Ramotswa is a village in South-East District of

Botswana Botswana (, ), officially the Republic of Botswana ( tn, Lefatshe la Botswana, label=Setswana, ), is a landlocked country in Southern Africa. Botswana is topographically flat, with approximately 70 percent of its territory being the Kalahar ...

, southwest of the capital of

Gaborone Gaborone ( , , ) is the capital and largest city of Botswana with a population of 246,325 based on the 2022 census, about 10% of the total population of Botswana. Its agglomeration is home to 421,907 inhabitants at the 2011 census. Gaboron ...

. The population was 27,760 in 2011 census. It is the tribal capital of the BaLete, an ethnic majority springing from the

Nguni Nguni may refer to: *Nguni languages *Nguni cattle *Nguni people *Nguni sheep, which divide into the Zulu, Pedi, and Swazi types *Nguni stick-fighting * Nguni shield * Nguni homestead *Nguni (surname) Nguni is an African surname. Notable people ...

tribe. Ramotswa's main industry is a wheat flour mill. The village also manufactures metal products.

Kgosi A (; ) is the title for a hereditary leader of a Batswana tribe. Usage The word "kgosi" is a Setswana term for "king" or "chief". Various affixes can be added to the word to change its meaning: adding the prefix ''di-'' creates the plural form ...

Mosadi Seboko of Ramotswa is the first woman to serve as a

paramount chief A paramount chief is the English-language designation for the highest-level political leader in a regional or local polity or country administered politically with a chief-based system. This term is used occasionally in anthropological and arch ...

. Seboko took on her role as a village leader and representative to the

House of Chiefs A House of Chiefs (or ''House of Traditional Leaders'') is a post-colonial assembly, either legislative or advisory, that is recognised by either a national or regional government as consisting of and providing a collective, public voice for an eth ...

after her brother Kgosi Seboko II died in 2000. Her presence in the house of chiefs was hailed as a victory for

women's rights Women's rights are the rights and entitlements claimed for women and girls worldwide. They formed the basis for the women's rights movement in the 19th century and the feminist movements during the 20th and 21st centuries. In some countries, ...

in southern

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...

. The nearby hamlet of Otse is the site for Moeding College, originally a colonial secondary school and a school for the disabled run by the Campbill Rankoromane Community educational center. Police XI, Botswana Premier League champions for 2006, are also based in Otse. The

climate Climate is the long-term weather pattern in an area, typically averaged over 30 years. More rigorously, it is the mean and variability of meteorological variables over a time spanning from months to millions of years. Some of the meteorologi ...

semi-arid A semi-arid climate, semi-desert climate, or steppe climate is a dry climate sub-type. It is located on regions that receive precipitation below potential evapotranspiration, but not as low as a desert climate. There are different kinds of semi-ar ...

, vegetation is a tree and shrub

savanna A savanna or savannah is a mixed woodland-grassland (i.e. grassy woodland) ecosystem characterised by the trees being sufficiently widely spaced so that the canopy does not close. The open canopy allows sufficient light to reach the ground to ...

. Only a fifth of the area is farmed but the density of cattle and goats and sheep is high. Otse is overlooked by cliffs from which a colony of vultures are easily visible on most days. On the outskirts of village lies Mothubakwane ward, where a prominent figure Tlotlo Oepeng lives. Other notable places include Siga ward, home to Killer Giants the local football club, Lesetlhana ward housing the central business district and Taung village where the industry lies.

Notable natives and residents

* Mosadi Seboko, Motswana chief of the

Balete people The Balete people are a Southern African ethnic group. In Botswana they have occupied a permanent territory since around 1780, officially recognized as a tribal reserve in 1909. They are the only one of eight major tribes that do not belong to the ...

* Donald Thobega, football player * Ofentse Nato, football player

References

*"Botswana: First female paramount chief welcomed" (September 3, 2003)
IRINnews.org
{{Authority control Populated places in Botswana South-East District (Botswana) Botswana–South Africa border crossings