20 Mar 2022

The recently released results of a Botswana Geoscience Institute (BGI) assessment of  some pieces of land in the Balete territory has revealed that the areas were red zones.

This means that the pieces of land in question are inhabitable.

Seeing that the Balete tribal territory that is considered habitable is relatively small, Malete Landboard had engaged  BGI to undertake the geotechnical investigation of three areas earmarked for development in Ramotswa, Boatle and Otse villages.

The institute was to assess the suitability of the areas for development based on the evaluation of geotechnical, geological, hydrogeological and topographical aspects.

Speaking in an interview last week, Malete Landboard chairperson, Ms Onneetse Malope revealed that the study, which was done on areas with a total sum of 362 hectare, was conducted to identify potential areas where the territory could be grown for future developments.

According to the study, in Boatle, although there were ground improvements and the use of rigid foundation options, such interventions were unlikely to make the area habitable due to the mashy and swampy environment of the Taung River flood plain.

The area was, therefore, considered unsuitable for development and needed further substantiation through a flood risk assessment study.

In the Ramotswa area, the results indicated that about 71 per cent of the area was covered by high plasticity clayey soils with the potential to cause cracking of houses in some areas.

In Otse, about 91.6 per cent was covered by fine colluvium classified as silty sand extending to founding depths greater than 0.8 metres. 

This material is not suitable as a foundation.

The South East District Land Use Planning Unit, therefore,  recommended that the landboard be transparent to the applicants about the status of the areas and the need for allotees to comply with the development guidelines.

It highlighted that since the areas were not fully ideal for urban development, guidelines should be prepared for allotees to comply with and that the guidelines should be part of the layout design brief for the areas.

It is also recommended that developers be advised to do site-specific investigations to guide building techniques and considerations. 

Ms Malope said the board had  looked into the recommendations of the study and considered extending the territory where possible.

She said the board had acquired ploughing fields from some farmers in the Mojadife layout and was planning to extend the territory after inspections and other logistics such as compensation were addressed.

She said while the waiting list stood at 22 000 and still counting due to unending application submissions, 350 plots were allocated between December and January.

Currently the board is allocating residential plots at Seuwane near Botswana Police College in the Mogobane vicinity.

She said so far about 850 plots were earmarked for allocation, which would go on until the end of the month. 

The current land allocations are for applications that were received in 2015. Ends