A month later, in October 1895, Rhodes found a pretext for attacking the Transvaal. The raid was led by Dr S Jameson on behalf of the non-Boer whites or ‘Uitlanders’ in the Transvaal, who had complained of unequal treatment by the Boers. This famous raid, which came to be known as the Jameson Raid, was carried out from within the Bechuanaland Protectorate. However, it failed. The anticipated uprising of the Uitlanders never happened, so the raiders soon surrendered to the Boers.
The fact that Britain had allowed the Protectorate to be used to attack another country caused an international scandal. The British government, angered at being brought into disrepute by Rhodes, refused to transfer the Protectorate to the BSAC, and removed control of the Tswana lands that had been obtained for the raid.
It was the failure of the Jameson Raid, and Rhodes’ subsequent if temporary disgrace, which protected the independent future of Botswana. Rhodes did later receive land for a railway strip and some blocks of ‘Crown Land’ – the Gaborone, Lobatse, and Tuli blocks. These, together with the Tati Block and Ghanzi, which had been settled earlier, became the only European areas in Bechuanaland.