Borakanelo Market

Today the kids were delighted to join me as we explored some of Gaborone. In my reading I have learned that Gaborone is only about 40 years old. In the protectorate days (Bechuanaland being a British protectorate rather than colony), there was never even an administrative center in Bechuanaland, rather it was over the border in Mafeking in South Africa! So as independence loomed they realized they needed a capital city and the small village of Gaberones was chosen. Indeed, that is where the name of our neighborhood – Village – comes from as it is the site of the original village of Gaberones. The Thapong Art Center, on our corner, housed an assistant resident magistrate. Anyway, in a couple of years they transformed Gaberones into Gaborone; where it had around 6,000 inhabitants at independence in 1966, it now has more than 200,000! But much of the remarkable growth in Gaborone has been even more recent than that. Lots of investment after the transition in South Africa in 1994 and even more in the 2000s. The two ‘modern’ malls – Riverwalk and Game City – which are packed all day and night, especially on the weekends, are both only about five years old. Anyway, I had read that at one of the older shopping centers – Broadhurst – there is a Saturday ‘flea market’ – called the Borakanelo Market, so we decided to have a look. It was very lively and there was lots of trading going on. Kuno observed that what made it a true African market was the smell of roasting meat and (delightful) loud African music blaring from the table of the vendor selling used (and treasured) old CDs. How quickly he has caught on! There were lots of beautiful brightly colored dresses and fabrics, but also, interestingly, a few tables of used clothing. I had been wondering about this. This is a curse all over Africa – the dumping of our used clothing into local markets, thereby displacing any local textile industry. It had seemed to me that Batswana, as wealthy as they are, do not wear second hand clothing. I had not recognized any used t shirts, even on kids. But there they were, shirts, trousers, and more, so perhaps that market is making inroads here too. Too bad!