It’s been years since the passing of Kgosi Linchwe the King of Bakgatla ba Kgafela in Botswana and South Africa. I find this man to be one interesting character in the history of post-independence Botswana. The man was bold and he was free to speak his mind. All the presidents that served under him knew this for a fact.
I have just finished listening to a voice clip by former president of South Africa, Thabo Mbeki where he spoke eloquently about Kgosi Linchwe’s role in keeping and sustaining the armouries of the ANC military wing. He was speaking at an event to launch his book and fomer President Sir Ketumile Masire was a guest of honour.
Mbeki states that Kgosi Linchwe was a very good traditional leader. He was good for the ANC as the man had pledged to safe keep their weapons. The ANC was bringing weapons into Botswana against government policy. Botswana clearly published their position that they did not want to have their country used as a springboard for attacks in neighbouring South Africa.
It was at this fund raising dinner that Mbeki narrates the story of Kgosi Linchwe being the ANC chief armourer in Botswana. “Kgosi Linchwe’s sense of commitment to the liberation struggle in South Africa was unmatched in Botswana”, Mbeki says this with a tone of high appreciation to this traditional leader.
Mbeki speaks with so much appreciation of the contribution made by the rest of Africa in the liberation of their country. He obviously goes on to mention Mualimu Nyerere as one icon of the liberation struggle for the rest of the continent of Africa.
The death of Kenneth Kaunda marks the end of an era. This was an era which was marked by bloodshed caused by the minority governments of both Rhodesia and South Africa. The first time I landed in Lusaka in 1988, I quickly came to realize that I was deep in ANC territory. I had gone in to deliver none lethal stuff to some ANC cadres and I never had imagined that they were so big in Zambia.
They were actually controlling a large stake in the economy. I was received at the airport by a man of Asian origin known as Javel and he walked me through all the security protocols without a single search. The ANC was running their own government within another sovereign state and all this came with the complements of President Kenneth Kaunda.
Coming back to the arms ordinances of Kgosi Linchwe, I have been trying the best I can to build a story around this issue since 2017 after an arms cache was found in a ploughing field in Kgatleng District. At the time of the discovery, I wrote an opinion piece regarding this treasure trove and I was of the opinion that it was a set up by our country’s intelligence to find reason to accuse someone of stockpiling weapons in preparation for a civil war.
This was just a year before President Khama could vacate office and his reluctance to leave was sufficient reason to believe that the arms were placed by his intelligence. DIS at the time was so unfriendly to the public and suspicion was within the right framework when taking into account their rogue activities.
However, this was indeed a true ANC arms cache. As according to Mbeki, he says he leaned over to Kgosi Linchwe during one of his visits to Botswana and told him what to do with the uncollected weapons. This was at a football match in Gaborone after the release of Nelson Mandela from prison.
Through the last four years of my investigation, I have come to absolve the intelligence operatives from planting the weapons found east of Mochudi. During the liberation struggle for South Africa, Kgosi Linchwe was keeping three main armouries within his district.
Two were situated east of Mochudi on the road leading to Sikwane. The third one was situated very close to his cattle-post in Mfetlhedi. The direction to this location is marked by an outstanding landmark of a monato tree on the western side of the A1 road leading from Gaborone to Francistown just after Mosaditshwene.
Kgosi Linchwe had each of these three sites taken care of by three of his subjects and each one of them was not allowed to know the location of another. This was high security by all measure. In the cache or armoury, they had AK 47s, rocket propelled grenades and an assortment of other bombs and explosives.
These armouries were very critical to the ANC operations in the Transvaal Province which largely bordered Botswana. One of the unforgettable gun battles with weapons from the Mochudi east armoury happened near the border entry point at Derdepoort. The ANC soldiers were matching to their objective further in the country and they encountered a roadblock just a few kilometres from the international boundary. They had no other choice but to open fire on that roadblock manned by police and the military.
After escaping back into Botswana, one of the operatives disassembled his weapon and handed it to a local man with clear instructions that if he doesn’t come back for his weapon, Kgosi Linchwe would in a while. But the man couldn’t believe what was given to him and he went around bragging. The CID picked the lead and came for the weapon but the man was never charged.
Kgosi Linchwe was always thoroughly briefed about the ANC operations inside South Africa. The briefings usually took place at a rather unusual place. They happened in Mochudi at Notwane Bar just across the river on the way to the border with South Africa. This always happened in the presence of one of his lieutenants who was a caretaker of the particular armoury from which the weapons would be taken for the operation.
Mochudi Rovers was created by Kgosi Linchwe for the sole purpose of using it as a cover up for weapon smuggling. The team had a good number of ANC aligned refugees playing for it. In this way the team meetings never irked anyone of the authorities. Long live Kgosi Linchwe King of Bakgatla ba Kgafela.
