The Lutheran Church, Ramotswa in 1911 and in 2015
Wednesday, July 15, 2015
Built in 1898, I believe, the church is one of the only three churches in the country to boast a tower and spirelet.
Surprisingly, the Ramotswa church tower enjoys unexpected similarities with the later LMS church at Bobonong. In other respects, however, the Ramotswa church is unique. No other church boasts such a steeply pitched roof, a balcony or a comparable pulpit. As with any other kind of building, churches change over the course of time, are repaired and altered. Both the Ramotswa church and the very fine LMS church in Kanye, for instance, are tiling their floors – an ‘improvement’ about which I have some doubts although a conservation architect would be better placed to comment. Only rarely, however, are we able to compare a building as it was in the past and as it is today.
Whilst celebrating milestones in inclusivity, with notably P5 billion awarded to vulnerable groups, the report sounds a 'siren' on a dangerous and growing trend: the ballooning use of micro-procurement. That this method, designed for small-scale, efficient purchases, now accounts for a staggering 25% (P8 billion) of total procurement value is not a sign of agility, but a 'red flag'. The PPRA’s warning is unequivocal and must be...