18 Dec 2017

Minister of Land Management, Water and Sanitation Services, Mr Prince Maele says a team building exercise is necessary to restore peace and cooperation between Mmathubudukwane residents and the sub land board.

Addressing a meeting at Mmathubudukwane Sub-land board on December 12, Minister Maele said he had come to find a resolution to allegations that there was lack of cooperation between residents and the sub land board officers as stated during one of President Lt Gen. Dr Seretse Khama Ian Khama’s visit to the village. 

After a lengthy engagement on the matter with concerned parties, Mr Maele said there was need for role clarity on what the land board duties and obligations were.

He promised to carry out a team building exercise that would help iron out some issues and create a platform where all stakeholders could learn from each other and map the way forward.

He said they had to remember that they served the community and must communicate and consult each other to achieve better results. He added that the sub land board secretary and deputies should address all issues and report back to him in order to share the information with the concerned parties.

Mr Maele also urged the two parties to work out their differences, as they needed each other to address the community and other issues.

He said he would also meet with President Khama and give him a report on how the meeting went, including the way forward as agreed by the two parties.

 Mr Maele said there was need to resolve the matter amicably, noting that land allocation was a sensitive matter which had caused civil wars and unrest in many countries.

He said government took land allocation seriously and that it had come up with laws that guided the allocation of land to avoid conflicts. 

However, Kgosi Michael Balebetse reiterated his stance on the lack of cooperation and non-participation by the sub land board in community activities. 

He said they did not attend village consultations and that at times they sent junior officers to important meetings which required the guidance of senior officers.

He said they also needed land overseers who would be responsible for signing land applications.

Kgosi Esron Bogatsu of Malolwane said despite a healthy working relationship with the sub land board, the challenge was the failure to address complaints on time by the sub land board officials as well as allocating plots on access roads.

However, the chairperson of Mmathubudukwane Sub-land board, Ms Beauty Ngwato said they had always engaged local authorities whenever they had activities they wanted to undertake in their communities, including kgotla meetings. 

She highlighted instances where they took part in community activities, and even sent officers to work there during activities. 

Ms Ngwato said if they were not doing something properly, they would address it to restore the good relations with the community.

Giving a vote of thanks, the vice council chairperson, Mr Stephen Makhura thanked Minister Maele for living up to his promise and coming back to address them on the issue and uniting the two parties as they needed each another.  

The meeting was attended by dikgosi from all the five villages along the Madikwe River. They are Mmathubudukwane, Malolwane, Sikwane, Ramonaka and Mabalane, and village development committees and various stakeholders. BOPA