08 Jan 2020

Land allocation should be done in a transparent and fair manner to ensure all deserving applicants are given a chance.

Tonota MP,  Mr Pono Moatlhodi said this during a Kgotla meeting in Shashe Mooke on January 7.

Responding to concerns raised by Kgosi Batshogile Adam on how the Tonota Sub-land board has been handling the allocation of fields, the MP explained that the role of land boards was to equitably manage land on behalf of the people.

He said there was therefore need for consultation with residents.
Kgosi Adam had complained that they had long identified land within the village where people permanently residing at Mphane lands would be allocated residential plots.

Mr Moatlhodi suggested that residents a special request be made to the land board.

The MP also informed residents that special dispensations on land allocation were allowed under law and urged residents, in conjunction with land overseers and the traditional leadership, to follow all the processes and make representations to the Tonota Sub-land Board.

He said the process should not be difficult since land had been identified to re-settle Mphane lands residents.
Mr Moatlhodi urged land overseers to be proactive and to be on the lookout for squatters who made land allocation cumbersome and promised to work with government officials to ensure successful land allocation.

He stated that land was crucial if Batswana were going to be self-sufficient in food production.

The MP praised residents who had agreed to move from their land to make way for developments noting that it should be the guiding spirit for every resident when it came to issues of national interest.

Furthermore, the MP explained that he was aware that the local primary school could no longer be extended and promised to work with residents to ensure that a second promised primary school comes to fruition.
On other issues, he cautioned residents against vandalising standpipes as that exerted a strain on public finances.

He also implored them to assist the police to fight crime.

Mr Moatlhodi expressed concern that some villagers were sometimes forced to drink unsafe water from the Shashe River due to water shortage.
 However, he expressed the hope that the ongoing water project would alleviate the situation. Concerning the Mandunyane bypass road, MP Moatlhodi expressed the hope that the contractor would be on site in the first week of June. The project, he explained, would cost P723 million and had been delayed by relocations in Shashe Mooke, Mandunyane and Semotswane.

He said the expectation was for the contractor to hire local youth further highlighting that Shashe Mooke would benefit from having an access road.

The legislator encouraged people to develop fields which were allocated as far back as 30 years ago or hand them back to the land board.

Kgosi Adam had earlier criticised the sub-land board for wanting to allocate people five hectare fields instead of the 16  allowed by law. He also informed the MP that lack of cooperation from the land board resulted in conflicts between residents and cattle post owners as there was rampant squatting on the other side of the river.

He decried the fact that though they were promised a second primary school, it had since been removed from upcoming development plans.

Tonota sub-land board chairperson, Mr Tjangu Gulubane stressed the need to follow correct procedures when requesting special dispensation in land allocation. The land board, he said, was willing to work with residents to resolve the Mphane issue. Meanwhile, he noted that the allocation of five hectare fields was sometimes dictated by availability of land.

Furthermore, he said people who had been allocated 16 hectare fields had appealed their issue to the main land board.

He promised residents that they would continue working with the traditional leadership to resolve the land issue.

The Village Development Committee secretary, Ms Maitumelo Seretse, informed the MP that the Kgotla shelter, which was destroyed by a storm last November, had not been renovated  as the tribal administration office explained it had not been properly handed over to the Department of Buildings and Engineering Services after construction.

She pleaded with MP Moatlhodi to assist in resolving the issue.

Ms Seretse thanked government for Kgotla offices but decried the fact that they furniture and a telephone were not included in the package. Ends