education wing responsible for collectionand dissemination of information on human rights, and monitors human rightsabuses, especially those dealing with game licensing for hunting. FPK’s majoractivities include advocacyand negotiatingwith government for the rights of theBasarwa. The FPK also has income-generating projects in ostrich and poultryfarming and it runs a cultural centre.The Basarwa Research ProjectThe Basarwa Research Project is coordinated at the University of Botswana,through the former National Institute of Research and Development, now theDirectorate of Research and Development, and in conjunction with the Departmentof African Languages and Literature. The Norwegian government fundsthe project, which is aimed at conducting research on the social, linguistic,cultural, political and economic well-being of the Basarwa within the SouthernAfrican region. The project conducts regionalworkshops to provide a forum forscholars to report on their work related to the Khoesan languages and culturesand other aspects of the San peoples.Western scholarswho come to Botswana asindividuals to conduct their studies on the Basarwa are also provided an opportunityto present their findings at the University of Botswana through thisproject.These efforts are helping to revive andmaintain theKhoesan languages.SummaryThe work of non-governmental organisations has begun to signal to thegovernment that there is a language and cultural problem to be attended to. TheDepartment of Youth and Culture (DYC) was established in the Ministry ofLabor and Home Affairs in 1989, and the Botswana National Cultural Council(BNCC) was established in 1992 within the Department. The Department hasbeen charged with the responsibility to develop a national cultural policy.Currently, there is a consultancy to review the draft of this policy document and,amongst other things, to review the capacity of and the linkages between institutionsdealing with culture, especially the DYC and the BNCC, the House ofChiefs and NGOs. The consultancy will also provide a state of the art account ofthe sociological, historical and linguistic relations of peoples within the culturalsetting of Botswana. This signals a willingness on the part of the government tobegin to address the thorny issues relating to the linguistic and cultural diversityof the country, and the chieftainship issues within the framework of humanrights and globalisation.The government seems to be convinced about the role of culture in development,and there are plans to develop cultural villages. However, the government’sview appears to be that culture can best be preserved through museums

and cultural villages set up for public viewing.Culture is not considered as a wayof life that a community must live as part of national development. There are noserious efforts to instil language and cultural studies into the curriculum (Milon,1989; Nyati-Ramahobo, 1998a). Apparently there is also the belief that thecultures ofminority groups can be preservedwithout the use of their languages.The Language Situation in Botswana 289This constitutes a difficult task, since some crucial aspects of culture can only beexpressed through language. Efforts to revive andmaintainBotswana languagesrestwith the civil society’s will towork tirelessly despite the government’s resistance.The role of the élite, especially academics, is crucial to the developmentand maintenance of the languages of Botswana. One major characteristic ofdemocracy in Botswana is freedom of speech. Academics, other activists and themedia have taken advantage of this characteristic to take the issues into thepublic arena. However, there is another element of our democracy workingagainst this. While there is freedom of speech, there is no freedom after speech(Mogwe, 1994).That is, people can talk, but they are not listened to, and there area number of subtle ways of victimising those who speak out and who areemployed by the government. It is for this reason that government employeesplay rather a debilitating role in the promotion of linguistic and cultural rights ofminority groups in Botswana.Pidgins and CreolesWhen the Wayeyi were enslaved by the Batawana and forced to speakSetswana, language contact occurred between Shiyeyi and the Sengwato dialectof the Setswana spoken by the Batawana. This contact resulted in the emergenceof a creole called Setawana – the basic structure of which consists of Sengwatosyntax with a heavy Shiyeyi lexicon – which is now accepted as a dialect ofSetswana. For instance:Ba ne ba ile go shaora.