About Gaborone

Before 1969, the city was known as Gaberones. Gaberones replaced Mafeking as the capital of the Bechuanaland Protectorate in 1965. Mafeking (now Mafikeng) was outside the Bechuanaland Protectorate, in what is now the North West Province of South Africa, an odd arrangement that dated from the early colonial period. When the Protectorate became independent, Gaborone needed a capital city within its territory; earlier it had been thought Lobatse might serve as capital but it was decided that it would be too limited, and instead a new capital city would be created adjacent to Gaberones, a small colonial administrative settlement. The original name, Gaberones, is from Gaborone's Village, following the early practice of referring to African tribal capitals by the name of the chief, in this case Chief Kgosi Gaborone of the BaTlokwa, whose village, now called Tlokweng, was just across a river from the "Government Camp" (colonial government headquarters). "Gabs" is still a common abbreviation for Gaborone, sometimes used in casual speech. A newer nickname for Gaborone is 'GC' or 'Gabz' as the city has grown in leaps and bounds over the last decade. The centre of the city was constructed in three years, including Assembly buildings, government offices, a power station, a hospital, schools, a radio station, a telephone exchange, police stations, a post office, and more than 1,000 houses. The basic infrastructure was in place for Independence Day on 30 September 1966, when Bechuanaland was the eleventh British dependency in Africa to become independent. The first mayor of Gaborone was Reverend J. D. Jones, whose town council led the planning and development of the town in preparation for Independence day. The old Gaberones became a suburb of the new Gaborone, and is now known as "the Village".