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Title
"There is no hurry in Botswana": Scholarship and stereotypes on "African time" syndrome in Botswana, 1895- 2011 |
Full text
http://hdl.handle.net/10394/14984 |
Date
2015 |
Author(s)
Makgala, Christian John; Thebe, Phenyo Churchill |
Abstract
The lack of a strict and disciplined adherence to keeping time or punctuality
has been an issue of major concern to many authorities in the African public
and private sectors. Botswana is no exception, as this article will demonstrate.
So pervasive is lack of punctuality among Africans in sub-Saharan Africa
that a stereotypical notion of 'African time' gained currency a long time
ago and is still prevalent to this day. Undoubtedly, this attitude towards time
negatively affects the productivity and economic performance of numerous
African countries, such as Botswana, in their seemingly futile endeavour to
become competitive globally and attract the much sought after foreign direct
investment (FDI). In this article we try to make sense of African time from
the scholarship on the African traditional socio-economic and environmental
factors relating to time, as well as the popular stereotypical views of African
time. This article shows that African time among the Batswana is something
that frustrated the Victorian missionaries in the late nineteenth century. We
also discuss how African time has translated into expression of political power
by tribal and national political leaders. The problem of African time continues
to be prevalent in the twenty-first century Botswana where a poor work ethic
is also believed to be a major impediment to doing business in the country. |
Subject(s)
Time; African Time; Tswana-time; Foreign Direct Investment; Productivity; Political Power; Precision Instruments; Punctuality; Global Competitiveness |
Language
en |
Publisher
School for Basic Sciences, Vaal Triangle Campus, North-West University |
Type of publication
Article |
Identifier
Makgala, C.J. & Thebe, P.C. 2015. "There is no hurry in Botswana": Scholarship and stereotypes on "African time" syndrome in Botswana, 1895- 2011. New Contree: A journal of Historical and Human Sciences for Southern Africa. 72:1-20, Jul. [http://dspace.nwu.ac.za/handle/10394/4969]; 0379-9867 |
Repository
South Africa - North-West University
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Added to C-A: 2016-09-29;12:01:57 |
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