26 Sep 2013

The Minister of Lands and Housing says the proposed land policy will not allow people to sell their last plots and that one person will only be allowed to apply for one residential area. Addressing kgotla meetings in Semboyo, Toteng and Shorobe, Mr Lebonaamang Mokalake said he want to consult on the proposed policy before it goes back to Parliament.

“As for married couples, only one of them will be allowed to apply for one residential area,” he said. He indicated that land is scarce and as such his ministry is looking to make sure that at least everyone will own a piece of land. “I must say that the policy will not affect those that already have more than one residential area and also the policy will not affect those that will inherit or have money to buy more plots” he said.

Mr Mokalake also said his ministry is looking to cancel waiting lists as they give people hope that they will be given land. “What we are proposing to do now is that our land boards will plan and do the plots after that, that is when they will advertise for people to apply for those plots,” he said.

He indicated that after people have applied they will vet the numbers to see those that do not own any land and if the numbers are higher than the number of plots, raffling method will be used.

“For example, just recently we advertised 285 plots in Tlokweng and 21 000 people applied for them. We then vetted people out and remained with close to 10 000 who do not own plots. That is when we introduced a raffle,” he said. He further said the land policy will also look to reserve a quota of plots for people of that area. “For example if Tawana land board has 1000 plots to allocate in Maun, 500 of those will be reserved for the people of Maun and the rest will be open to every Motswana,” he said.

Mr Mokalake said people should bear in mind that plots in areas close to towns have run out and now if those people now want land elsewhere they will complain that the law is not fair. He said land policy also talks about affirmative action when it comes to land allocation. He indicated that people are being taken advantage of and as such the policy will have conditions for such instances. “For example, let us say we give the youth land because of affirmative action, we will insert conditions stating that the land will not be sold for twenty years,” he said.

He indicated that tribes such as Basarwa have been used as fronts to access land by affirmative action and then later chased away hence conditions set will help with such cases. Mr Mokalake also said the policy will address issues of inheritance when it comes to parents passing away or one spouse passing away.

“We have seen cases of when the husband has died and then the husband’s family chases away the wife and confiscates land. In other instances children are chased away after both of their parents have passed on. The policy will clearly state that the land belongs to the surviving partner and if not to the children,” he said.

He also indicated that the policy states to allow for integrated farming. “People will be able to use their ploughing fields for livestock provided that the land is properly secured by way of fencing,” he said. Residents of Semboyo, Toteng and Shorobe informed the minister that they agree with the proposed policy especially reservation quota for people of that area.

They indicated that it is how things were done in the past and should have never been changed. They also appealed to the minister to seek audience with the minister of Agriculture regarding the foot and mouth disease in Ngamiland. ENDS