Regimental labour had always been a way of life for any tribe in colonial Bechuanaland. When Tshekedi took over as regent of Gammangwato in 1926 at the age of twenty-five, he channeled regimental labour into more useful endeavours for his people. Regimental labour is collective labour provided by able bodied men for the common course of a village or a tribe. This kind of compulsory work may also be done by women in rare cases. A regiment in a strict tribal sense is a group of age mates who would have attended an initiation school together. It applies to both men and women.
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