construct research framework for the below :

Introduction

When Botswana became independent from Britain in $1966,$ it was one of the poorest countries in the world. However, since the discovery of diamonds just a year later, Botswana has emerged as the largest producer of diamonds, in the world, with one of the highest economic growth rates. Letlhakane was a quiet, traditional rural village consisting primarily of thatched round huts with mud walls. But, due to its locality within $15-20$ kilometres of the three biggest diamond mines $($operated by Debswana, a joint venture between De Beers and the Botswana government$),$ it soon evolved as the fastest growing town in Botswana. The recent nearby discovery of one of the largest uranium deposits in the world, is assuring Letlhakane$$s prosperity well into the future. The apparently organic and informal layouts of the traditional Tswana village, including those in the $19$th century, are deceiving. The forms of these towns were based on a precise conceptual model, reflecting the cultural construct $($botho in Setswana$)$ with its rules of precedence, demarcation of gender roles and conventions of social interaction, as well as the centrality of cattle. Internal conflict and the expansion of white settlers, obliterated these traditional villages in present$-$day South Africa. But, in the British Protectorate of Bechuanaland, established in $1885,$ these villages continue to exist even to this day $$ in some instances they flourished. Botho is a particularly resilient, complex and encompassing culture, evolving in time and space by responding to climate, geo$-$political threats and opportunities, and availability of resources. The traditional ethics and social norms remain intrinsic characteristics of social behaviour throughout Botswana, and so do the spatial patterns in rural villages such as Mochudi, Gabane and Shoshong. Shantytowns and slums are visible demonstrations of what African people can achieve without official intervention or sanction, and so the terms $$informal settlement$$ and $$informality$$ have over time become associated with all bottom$-$up$,$ self$-$help products and processes. However, Letlhakane is neither a shantytown nor a slum, but rather the culmination of a very long evolution of residential and urban patterns.

Origins

Letlhakane is situated in Central Botswana, and only evolved as a village in $1939$ because it offered water for crop production and good grazing for cattle, while other parts were suffering from a severe drought. The mines have affected Letlhakane village in many ways, both positive and negative. Until the discovery of diamonds, the morphology of the village was similar to that of Shoshong and many other current traditional villages in Botswana. A number of dwellings $($malapa$),$ usually belonging to related families, were clustered in a horseshoe$-$shaped layout around a cattle kraal and a $$kgotla$($traditional meeting place$),$ constituting a ward $($dikgoro$).$ The $$dikgoro$$ is an ancient institution and has social, physical and spatial implications. Houses were mostly round huts, called $$ntlo$($the house of a wife or married woman$),$ constructed of daga $($a mixture of mud and cow dung$)$ with thatched roofs, and were

Informality in Transition $45$

mainly built by women. Open courtyards $($lolwapa$)$ were the true living spaces. In the $1940$s$,$ even the school had daga walls and thatched roofs $[1].$ Cattle are still central to Tswana culture. They signify wealth, but also serve as bride wealth $($bogadi$),$ compensation for damages, and are given as presents to show gratitude $($or influence people$).$ Cattle are slaughtered at funerals, weddings, birthdays and most celebrations $[2].$ When the mines started their operations in the early $1970$s$,$ many people migrated to Letlhakane in the hope of finding employment. The population expanded rapidly, and that had a number of profound and interlinked impacts on the morphology. First, homeowners quickly recognised a lucrative rental market and built small backyard rooms on their properties, to accommodated single men and small families. Second, due to the increase and densification of people, the livestock that was kept within the settlement was moved away from the village. This changed the village in two ways. Traditional mud houses now became difficult to construct, because cow dung was not readily available. The locals were subsequently introduced to a new and different way of house construction; concrete masonry blocks and metal roof sheeting. Such houses were built by specialised and commercialised craftsmen working in teams, and not by women anymore. Land concessions granted to the mines, restricted the territorial expansion of the village. With the cattle kraals gone, the open space defined by the horseshoe pattern was quickly filled in with dwelling plots, in most cases also offering backyard accommodation. However, the layout clearly remains organic and informal. Orapa, just $27$km from Letlhakane.