File 13/1 'Slavery in the Persian Gulf' [‎198r] (406/526)

Pr0 c- 75, of 1934, sec. 12. s.s. 3 and 4.
of “ their
“> “llectio,
h e ar “ a he«t
bee n made
lr COn ^ence
^ent. The
, , the People
y. not evade
ltle s such as
n °de of ]i[ ei
x collectors,
’ Wa > but the
of poverty
>sus register
hem, but as
sed. I am
ual number
ck given is
nan owning
'ship is not
illy acquire
•light cattle
> master to
Masarwa’s
a, owing to
ie Mosarwa
same light
lence, they
than mere
ity to hand
their stock
nlightened,
s preceding
iavy losses
ty of other
One oT the worst feaUes of the c els S fact tt^lws t0 the
tfSting convened by me in this area and he knew the proper course ,o n 66 "
^ed to charge the Masarwa w.th the theft of his cattle. It was a'case of deliberate drfiance'
30 . This case was of course an exceptional one, but so long as the Mongwato master is
rftlcd as of right to try and punish h.s servant, there is danger of grave abuse, n g v nn
Jjdence before Mr. Tagart the Bamangwato claimed the right to punish Masarwa wfthout
iag i„g them before any kind of tribunal The chief has recently undertaken to make it
6 the Bamangwato masters that whatever special rights they may have had in the nast
nd nunish their Masarwa no longer exist, and that Masarwa m„«t I... ,l. J
dear to me Da ." 1 , c, ‘‘g".“Y. T “'■"T ' 1 “pec.ui i-igms mey may have had in the nast
! t ryand punish their Masarwa no longer exist, and that Masarwa must be tried in the same
,s any other tribesmen by an appropriate tribunal before they can be punished The
hp Qnmmarv nrocedure was the rliffirnlfv nf a,t„ ' ine
way as any utuox - — j -i ^unai ueiore tney can be punished. The
reason for the summary procedure was the difficulty of bringing Masarwa to any recognised
wen when they had been caught red-handed. The distance from the cattle-post to any
pear
normal
court, even wncu me uisiance irom the cattle-post to a
recognised court 1S usually g r ® a t and the Masarwa almost invariably manage to disappc
on the way. This difficulty will have to be solved if cattle thefts are to be kept within norn
proportions
31 . In consequence of the recent interest shown by the Administration in the Masarwa
native cattle-owners at many places have been doing nothing to apprehend or punish thieves’.
They professed to fear punishment from the Government if they as much as arrested a
Masarwa. This inaction on their part at a time when food was scarce was, in my opinion,
dartly responsible for the large number of stock thefts. During twelve months, sixty-two
Masarwa were brought to trial in the District Commissioner’s court; fifty were imprisoned
after conviction. It is doubtful, however, whether as many as 50% of the actual offenders
were proceeded against. Whenever definite allegations were made to me, I placed the matter
in the hands of the police and stressed the importance of doing everything possible. In many
4 cases, however, only vague complaints were made and no action could be taken.
32. Many of the Bamangwato blame the Government for the increase in stock thefts
by Masarwa, contending that the herds having been told that they are free now believe they
can do whatever they wish with impunity. Such abuse by the Masarwa of their freedom
as may have taken place is due rather to the mistaken ideas among the Bamangwato about
the policy of the Government. There has been an attitude of “ leave the Masarwa alone, they
belong to the Government ” and many people have appeared afraid even to arrest a Mosarwa
thief. This may be one of the minor contributory causes of the stock thieving, but the main
causes have existed for a long time. They are, first, shortage of food, which prevails at certain
periods of nearly every year and is aggravated in times of drought; secondly, lust for meat,
which is now difficult to satisfy legitimately owing to increasing scarcity of game, and, thirdly,
| lack of supervision by stock-owners.
33. The co-operation and assistance of the chief should eventually be the means of
bringing about a constitutional and convenient method of dealing effectively with
misdemeanours in distant parts of the district. The native tribunals have jurisdiction to deal
with cases of stock theft and have power to inflict corporal punishment, subject to certain
formalities being first complied with . 1
satisfy
at and
. The
3 r long
1 being
that in
(
VIII. Independent Employment.
34. The Masarwa are well aware of whatever paid employment is available and they
take advantage of it whenever it is within reasonable distance. In the Francistown district,
where there has been a great deal of gold-mining activity dunng the kst few years, it is
estimated that there are about four hundred Masarwa from the Ngwato district employe
f lh e mines and on the farms. About fifty or sixty go to the Transvaal an . nual *T ““'J “ b h
wnty to the Tuli Block farms. There is evidence that they are going away n laI T er nl
tl«n hitherto. During Chief Khama’s lifetime, the Masarwa used to go away bo see ^™C' y L
*01 and since then changing conditions have caused this practice o c Starvation
pie advantages of earning (and of spending) money are being increas ‘ n ? ly 'l a '‘ s n e f d ; from their
tas driven many men out to work and there is no longer very s uch as
" la ’ters, who in the past have been known to fetch them ai ?, vnim J men w ho were
pmcistown. At several centres, I offered to find employment far J; ha y “™f 0 ut thTreserve
«t actually herding, but there was no response. It was made clear throughout
a those who wished to go to work were at liberty to do so.
ir, 30 ; Masarwa labourers have been employed on road cl ’ n n s y “^'“JbiDr^work'alons the
"itwatersrand Native Labour Association in the Nata area, and on similar woik g
r!