08 Mar 2018

There were 29 people identified as potential squatters who were profiled by the land board, Assistant Minister of Land Management, Water and Sanitation Services, Mr Itumeleng Moipisi has said.

“They were given a hearing by both the land board and the land tribunal, and the land board now has court orders for eviction,” he said, adding that the eviction process had however not yet commenced.

Mr Moipisi also told Parliament that out of the 29, nine plot occupiers had their plots registered after they submitted admissible evidence that they were duly allocated by bogosi before the establishment of land boards.

Mr Moipisi explained that the nine plot occupiers later had their plots registered with the land board in line with Section 13 (1) of the Tribal Land Act.

The assistant minister said government was not in any way trampling on people’s rights, adding that no person had a legal right to occupy land without lawful authority.

“It is only those without lawful authority that are taken through due process and evicted,” he said.

In addition, he said for avoidance of doubt, allocations made by bogosi before land boards came into being were recognised as lawful allocations.

The MP for Ramotswa, Mr Samuel Rantuana had asked the minister to update Parliament on the status of the squatters in Lenkwane and Metsimaswaane.

Mr Rantuana had also asked whether the poor people were not entitled to their land that was allocated to them by their chiefs since they had no lawyers to represent them at the land tribunal.

He had also asked the minister if he was aware that government, through the land boards, was trampling on poor people’s constitutional rights.

Still in Parliament, the assistant minister said records at the Deeds Office indicated that a total of 1 127 farms, including portions of farms, had changed hands since 2010 to date.

Responding to another question from the Ramotswa MP, the assistant minister said one farm, 55 OQ in the North East District measuring 618.6401 hectares was purchased in 2013 to augment Tati tribal land.

He also explained that the purchase price for farm 55 OQ was P927 960.15, and that it was paid to the owner. MP Rantuana had wanted to know how many freehold farms had changed hands since 2010, and how many had been converted into tribal land and where; and if any compensation had been paid to the owners. Ends