27 Mar 2017

The small settlement of Ramaphatle is an extraordinarily place like no other. Its dead have no place of abode. In case of death, the dead are ferried to Mmankgodi, kilometres away in search of a final resting place.
 Ever since being declared a legal settlement over three years ago, Ramaphatle has seen its expectations moving at a snails place. Currently, the Ramaphatle kgotla does not even have a national flag.
All of these point to a place verging to find its own footing after transition from an un-gazetted settlement to a gazetted settlement.
 Inescapable to notice along the Thamaga-Gaborone road, Ramaphatle has for years been the lands for Bahurutshe until recently, according to Kgosi Mmualefe Dibe.
 And it is for these transitions that it has no cemetery, national flag, customary court stamp and resident police officers.
“Even to certify copies, our children have to go to Thamaga or Mmankgodi,” said Kgosi Dibe, who is hopeful that someday Ramaphatle will have a different story to tell.
“We are working together as the leadership to address these challenges,” he said.
Amid the challenges, Kgosi Dibe has his wish list intact, his kgotla deserves to be connected with electricity and to be upgraded so that it can have a tribal secretary and an official stamp.
 In the middle of these challenges, Kgosi Dibe’s heart is not sore, Ramaphatle Primary School and some privately owned shops are electrified, which gives him solace that his kgotla will soon beam with lights.
Another expectation from Kgosi Dibe is to have a tarred road branching from the A3 road leading to the kgotla as well as having all existing plots issued with land certificates.
“The land board is nearing the completion of regularising land allocations,” said Mr Duncan Ramasiagopana, Mogoditshane-Thamaga Sub-district chairperson whose council portfolio covers Ramaphatle.  
It is only after the Kweneng Land Board process that the about 800 residents will officially have their customary land grants certificates.
Ultimately the settlement will have its own plan, which will include more residential plots, commercial plots and graveyards among others.
Criss-crossing through the terrain of the small settlement, the love for farming is attestable as almost every yard has a backyard of maize, water-melons, beans and pumpkins among others.
In fact, it is harvest time in Ramaphatle and only small families are left behind.
According to Mr Ramasiagopana, farming is the sole village economic activity.
 Other than that, some residents are engaged under Ipelegeng and others are working in bars, which have almost usurped the identity of the settlement.
“We have a problem of alcoholism here,” highlighted Mr Ramasiagopana.
Although the dominance of bars is inescapable in Ramaphatle, Mr Ramasiagopana says the majority of residents drink traditional brews, some illegal.
“Some of these people are from the nearby lands,” he said explaining why the community choose traditional brews.
Apart from alcoholism, Ramaphatle like other villages is grappling with high crime rates, indiscipline and low pass rates which are all associated with excessive alcohol consumption.
Recently, Ramaphatle Primary School was listed as the least performing school in the Mogoditshane-Thamaga Sub-district with a 38 per cent pass rate. The school performance has been dwindling from among the performing schools.
“As the leadership we are worried,” Mr Ramasiagopana said, adding that the village recently organised an alcohol effects workshop after realising that parents neglect their children’s school work due to alcohol indulgence.
 The alcohol problem has also destroyed the future of many youth, lead to teenage pregnancies and yet there are no marriages, he said.
 “We are planning to hold all church service to pray for this village,” said Pastor Charles Pilediwa of Full Gospel Church of God.
 Already a common figure in the village, Pastor Pilediwa commutes from Thamaga whenever he is needed in Ramaphatle to offer services, which at times include conducting burials.
With about five churches already, it is his believe that most of the glitches facing the village need God’s intervention.
 Social worker, Ms Botsang Maotwe has her own diagnosis of the problem.
 Issues of child upkeep which are contrary to the Children’s Act keep cropping up at her desk.
She wants to starts children protection committees.  “This is our priority area,” said Ms Maotwe, who like other public officers service Ramaphatle from Thamaga. ENDS