20 Mar 2022

Balete tribal territory land that is considered habitable is relatively small and the landboard is working around the clock to lessen the problem.
Speaking in an interview earlier this week Malete Landboard chairperson Ms Onneetse Malope revealed that they had engaged the Botswana Geoscience Institute (BGI) to undertake a geotechnical investigation of three areas earmarked for development in Ramotswa, Boatle and Otse villages to assess the suitability of the areas for development based on the evaluation of geotechnical, geological, hydrogeological and topographical aspects.
According to the geotechnical report, the total area coverage of the project site was 362 hectares, she said. Ms Malope said the study was conducted to identify potential areas where the territory could be grown for future developments.
She said sadly, the study recommendations indicated that the area was a red zone, which made it uninhabitable.
She explained that between December and January the land board allocated 350 plots.  Currently they wereallocating at Seuwane near the police college in the Mogobane vicinity, she said.
She said 850 hectares were earmarked for allocation till the end of the month while they looked into recommendations of the study and, extend the territory where possible.
 Ms Malope said they had acquired ploughing fields from some farmers in the Mojadife layout and were planning to extend the territory in future, after inspections and other logistics such as compensation were addressed.
She said the waiting list stood at 22 000 and was growing, owing to a number of applications submitted for allocations. The current land allocation applications were received in 2015.
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 most of the area  - about 71 per cent - was covered by high plasticity clayey soils with the potential to cause cracking of houses in some areas.
In Otse most of the area - about 91.6 per cent - was covered by fine colluvium classified as silty sand extending to founding depths greater than 0.8m. This material would not be suitable as a foundation.
The District Land Use Planning Unit recommended to the landboard that it should be transparent to the applicants about the status of the areas, as well as urge 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 such 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.ENDS