13 Jun 2019

Sehithwa Sub Land Board has secured a piece of land in the village to fast track allocation of ploughing fields and residential plots.

It was reported that board officials, in collaboration with the council, were engaged in the mammoth task of designing the site layout to cater for roads and other essential services.

Assistant minister in the Ministry of Land Management, Water and Sanitation Services Mr Itumeleng Moipisi admitted during a recent kgotla meeting that the board had stopped allocating land for a long time due to shortage.

Saying the last allocation was in 2015, he explained that to date, 1 868 applications for ploughing fields and 2 926 for residential plots had been received.

“The figures are very high and are a cause for concern. I can assure you that something is being done to tackle land issues in your area,” he added.

Mr Moipisi also revealed that in the last financial year, 159 applicants benefited while this year, 100 plots would be allocated, miniscule, considering the waiting list.

He urged residents who had not registered their plots to do so as the ministry would soon start issuing new certificates.

Earlier, Sehitwa’s Kgosi Boitiro Dithapo had lamented that land boards allocated plots at bushy areas which made it difficult for people to identify their plots.

He cited the allocation of plots at allocated plots at an area called Lengana, which was overgrown with the thorny tree. 

He suggested that land be serviced before allocation to ease development.

A member of the local Village Development Committee, Ms Latelang Goitsemang, appealed to the sub land board to allocate ploughing fields as residents traditionally depended on farm produce.

She expressed appreciation for the consultation undertaken on allocation of fields but  said  communities advised while land boards had to implement as  custodians of land.

Ms Goitsemang observed that officials were better placed to know where land could be secured.

On another issue, she said the community was not happy with the seven-kilometre radius requirement for boreholes, which they said denied them the opportunity to be allocated such.

Ms Goitsemang thanked the sub land board for responding positively to the community’s plea for construction of a service centre.

She noted that the board took a decision to speed up the allocation process for the long awaited project and currently bush clearing at the site had been completed.

Responding to some comments, Mr Moipisi pointed out that it was the ministry’s intention to allocate plots in serviced areas but often failed due to financial constraints.

At times land boards were forced to allocate plots in unserviced land because of pressure from applicants, he explained.

Board chairperson Mr Ngunovandu Hange revealed that commercial ramches had been demarcated near Phalaphala settlement and Kareng village, some of which would be for game farming and others for livestock rearing.

 

He informed the meeting that the ranches would be advertised  and that efforts were ongoing to secure land for ploughing fields. ENDS