23 Jan 2017

Minister of Land Management, Water and Sanitation Services Mr Prince Maele has said after the final deadline of January 31 for plot registration, he will table a motion in Parliament to have a law that obligate Batswana to register their pieces of land.

The cautionary notice was made at a kgotla meeting on Wednesday in Semitwe.

Mr Maele said the land registration started five years ago in 2012 and was expected to end last December.

However, as result of Batswana being reluctant to come forth and register, government had to extend the registration period to the end of this month. Once the law is in place, Mr Maele said there would be a charge for plot surveying.

In addition, Minister Maele stated that after the deadline, old certificates for plots would be considered invalid.

The new certificates to be issued bear security features as a measure to prevent fraud as it has been the case with current certificates.

He therefore appealed to Batswana to do what is right by having their plots registered, adding that they should avoid last minute rush to register as it was the case during the initial  deadline.

He said over 23 000 people flocked land board offices to register their plots.

Earlier in his welcome remarks, Kgosi Batisani Joseph asked the minister to outline to them what Land Administration Procedures Capacity and Systems (LAPCAS) really entails because in their village they have not had consultations made with them on the process.  

He said because there is no communication between the residents and those administering LAPCAS, the villagers fail to make follow ups to get clarification on what is happening and the meaning of marks they sometimes find on their plots having been made during the owners abscence. BOPA