State culture and development in Botswana and Zimbabwe

Abstract

This article makes two major claims. The first is that independent Botswana was able to generate and sustain a type of developmental state because of the presence of an indigenous initiator state culture that was preserved by the Protectorate state and was inherited by the post-colonial state elites. The second is that the non-emergence of the developmental state in post-colonial Zimbabwe is explained by the presence of a non-initiator indigenous state culture which was preserved by the Rhodesian colonial state and was inherited by the post-colonial state elites. The article briefly reviews the literature, analyses the Tswana and Shona pre-colonial state cultures, and shows that these were preserved by the colonial states and inherited by the nationalist politicians.

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“…In contrast, Maundeni [18] shows that a developmental state such as Botswana would have placed developmental ministries at the heart of state power by making its minister of development to be the first vice president, and therefore preparing him/her to assume the presidency.…”

“…Maundeni [18] observes that RENAMO controlled 23% of the counntry and 6 % of the population. These populations were denied access to education and health facilities, therefore not readying them to be mobilised for development purposes later.…”

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“…5, No. 2; up-bringing was characterized by shared values premised on nation building between the state and indigenous groups (Maundeni, 2002). …”

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“…In sum, Acemoğlu and colleagues indicate the following factors explaining, apart from the availability of unskilled labour, which stopped migrating to South Africa for the mining industry, the success of Botswana: tribal institutions that encouraged broad-based participation and constraints on political leaders during the precolonial period; only limited effect of British colonisation on these precolonial institutions because of the peripheral nature of Botswana to the British Empire; the fact that upon independence, the most important rural interests, chiefs, and cattle owners, were politically powerful; the income from diamonds, which generated enough rents for the main political actors to increase the opportunity cost of further rent seeking; and, finally, a number of important and farsighted decisions by the postindependence leaders, in particular Seretse Khama and Quett Masire. (Acemoğlu et al, 2003: 84) Apart from governmental stability and a propelled 'native initiator culture' (Maundeni, 2001), the marginalisation of nationalist, socialist movements and, increasingly, 'traditional' leadership allowed for the development of institutions and policies which facilitated backing from the Western powers, namely the United Kingdom (even if in decline) and their mining companies. Debswana, the public-private partnership for diamond exploration in Botswana, gathers the government and the South African mining giant De Beers, founded by Cecil Rhodes, the colonist millionaire who had established the British South African Company railways in the late 19th century (Froitzheim, 2009: 38).…”