page_title: History of Gaborone
section_title: 20th century
hierarchical_section_title: History of Gaborone / 20th century
caption_attribution_description: English: Bechuanaland Protectorate 6-pence stamp of 1938. Used at "(Gaber)one's Village", later Gaborone.
context_page_description: The history of Gaborone began with archaeological evidence in the area around Gaborone dating back to 400 BCE, and the first written accounts of Gaborone are from the earliest European settlers in the 19th century. Since the 1960s, when Botswana gained its independence from Britain and Gaborone became the capital, the city has grown from a small village in the Botswana scrubland to a major center in southern Africa.
context_section_description: From 1961 to 1965, the city experienced a major drought, killing more than 250.000 head of cattle.
  In 1965, the capital of the Bechuanaland Protectorate moved from Mafeking to Gaberones. When Botswana gained its independence, Lobatse was the first choice as the nation's capital. However, Lobatse was deemed too limited, and instead, a new capital city would be created next to Gaberones. The city was chosen because of its proximity to a fresh water source, its proximity to the railway to Pretoria, and its central location among the central tribes. Another reason Gaborone was picked to be capital was that it had a history of being the administrative center of Botswana. During the Second Boer War, the city served as the temporary capital of Bechuanaland while Mafikeng was under siege by the Boers. Gaborone was not affiliated with any tribe either, another reason for its designation as the capital. The old colonial Gaberones became a suburb of the new Gaberones and is now known as "the Village".
  On 30 September 1960,1966, Bechuanaland became the eleventh British dependency in Africa to become independent. The first mayor of Gaborone was Reverend Derek Jones.
  The city was planned under Garden city principles with numerous pedestrian walkways and open spaces. Building of Gaborone started in mid-1964. During the city's construction, the chairman of Gaberones Township Authority, Geoffrey Cornish, likened the layout of the city to a “brandy glass” with the government offices in the base of the glass and businesses in the “mall”, a strip of land extending from the base.
  Most of the city was built within three years, earlier than expected so the government offices could move in earlier. 2,000 workers helped construct the city, shoveling 140,000 cubic yards (110,000 m³) and making 2,500,000 blocks of concrete. Buildings in early Gaborone include assembly buildings, government offices, a power station, a hospital, schools, a radio station, a telephone exchange, police stations, a post office, more than 1,000 houses and apartments, a British high commission, a library, a brewery, a church, and numerous other structures. By 1966, the population of Gaborone was about 5,000 people.
  The city changed its name from Gaberones to Gaborone in 1969.
  Because the city was built so quickly, there was a massive influx of labourers who had built illegal settlements on the new city's southern industrial development zone. These settlements were named Naledi. Naledi literally means the star, but could also mean under the open sky or a community that stands out from all others. In 1971, because of the growth of illegal settlements, the Gaborone Town Council and the Ministry of Local Government and Lands surveyed an area called Bontleng, which would contain low-income housing. However, Naledi still grew, and the demand for housing was greater than ever. In 1973, the Botswana Housing Corporation (BHC) built a "New Naledi" across the road from the "Old Naledi". Residents from Old Naledi would be moved to New Naledi. However, the demand for housing increased yet again; moreover, the residents who relocated to New Nadeli disliked the houses. The problem was solved in 1975 when Sir Seretse Khama, the president of Botswana, rezoned Naledi from an industrial zone to a low-income housing area.
  In the 1970s, the city was involved in the conflicts of the Rhodesian Bush War and South Africa under apartheid. Thousands of South Africans and Rhodesians crossed the border and into the country where they either stayed in Gaborone or Francistown, or flew to Zambia or Tanzania to participate in anti-apartheid movements or freedom-fighting activities with Joshua Nkomo's Zimbabwe African People's Union. The runaways put economic stress on the city, caused the standard of living to decrease, and created tensions not only between the governments of Botswana, South Africa, and Rhodesia but also between the citizens within Botswana and the refugees. A quote from a government official summarizes the conundrum:
  Gaborone has experienced a multitude of attacks by the South African m
caption: A postage stamp c.1943, the postmark reading "Gaberone's Village"
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