23 Apr 2015

Minister of Lands and Housing, Mr Prince Maele, has advised Batswana to stop selling land but rather rent it out.

Addressing kgotla meetings in Oodi and Morwa in Kgatleng District on April 21, Minister Maele expressed concern over transfers of land that emanated from sale of land which, he said, killed the spirit of ownership.

He said allocation of plots either for housing or business continued to be a headache for his ministry because there was acute shortage of land countrywide.

Minister Maele said it did not benefit Batswana to transfer their land rights to others and later apply again for a new plot knowing that it took time for one to be allocated a plot.

He said the ongoing situation in Oodi was worrisome, adding that a lot of transfers of land rights had taken place there and asked residents to refrain from doing so as there would be no more land in the near future.

Land does not increase while the population continues to grow, thereby leading to shortage of land, he said.  

Minister Maele also cautioned Batswana against corrupting land board officers so that they could help them quickly with their applications and requested them to report any officer who engages in corrupt practices.

He said those who bribe officers would be punished while the prosecuted officer would at the end lose his/her job.

Minister Maele also advised Batswana to develop their plots before the agreed term of 5 years to develop elapses.

He said developing a plot does not necessarily mean building a big house but even a small house will do unlike those who build a toilet and argue that they have develop while no one can sleep in it.

Mr Maele also said Oodi sub Lad board is owed P315 000 on lease payments therefore he implored businesses to pay their leases on time as agreed to avoid prosecution.

Residents of Oodi decried waiting for a long time for them to be allocated plots and asked the minister to address the issue so that their children could be allocated plots.

Earlier in his welcome remarks, Kgosi Rapula Rantabe complained that no land allocation was done in the village for a long time despite that land board had acquired some fields for allocation. However, the minister said his ministry was still negotiating with the field owners.

Kgosi Rantabe asked for Dikgosi to be given powers to address land issues instead of people taking matters to the courts.

At Morwa, residents complained of the wrongly designated boundary lines between Morwa and Bokaa by the land board, noting that they have long registered a complaint with the land board but no response was forthcoming.

They argued that they know where their boundary line starts and ends adding that this has denied them the right to be allocated plots. The residents are against the idea of allocating their children plots at Bokaa and Dikwididi.

One resident, Mr Tirafalo Kwapa said there were many open spaces in the village which could be allocated to their children. In response, the minister said that the responsibility of boundaries does not lie with the land board but rather with Dikgosi and village elders. 

He said the land board only rubberstamps what had been agreed upon by Dikgosi and elders.

Minister Maele cautioned residents who want to be allocated plots within their villages that it could work against them where there was shortage of land in their village. He requested residents to encourage their children to apply for plots in the nearby villages. ENDS