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19 Mar 2023

Land Tribunal Judge Justice Tapiwa Moleele has cautioned Kweneng landboard members about the implications of the decisions they make.

“Decisions you make have a potential to affect the economy of this country,” Justice Moleele said, thereby advised them to ensure that they balanced the scales in light of the existing pieces of legislation.

Justice Moleele was addressing the landboard members recently where she also enlightened them on the equity law in land management.

She also advised members to always strive to balance the Tribal Land Act with the equity law since their power in discharging their duties had detrimental effects on the rights of citizens, the land as a resource as well as the economy.

She also decoded the 12 principles of the law of equity in relation to the Tribal Land Act which in its nature sought to ensure sustainable and equitable distribution of land as well as natural protection of resources to present and future generations.

“Fairness and equity must underpin the decisions that are made,” she emphasised.

She further stated that equity as a principle would as far as possible place both parties to a dispute on an equal footing and equate their rights and responsibilities while ordinary law may give one party and advantage over another.

In that scenario she explained, the law of equity would then take into account the uneven nature of the relationship of both parties.

Therefore she highlighted that the principles of equity were applied where rigidities of the law threatened justice to balance scales and where equity had no remedy then the law would apply.

“Both law and equity must be consulted to achieve justice,” she said.

Giving an update on how the landboard fared in the last year, especially in allocation of plots, Kweneng landboard chairperson, Mr Kgang Kgang said about 54 000 people had been removed from the waiting list after they were found to have been allocated plots elsewhere.

On the same list, Mr Kgang said about 6 000 people were found to have been dead.

“In total, Kweneng landboard had a target to allocate 11 000 plots but so far has managed to allocate 5 451 plots. About 5 545 plots are awaiting to be surveyed while 3 404 plots are still being planned for by the district council,” Mr Kgang said.

He however indicated that there were positive strides made on the compensation-in-kind model at Mogoditshane sub-landboard in dealing with the matter and the public was recently updated in various kgotla meetings.

Meanwhile, some board members called for the alignment of the landboard policy to match the Tribal Land Act to lessen disputes while others advocated for stakeholder engagements to address issues that bordered on the various uses of land as they clutched with the land policy. ENDS