24 May 2018

The year-old Mandunyane Development Trust is hoping to create employment for locals and benefit from the prospects created by the Shashe Dam Tourism Master Plan.

Speaking in an interview recently, the trust’s secretary, Mr Lepate Tshomane said it was established with the primary objective of employment creation for villagers.
 

He said the idea of forming a trust was born out of the observation that leisure and entertainment events held on the banks of Shashe Dam were popular and attracted a lot of people.

“We contacted Water Utilities Corporation with an understanding that they held rights to any activity pertaining to the dam. However, they instructed us to contact Botswana Tourism Organisation,” he said.

Although still awaiting BTO’s response, he said they were hopeful of a positive outcome since the objectives of the recently announced master plan matched their aspirations.

Mr Tshomane said the trust planned to pursue a number of projects, including a brick yard, leisure and entertainment camp as well as the resuscitation of the Mandunyane Ruins.

The proposed leisure site will offer indoor and outdoor activities while the historic ruins, where the people of  Mandunyane settled before relocating to the current location, will be developed into a cultural village.

He said the remains of a school and a shop were still visible at the old site which the trust planned to preserve.

The plan, he said, was to take tourists through the rich history of Mandunyane.

Despite the prospects presented by the master plan, Mr Tshomane expressed concern about some of its aspects, and specifically that some sites would be competed for through bidding.

He said bidding would attract big investors which meant securing a site would be a challenge for the trust which lacked the financial muscle to compete. Ends