(They went swimming).Shaora is a Shiyeyi word for swimming.Ha o bua maxambura ke tla go caka(If you say nonsense I will axe you (hit you with an axe).Maxambura is the Shiyeyiwordfor nonsense and caka is to axe someone.While the Setswana equivalent for such words may exist in other parts of thecountry, to people in Ngamiland only the Shiyeyi words exist, and this is thenormalway of speaking. Theywouldnever usewords suchas go thuma for swimmingas it is used in the southernpart of the country. As this creole varietyhas notbeen studied, it is difficult to say whether it is in fact a creole or whether it is adialect with some Shiyeyi lexical code-switching. As a result of the lowstatus oftheWayeyi, and themovement ofmore people fromthe north-west (Maun area)towork in the south (see Map 2), there seems to be amovement towardsstandardSengwato dialect and towards an avoidance of Shiyeyi words at all costs.However, the old and uneducated population continues to use this mixture.Anderson & Janson (1997) discuss Tsotsitaal and question whether or not it isspoken in Botswana.Anumber of factorsmay be responsible for the importationof this pidgin language into Botswana from South Africa:

…the movement between the two countries for economic activities is aconstant factor;…families are divided across the border;290 Current Issues in Language Planning…there was the influx of South African refugees into Botswana during theapartheid era;…Batswana watch South African television.As a result, Tsotsitaal is spoken by the youth in towns, especially those in thesouthern part of the country, to almost the same extent that they speakAmericanEnglish. Currently, these phenomena are confined to the youth who switch tonormal Setswana when speaking to adults. The current situation concerningpidgins and creoles in Botswana is that none of the varieties have really beenstudied by scholars in a detailed manner.Probable Future DirectionsThe debate about ethnic and linguistic inequality has been going on for a longtime in Botswana.Amotion to review Sections 77–79 of the constitutionwas firstdebated in Parliament in 1988. The opposition party lost the motion and onemember of Parliament from the ruling party remarked ‘we defeated them’(Republic of Botswana, 1988: 511). The discourse of hegemonic powerwas strongerat that time. Within government circles, therefore, there is the ‘them’ and ‘us’mentality. This does not seem to augur well for democracy and social justice.Tswadomwas seen to have settled in, and the chances for theminorities to assertthemselves to change the constitution were seen as slim.However, the discoursechanged in 1995. The same parliamentarianwho dominated the debate in 1988,and concluded with the above utterance, did not say a word during the 1995debate. The ruling party had lost ten seats to the opposition in the 1994 generalelections. In this debate, parliamentarians from minority groups from both theruling and the opposition parties presented their case powerfully during thisdiscussion. One from the ruling party said:…each one of us will want to appear and to be recognised in the eyes of thelaw, especially the supreme lawof the country, as being equal to his brethren.…Our circumstances now require that we amend sections 77, 78, and79 of the Constitution so that other tribal interests are presented. Thatwould ensure that our republic has characteristics of a true republic. AConstitution should reflect those characteristics … there should be nonotion, no impression created in the mind of anyone that some persons orsome groups or some tribal interests are superior than others. If we do, orallow for such a situation, there is bound to be social disharmony in ourcountry. (Republic of Botswana, 1995: 86–7)Themotion was passed in 1995, as stated in Part III,mainly due to pressure fromthe opposition parties and vocalmembers of the ruling party who supported it.The majority of Tswana parliamentarians from the ruling party barely acceptedthe motion, but the discourse of hegemonic power has subsided. This tensionexplains why there have been no efforts to implement it to date. On the otherhand, the pressure from non-governmental organisations working to promoteminority languages and cultures has intensified continuously over the past four

