Tlokweng

Tlokweng is the village across the Notwane River from Gaborone, and these days you cannot see where one stops and the other starts. The 2022 census counted 55,508 people. It is the seat of the Batlokwa, who date their village to 1880 and to Kgosi Gaborone, the chief the city next door is named after. Most visitors only see it from the car, on the road in from the South African border.

Getting there

From South Africa, take the R49 north from Zeerust, 103 km to Kopfontein. Across the fence the post is called Tlokweng, the road becomes the A12 (Tlokweng Road), and the village starts about 15 km further on. Botswana’s immigration department gives the hours as 06:00 to midnight.

From central Gaborone you just drive east over the river. Gaborone’s combis and shared taxis have no route maps, so ask the driver whether he is going to Tlokweng.

When to go

It has Gaborone’s weather. Rain comes between October and April, the hottest days usually come in October just before it starts, and winter is dry with cold nights, around 5°C in June. The day to be here is Mafifatshwana, the Batlokwa cultural festival at Tlokweng Recreational Park, with traditional dance, choirs and food. In 2024 it fell on 21 September.

What to do

Not a great deal, and I would not pretend otherwise. The one stop with real substance is the main kgotla, the chief’s court and public meeting ground. A statue of Kgosi Gaborone stands there, and the 2008 cultural day that grew into Mafifatshwana was started to mark it. He led the Batlokwa from 1880 to 1931 and is thought to have been about 106 when he died. In 1895 this land was given up to the British for a railway, and his people rented it back from the railway company for the rest of his life so the old man would not be moved. It only came back to them, as the Batlokwa Reserve, after his death. The kgotla is a working court, not a museum, so ask before you walk in or take photos.

The present chief, Kgosi Puso, has spoken of wanting a museum of Batlokwa culture here. In 2025 that was still a wish.

Readers of Alexander McCall Smith know the name from Tlokweng Road Speedy Motors, Mr J.L.B. Matekoni’s garage. The garage is made up. The road is real.

Good to know

The CDC lists no malaria transmission in Gaborone, and South-East is not among the districts where it records even occasional cases.

Tlokweng works as a first or last night near the border. Wikivoyage lists several guesthouses and a large motel along the Tlokweng Road.

The Notwane is dry for much of the year but can flood fast after a storm, and Britain’s travel advice says floods can shut border crossings at short notice. It also warns of livestock and wild animals on the road outside town, worst at night, which matters on the 15 km between the border and the village if you cross late. What you pay at the border for a foreign car is on our border page.

Last updated 12 October 2026. Sources: Statistics Botswana, 2022 Population and Housing Census, population of cities, towns and villages (Tlokweng village), Department of Immigration and Citizenship, Botswana ports of entry with operating hours (PDF, updated April 2025, copy hosted by pcf11.org), Botswana Daily News, Bersets tour Batlokwa kgotla (8 February 2023), Botswana Daily News, Anniversary opportunity to reflect (31 August 2025), Botswana Daily News, Tlokweng to celebrate 140 years of existence in grand style (28 January 2020), US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Botswana traveller health (malaria areas), UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, Botswana safety and security (crime, livestock on roads, floods at border crossings), Mmegi, Mafifatshwana Cultural Festival, a feast of Batlokwa culture (20 September 2024), Wikipedia, Tlokweng (location, border distance, the Tlokweng of the novels), Wikipedia, Gaborone (Kgosi) (the move to the Notwane, the 1895 land deal, the Batlokwa Reserve), Wikipedia, Notwane River (seasonal flow, flash floods), Wikipedia, R49 (Zeerust to Kopfontein, the A12 on the Botswana side), Wikipedia, Botswana and South Africa border crossings table, Wikipedia, Gaborone (climate), Wikivoyage, Gaborone (Tlokweng guesthouses, combis and taxis).