The population of this town is interesting in that it consists mainly of Ovaherero who settled there in the 1920`s when they fled from the Germans in Namibia.
There are also Bekhuruthshe who came from South Africa. The latter tribe originally settled at Shoshong, which is 40km west of Mahalapye, but later divided into two separate groups, one group forming Mahalapye and the other settled along the Boteti river.

In Mahalapye you will also find the headquarters of the Botswana Railways.

During those days Ovaherero leadership implored their people to follow the party of Seretse Khama and the rationale was that, had it not been for the traditional leadership of Gammangwato, chances were that they would not have settled in Botswana. When Botswana gained autonomy from British rule in 1966, some of the Ovaherero young scholars the likes of Kaitire Ruhapo and Ben Maekopo who had taken advantage of Namibian liberation struggle education were later taken into Government service.

Ovaherero in Botswana remained loyal to Botswana and have largely conducted themselves as Batswana. But they believed in the return to Namibia. After Namibia’s independence debates about repatriation culminated into law, that sent a sigh of relief although not all moved, wanted to move or were able to move. This ambivalence prevails among large sectors of the community.

Mahalapye has remained the cradle for Ovaherero’s plight for the motherland, sometimes close and sometimes distant...