McDonald Seema’s career in the civil service is supposed to have ended in June 1979. But he has never been free from the ties of his office.
Three decades later he is still fielding questions from international newspaper and television journalists about what went on at the government enclave then. When South African reporters wanted information about former South African Minister Manto Tshabalala-Msimang during her stay in Botswana, Seema was the man to see.
“Although he has not authored a book, Mr. Seema is a good source of information on the history of the Public Service of Botswana. Therefore, he is one of the few Batswana considered to have institutional memory on the historical development of the Public Service,” stated the Office of the President on the eve of the recent Independence Day Celebrations as President Lt Gen Ian Khama conferred the Presidential Order of Honour to the inspirational octogenarian.
Seema, however, is more than just a good source of information on the history of the Botswana public service; he is also its architect.
We are huddled around a glass coffee table as McDee talks us through his illustrious career at the government enclave. I am forced to take him over some of the names he keeps dropping just to make sure we are talking about the same people. Most of the names I remembered from the Daily News editions I used to pick from the Information and Broadcasting offices as a young boy in primary school. A few others I remembered from my history class. Seema, however, speaks about them in first names. They were all part of his social and professional circles.
McDee, as he is popularly known, however comes across as something of an anomaly in the egotistical social whirl of the civil service elite. I see less of a puffed up icon who brushed shoulders with the rich and famous than a patriotic civil servant who was committed to excellence. It may be clich├® to describe him as modest, thoughtful and unassuming, but he is all those things.
Born in Serowe on 12th June 1934, he studied at Roma High School in Lesotho which was later rechristened St Joseph’s and St Christopher High School. His career in the civil service began when he was posted to Kanye in 1957 where he worked as a clerk in the District Administration under J.D Germond Divisional Commander South.
He career predates the Legislative Council of 1961 which established the ministries of education, agriculture, water affairs, works and communications, home affairs and commerce and industry when there was little commerce and industry to talk about. It was during this time that he served in the British Bechuanaland Protectorate civil services under the administration of Resident Commissioner Sir Peter Fawcus who was based in Mafeking.
“I was promoted and transferred to the Department of Agriculture in Mahalapye in 1964. On the 9th of March 1965 after the General Elections I came to Gaborone to take up a post at the Ministry of Finance,” he says sticking to the facts and not venturing into anecdotes of his heroic exploits. McDee, however, blazed a glorious trail through the civil services of the 60s and 70s, leaving an indelible imprint.
He watched as the dusty two track paths gave way to tarred roads and the government enclave evolved from white to black faces. And he was at the centre of it all. In 1973 he became the first citizen to hold the post of Accountant General taking over from a string of expatriate colonial administrators who came before him. “Rakhudu was appointed Accountant General and I was his deputy”, he says.
In 1974 he was transferred to the Directorate of Personnel as Deputy Director. It was during this time that he handled the famous Manto Tshabalala Msimang case. The former South African Minister of Health, who was a nurse at Athlone Hospital in Lobatse, had been fired on allegations of theft. A number of South African newspapers quoted Seema two years ago, confirming that in 1976 a psychiatrist wrote to him pleading for clemency for Tshabalala-Msimang, arguing she was a kleptomaniac being treated by him.
The doctor, the late Giuseppe Sbrana, wrote the letter shortly after Tshabalala-Msimang was dismissed from Athlone hospital for stealing from patients and the institution.
Seema was later transferred to the Ministry of Finance and Development Planning as Administrative Secretary under the late Baledzi Gaolatlhe. In January 1979 he was transferred to the Ministry of Minerals Resources as Deputy Permanent Secretary under Minister Charles Tibone, then Permanent Secretary. In June Seema retired from the civil service.
A month later he joined the Botswana Meat Commission as assistant company Secretary and spent five years there until he retired in 1985. His career which spanned a number of disciplines, however, made him an indispensable asset and he would later be called from retirement by former President to serve at the Office of Elections on a five year contract.
He also served in the Chiepe Salaries Commission of 1976 and the Joe Mathews Commission on Commercial Banks of 1974. He is a founding Director of Sechaba investment which was chaired by the late Richard Mannathoko and served as a member of the Botswana Housing Corporation board for eight years.
The Office of the President observed two weeks ago that McDee “rose through the ranks in the Public Service, from a very junior position of Clerk to the senior post of Deputy Permanent Secretary applying himself with distinction. Among the several positions he has held in Government include that of Deputy Accountant General, Administrative Secretary (MFDP), Deputy Director of Personnel (now DPSM). Mr. Seema is a self-built, diligent and multi-skilled person whose service is not only exemplary but pioneering as well.
He helped build the Public Service structures and standards and is considered one of the key architects of the General Orders which include the Public Service Charter which have stood the test of time.”