years. The current situation is that, while non-governmental organisations areencouraged by such positive policy statements to push for reform at the implementationlevel,the efforts of thoseNGOs are frustrated by the covertly negativeThe Language Situation in Botswana 291attitudes of the leadership. This situation is likely to continue to limit the impactthe non-governmental organisationsmight have.With this kind of tension, it isdifficult to predict the future directions of language development and usage inBotswana.In discussingwhether the 1999general electionswere issue-driven, one newspaperstated that:…[p]erhaps the only issue that was articulated effectively is the one relatingto ethnic inequality. . . . The opposition, in particular, seems to havebeen effective in presenting its case to the electorate. . . . And it wouldappear thatmany people in the affected areaswere bought into it. (Mbuya,1999: 15)Many opposition parties promised the electorate that, if elected to power, otherlanguages would be taught in schools, and sections of the constitution, whichdiscriminate on the basis of tribal affiliation, would be reviewed. However, ananalysis of the election results indicated that people in minority dominated areasvoted for the ruling party.Four factorshave been alleged to be responsible for this:(1) Internal conflict amongst opposition partieswhichwent on until the date ofthe election left the electoratewithno choice but to elect the devil they knew’(2) The ruling party has exploited the ignorance of the rural poorwho have noaccess to the media. It is alleged that the people were informed in house tohouse campaigns that the constitution had been amended to incorporatelaws on ethnicity and gender.(3) Therewere also allegations of bribery – the use ofmoney and the deliveriesof drought-relief foodstuffs in some villages during the election week.(4) In his tour of the country just a week before elections, the Presidentinformed his audiences that the constitution does not discriminate. Thiscreated the impression that it had been amended, thus confirming the informationprovided in the house-to-house campaigns. In fact, many Wayeyiwere happy that their Shikatiwould be admitted to the House ofChiefs, andso they voted for the ruling party.Should these allegations be true (though they are not new), then change is lesslikely to be achieved through the parliamentary process. In a country wheremore than 40% of the population lives below the poverty datum line (Jeffris,1997), this practice is likely to continue for some time, at least until there is astrong and united opposition.One of the organisations advocating ethnic and language rights has takenthe government to court for discriminating against their Paramount Chief, byrefusing him membership of the House of Chiefs. Should the government winthe case, the issue is unlikely to go away, and the debatemay go to higher levels.The government has demonstrated intolerance on the issue, and it is mostunlikely to accede to the demands of non-Setswana speaking tribes. Whether

