Serowe, the Traditional Capital of the Ngwato people (Bangwato), is the birthplace of the founding President of Botswana, Sir Seretse Khama, as well as two of his successors, Festus Gontebanye Mogae (3^rd President), and Lt Gen Ian Khama (the 4^th President – who is also his son). The village was established by his grandfather, Kgosi Khama III, in 1903 as the new capital of Bangwato, following their move from Shoshong and temporary stay at Old Palapye (Phalatswe).

Serowe is therefore fairly new, and was established in consultation with colonial-era administrators through the instigation of Khama III, who in 1888, famously wrote to the Deputy Commissioner explaining that he was “living on the southern border of my country, not from choice, but because my troubles have hitherto prevented me from carrying out my purpose to remove from my town [Shoshong] to one of two places where there is an abundance of water for my people and our cattle.”

Their initial move to Old Palapye was short-lived, as the place proved to be inhospitable to the new inhabitants: Mothers were losing children due to what was believed to be malaria fever. Life at Phalatswe was getting desperate as drought suddenly hit Khama’s new capital. Water dried up, there were fever outbreaks, locusts wiped out Bangwato’s harvest. After only thirteen years, the capital had to be abandoned again. The first move of a section of Phalatswe to Serowe was reported in May 1901.

In 1903, Khama III founded Serowe as the new capital of the Bamangwato. In June 1902, when the exodus was completed, Khama sent a regiment to burn down Phalatswe in a dramatic gesture that ensured there would be no nostalgic return to the unlucky site.

This notwithstanding, there are newer research findings that suggest that the Serowe area may have been used decades before by Bangwato chieftains such as Khama’s grandfather Kgari, before establishing their long-running capital at Shoshong.

The choice of Serowe proved inspired. Located in a fertile area, well-watered by the Lotsane River, it provided the stability that Phalatswe had lacked. Moreover, having suffered greatly from the preceding drought, Bangwato discovered an abundance of the succulent “Serowe lantern flower” bulb plant (vine), whose tubers are well known for their water-holding capacity. This plant is known in Setswana as serowa.

It is from serowa, that the name Serowe was derived. The transformation from “serowa” to “Serowe” isn’t a misspelling at all. It is textbook Setswana grammar: when forming locatives (place names) from nouns ending in -a, the -a is changed to -e before adding the locative suffix -ng. So “serowa” becomes “serowe-ng” (at the place of serowa plants), which is then shortened to “Serowe.” This is the same pattern we see across Botswana: nouns ending in -a transforming to -e when they become proper nouns or place names.

This is contrary to popular speculation that Serowe is a misspelling by the colonial-era British, as it is in fact a common grammatical practice.

The legacy of Khama III (also known as Khama the Great) is very central to the Bangwato people, as not only is he the one who established their present capital, but even their tribal totem as the duiker antelope (photi). Legend has it that during his earlier years, in one of the skirmishes between Bangwato and Lobengula’s Ndebele (Matebele), facing certain doom, Khama fled and hid in a bush. The Ndebele warriors hot on his heels, searched for him in the bushes he was most likely in, but were startled by a photi which jumped out of the bush, itself startled by the warriors. They concluded that the antelope would not have remained in the bush if Khama had been hiding there, and so moved their search to a different place – thus giving the chieftain the opportunity to flee with his life.

Prior to this, Bangwato had the crocodile (kwena) as their totem, as they had descended from the Bakwena, and established themselves as a separate entity (similar to Bangwaketse, who still maintain the crocodile totem). Khama III was the great-grandson on Khama I, whose ascent to the chieftaincy caused a split in the Bangwato, resulting in the birth of the Batawana tribe.

This brings us to the age-old argument that Bangwato are in fact the most junior of the four Kwena tribes in Botswana, even though history has been very kind to them. It all started with Khama III’s association with the Christian missionaries, and his commitment to Christian ways above all other Tswana chieftains – a gambit that paid off well with a legacy of “Greatness” (as indicated in his title), and being gifted the largest territory in the Bechuanaland Protectorate (which is today known as the Central District). During Khama III’s reign, traditional practices such as bogwera and bojale initiation schools, polygamy, and even the payment of bogadi (dowry) in monogamous marriages were abolished in his territory.

Serowe, which is affectionaly known by its natives as Ga-Mma Bessie [a Khama], in deference to the wife of its founder, Queen Gobitsamang, who took the name Elisabeta (Elizabeth) after conversion to christianity and baptism, is also home to Swaneng Hill School. Renowned South African born author who relocated to Serowe for the rest of the life, Bessie Head, coincidentially shares the same first name, and this sometimes causes confusion.

Swaneng Hill School, which strides the hill for which it is named, was founded by South African born educationist, Patrick van Rensburg, who is also credited as the founder of the brigades’ movement in Botswana. It is said that the construction of the school (which is now fully government-run) was done mainly by the students, who later went on to assist in the building of nearby Shashe River School.

Other celebrated sons and daughters of Serowe include author and playwright, Leetile Disang Raditladi (who has a crater on the planet Mercury named after); Dr Gaositwe Chiepe, whose inexhaustible biographical list of achievements can simply be summarised as the woman of many firsts; Gomolemo Motswaledi, a politician and co-founder (and long-time director) of the world-famous KTM Choir –  which itself is named for another famous Serowe-born minstrel, Kgalemang Tumediso Motsete, who is most famous for his work as the composer of our National Anthem.