20 Mar 2017

Minister of Land Management, Water and Sanitation Services, Mr Prince Maele has promised to bring closure to some land issues bothering Batlokwa.

Among the issues are Batlokwa land lease, review of Tlokweng Development Plan and the village boundaries.

Minister Maele said this at a Kgotla meeting on March 16 that he will lead a delegation to meet Batlokwa royals, representing the tribe on March 30.

He was hopeful that the consultative meeting would iron out the differences between Batlokwa and his ministry.

Mr Maele said most of the issues affecting Batlokwa could not be resolved over a Kgotla meeting hence the need for thorough consultation where supporting documents would be presented to settle matters.

The minister said at the end, there had to be finality to issues and that would either favour the ministry or the tribe.

Regarding the review of Tlokweng Development Plan, he said there was no way the Land Board could impose the plan on the tribe.

“We cannot impose a development plan on Batlokwa,” said Mr Maele adding that he did not condone a situation where issues dragged forever.

Thus, he said the plan would be put on hold until issues surrounding Batlokwa land issues were thrashed during the proposed consultative meeting.

On other issues, Mr Maele briefed Batlokwa that all of the dams in the country were almost full except Thune which was at 87.4 per cent.

He said the current situation called for Batswana to conserve water bearing in mind that for the past 16 years the country was facing severe water scarcity.

Mr Maele also said the ministry had decided to do away with the P20 standard charge, which was charged on every household connected to water.

He also encouraged residents to pay their water bills to avoid huge water bills and being disconnected.

For his part, Kgosi Puso of Batlokwa said the intention was to come back to the tribe after the consultative meeting.

Kgosi Puso said bogosi had the interest of the tribe at heart, adding that the tribe should trust their leadership for true representation.

During comments, some of the residents complained of huge water bills, poor service from the land board and people who illegally drew water from the rivers in their vicinity.

Others complained about shortage of residential plots, saying it was only in Tlokweng that residential plots were advertised, while others decried shortage of grazing land. ENDS