03 Sep 2017

Assistant Minister of Land Management, Water and Sanitation Services, Mr Itumeleng Moipisi says over 100 000 plots are yet to be registered as per LAPCAS programme.

Mr Moipisi said during a kgotla meeting at Mogojogojo this week that so far, little over 700 000 out of expected 800 000 plus plots had been registered countrywide.

The Kgalagadi North law maker has thus appealed to those lagging behind to step up registration lest they find themselves on the wrong side of the law.

He said this in view of the Tribal land bill of 2017, passed in the just ended winter session of the national assembly whose primary objective is to improve the administration of tribal land.

The bill requires among others that all customary land rights be registered with the Registrar of Deeds and forbids occupation of newly allocated land prior to registration.

This particular piece of legislation, will upon enactment, require all persons who are already in occupation of land granted to them under the repealed act to reapply within six months of the commencement of the new Tribal Land Act for them to have their land registered by the Registrar of Deeds.

Mr Moipisi nonetheless gave residents of Mogojogojo a pat on the back for the vigor with which they embraced the registration exercise and pleaded with them to advise others to keep up the pace.

“The number that I have been given for people who have registered their plots is quite satisfactory,” he said.

He also told residents that Ngwaketse land board had identified a piece of land that would be allotted to the 3 753 individuals in the waiting list once surveying was complete.

Additionally, Mr Moipisi declared that Batswana were free to access any of the land board offices across the length and breadth of Botswana to register their plots and that most of the offices were open to the public even during lunch.

On a low note, Assistant Minister Moipisi registered a concern about chunks of business plots that lie idle with no or little developments; a condition that he said needed to be dealt with by owners without delay.

He also expressed disappointment about squatter camps that were sprawling just about everywhere in Botswana, saying the practice was prohibited by law and that those seeking land should follow due process.

On water shortage in the village, Mr Moipisi said to the elation of all and sundry that his ministry would as a matter of urgency, inspect whether there had been marked improvement in the yields from the borehole that had been supplying Mogojogojo with portable water until water subsided due to dry spell.

He said until being connected to the North-South carrier pipeline via Lerwana village, Mogojogojo would continue to be bowsed from Lobatse. BOPA