Interactions in a Border Zone: Conflict and Cooperation in the Northeastern Kalahari, 1849-2021

Abstract

The northeastern Kalahari (also called Kgalagadi) border zone between the Bangwato and the Ndebele in
northern Botswana and western Zimbabwe was the scene of intense interactions among a variety of different
groups, including pastoralists, farmers, and hunter-gatherers. The border area saw conflicts, cooperation,
cattle raiding, trade (for example, of salt from the Nata River Delta), exchanges of wild animal meat for
ceramics, domestic foods, and iron tools, and shifting alliances in late prehistoric and early historic times.
There was competition in the area over grazing land, livestock, high value plants, salt, iron, and copper.
There were also struggles over rights to utilize the services of people, including the Tshwa San in the region
who the Bangwato and Ndebele defined as ‘servants’ (bolata, izinceku, isisebenzi) in a system of hereditary
servitude that lasted until well into the 20th century. We draw on archaeological, ethnoarchaeological,
and ethnohistoric data in order to assess the evidence relating to the complex socioeconomic interactions
among the various people who resided in this heterogeneous landscape.