Lobatse, Botswana
Destined at one time to have been the capital city of Botswana, Lobatse is a pleasant town nestling in a range of hills (Otse mountain, the highest point in the country, is only a few kilometres away) with tree-lined avenues and a slightly wetter, cooler climate. The town lies some 65km south of Gaborone. There is a border crossing (Pioneer Gate) to South Africa and the town is the gateway to the Trans-Kalahari Highway.
In the early 1960s Lobatse had the first tarmac road in Botswana; a few short kilometres laid especially for the Royal visit of the Duke and Duchess of Windsor.
The first major settlement in the area was a Bangwaketse village, built in the late eighteenth century. Later the tribe moved west to their present capital, Kanye. There are several interesting archaeological remains to be seen around Lobatse from this and earlier eras, such as stone walling from the Ngwaketse village (this is on a private farm, called Lobatse Estates, and permission is needed to visit). There is an earlier stonewall settlement built by the Bakgwateng, a Kgalagadi grouping, who lived in the area before the Bangwaketse. This is situated on a hillside south out of Lobatse, opposite the tennis club. The town is named after Chief Molebatse.
With a population of 60,000, Lobatse is the site of the High Court as well as the headquarters of the Department of Geological Surveys. A pipeline from Gaborone and a dam at Nnywane have led to the establishment of several important industries in Lobatse.
The High Court
Located just off the main road from Gaborone as you enter Lobatse, is the High Court of Botswana. This has been situated in Lobatse since 1957 when the original High Court, now the Court of Appeal and located behind the new High Court premises, was opened by the then Chief Justice, the Honourable Sir Herbert Charles Rahe Cox. It was then called the High Court of the Bechuanaland Protectorate. Although the administration of Bechuanaland was conducted from Mafikeng, in South Africa, it was deemed necessary for the High Court to be located within the country.
The new High Court of Botswana is a modern building, which was officially opened by the Chief Justice in 1996.
St Marks Anglican Church
Lobatse's most beautiful structure is St Mark's Anglican Church. This lovely stone and thatch church was built and consecrated in 1934. Mr. Hubert Going and Mr. Jepson, a Lobatse resident who worked in Bechuanaland Stores, were the prime fundraisers and Mr. Jepson took on the task of daily supervising the building. The small rondavel on the side was used by the Priest as a changing room. The church is still in use today and efforts are being made for its restoration.
Botswana Meat Commission
The main abattoir and headquarters of the Botswana Meat Commission make Lobatse the centre of the cattle industry. Animals are driven overland from as far as Ghantzi, 500km away, to the BMC abattoir which has a meat and canning plant attached to it.
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