Mathangwane
Mathangwane is a village in the Central District of Botswana administered under the Tutume Sub-District Council. The village is located at the confluence of the Shashe and Vukwi rivers, 25 kilometres west of the City of Francistown along the A3 highway. The population of the village was 5,075 in the 2011 national population and housing census. The village is characterised by many river valleys, tributaries to the Shashe River which serve as boundaries to the village wards.
History
The village is originally an ethnic kalanga and is currently ruled by She Itekeng Mongwaketsi Mathangwane. In year 2008, Mathangwane planned celebrations for its centenary anniversary.In the 1980s, Mathangwane was known for vehicle accidents that occurred on a one-lane road bridge across the Shashe River linking the village to the City of Francistown. At the time, there were rumours that the vehicle accidents were caused by a resident evil ghost which deceived drivers into driving off the bridge at night. The old one-lane road bridge was replaced in the mid 1990s with a new two lanes single carriageway bridge and the village saw an end to tragic vehicle accidents at the bridge river crossing.
With the emergence of Francistown as a city in 1997 and the political and economic instability in Zimbabwe, Mathangwane saw an influx of migrants from other tribes of Botswana who couldn't afford accommodation rentals in the new city and illegal immigrants from Zimbabwe who fled economic collapse and political persecution causing rapid growth to the village population. These influx led to indigenous villagers being made to forfeit their farmland around the village to government for allocation to newcomers as residential land.
In 2003, Mathangwane was made the headquarters of the newly established Tonota-North Constituency following a constitutional amendment which increased the number of constituencies in Botswana from 40 to the present 57 seats. The Constituency has since been renamed Shahe-West following a number of heated high level Kgotla meetings in Mathangwane where the majority of residents pointed out their detest of the former name.
Climate
Climate Chart
Tropical Cyclone Dineo
In February 2017, Tropical Cyclone Dineo triggered destructive floods in and around Mathangwane, badly damaging the A3 highway between the City of Francistown and Sebina Junction and further north from the village of Nata to Gweta, badly disrupting traffic with some parts of the road having to be temporarily closed for safety. The damages to the A3 highway later became a death trap, causing a rise in fatal vehicle accidents in and around Mathangwane following delays by the Ministry of Transport and Communications in effecting repairs.Infrastructure
Schools
There are two primary schools in the Village namely Mathangwane Primary School and Mpatane Primary School, one junior secondary school called Chamabona Junior Secondary School - formally Chamabona Community Junior Secondary School before formally being completely taken over by the Government, and two day-care centres in Mathangwane. There is no senior secondary school in the Village. After attaining junior certificate, children are often admitted to either Shashe River School, Mater Spei College, Tutume McConnell Community College or Masunga Senior Secondary School. This arrangement long proved strenuous to underprivileged families with their children dropping from school or performing badly in form five examinations due to the economic pressure.Roads
With the exception of the A3 highway going through the village, all village internal roads are dirt roads mostly impassable after heavy rains; existing un-bridged river valleys within the village along the roads are a challage to villagers' free movement. Villagers eagerly approved plans for the construction of Mmandunyane-Shashe Mooke-Borolong-Chadibe-Mathangwane road in early 2007 which they viewed as the only hope for the improvement of the village internal road infrastractures. Arup Botswana was appointed for the construction of the road which totaled 70 km in length. It later emerged that in light of the revenue constraints due to the ongoing global economic and financial crisis, the Central District Council decided to prioritise its projects and the impending road was never constructed.Healthcare Facility
The healthcare consists of one clinic with full-time general nurses and a doctor to handle short time inpatients. Since the turn of 2000 the only improvements to the clinic was the construction of a Maternity Ward and addition of a Caraven which serves as a Voluntary HIV counselling and testing center being part of Botswana's national HIV treatment programme; the move which saw the Government of Botswana being commended by World Health Organization for demonstrating a very high level of political commitment to addressing the HIV/AIDS epidemic and the success considered a fine example of how antiretroviral therapy can be provided on a large scale in resource-constrained settings. The clinic refers major cases to the Nyangabwe Referral hospital and patients with mental disorder to Jubilee hospital which are both located in Francistown.Potable Water
The village was connected to the Shashe Dam water supply reticulation through Francistown in 2001. This was followed by the upgrading of the Shashe Dam water treatment plant to augment increased water demand. Before the implementation of The Water Sector Reforms Programme in February 2010 through which water supply in the village was taken over by Water Utilities Corporation, water connections applications and water bill payments were done in Tutume which is 75 km west of the village.Village Shortfalls
Villagers receive Government services from different places with vast geographical distances, i.e. City of Francistown, Tonota, Tutume, Marapong, Masunga and Serowe, and this disadvantage locals from benefiting from existing government programs and services.Like many Botswana villages, community developments and minor projects that do not require expert consultancy are controlled by a group of volunteers called the Village Development Committee. Majority of Mathangwane VDC volunteers use it as a platform to gain popularity before joining the village politics; an unproductive and egocentric practice hindering the success of the Village VDC. Villages similar to Mathangwane in size and population through their VDC developed community projects that continue to sustain the livelihood of their villagers, for example, Mathangwane does not have a Community Hall nor rented small business stalls all which are schemes supported by government through community projects and long proved worthy in income generation for small communities like Mathangwane.
