28 Oct 2013

Government has increased compensation for damages caused by wild animals on crops and livestock, residents of Mmadikola and Letlhakane have learnt.

An official from the department of wildlife and national parks, Letlhakane office, Mr Mmoloki Kepaletswe said this when responding to concerns raised by some members of the community during a kgotla meeting addressed by Vice President, Dr Ponatshego Kedikilwe.

Mr Kepaletswe said the changes would effect on November 1.  He said farmers had been complaining that compensation for the damages by wild animals was far too little to cover for the loss.

He said the elephant population had increased significantly, resulting in them moving to as far as Boteti looking for better land to forage and water. Mr Kepaletswe said the situation had negatively impacted on the farming in Boteti as elephants destroyed crops, fence demarcating Makgadikgadi National Park and communal areas giving access for predators from the park to trouble farmers.

Mr Kepaletswe said the changes would also cover for damages on the material used to fence ploughing fields more especially poles harvested from the bush as they were not compensated in the past.

He said in a case where a farmer’s cow was killed by a lion, it would be compensated with P3 000, which will be an increase from the current P1 050. He said compensation for a donkey killed by a lion had increased from P70 to P200. Mr Kepaletswe said in a case where a farmer’s bull had been killed by a lion, compensation was raised from P1 900 to P5 500.

As for crops damaged by elephants, Mr Kepaletswe said the compensation will be paid per hectare depending on the type of crop. He said in a case where a hectare of sweet reed (ntshe) had been destroyed by elephants, a farmer will be compensated with P4 000.

Mr Kepaletswe however cautioned farmers to continue taking good care of their livestock and to fence their fields to guard against predators and elephants. He added that compensation will only be paid after a thorough investigation, adding that in a case where the farmer had killed a lion that had caused the damage, compensation will not be paid.

He said meetings will be addressed throughout the Boteti sub district to inform the community on the changes. Dr Kedikilwe had also cautioned the community to bear in mind that the compensation is meant to cover for the loss they had incurred.

As such Dr Kedikilwe said the thorough investigations prior to compensating for the damage are meant to guard against any form of foul play and insure that the programme serves the intended purpose. ENDS