the government accepts change or not, many languages are likely to bepreserved and enhanced through the work of non-governmental organisations.It is necessary for these non-governmental organisations to worktogether and to seek the support of the human rights groups, in order to exertmore pressure on government. Members of Parliament who are from minority292 Current Issues in Language Planninggroups hold the passport for change. Should they stand firm on their wordduring the debate of the motion to amend Sections 77 to 79 of the constitution,the government is likely to act quickly. However, should they feel threatened,change will be slow and painful.The very principles of unity and democracywhich all the ethnic and linguisticgroups of Botswanaembraced at independence, which subsequently resulted inthe acceptance of themodernist/assimilationist paradigm into Tswanadom, arethe very principles providing them good grounds to assert and not relinquishtheir subnational identities. After 33 years of independence, the issue of nationhoodis no longer in question. The question now is what has this democracy andnationhood achieved for every one of us. Attempts to react to this questionclearly demonstrate that the concept of Tswanadom has relegated somemembers of this nation to a low and unacceptable status, economically, politicallyand culturally. For this reason, the democracy for which Botswana is wellknown and respected is challenged. The orientation to view linguistic andcultural diversity as a problem is counterproductive to democratic gains. Theoption is to move quickly from overt assimilationist models to true pluralisticmodels, in which both group rights and individual rights are guaranteed, anddemocratic principles of representation are respected.CorrespondenceAny correspondence should be directed to Dr Lydia Nyati-Ramahobo,Faculty of Education, University of Botswana, Private Bag 0022, Gaborone,Botswana (ramaholn@mopipi.ub.bw).Notes1. The name of the country is Botswana, the people are Batswana, one person fromBotswana is a Motswana and the national language is Setswana. This formula forprefixing applies to the eight Setswana speaking tribes, who are represented by theirparamount chiefs:Table 1 Linguistic groupsCategory 1 (The eight Setswana speaking tribes)Name of tribe (plural) Dialect/language IndividualBamangwato/Bangwato Sengwato MongwatoBakgatla Sekgatla MokgatlaBatawana Setawana MotawanaBalete Selete MoleteBatlokwa Setlokwa MotlokwaBakwena Sekwena MokwenaBangwaketsi Sengwaketsi MongwaketsiBarolong Serolong MorolongThe formula also applies to those tribes whose languages are close to Setswana

but are not considered to be dialects of Setswana (some are represented byelected sub chiefs from their own tribes – the four areas, while others are notrepresented by their own people but by the paramount chief in that area).The Language Situation in Botswana 293Category 2 (Tribes with languages close to Setswana)Name of tribe (plural) Dialect/language IndividualBakgalagadi/Makgalagadi Sekgalagadi MokgalagadiBabirwa Sebirwa MmirwaBatswapong (Baseleka) Setswapong MotswapongBahurutshe Sehurutshe MohurutsheBakhurutshe Sekhurutshe MokhurutsheBakgothu Sekgothu MokgothuBashaga Seshaga MoshagaBangologa Sengologa MongologaBatlhwaring Setlhwaring Mo tlhwareng.Batalaote Setalaote MotalaoteBakaa Sekaa MokaaWhile tribes who speak languages that are not related to Setswana at all did notoriginally follow this formula over time the formula has been applied to them.The original name is supplied and the ‘tswanalised’ version is bracketed.Category 3 (Tribes not related to Setswana)Name of tribe (plural) Dialect/language IndividualOvaherero (Baherero) Herero (Seherero) Herero (Moherero)Wayeyi (Bayeyi)/Bayei Shiyeyi (Seyeyi) Muyeyi (Moyeyi)Hambukushu (Ma/Bambukushu)Thimbukushu (Se-) Hambukushu(Mombukushu)Kalanga (Ma/Bakalaka) Ikalanga (Sekalalaka) Kalanga (Mokalalaka)Subia (Ma/Basubia) Subia (Sesubia) Subia (Mosubia)Ciriku (Ma/Baciriku) Othiciriku (Seciriku) MocirikuBa/Masarwa (includes 13Khoisana languages)Sesarwa MosarwaBa/Manajwa Senajwa MonajwaNote: The alternative prefix Ma- is used to demean the tribe. Languages spoken bytribes in Categories 2 and 3 are considered minority languages.2. Amore detailed description of the ‘English only’ situation can be found inKaplan andBaldauf (in press).3. A traditional meeting place where the chief hears cases, consults and informs hispeople about development matters in the village.4. Contribution from a participant at a symposium on ‘The Quality of Life in Botswana’organised by the Botswana Society, 15–18 October 1996.5. The name of the Chief is the same as the name of the Association.ReferencesAmanze, J.N. (1994) Botswana Handbook of Churches. Gaborone: Pula Press.

