South Africa’s Underdevelopment of Botswana from the 1850s to the Present: A Case Study on sub-Imperialism in Southern Africa

Abstract

The end of apartheid in South Africa in 1994 raised hope that the post-apartheid African National
Congress (ANC) government would help drive economic growth, development and prosperity in Botswana
and other neighbouring smaller countries. For generations, black people in these countries had contributed
to economic growth and industrialisation of South Africa with cheap labour. These countries also provided
a captive market for manufactured goods and services from South Africa. This paper uses Botswana as a case
study to analyse this historical scenario through Underdevelopment and Dependency theory. Botswana played
a significant role in giving sanctuary to people fleeing oppression and exploitation from the south as early
as the 1850s. This continued despite military reprisals on those Tswana states that hosted such refugees. As
British ‘dependents’ Batswana also played a critical role in the South African War of 1899 to 1902 which
culminated in the establishment of the white-controlled Union of South Africa in 1910 which ironically tried
to incorporate Botswana. After Botswana’s independence in 1966, the country actively supported the
South African liberation struggle despite military reprisals by the powerful apartheid regime. The paper
also utilises Realist theory of International Relations to conclude that the new ANC-led post-apartheid
government brazenly pursued a foreign policy that continued the underdevelopment and dependence
of Botswana on South Africa despite promises to reverse the entrenched historical trend. This flew in
the face of the objectives of the New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD) championed by, among other
African leaders, South African President Thabo Mbeki at the turn of the new millennium.