A study of Batswana's perception of one another

Abstract

Botswana’s economic prosperity and its political stability have attracted people of different races into the country, some of whom have acquired Botswana citizenship, rendering the Motswana identity a somewhat pluralistic and multicultural label. However, within this broad national identity of a Motswana, several identities are often contested in the social arena in the form of labels that are used to describe and distinguish the different Batswana. These labels include Motswana (a citizen of Botswana) which is categorized into Motswana tota (real/genuine Motswana) or Motswana wa pampiri (naturalised Motswana). Others are described as Lekgoa (a white person), Motswakwa (foreigner) and Lekwerekwere (foreign African). We investigate the uses and inherent meanings of these labels using a questionnaire consisting of 12 main items administered to 156 Batswana in five different locations. Our findings show that these terms are used inclusively and exclusively to delineate prototypical Batswana from the outsiders, who also have graded membership and varied levels of acceptability based on social, cultural and economic factors. Our study has affirmed that the term “Motswana” describes groups of “peoples that mix but do not combine”, “living side by side, but separately, within the same political unit.” Keywords: National Identity, immigrants, Motswana, ethnicity, prototypes