16 Feb 2022

The current monetary compensation model, which is based on the laws of land rights and costs of developments, is facing resistance from land title holders.

Minister of Land Management, Water and Sanitation Services, Mr Kefentse Mzwinila said this in response to a question on Tuesday.

He said government rates, according to land owners, were not commensurate with what they believed to be the correct compensation.

He said the preferred model was the market value of the property, which would come at a huge cost to government.

“My belief is that the introduction of other compensation models will address Batswana’s concerns and shorten the land acquisition process which in turn will avail land for allocation,” said Mr Mzwinila.

He said existing impediments delayed expedited land allocations in the country.

He also indicated that the ministry was working towards addressing some of the identified delays in land allocation.

He said the fundamental challenge was the delays dealing with land acquisition. To address the challenge, he said, the ministry was looking into different compensation models with the view to have partnerships with land owners instead of outright purchase or outright compensation payments.

Minister Mzwinila said during the 12th Parliament, a motion was approved that sought to have residential plots allocated on un-serviced land after thorough consultation with eligible applicants.

Following approval of the motion, he said the ministry, through all land boards, instantly implemented the decision to expedite land allocation of un-serviced plots to meet the demands of residential and business plots across the country.

“My ministry therefore anticipate to realise accelerated allocations which will ultimately address backlog of residential plots waiting lists,” he said.

Additionally, he said one of the identified impediments was the standardised procedures for land delivery and developments across towns, villages and rural settlements irrespective of size and location.

‘We are addressing this bottlenecks by rolling back the administrative and legal requirements for creating the plots so that requirements like the Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) are only undertaken where it is necessary to do so,” he added.

He added that currently there was a legal requirement to perform the SEA and the environmental sensitivity of the area needed to be understood.

He also indicated that the ministry was engaging with the Ministry Environment, Natural Resources Conservation and Tourism for exemption of some of the plans from the requirements of SEA.

In addition, he said the limited use of technology was one of the contributing factors to delays in land delivery, adding the ministry was revamping its resources to embrace new technology.

He said base maps were done by the land board and surveying was done by the Department of Surveys and Mapping. Funds permitting, he said, they would consider the use of drones in terms of expediting the processes.

“At structural level, we are considering de-centralisation of some functions to the land boards so that some processes like valuation for compensation purposes and surveying can be completed without reference to the Ministry departments,” he said.

Further, he said the ministry was also considering removal of some stages in the production of layout plans.

At present, he said delays were experienced in the production of layout plans because they were done by the physical planning department at the Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development.

Furthermore, Mr Mzwinila said land boards have identified open spaces within the buildup areas.

He said the expected number of residential plans to be realised from the infill developments was 83 310 and would be allocated during the current financial year.

Tati West MP, Mr Simon Moabi had wanted to know if there were measures in place to expedite land allocation to Batswana. ENDs