23 Feb 2026

The Mmalekwa Digital Centre in Kanye, financed with over P1.2 Million, is one of Debswana’s Community Social Responsibility (CSR) projects in which they are supporting the cultural heritage through partnership with communities.

This was highlighted by the Senior Manager of Technical Support Services at Debswana, Mr Segolame Ntwayagae during the Mmalekwa Digital Centre project tour by Debswana officials, Kanye district authorities and Mmalekwa Royal Cemetery Committee on Friday.

Although Kanye is not within the zone of influence, he said  Debswana chose to partner with the community to develop the historical site as part of the tourism corridor linking to other activities in Jwaneng and the surrounding areas.

The idea, he said was to get the place active by putting together a recreational facility comprising a restaurant and a lounge. He said it was also a way of luring tourists to visit and appreciate the history of Bangwaketse, particularly the Mmalekwa Royal Cemetery as that was where the forefathers of Bangwaketse were resting.

According to Mr Ntwayagae, the site visit was to appreciate the pending aspects of the project which started in 2021 and had endured some delays. However, he said he was pleased that the project stands at 80 per cent completion.

“We want to hand it within a month so that the committee could have a beneficial use of it as they would like to generate funds using the restaurant, the lounge and the gallery,” he said.

Mr Ntwayagae said Debswana financed the project, appointed the local contactor and supervised it. He said that due to the contractor-related delays the visit was also to partly re-affirm the partnership between stakeholders.

For his part Mmalekwa Royal Cemetery Committee chairperson, Mr Edward Dibeela said the cemetery was a special place reserved for the elites of the community back then.

He said the place was not only home to Bangwaketse Royals but also to the missionaries who passed by and had an impact on Bangwaketse as well as the commonwealth soldiers. He said the digital centre would store and preserve Bangwaketse’s heritage as well as improve their tourism profile. 

“The Digital Information Centre though it will work alongside Bathoen II Museum, unlike other archaeological sites, it will keep the digital representation of the grave sites together with their profiles,” he concluded. BOPA