25 May 2014

Minister of Lands and Housing, Mr Lebonaamang Mokalake has urged residents of Maphashalala to develop their plots.

Addressing a kgotla meeting in Maphashalala on Friday, May 23, Mr Mokalake said people who have been allocated land should develop it within the specified period of time. He expressed concern over the high numbers of the allocated undeveloped plots and warned that failure to develop them would result in repossession of such land.

He said some people submit application forms to all land boards and upon allocation they sell the plots.

He said this explained why there were an overwhelming number of applications in some areas, particularly in areas around cities and towns. Mr Mokalake further said the ongoing land registration exercise dubbed LAPCAS will help address the problem because it will help the land boards with land ownership data.

He said at the moment it is hard to trace people who are in the unscrupulous business of selling land.

Minister Mokalake said after the discovery of coal in Maphashalala, the land board received a high number of land applications.

He said because the mine had not taken off yet, the allocated plots had not been developed. Furthermore, Mr Mokalake said the proposed land policy of 2013 will among others ensure that all eligible citizens have the opportunity to access and use the land.

He said the policy also called for protection of land rights for widows, orphans and vulnerable groups.

He said the policy had special dispensation on access to land where citizens are allowed to apply for land anywhere in the country. He said this had subjected indigenous people to extreme competition of available land, as such where residential land is available, a quota system will be used in preference of indigenous people.

However, he said Batswana were against the special dispensation, arguing that citizens should be allowed to apply for land anywhere in the country. The residents welcomed the land policy, saying they will own plots in their native land. ENDS