09 Aug 2023

Some 878 applicants for ploughing fields were invited for interviews from 2021 to date of which 539 were allocated.

Assistant Minister of Local Government and Rural Development, Mr Mabuse Pule said 339 constituting only 38 per cent of the applications were rejected.

He said 238 out of the 339 were rejected because their proposed sites were falling within the Serowe planning boundary.

He added that 76 were rejected for various reasons including proximity to allocated projects, existing boreholes and the plot size being below one hectare which was the prescribed minimum size for a ploughing field.

He said 25 applications which constituted 2.8 per cent of the applications considered were rejected because they were within the 500 metres buffer zone and that the decisions were in line with the provisions of the Ngwato Land Board allocation policy.

Mr Pule also explained the reasons behind Clause 16.0 XV and why it had to affect those that applied before the amendment of the Ngwato Land Board allocation policy of 2021. He said one of Ngwato Land Board objectives was to guide decision making and ensure uniformity, consistency, predictability and fairness in land management across the land board structures. He said paragraph 16 of the policy dealt with buffer zones and that they were an integral part of planning to protect incompatible land uses.

Mr Pule also said buffer zones could be put to other uses which would further safeguard the two land uses.

“The decisions on the applications were taken after coming into effect the policy on land allocations which had prescribed 500 metre buffer zone, therefore it was the guiding document at the time of decision making.” he said.

He also said applications for land were not considered on the basis of the policy that was in place at the time of the application, but on the basis of the policy that was in place at the time the decisions were made.

He said it was because an application was not a real right that could be claimed, and that where applications fell partly within the buffer zone, applicants were given an opportunity to accept the area that fell outside or to find an alternative site for consideration by the land board.

Serowe North MP, Mr Baratiwa Mathoothe had asked the minister to provide statistics on the number of rejected applications due to the applications falling within Serowe planning boundaries contrary to the Ngwato Land Board allocation policy of 2021 Clause 16.0 XV, and to explain the reasons behind Clause 16.0 XV and why it had to affect those that applied for land before the amendment of the land board allocation policy of 2021. ends