Mathangwane

In February 2017, Tropical Cyclone Dineo triggered destructive floods[10] in and around Mathangwane, badly damaging the A3 highway between the City of Francistown and Sebina Junction and further north from the village of Nata to Gweta, badly disrupting traffic with some parts of the road having to be temporarily closed for safety.[11] The damages to the A3 highway later became a death trap, causing a rise in fatal vehicle accidents in and around Mathangwane following delays by the Ministry of Transport and Communications in effecting repairs.[12][13]

Mathangwane Primary School 86 years anniversary commemorative plaque - 10 September 2016

Mathangwane Primary School 86 years anniversary commemorative plaque - 10 September 2016

There are two primary schools in the Village namely Mathangwane Primary School and Mpatane Primary School, one junior secondary school called Chamabona Junior Secondary School - formally Chamabona Community Junior Secondary School before formally being completely taken over by the Government, and two day-care centres in Mathangwane. There is no senior secondary school in the Village. After attaining junior certificate, children are often admitted to either Shashe River School, Mater Spei College, Tutume McConnell Community College or Masunga Senior Secondary School. This arrangement long proved strenuous to underprivileged families with their children dropping from school or performing badly in form five examinations due to the economic pressure.

With the exception of the A3 highway going through the village, all village internal roads are dirt roads mostly impassable after heavy rains; existing un-bridged river valleys within the village along the roads are a challage to villagers' free movement. Villagers eagerly approved plans for the construction of Mmandunyane-Shashe Mooke-Borolong-Chadibe-Mathangwane road in early 2007 which they viewed as the only hope for the improvement of the village internal road infrastractures. Arup Botswana was appointed for the construction of the road which totaled 70 km in length.[14] It later emerged that in light of the revenue constraints due to the ongoing global economic and financial crisis, the Central District Council (CDC) decided to prioritise its projects and the impending road was never constructed.[15]

The healthcare consists of one clinic with full-time general nurses and a doctor to handle short time inpatients. Since the turn of 2000 the only improvements to the clinic was the construction of a Maternity Ward and addition of a Caraven which serves as a Voluntary HIV counselling and testing (VCT) center[16] being part of Botswana's national HIV treatment programme; the move which saw the Government of Botswana being commended by World Health Organization for demonstrating a very high level of political commitment to addressing the HIV/AIDS epidemic and the success considered a fine example of how antiretroviral therapy can be provided on a large scale in resource-constrained settings.[17] The clinic refers major cases to the Nyangabwe Referral hospital and patients with mental disorder to Jubilee hospital which are both located in Francistown.

The village was connected to the Shashe Dam water supply reticulation through Francistown in 2001. This was followed by the upgrading of the Shashe Dam water treatment plant to augment increased water demand.[18] Before the implementation of The Water Sector Reforms Programme in February 2010 through which water supply in the village was taken over by Water Utilities Corporation, water connections applications and water bill payments were done in Tutume which is 75 km west of the village.

Villagers receive Government services from different places with vast geographical distances, i.e. City of Francistown, Tonota, Tutume, Marapong, Masunga and Serowe, and this disadvantage locals from benefiting from existing government programs and services.

Like many Botswana villages, community developments and minor projects that do not require expert consultancy are controlled by a group of volunteers called the Village Development Committee (VDC). Majority of Mathangwane VDC volunteers use it as a platform to gain popularity before joining the village politics; an unproductive and egocentric practice hindering the success of the Village VDC. Villages similar to Mathangwane in size and population through their VDC developed community projects that continue to sustain the livelihood of their villagers, for example, Mathangwane does not have a Community Hall nor rented small business stalls all which are schemes supported by government through community projects and long proved worthy in income generation for small communities like Mathangwane.

The Botswana Democratic Party (BDP) dominated the village local government politics since the first elections in Botswana in 1965 making the village a BDP stronghold.

