A biography of Patrick van Rensburg
Sandy Grant | Wednesday March 1, 2017 17:17
Whichever way you turn the wheel, van Rensburg will always emerge as one of the most compelling, remarkable figures of the last 50 or so years. His achievements were phenomenal. There were the three secondary schools that he established in Serowe, Shashe and Madiba. There were the innovative Brigades that he established in Serowe, which within a few years were replicated around the country. There was his launching of a cooperative society in Serowe, mistakenly cited as the country’s first. The first, in fact, being the Dairy Coop Society in Lobatse which was established in 1909. There was his establishment in Serowe of Boikanyo, a novel development initiative designed to enable the poorest to help themselves which even had its own currency. There was the groundbreaking development studies course pioneered by van Rensburg’s early right hand man, Robert Oakeshott. There was his launching of Mmegi, and his development forays into Zimbabwe and South Africa.
There was also a stream of books, booklets, article and papers all intended to spread the word that the only way to create an educational system for the majority rather than the minority was to combine education with production.
The beginning was extremely promising. Van Rensburg had the backing of Leapeetswe Khama, the acting Kgosi of the Bangwato, the Government was beginning to prioritise rural development and the country’s post primary educational infrastructure was desperately in need of development with only St Joseph’s College, Mater Spei, Moeng and Moeding taking students up to Form V and the three tribal schools in Kanye, Molepolole and Mochudi to Form 111. Seretse, with Ruth, made a successful visit to Swaneng and with many notable figures in the Cabinet being graduates of Tiger Kloof, the indications were that the new venture would enjoy a smooth path ahead. It was not to be.
The Government double-backed on itself and not merely ceased to support van Rensburg and his Brigade initiatives, but went into reverse and did all it could to undermine them. The rejection by the Government of the van Rensburg educational model and its preference for one which favoured a minority was demonstrated by its backing for Deane Yates’ new Maru-a-Pula in Gaborone. Rural development, theoretically the Government’s top priority was quietly shelved for a major urban initiative. The 50th anniversary offered the perfect opportunity to delve into major issues of this kind, which had been previously overlooked or simply never queried. It is sometimes suggested that the Government’s eventual rejection of van Rensburg occurred because he chose to ally himself with the BNF. The counter-suggestion is that it was precisely because the Government had turned its back on him that disillusioned and disappointed, he did so. The hope now is that Shillington will both ask and provide answers to questions which really should have been explored here.
We blew our opportunity but now with him we may still be able to speculate on a much better basis how the educational system might look today if the Government had chosen to follow the Tiger Kloof/Swaneng route?