Ramotswa

Ramotswa is the capital of the Balete and the administrative seat of South-East District, 30 km south of Gaborone and hard up against the South African border. The 2022 census counted 33,271 people. It is a working village with a flour mill, a mission hospital and a lot of residents who commute to the capital, and nobody would call it a tourist stop. People come for two reasons: the small border post, and an interest in how a Botswana chieftaincy works today.

Getting there

Ramotswa is a short drive south of Gaborone, and road is the only way in. Botswana Railways has suspended its passenger service.

The border post faces Swartkopfontein on the South African side. Botswana’s immigration department lists it as open from 07:00 to 19:00, far shorter hours than Tlokweng or Pioneer Gate, which both run from 06:00 to midnight. Another list shows longer hours for this post, so treat 19:00 as the latest you can turn up.

When to go

Rain here falls mostly between October and April, in hot weather. Winter days are warm and the nights cold. The Notwane River rises 11 km south of the village and runs along the border. It is dry for much of the year and can flood fast after storms. In March 2016 it overflowed and the border post was shut for a time. After heavy rain, plan on Tlokweng instead.

What to do

The Balete are one of Botswana’s eight main tribes but are not Tswana by origin, and their oral history is still argued over, including when they settled here. Their land was recognised as a reserve in 1909. Mosadi Seboko, born in Ramotswa in 1950, took office as kgosikgolo in January 2002 and was crowned in August 2003, the first woman to hold a paramount chieftaincy in the country. She also chaired the House of Chiefs. In 2012 the tribe brought back bogwera, the men’s initiation school. Her installation also ended the custom that a woman came to the kgotla, the village meeting, only when a man invited her.

The other landmark is Bamalete Lutheran Hospital, started by German Lutheran missionaries in 1934 and now a 134-bed hospital with a hospice and a nursing school.

Otse, another Balete village further down the Lobatse road, has the hill Lentswe la Baratani and the Manyelanong Game Reserve, and makes a better half-day outing than Ramotswa itself.

Good to know

The CDC says there is no malaria transmission in Gaborone and does not list South-East among its risk districts, and the UK’s travel health service rates the southern half of Botswana as very low risk. Repellent in the evenings is enough. Livestock strays on to the roads outside the towns, which matters most after dark. We have found only two places to stay in the village, so Gaborone is the easier base.

Last updated 12 October 2026. Sources: Statistics Botswana, 2022 Population and Housing Census, population of cities, towns and villages (Ramotswa 33,271), Department of Immigration and Citizenship, Botswana ports of entry with operating hours (PDF, updated April 2025, copy hosted by pcf11.org), Wikipedia, Ramotswa (Balete capital, flour mill, oral history of the settlement), Wikipedia, Mosadi Seboko (born in Ramotswa in 1950, kgosikgolo from January 2002, chair of the Ntlo ya Dikgosi, crowned August 2003, women and the kgotla, 30 km from Gaborone), Wikipedia, Balete people (not Tswana by origin, villages, 1909 reserve, bogwera revived in 2012), Wikipedia, Bamalete Lutheran Hospital (founded 1934 by German Lutheran missionaries, 134 beds, hospice, nursing school), Wikipedia, South-East District (Ramotswa as district capital, sub-districts), Wikipedia, Botswana and South Africa border (the Notwane as the border past Ramotswa; crossings table pairs Ramotswa with Swartkopfontein and shows 06:00 to 22:00), Wikipedia, Notwane River (rises 11 km south of Ramotswa, runs along the border, seasonal with flash floods), Botswana Daily News, Floods cause Ramotswa border post closure (March 2016), Botswana Railways, passenger services (suspended), Wikipedia, Gaborone (rain between October and April, warm winter days and cold nights, Ramotswa as a commuter town), Wikipedia, Otse (Balete village on the Gaborone to Lobatse road, Lentswe la Baratani, Manyelanong Game Reserve), US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Botswana traveller health (malaria districts), UK National Travel Health Network and Centre (NaTHNaC), Botswana malaria risk areas, UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, Botswana safety and security (livestock on roads at night, flash floods closing border posts).