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experience. Lecture delivered at the University of Botswana, 6 March 1998.Vossen, R. (1988). Patterns of Language Knowledge and Language Use in Ngamiland inBotswana. Germany: Eckhard Breitinger.Wolfson, N. and Manes, J. (eds) (1985) The Language of Inequality. New York: Mouton.Appendix 1: Main Khoisan Language Groups (in brackets aresub-groups)Ju/hoanXaniTcg’aox’ae (or = Kx’au//’ein or ‘Kxc’au/ein)DxanaDcuiNaro: (//Ana: Naro, //Gana, /Gwi, Khute)QgoonSan/N/OakhineNamaShua: (Xaise, Deti, Cara, Shua, Ts’ixa, Danisi, Bugakhwe, Xanikhwe)Tshwa: (Tshwa, Kua, Tshauwau, Heitshware)Tchuan¹ HuaHai//om!Xoo!Kwi: (/Xam, = Khomani, //Xegwi and //Ng!’e)TshuAppendix 2: Recommendations related to Setswana and English(National Policy on Education, March 1994)Recommendation 3 [para. 2.3.30]With respect to language policy, the Commission recommends that theNational Setswana LanguageCouncil be renamed the BotswanaLanguagesCouncil and be given revised terms of Reference, including the responsibilityfor developing a comprehensive language policy (p. 13)Recommendation 18 [para.4.4.31]With respect to the teaching of languages in primary school,(a) English should be used as the medium of instruction from standard 2 assoon as practicable (p. 59)(d) Setswana should be taught as a compulsory subject for citizens of Botswanathroughout the primaryschool system. In-service training programs shouldcommence immediately to improve the teaching of Setswana as a subject (p.18)Recommendation 31 [para. 5.5.7]The Commission recommends the following statement of goals for thethree-year junior secondary program: The goals of the Junior CertificateCurriculum are to develop in all children298 Current Issues in Language Planning– Proficiency in the use of Setswana and English language as tools for effectivecommunication, study and work– an understanding of society, appreciation of culture and sense of citizenship;

etc. (p. 21)Recommendation 32 [para. 5.5.13]With respect to Junior Certificate curriculum,(b) each student should take eight core subjects, namely, English, SetswanaSocial Studies etc.(d) in addition each student should select a minimumof two and amaximumofthree optional subjects. At least one of the subject selected should be fromeach of the following groups of subjects:(ii) Third language (p. 63)Recommendation 46 [para. 5.10.33]In order to improve the teaching of Setswana, the Commissionrecommendsthat:(a) teachers should be exposed to asmany language teachingmethods as possibleso as to provide a variety for the teacher and the learner, with emphasisoncommunicativeapproaches, andthereforemake Setswanamore interestingas a subject (p. 26)(b) information on job opportunities other than teaching, e.g. in the media,professions and as translators,Court interpreters, and Parliamentary translators,should be more extensively disseminated. With some guidancestudents at school level would then take their study of the language moreseriously, recognising opportunities for development in the language (p.66)(c) the University of Botswana’s Department ofAfrican Languages and Literatureshould play a leading role in guiding academic presentations inSetswana and cooperate with the Faculty of Education in promoting theteaching of Setswana.(p. 26)Recommendation number 70 [para.7.6.9]Withrespect to thedevelopment of a core curriculum for students in tertiaryeducation institutions, the Commission recommends the following components:(d) amodule on Botswana’s culture and values, within the context of heterogeneousAfrican cultures, noting the uniqueness and universals ofBotswana’sways of life (p. 34)Recommendation 100 [para. 10.5.9](c) the primary teacher training curriculum should prepare teachers to handleadequately some of the innovative methods such as Breakthrough toSetswana, Project Method, continuous Assessment, Guidance and Counseling,Special Education, Remedial Teaching, especially to supportassessed progression (p. 45)The Language Situation in Botswana 299Recommendation 101 [Para.10.5.13](e) admission requirements should be reviewed to allow experienced primaryschool teachers holdingCOSC/GCE to be recruited for trainingas SetswanaTeachers (p. 46)Recommendation 103 [para.10.5.19](a) Setswana teacher training should be included in the category of criticalhuman resource shortage alongside the Science and Technical fields of

study in the proposed Grant/Loan Scheme (p. 46)(b) Setswana teachers should enjoy enhanced entry salary and parallel progressionsimilarly to Science and Mathematics teachers (p. 46)The AuthorDr Lydia Nyati-Ramahobo is currently the Dean of the Faculty of Education atthe University of Botswana. She obtained her PhD in Applied Linguistics at theUniversity of Pennsylvania in 1991. She served as head of the Department ofPrimary Education for four years. She was also Coordinator of the EducationalResearchNetwork in Easternand Southern Africa (ERNESA) for three years, andChairperson of the Botswana Educational Research Association. Her majorpublications include The Girl Child in Botswana (UNICEF) and The NationalLanguage, a Resource or a Problem (Pula Press). Her areas of interest arelanguage-in-education, language and ethnicity, educational research and femaleeducation.300 Current Issues in Language Planning