Serowe (population approximately 60,000) is an urban village 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 Kalaha ...

's Central District. A trade and commercial centre, it is Botswana's third largest village. Serowe has played an important role in Botswana's history, as capital for the

Bamangwato The Bamangwato (more correctly BagammaNgwato, and also referred to as the BaNgwato or Ngwato) is one of the eight "principal" Tswana chieftaincies of Botswana. They ruled over a majority Bakalanga population (the largest ethnic group in Central Dis ...

people in the early 20th century and as birthplace of several of Botswana's presidents. More recently it has undergone significant development as the town and as Botswana continues to grow.

History

Serowe has a memorial to

Khama III Khama III (1837?–1923), referred to by missionaries as Khama the Good also called Khama the Great, was the ''Kgosi'' (meaning king) of the Bangwato people. Ancestry and Youth Malope a chief of the Bakwena, led his people from the Transvaal r ...

, chief of the

people in the late 19th-early 20th century, who in 1903 founded the town as a new capital of the Bamangwato. It is also the birthplace of

Seretse Khama Sir Seretse Goitsebeng Maphiri Khama, GCB, KBE (1 July 1921 – 13 July 1980) was a Motswana politician who served as the first President of Botswana, a post he held from 1966 to his death in 1980. Born into an influential royal fa ...

, Botswana's first

president President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university * President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ...

, and the traditional center of the Bamangwato tribe.

Swaneng Hill School Swaneng Hill School was the first of three secondary schools that were founded by the late Patrick van Rensburg in Serowe, Botswana. The other two being Shashe and Madiba schools. The groundwork for Swaneng was laid in 1962, shortly after Van R ...

was the first of the Brigades Movement schools founded by educationalist

Patrick van Rensburg Patrick van Rensburg (3 December 1931 − 23 May 2017) was a South African-born anti-apartheid activist and educator. In the 1960s he founded Swaneng Hill School in Serowe, Botswana, and the nationwide Brigades Movement in that country. In the ...

Geography

Serowe is located in a fertile area, well-watered by the

Lotsane River The Lotsane River is a river in southeastern Botswana. It is a seasonal left hand tributary of the Limpopo River and has a catchment area of 9,748 square kilometers. Course The Lotsane has its source in the sandveld, at the eastern fringes of the ...

. It lies west of the

Gaborone Gaborone ( , , ) is the capital and largest city of Botswana with a population of 246,325 based on the 2022 census, about 10% of the total population of Botswana. Its agglomeration is home to 421,907 inhabitants at the 2011 census. Gaboron ...

–

Francistown Francistown is the second largest city in Botswana, with a population of about 103,417 and 147,122 inhabitants for its agglomeration at the 2022 census. and often described as the "''Capital of the North''" or as the natives would have it “''T ...

road, from which it is easily reached. It also marks the beginning of the Serowe-Orapa road, which ends at the diamond mines of

Orapa Orapa is a town located in the Central District of Botswana. It is the site of the Orapa diamond mine, the largest diamond-producing mine in the world, and is considered to be the diamond capital of the country. Nearby is another kimberlite min ...

. Construction of this road began in 1986 and was completed several years later. There are two hills at Swaneng, called Rra-Swaneng and Mma-Swaneng – Father- and Mother-Swaneng – respectively. Notable features of the local area include a

Botswana Defence Force The Botswana Defence Force (BDF, tn, Sesole Sa Botswana) is the military of Botswana. The main component of the BDF is the Botswana Ground Force; there is also an air wing and a riverine patrol contingent attached to the ground forces, with 10 ...

(BDF) base on the road to Paje and the

Khama Rhino Sanctuary Khama Rhino Sanctuary is a community based wildlife project in Botswana. The animal shelter was established in 1992 to assist in saving the vanishing rhinoceros, restore the historic wildlife populations and provide economic benefits to the loca ...

. The Rhino Sanctuary is a charitable game reserve, 25 km north of Serowe, established in 1992 by the local Ballentine and Watson families and

Ian Khama Seretse Khama Ian Khama (born 27 February 1953) is a Botswana politician and former military officer who was the fourth President of the Republic of Botswana from 1 April 2008 to 1 April 2018. After serving as Commander of the Botswana Defence ...

