21 Aug 2022

Discussions to finalise the pending Mababe land issue are ongoing, Tawana Land Board chairperson, Mr Emmanuel Dube revealed.

When responding to questions during a press conference, he noted that the ministry of Lands and Water Affairs was handling the issue with a view to finalising it.

The issue had been pending for years with residents calling for recognition of the village so that they could be allocated plots and issued with certificates, but the ministry was handicapped since the area was a state land.

Mababe is situated in a concession area NG 41 classified as a state land and administrated by Department of Lands.

The issue dated back to 2016 in which the ministry gave residents options to acquire plots under state land, tribal land or be relocated and they opted to be allocated plots under state land.

“Our mandate falls within the tribal land and the ministry is currently working on resolving the issue,” he added.

Mr Dube explained that the issue was complicated as some residents wanted to remain in the state land while others wanted the village to be tribalised, hence the delay in resolving the matter.

He noted that in 2020, the ministry made a decision to authorise the land board to process only land transactions at the village on behalf of the Department of Lands.

He stated that the decision meant that there were no new land allocations in the village and appreciated that those who would be assisted with the process of land transaction would benefit from available government programmes.

“The board made an arrangement to facilitate the community to apply for any changes in the allocated plots and such applications included land transfers and change of use,” he said.

Meanwhile, in one of the recent North West District Council’s chairman speeches, it was indicated that Mababe village had 133 plots of mix land uses with residential dominating with 97 plots followed by 24 integrated farming plots.

It was further reported that the current waiting list in Mababe had three applications for residential plots, all of which were made in 2015, four applications for beacon relocation, one registration of residential plot and one for Botswana Telecommunications Corporations tower.

With regard to the status of Khwai village land allocation, Mr Dube explained that there were no allocation as the area was sensitive.

Currently, he said no applications had been received reasons being that it had been discovered that Khwai water table was high.

The issue, he said, needed a geo-technical study to find out what could be done as far as land allocation was concerned.

The study, he said, required a lot of funds and the land board, in collaboration with the council, had agreed to find ways to source funding for the study.

On the resolution to freeze borehole allocation, Mr Dube explained that the freezing was lifted in November 2020 and it was realised that there was no land to be allocated for livestock water points as per the comprehensive data base of boreholes within the district.

The land board made a resolution to freeze borehole allocation in March 2010 to conduct an audit that produced a comprehensive data base of boreholes within the region. ENDS