Demographics
Mathangwane is divided into wards or dikgotla. They are Mathangwane, Mpatane, Nkuelegwa, Matshegong/Mathiwa, and other wards that emerged with village growth. Each kgotla has its own sub-chief or Kgosana. Until recently, Hobona village, 10 km west of Mathangwane along the road from Francistown to Nata was one of the main and oldest wards of Mathangwane under the leadership of Mfi Kgosana Seitshwenyeng Hobona.Settlement in the area may have been chosen for the presence of perennial water sources. In the late 20th century the village streached along the river bank from the North to the South with the west being locals' seasonal farm land. The eastern side of the Shashe River is the North East District and is predominately elite villagers' farm land and ranches administered in Masunga Village. The increase in population and water system reticulation by government saw new settlers being allocated residential land on the underprivileged villagers' seasonal farm land in the west. This prompted locals to informally call the area 'New Xadi'.
Politics
Brief History
The Botswana Democratic Party dominated the village local government politics since the first elections in Botswana in 1965 making the village a BDP stronghold.Mfi Chite was the first councilor for the village following a win in the October 1974 general elections; this was after the 1972 constitutional amendment which grouped villages of Borolong, Chadibe, Makobo, Mathangwane, Natale and Shashe Mooke into a single council ward un-axing them from the then Tonota council ward. The grouping was broken down further in 1982 constitutional amendment un-axing villages of Borolong, Natale, and Shashemoke from the ward.
Mfi Chite retained the council seat for BDP in both the 1979 and 1984 general elections. Mfi Rabeka Hulela won the council seat again for the BDP in the October 1989 general elections following Mfi Chite's retirement from politics at the end of his office term in 1989. Mfi Hulela retained the council seat for the BDP in the October 1994 general election and remained the ward councilor until her death in 1998, after which the ward remained without a councilor until the October 1999 general elections, when Mfi Tabona Munyadzwe won the ward for the BDP.
In 2000, Mr. Ookame Ntobedze won the by-elections of the ward for the BDP following the passing of Mr. Tabona Munyadzwe. In 2003, another constitutional amendment saw Mathangwane being split into two council wards . BDP won both council wards in the October 2004 general elections with Mr. Ookame Ntobedzi representing the Mathangwane South Council Ward and Mfi Gilbert Nkhukhu representing the Mathangwane North council ward. In 2007, Mr. Ipuseng Chikanda won the by-election of the Mathangwane North Council ward for the BDP following the passing of Mr. Gilbert Nkhukhu.
Upsets
With known village political trend, BDP council candidates fiercely contested their party primary elections with the knowledge that a win guaranteed individuals seats at the Council Chambers. Mr. Ookame Ntobedze was defeated by the Botswana Congress Party candidate, Mr. James Dlamini in the Mathangwane South Council Ward and Mr. Ipuseng Chikanda was defeated in the Mathangwane North council ward by Mr. Kenosi Mabalane also from the BCP in the 2009 General Elections marking the first ever BDP defeat in the village. This surprise defeat of the BDP council candidates led to a major campaign in the village in 2010 following the passing of Mr. Baledzi Gaolathe for the Tonota-North Parliamentary by-elections which BDP won. Opposition parties later accused the ruling party of using government resources including public media in their party campaigns and at the same time opposing funding of political parties by government.The BCP's council surprise victory in the village was viewed as a significant breakthrough in a historical BDP stronghold and opposition parties made an unofficial pact in surpport of the BCP's Tonota-North Parliamentary candidate, Dr. Habaundi Njiro Hobona during the 2010 Parliamentary by-election.
