Obituary Bechuanalands & Botswana Society and the Runner Post

#1 · August 9, 2020, 11:27 pm

Attached is a rather long article I was 'asked' to write by an editor that eventually did not chose to use it.

Perhaps something here of interest to many user of this site.

Uploaded files:

Bechuanalands-Botswana-Society-Runner-Post.pdf

#2 · August 10, 2020, 10:12 am

Quote from Steve on August 10, 2020, 10:12 am
Thanks for the post, Peter. It is sad to hear of this development. However, it should come as no surprise.

Bechuanaland was an integral part of the southern African colonial experience. The Tswanas were and are an influential tribe who have survived rather better than their black South African compatriots. Despite a proud history and relative affluence, today's Botswanans, (?) like many black people, have little or no interest in philately. Why should they? It is almost exclusively a white man's hobby that if not celebrating colonialism and imperialism certainly perpetuates one-sided memories of the glory of that stained past. It also requires a disposable income, something that most black people outside of the corrupt ANC, affirmative action, gravy train do not have.

It should not come as a surprise that the Bechuanalands-Botswana Society has shut up shop. The Society and its 'Runner-Post' publication was started with great enthusiasm and support from a relatively small number of dedicated collectors. It is sad that there is no longer enough interest from a core of dedicated specialists to sustain the journal. Indeed, the problems that the Bechuanalands-Botswana Society had are symptomatic of organised philately as a whole. Jamie Smith wrote to me the other day, saying that "I don’t think we (philatelic societies generally) will ever get back together again as we were (before Covid-19) because people are getting older and if and when we are able to get back old members won’t be able to go to meetings because of health, sight, night driving etc. And what is more important is the fact that no one will have joined in this ‘C’ period, so there will be no continuity."

Clearly philatelic societies are going to struggle in future, some more than others to find new members and carry on as before. We cannot continue without new blood! We cannot blame the virus for this. The fault is our history, which is / was elitist and exclusive. Around this we built our hobby, an inadvertent celebration of colonialism and imperialism, something our children do not remember and which they are taught was wrong and bad. (It was. There was plenty of bad.) As a consequence, as Britain and other Western countries slowly morph into a multi-ethnic societies with panloads of chips to fry, there is nothing in philately for the kids but a laugh at your, the old boy's, expense.

As our society changes philately is going nowhere faster. Much of our hobby appears to be closing down and shutting up shop. This will only increase! We need to be realistic and recognise that everywhere organised philately is now in grudging retreat. That being the case, this website (and others) will, as far as possible within a diminishing market, attempt to plug the gap by providing a platform for those who want to write articles and submit displays on the, yes, once wonderful postal history of Bechuanaland / Botswana. The traditional ways of philately are going to have to change if our hobby is to survive. Much of that change means going on-line and opening up to and tapping into a wider market of hopefully younger collectors unfraid of Forums and Zoom meetings. It's the way of the short-term future.

This obituary names some people that I have met over the years, among them Alan McGregor, a SAPC member from Simons Town, Otto Peetoom, a recently departed SACS luminary, and Brian Trotter, another SACS stalwart who was living on AFB Ysterplaat, Cape Town, at the same time that I was living under its flight path in Pinelands. Those days of Vampires, Venturas, Harvards and Shackletons are long gone. Nevertheless, an honestly shared memory of our collective past will always be valid and worth passing on to others. Let's keep our hobby alive by finding new ways to express old truths to the widest possible readership, not just old fossils and fuddy-duddies.

Thanks for the post, Peter. It is sad to hear of this development. However, it should come as no surprise.

Bechuanaland was an integral part of the southern African colonial experience. The Tswanas were and are an influential tribe who have survived rather better than their black South African compatriots. Despite a proud history and relative affluence, today's Botswanans, (?) like many black people, have little or no interest in philately. Why should they? It is almost exclusively a white man's hobby that if not celebrating colonialism and imperialism certainly perpetuates one-sided memories of the glory of that stained past. It also requires a disposable income, something that most black people outside of the corrupt ANC, affirmative action, gravy train do not have.

It should not come as a surprise that the Bechuanalands-Botswana Society has shut up shop. The Society and its 'Runner-Post' publication was started with great enthusiasm and support from a relatively small number of dedicated collectors. It is sad that there is no longer enough interest from a core of dedicated specialists to sustain the journal. Indeed, the problems that the Bechuanalands-Botswana Society had are symptomatic of organised philately as a whole. Jamie Smith wrote to me the other day, saying that "I don’t think we (philatelic societies generally) will ever get back together again as we were (before Covid-19) because people are getting older and if and when we are able to get back old members won’t be able to go to meetings because of health, sight, night driving etc. And what is more important is the fact that no one will have joined in this ‘C’ period, so there will be no continuity."

Clearly philatelic societies are going to struggle in future, some more than others to find new members and carry on as before. We cannot continue without new blood! We cannot blame the virus for this. The fault is our history, which is / was elitist and exclusive. Around this we built our hobby, an inadvertent celebration of colonialism and imperialism, something our children do not remember and which they are taught was wrong and bad. (It was. There was plenty of bad.) As a consequence, as Britain and other Western countries slowly morph into a multi-ethnic societies with panloads of chips to fry, there is nothing in philately for the kids but a laugh at your, the old boy's, expense.

As our society changes philately is going nowhere faster. Much of our hobby appears to be closing down and shutting up shop. This will only increase! We need to be realistic and recognise that everywhere organised philately is now in grudging retreat. That being the case, this website (and others) will, as far as possible within a diminishing market, attempt to plug the gap by providing a platform for those who want to write articles and submit displays on the, yes, once wonderful postal history of Bechuanaland / Botswana. The traditional ways of philately are going to have to change if our hobby is to survive. Much of that change means going on-line and opening up to and tapping into a wider market of hopefully younger collectors unfraid of Forums and Zoom meetings. It's the way of the short-term future.

This obituary names some people that I have met over the years, among them Alan McGregor, a SAPC member from Simons Town, Otto Peetoom, a recently departed SACS luminary, and Brian Trotter, another SACS stalwart who was living on AFB Ysterplaat, Cape Town, at the same time that I was living under its flight path in Pinelands. Those days of Vampires, Venturas, Harvards and Shackletons are long gone. Nevertheless, an honestly shared memory of our collective past will always be valid and worth passing on to others. Let's keep our hobby alive by finding new ways to express old truths to the widest possible readership, not just old fossils and fuddy-duddies.