22 Jul 2020

Residents of Ngamiland have been advised to stop selling land.

Addressing a series of kgotla meetings in Samedupi, Kookale and Mawana, Maun East MP, Mr Goretetse Kekgonegile expressed concern over the alarming rate at which residential plots were being sold and pleaded for an end to the tendency.

He suggested that leasing out the land was a better arrangement.

He said the land board was also concerned about squatters, some of whom had sold their allocated residential plots. 

Mr Kekgonegile said some residents sold their residential plots in Maun and fled to the cattle posts, only to re-apply when life became unbearable. 

He said land, as an immovable asset with high value, should be treasured. 

“Land does not increase, but the population continues to grow, thereby leading to shortage of land,” he said, adding that the land board was overwhelmed by the high rate of transfers, while the waiting list for plots stood at 40 000.  He acknowledged that the land board had delayed to allocate plots, as the last allocation was conducted in 2006. 

Mr Kekgonegile, however, pointed out that the land board said it would start allocations this year, as they had demarcated 5 000 residential plots in areas such as Sexaxa and Maun.

He expressed a wish that next year, the land board could also allocate other 5 000 plots to push the waiting list. He urged parents to encourage their children to apply for plots.

On other issues, Mr Kekgonegile urged residents to fully utilise their ploughing fields to feed the nation and sell the surplus. He said the COVID-19 pandemic had taught the nation a lesson of its over-reliance on imported goods, saying it was now time to improve the agricultural sector as they had fertile land and the capability to plough.

He appreciated that some residents made ends meet from their fields during trying times, while some benefitted from the COVID-19 social relief programme.

The COVID-19 pandemic, he said, had paralysed many sectors of the economy, but agriculture sector survived because many farmers managed to sell their produce to government.

 Mr Kekgonegile also assured the residents that Parliament would discuss how best to transform the agricultural sector. 

In response, the residents admitted that the COVID-19 pandemic was a lesson to all as it paralysed all economic activities including project implementation.

They agreed that agriculture was the backbone of every economy, but decried that their efforts to plough were frustrated by roaming elephants.

They requested government to assist them with interventions to deter elephants from invading their fields. Some noted that they had been allocated land for integrated farming, but they could not utilise it due to financial constraints. ends