10 Aug 2022

To help speed up land allocation, Tati Land Board, which is faced with acute shortage of land, has decided to concentrate on preparation of infill layouts instead of village expansion.

The in-fills will now be able to cater for the now reduced numbers of the residential waiting list from 64 324 to 63 234 in the North East.

The board chairperson, Mr Nixon Mogapi told a press conference in Francistown that the decision followed the ongoing land allocations and vetting that took place from  July 4 to 30, which saw the waiting list being reduced from 64 324 to 63 234, after removing all rejected applications from the list.

Regarding the surveying of infill layouts for this current financial year, Mr Mogapi told journalists that a total of 2 728 residential plots would be surveyed and that Tati Land Board had been given approximately P2 million to outsource the surveying of the plots.

He said the tender for outsourcing was floated in June, closed and opened on July 29, while a tender committee to evaluate and award to eligible bidders had already been appointed.

Mr Mogapi said they would continue to request for information on applicants who had been allocated land by other land boards as well as write to individuals who appeared more than twice in the system.

He said the land board had since allocated 1 279 plots and would continue with the remaining 111.  

Mr Mogapi stated that the board had set a target of 4 975 plots to be allocated for the financial year 2022/2023 and that 4 531 residential plots had been surveyed and were at various stages of approval.

He explained that a total of 1 452 residential plots had been approved and that the board was directed to allocate them within the month of July, adding that so far 705 plots had been allocated and that the allocation was still on-going.

Mr Mogapi informed journalists that 2 239 hectares of land had been assessed and a project memo amounting to over P204 000 has been sent to the Department of Surveys and Lands in 2021 for compensations.

“We have since engaged the Department of Surveys and Lands and they are working on it to disburse funds for compensation,” he added.

Mr Mogapi said Tati Land Board had come up with measures on how to speed up land allocation, especially in providing shelter through allocation of residential plots, which is the basic need for every human being.

Mr Mogapi said while they had not experienced any mushrooming of squatting, some squatters had been identified at Tati Siding being three churches and one kraal on a surveyed layout. 

He said the squatters had been given three months and one month to have vacated the said plots respectively and a site inspection would be conducted to check for compliance.

Mr Mogapi also told the journalists that there had been a motion suggesting that a certain location outside Themashanga by the name of Sekonje be incorporated into Themashanga  as a ward.

Sekonje is about three kilometres east of Themashanga and has a total of 33 homestead though some are within their ploughing fields.

Tati Land Board secretary, Mr Bious Segole and vice board chairperson, Mr Fidelis Machola also underscored that there was a serious shortage of land in the North East District and that Tati Land Board was overwhelmed. Ends