Mfi Chite was the first councilor for the village following a win in the October 1974 general elections; this was after the 1972 constitutional amendment which grouped villages of Borolong, Chadibe, Makobo, Mathangwane, Natale and Shashe Mooke into a single council ward un-axing them from the then Tonota council ward. The grouping was broken down further in 1982 constitutional amendment un-axing villages of Borolong, Natale, and Shashemoke from the ward.

Mfi Chite retained the council seat for BDP in both the 1979 and 1984 general elections. Mfi Rabeka Hulela won the council seat again for the BDP in the October 1989 general elections following Mfi Chite's retirement from politics at the end of his office term in 1989. Mfi Hulela retained the council seat for the BDP in the October 1994 general election and remained the ward councilor until her death in 1998, after which the ward remained without a councilor until the October 1999 general elections, when Mfi Tabona Munyadzwe won the ward for the BDP.

In 2000, Mr. Ookame Ntobedze won the by-elections of the ward for the BDP following the passing of Mr. Tabona Munyadzwe.[20] In 2003, another constitutional amendment saw Mathangwane being split into two council wards (Mathangwane North and Mathangwane South Council wards). BDP won both council wards in the October 2004 general elections with Mr. Ookame Ntobedzi representing the Mathangwane South Council Ward and Mfi Gilbert Nkhukhu representing the Mathangwane North council ward. In 2007, Mr. Ipuseng Chikanda won the by-election of the Mathangwane North Council ward for the BDP following the passing of Mr. Gilbert Nkhukhu.[21]

With known village political trend, BDP council candidates fiercely contested their party primary elections with the knowledge that a win guaranteed individuals seats at the Council Chambers.[22] Mr. Ookame Ntobedze was defeated by the Botswana Congress Party (BCP) candidate, Mr. James Dlamini in the Mathangwane South Council Ward and Mr. Ipuseng Chikanda was defeated in the Mathangwane North council ward by Mr. Kenosi Mabalane also from the BCP in the 2009 General Elections marking the first ever BDP defeat in the village. This surprise defeat of the BDP council candidates led to a major campaign in the village in 2010 following the passing of Mr. Baledzi Gaolathe for the Tonota-North Parliamentary by-elections which BDP won.[23][24] Opposition parties later accused the ruling party (BDP) of using government resources including public media in their party campaigns and at the same time opposing funding of political parties by government.

The BCP's council surprise victory in the village was viewed as a significant breakthrough in a historical BDP stronghold and opposition parties made an unofficial pact in surpport of the BCP's Tonota-North Parliamentary candidate, Dr. Habaundi Njiro Hobona during the 2010 Parliamentary by-election.[25][26]

Shashe-West Constituency was re-subdivided into new Council Wards leading to the Mathangwane North and Mathangwane South Council Wards being merged to form a single but smaller ward called Mathangwane Council Ward to be contested for in the following elections.[27] During the 2014 General Elections, Mr. Nehemiah Gerald Hulela of the BDP defeated Mr. Kenosi Mabalane of the BCP who had won one of the former constituent wards in the 2009 General Elections.

On 25 November 2018, Hon. Nehemiah Gerald Hulela passed on, becoming the fourth Mathangwane Ward seating Councillor to be deceased in twenty years.

In an effort to gain political mileage, the ruling BDP's area MP, Hon. Fidelis Mmilili Molao visited villagers in Shashe-West Constituency addressing Kgotla meetings accompanied by the Minister of Transport and Communications announcing that the long-awaited Mmandunyane-Shashe Mooke-Borolong-Chadibe-Mathangwane road construction will begin early 2019. The total distance of the road has now been increased to 82 km and is to include road links to Makobo and Natale villages. The reasons for suspending the road construction earlier after 2007 has been changed by the two ministers from the original statement of averting the impact of the 2008 global recession to now being due to the high number of homesteads which were supposed to be relocated to pave way for the road.[29]

Two former Village Development Committee (VDC) volunteers will be contesting for the village political Council seat under the Botswana Democratic Party and Umbrella for Democratic Change continuing the village tradition where the VDC has long been converted into a political tool.