BotswanaPost is the company responsible for
postal service
The mail or post is a system for physically transporting postcards, letters, and parcels. A postal service can be private or public, though many governments place restrictions on private systems. Since the mid-19th century, national postal syst ...
in
Botswana
Botswana (, ), officially the Republic of Botswana ( tn, Lefatshe la Botswana, label=Setswana, ), is a landlocked country in Southern Africa. Botswana is topographically flat, with approximately 70 percent of its territory being the Kalahar ...
. It is a
parastatal company, 100% owned by the
Government of Botswana
The Government of Botswana often abbreviated as GOB, is the union government created by the constitution of Botswana having the executive, parliament, and the judiciary. The Seat of the Government is located in Gaborone, Botswana. The governmen ...
, under the Ministry of Transport and Communications.
History
The postal service in Botswana dates back to 1875, when the
London Missionary Society established the serve. Back then, pairs of "runners" carried mail between two points on a stretch from
Bulawayo in present-day
Zimbabwe
Zimbabwe (), officially the Republic of Zimbabwe, is a landlocked country located in Southeast Africa, between the Zambezi and Limpopo Rivers, bordered by South Africa to the south, Botswana to the south-west, Zambia to the north, and Mozam ...
, to
Mafikeng
Mafikeng, officially known as Mahikeng and previously Mafeking (, ), is the capital city of the North West province of South Africa.
Close to South Africa's border with Botswana, Mafikeng is northeast of Cape Town and west of Johannesburg. In ...
, in present-day
South Africa
South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...
. Later, after the railway had been built, the train replaced the runners on foot. In the late 1990s the Botswana postal department acquired its own fleet of vehicles to carry mail and parcels. The postal department that the missionaries established in the late 19th century evolved into the Bechuanaland Protectorate Postal Services. At Botswana's independence in 1966, it was rebranded into the Department of Posts and Telegraphs. At that time the services offered included the Post Office Savings Bank.
In 1980, the Botswana Telecommunications Corporation was spun off as an independent
parastatal. Two years later, Botswana Savings Bank was also spun off as an independent institution. Finally, BotswanaPost became a separate entity in 1989.
Botswana Savings Bank
Botswana Savings Bank BSB is a financial services organization in Botswana. It is licensed as a development bank by the Bank of Botswana, the national banking regulator.
Overview
BSB is a government-owned financial services organisation that mo ...
has an agreement with BotswanaPost, to offer banking services through the nearly one hundred and twenty (120) postal outlets throughout Botswana. Emerging technologies such as Email and internet services and later cellular phones, all followed, reducing the use of letter as a preferred mode of communication.
The Post is now looking at harnessing Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) to stimulate communication particularly in the rural areas as well as business growth on other products like parcel mail and money transfer, which are driven by electronic capabilities.
Appointed Chief Executive Officer of BotswanaPost 2017
![Cornelius Ramatlhakwane (CEO Botswana Post)](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f1/Cornelius_Ramatlhakwane_%28CEO_Botswana_Post%29.jpg)
Mr Cornelius Ramatlhakwana is the newly appointed CEO of BotswanaPost succeeding Pele Moleta after his abrupt resignation in March. The appointment of Ramatlhakwane, who was the Head of Business Development within BotswanaPost, was made public by the Board. BotswanaPost Head of Strategy and Communications, Lebogang Bok confirmed Ramatlhakwane's appointment with a short statement.
It is not clear what will happen to the current acting Chief Executive, Setshedi Botlhole-Mmopi who was appointed shortly after the abrupt departure of Moleta who now works as Chief Operations Officer for Barclays Bank Botswana. Following the departure of Moleta, the board appointed Botlhole-Mmopi as Acting Chief Executive. Moleta together with former Chief Financial Officer (CFO), Kutlwano Mswela resigned from Poso House under unclear circumstances.
During his tenure at BotswanaPost, Moleta was given the name “The Post Man” which he accepted with pride and enthusiasm. BotswanaPost recorded massive losses over the years, but that misfortune seemed to motivate him to relentlessly sell his vision of charting the organization into profitability, which he made sure drummed far louder than the Post Office's hardships.
Before his departure, Moleta pinned the future of BotswanaPost on technology and innovation. He introduced, among others Poso Cloud, which sought to bridge the digital divide by offering public Wi-Fi hotspots. He leveraged on the Post Office's national footprint to forge easy access payment agreements with other organisations like cell phone network providers, power and water utilities as well as roads department. All these fell under the portfolio of Ramatlhakwane, who was then Business Development Manager. It was perhaps his previous role, on which the future of BotswanaPost was underpinned, that set him as the best man to take the Post Office forward.
Philatelic Museum
Botswana Post have established a small
philatelic museum in their headquarters in Gaborone.
Botswana’s “second” museum to stamp its authority
by Bashi Letsididi, ''Sunday Standard'', online edition, 9 September 2007
Archived here.
/ref>
See also
* Postage stamps and postal history of Botswana
*Botswana Savings Bank
Botswana Savings Bank BSB is a financial services organization in Botswana. It is licensed as a development bank by the Bank of Botswana, the national banking regulator.
Overview
BSB is a government-owned financial services organisation that mo ...
References
External links
*
{{Postal administrations of Africa
Communications in Botswana
Companies of Botswana
Transport companies established in 1989
Postal organizations
Philately of Botswana