20 Jun 2022

The launch in Moshupa yesterday of the secure land title system signifies achievement of a milestone in Botswana’s land sector reform, says President Dr Mokgweetsi Masisi.

  It saw the first couple, (First Lady  Neo was in attendance), being issued with a title to replace the old certificate.

 Dr Masisi said the reform was in  recognition of robust and transparent land administration as a tool for advancing economic development. 

  Describing the move as a major step in unlocking tribal land economic potential, the President  said Batswana would now directly use the title as security or collateral to access assistance from financial institutions.

   “With this secure land title there shall be enhanced security of title records, easy access to plot ownership online and provision of certainty and clarity on plot ownership as it will be easier to ascertain who owns which particular plot and where,” the President said. 

He said the title provided for compulsory registration of all tribal grants including the customary kind at Deeds Registry as well as  digitisation of land records.

President Masisi said other land reforms included review and implementation of the 2015 National Land Policy as amended in 2019 and Deeds Registry (Amendment) Act of 2017.

The reforms, he said, were consistent with the Botswana Democratic Party 2019 election manifesto pledge to change the current land tenure system.

“We will neither slumber nor sleep until comprehensive legislative and policy review confers rightful ownership over pieces of land that Batswana own,  according them  ‘owners’ rights to such land, which they may use  as security to unlock opportunities,” he said.   

Dr Masisi said government was determined to continue reviewing other land related legislation with a view to facilitating the ease of doing business. 

He expressed confidence that the land reforms would unlock the true potential and economic value of tribal land. 

Giving the historical background to Botswana’s land management, President Masisi said during the pre-colonial era, there was a single land tenure system managed by dikgosi which had no land records whilst during protectorate years, a three-tenure system was introduced.   

Tribal land remained unregistrable while freehold and state land, then known as crown land, were registered with the Deeds Office located in Mafikeng, he explained. 

The President further said at independence, the three-tenure system was maintained and in 1970, through the Tribal Land Act of 1968, land boards were established to take over  management of tribal land.

Customary land grants remained unregistrable and one had to convert their grant to common law lease if they wanted to register with Deeds Registry, he said.

Dr Masisi stated that record keeping remained a challenge due to lack of robust management tools and systems.   

“These challenges were compounded by the fact that we continued to allocate un-surveyed land and our Deeds Registry did not recognise customary land grants as registrable rights,” he said.

President Masisi said the manner in which tribal land was managed gave the impression that customary land grants were inferior to freehold and state land tenures.   

“Our aim is to correct the defective machinery and legacy inherited from colonial administration with a view to straightening up land records, to compel registration and properly account for basic facts about the extent of our land as a resource,” he said.

For his part, the Minister of Land and Water Affairs, Dr Kefentse Muzwinila said government was in the process of speeding up utililisation of the secure land title system.

The system included special security features that would reduce incidence of fraud and forgery  prevalent in the old certificate, said Dr Muzwinila.

He revealed that all the reforms were anchored into a multi-platform computer system called Land Information System which ensured that all land delivery processes took place until the final printing of the title at Deeds Registry.

Minister Muzwinila admitted that there had been a land allocation backlog and assured Batswana  that a minimum of 100 000 allocations would be made nationwide this financial year. ENDS