BDP comeback;- 2014 General Elections
Shashe-West Constituency was re-subdivided into new Council Wards leading to the Mathangwane North and Mathangwane South Council Wards being merged to form a single but smaller ward called Mathangwane Council Ward to be contested for in the following elections. During the 2014 General Elections, Mr. Nehemiah Gerald Hulela of the BDP defeated Mr. Kenosi Mabalane of the BCP who had won one of the former constituent wards in the 2009 General Elections.On November 25, 2018, Hon. Nehemiah Gerald Hulela passed on, becoming the fourth Mathangwane Ward seating Councillor to be deceased in twenty years.
Lead-up to the 2019 Botswana General Electionshttp://www.mmegi.bw/index.php?aid=62504&dir=2016/august/23 The 2019 Botswana general elections, early arrival!
In an effort to gain political mileage, the ruling BDP's area MP, Hon. Fidelis Mmilili Molao visited villagers in Shashe-West Constituency addressing Kgotla meetings accompanied by the Minister of Transport and Communications announcing that the long-awaited Mmandunyane-Shashe Mooke-Borolong-Chadibe-Mathangwane road construction will begin early 2019. The total distance of the road has now been increased to 82 km and is to include road links to Makobo and Natale villages. The reasons for suspending the road construction earlier after 2007 has been changed by the two ministers from the original statement of averting the impact of the 2008 global recession to now being due to the high number of homesteads which were supposed to be relocated to pave way for the road.Two former Village Development Committee volunteers will be contesting for the village political Council seat under the Botswana Democratic Party and Umbrella for Democratic Change continuing the village tradition where the VDC has long been converted into a political tool.
Industry
The area around Mathangwane consists of crop and cattle farmland. There are also a number of poultry and vegetable farms who supply Francistown and the local market.Mathangwane does not have a major shopping center but has a cluster of shops and bars mostly along the Francistown-Nata main road, selling clothes, fast food, alcohol, building materials to car and bicycle parts. There are also a number of hair salons that boom around Christmas time specialising in afro-styles. The most stable are a few brick molding entrepreneurs who specialise in pressed concrete bricks and supply locals for individual house construction developments. Trade services such as metal-smiths, plumbing, bricklaying, and electrical installation are supplied by individuals, in a largely unregulated trade.
Just like other villages in the proximity of a city, Mathangane Villagers has a potential to drive their economy from real estate and construction trade. The Village has recently attracted influx of people working in Francistown looking for rented accommodation and outright property purchases; this resulted in a rapid property appreciation in the Village. There is, however, been little growth in the number of job creation. High rates of crime have become a disincentive to permanent settlement and micro business sector growth in the village.
Sports
is the most popular sport in Mathangwane. The village, like other villages of Botswana hosts an annual Festive Football Tournament which starts on December 25 during Christmas with group opening matches. The tournament consists of two groups of five teams participating in a round-robin tournament in which each team is scheduled to play four matches against other teams in the same group. This means that a total of ten matches are played within a group. Points are used to rank the teams within a group with three points awarded for each win, one point awarded for each draw and zero points for all losses. The group winners and runners-up progress to the knockout stage. The knockout games are played in one day, normally on New Year's Day with the winner of each group playing against the runner-up from the other group in the morning followed by losers' final game in the afternoon. The losers' final game determines the tournament's third and fourth positions winners and also doubles up as a curtain raiser match for the final game which determines the tournament champions.The Mathangwane Festive Football Tournament normally attracts sponsorship from individuals and companies who contribute towards price monies to be presented to the players and teams for accomplishments including for awards other than those for the final team positions in the tournament. All top achievers in the tournament are presented with trophies while three top teams members' are each given medals being winners', runners-up', and third-place. The tournament champions also receive the tournament trophy which they keep and return prior to the start of opening matches of the following year's Festive Football Tournament.
Members of the community are charged entrance fees to access the playing ground used for the Festive Football Tournament with small vendors paying more. The money collected at the playing ground entrance is mostly used for tournament logistics including payingoff referees, assistant referees, match commissioners and a private security guard services company which is only engaged for one day for the final games on New Year's Day. For all other games, security is manned by participating teams' representatives nominated by each team prior to the start of the tournament. The tournament normally uses a single playing ground for a single Festive Football Tournament averaging four matches a day with a small rest break to allow for games to continue into the last weekend of the year.