Where squatting meets commerce

You hold a revolver to your head and pull the trigger.  If there is no blood and brains on the floor, you win the bet. The other option - well, you lose everything! Squatters of Seteneng settlement, just by the Gaborone Dam, have adapted the spirit of the Russian game.

It started with one man. Then others came in droves. Now they come in trickles, all to get a piece of the land. A squatter will engage labourers to make bricks for him and then repay them by allowing them to produce a considerable number for themselves. They brought their families and friends along.  And others followed their lead, turning the whole area into a busy industrial site. The commercial establishment celebrates its 20th anniversary this year. But there is blood on the cake. The land belongs to Letsweletse Mmope.