11 Dec 2016

The Tawana Land Board has started evicting about 22 illegal squatters at Moeti/Sedie wards in Maun.
The  demolition of 22 structures found in nine yards started on December 6, this year,
Briefing the Maun leadership on the demolition this week, the Tawana Land Board chairperson, Mr Kutjavetira Mauano said the exercise was as per court order issued by the Land Tribunal in 2014.
Mr Mauano said a total of 52 illegal settlers have appeared before the Land Tribunal and 40 of them were susceptible for eviction; however he said 22 of the illegal settlers have been served with court eviction letters while 18 are yet to be served.
He said the eviction letters were the Land Tribunal’s final decision following failure to comply by the affected illegal settlers.
Mr Mauano said both the Maun Sub -land Board and the Tawana Land Board have engaged in dialogue with the squatters and have advised them to relocate from as early as 2008 to 2014, but nothing had materialised.
Mr Mauano said squatting was rife in Maun with a total of 891 illegal settlers distributed around the district, some in Sexaxa village, Sedie ward, Senonnori ward, Shashe ward, Polokabatho and some in the Okavango district.
Although some of the Maun leadership had pleaded with the land board on December 5 to postpone the eviction to the near future, however the demolitions continued since it was a court eviction order which could not be overruled.
Councillor for Moeti ward, Mr Tlotlo Baganaletso who said he understood the seriousness of the court order and that it had to be followed had requested that the Tawana Land Board consider the bad weather condition saying removing people during that time was a double blow.
Councillor Baganaletso also said it should be considered that the illegal settlers had school going children who were going to be mainly affected since the parents had nowhere to go in Maun except cattle posts.
Maun Administration Authority (MAA) chairperson, Mr Gaokgakala Letswee noted that the eviction court order could not be overlooked; however he advised that the local authority and stakeholders should combine efforts to address the next group of illegal squatters to avoid    forceful eviction.
Mr Letswee noted that squatting was a worrisome trend in the region but complained that consultation between the Tawana Land Board and the political leadership was not enough, and advised them to change going forward.
He noted that the issue of land was a thorny one in Maun area because of delayed land allocation by the land board, while on the other hand sale of plots was rife by the same people who ended up squatting.
Mr Letswee said there was need for cooperation among the district leadership.
Maun deputy commissioner, Ms Angelinah Leano said the timing of eviction was wrong because of the current bad weather conditions and the fact that the festive season was a merry time, adding that it could had been delayed.
Again, Ms Leano however said if carried out, the eviction would scare people from the consequences of self-allocations, adding that illegal settling would be a thing of the past if leadership worked together. ends