
Pula and Thebe (English)
The Botswanan Pula (BWP) is the fifth strongest currency in Africa, and second only to the Ghanaian Cedi in the countries south of the Sahara. It has enjoyed a steady placement at the top echelons since its inception in 1976. Today, on the 23rd of August, we look at its origins.
The Botswana currency first came into circulation 47 years ago, today; on Monday 23 August 1976 – the generally underappreciated or unknown “Pula Day”. Presenting a brief insight into this piece of history at the official opening of the PulaThebe Bank of Botswana building, the President Dr Mokgweetsi Eric Keabetswe Masisi, earlier today took us back to an historic kgotla meeting addressed by his founding predecessor, Sir Seretse Khama, in Molepolole, two years earlier. At this meeting, on the 6th of September of 1974, our then President informed the nation that Botswana was soon to leave the Rand Monetary Area (RMA) and establish its own currency.

Since independence from the United Kingdom in 1966, Botswana had been a member of the RMA, using the same currency as South Africa, South West Africa (Namibia), Basutoland (Lesotho), and Swaziland (Eswatini). This legacy continued from the republic’s colonial days as Bechuanaland Protectorate, which too used the South African Rand, which came to effect in 1961 – replacing the South African Pound that was established in 1921.

Key to having any currency is indeed having a name for the currency. Of course, that’s where the title “Pula and Thebe” comes in.
In the Metsi le Pula [Water and Rain] page, we discuss the importance that Batswana attribute to rain (and water) – living in a generally semi-arid environ. It is not then therefore surprising that Setswana word for rain (pula) was chosen as the name for the primary unit of currency. This fact has been overly discussed in many publications, which unfortunately do not give as much attention to the sub-unit, the Thebe.

Thebe means shield, and if nothing else, it attests to Batswana’s affinity for pacifism and peace. In fact, you will see this word used again on the logo of the national army, Botswana Defence Force, “Thebe ya Sechaba”: The shield of the nation. I cannot help but draw parallels between this and that of apartheid-era South Africa’s ANC military wing “Umkhonto we Sizwe”: The spear of the nation, in Zulu (and Xhosa). I am tempted to digress and discuss the contrasting attitudes of Tswanas and Zulus to militancy and conquest – but that will be another topic, on another day.
The original (1976) family of notes and coins consisted of four notes and five coins. Notes were for the Pula denominations, ₽1, ₽2, ₽5, and ₽10 was the largest until it was knocked off the crest by the introduction of the ₽20, two years later. Coins were for the subunit, Thebe in the denominations 1t, 5t, 10t, 25t and 50t. The ₽1 coin was also introduced, and later a smaller ₽1 note was also in circulation, making this the only denomination that existed both in paper and metal.
The 2 thebe coin would be introduced five years later in 1981 and had two unique features about it that generally made it look like an outsider compared to the rest of the coins: It was dodecagonal, copper-coloured, and remains the only non-commemorative coin to date that had an inscription on its tails face: “Lemang Dijo” (which means plant/grow food). While the colour was similar to that of the 5 thebe, what made the 2t look even more awkward was that it was smaller than the 1t, breaking the tradition that the size of each coin and note was proportional to its nominal value.

It has however, due to inflationary considerations, together with the 1t, been discontinued. The lower-value Pulas (₽1, ₽2, and ₽5) have too, since been converted to coins, and other higher denomination notes (₽50, ₽100, and ₽200) introduced.
Now back to the currency names. What many people do not know is that a referendum-level national appeal for the naming of the proposed new currency units was conducted, to include the furthest possible reaches of the 580,000sq km territory, and the entirety of its 750,000 population back in 1975. So the names pula and thebe were therefore consensus decisions from the people of Botswana. Some readers may be familiar with the naming process for the gigantic diamonds recently discovered in Karowe, Botswana, such as the 1000+ carat Lesedi la Rona.

Common slang words for specific banknotes and coins include words like sheleng, ponto, siki, from the olden days of the imperial British shilling, pound, and six [pence], respectively, while ranta and sente can be traced back to the time we used South African Rands and Cents – or arguably, even now, as South African remains the largest trade partner for individual Botswanans.
And finally, back to the Pula Day. Commemoratory undertakings for Pula Day include the 1993 introduction of the BWP 100 denomination and banknote, the 2009 introduction of the BWP 200 denomination and banknote, and the 2023 official opening of the Bank of Botswana’s PulaThebe national headquarters building.

Unlike with other posts, which carry their own translation, the Setswana version of this post is on a separate page due to the lengthy nature of the subject.