23 May 2023

Bandleng Group has decided to use volunteerism to uplift the community of Lobatse in various ways.

Formed about three years ago, the Bandleng Group comprises around 400 people aged 50 years or above who were born or were raised in Lobatse.

As part of its mission to make Lobatse a better place, the group has embarked on a periodical clean-up campaign of the town’s environment.

During a clean-up exercise at Pitikwe graveyards on May 20 the group chairperson, Ms Charity Kgotlafela said the objective of the initiative was to make Lobatse a clean town.

Ms Kgotlafela said they decided to start their clean-up campaign with the graveyards because they had realised that cemeteries in Lobatse were bushy and dirty. She said graveyards needed to be taken care of because it was where the departed loved ones from the community were resting.

“Our relatives and loved ones have been laid to rest in these graveyards, therefore we should always keep them clean. We should continue showing love to our dead by keeping their resting place clean. It is not nice seeing grass and shrubs growing around their graves,” she added.

She expressed happiness at the positive response from the community, saying that over 200 people participated in the clean-up campaign on Saturday.

She also appreciated support from Lobatse Town Council. “Through the office of the mayor they have assisted us with a truck and JCB equipment. The mayor has also raised some cash for the campaign, and together with some councilors, they physically participated in cleaning of the graveyard today,” she said.

She further expressed gratitude to the business community which supported the initiative.

Ms Kgotlafela said they would in the near future organise the cleaning of Peleng cemetery. She urged Lobatse residents to support the initiative because the campaign would only succeed through assistance from the community. She further said the campaign would in future roll out to other parts of the town.

Apart from the clean-up campaigns, Ms Kgotlafela said Bandleng Group had more initiatives to uplift the community. She said they aimed to do that through socio-economic assistance to needy people, partnering with schools to assist in improvement of education and facilitating the community to undertake some income generating agricultural projects.

She said Lobatse used to be a thriving town and a good place to live in. However, she said their group was concerned to see the town now lagging behind in terms of socio-economic developments.

“Many historic things are found in Lobatse such as country’s first high court, the first Botswana Meat Commission (BMC) abattoir and the only psychiatric hospital in the country. We have now decided to do something to revive our town,” she said.

She said the group had developed a constitution and was in the process of legally registering.

In terms of structure, she explained that the group was led by a steering committee or board, with several sub-committees working under it. She said the sub-committees were responsible for various portfolios.

“We have the social and economic development sub-committee, the education sub-committee, the agriculture sub-committee and the magazine sub-committee,” she explained.

She said the education sub-committee was responsible for assisting schools to improve the standard of education, while the agriculture sub-committee was responsible for facilitating Lobatse residents to grow vegetables in their backyards to improve their livelihood. She further said the magazine sub-committee was responsible profiling the history of the town.

She said they had carried out some donations of clothes to needy people through the social and economic development sub-committee.

She further said they recently donated some reading books to schools in Lobatse in partnership with MacMillan Botswana.

For his part, Botoka ward councillor, Mr Tshwanelo Yane commended Bandleng Group for its effort to uplift the town.

“It is a good thing to see a group of people from this town doing making an effort to help government develop their community. This is what our government and leadership of this town encourages,” Mr Yane said. Ends