(the former President). Its 4,300 hectares of

Kalahari The Kalahari Desert is a large semi-arid sandy savanna in Southern Africa extending for , covering much of Botswana, and parts of Namibia and South Africa. It is not to be confused with the Angolan, Namibian, and South African Namib coasta ...

sandveld Veld ( or ), also spelled veldt, is a type of wide open rural landscape in :Southern Africa. Particularly, it is a flat area covered in grass or low scrub, especially in the countries of South Africa, Lesotho, Eswatini, Zimbabwe and Botswa ...

were established as a haven for

black Black is a color which results from the absence or complete absorption of visible light. It is an achromatic color, without hue, like white and grey. It is often used symbolically or figuratively to represent darkness. Black and white ...

and

white rhinoceros The white rhinoceros, white rhino or square-lipped rhinoceros (''Ceratotherium simum'') is the largest extant species of rhinoceros. It has a wide mouth used for grazing and is the most social of all rhino species. The white rhinoceros consists ...

es.

Government

Serowe currently serves as capital of the Central District. The first president

Sir Seretse Khama Sir Seretse Goitsebeng Maphiri Khama, GCB, KBE (1 July 1921 – 13 July 1980) was a Motswana politician who served as the first President of Botswana, a post he held from 1966 to his death in 1980. Born into an influential royal fam ...

(father of the fourth President President Lieutenant General Ian Khama) and the third president

Festus Mogae Festus Gontebanye Mogae (born 21 August 1939) is a Botswana politician and economist who served as the third President of Botswana from 1998 to 2008. He succeeded Quett Masire as President in 1998 and was re-elected in October 2004; after ten y ...

of Botswana were born in Serowe. The

Botswana Prison Service The Botswana Prison Service (BPS) is the corrections agency of Botswana. It holds pre-trial and convicted prisoners.Prisons and Rehabilitation
"
Archive

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 ...

. Retrieved on 26 March 2013.

Infrastructure

Since 2000, Serowe has undergone numerous developments and continues to expand at a steady rate, despite exponential growth from neighbouring

Palapye Palapye is a growing town in Botswana, situated about halfway between Francistown and Gaborone ( from Francistown and from Gaborone). Over the years its position has made it a convenient stopover on one of Southern Africa's principal north–sout ...

. The Swaneng Senior Secondary School, fondly referred to as Swaneng Hill, has been upgraded by the Botswana government through contract with a Chinese construction company. It now has relatively modern chemistry, physics and biology laboratories, although they lack equipment for in-depth experiments. As a result, student interest in the sciences has grown, with a number of students going overseas to continue their studies. The school's history department regularly takes students on field trips to ancient sites around the country. Debating is highly encouraged, and has led to a number of national championship titles. A major recent upgrade involved the construction of the new state-of-the-art Sekgoma Hospital, which is located 6 km to the south of the main town, replacing the old and derelict hospital of the same name. It now operates as the main medical centre in the district. The hospital was constructed at an estimated cost of P300 million and was opened to the public in late 2007, reducing a heavy burden at the

Hospital, which was subject to overcrowding and unhygienic conditions. Adjacent to Sekgoma Memorial is the Institute of Health Sciences (IHS) Serowe Campus which provides training to health workers in various areas such as general nursing and health education. The Serowe IHS campus is one of the 6 campuses found at different major hospitals in Botswana. The Old Sekgoma Memorial Hospital has been refurbished an turned into a 24hr clinic that has sexual health and reproductive services Centre, chronic disease center, TB Clinic and District Drug hub. Another major recent development is the Serowe Stadium and surrounding sports complex. This project, which cost the Botswana government P30 million, was opened in mid-2003. It currently provides the Central District with its only major sports facility. The town used to be served by Serowe Airport. The airport location was used to build the now completed Sekgoma Memorial Hospital and the adjacent Nursing Institute.

Literature

Serowe was the adopted hometown of South African-born writer

Bessie Head Bessie Amelia Emery Head (6 July 1937 – 17 April 1986) was a South African writer who, though born in South Africa, is usually considered Botswana's most influential writer. She wrote novels, short fiction and autobiographical works that are ...

, inspiring her 1974 book '' Serowe: Village of the Rain Wind''. Her importance to the village is remembered in the Bessie Head Room of the Khama III Memorial Museum, established in 2007.

Notable people

* Marang Molosiwa, actor is comes from this area.

References

External links

Serowe Official Website

Khama Rhino Sanctuary
{{Authority control District capitals in Botswana Populated places in Central District (Botswana) 1903 establishments in Africa