18 Feb 2026

The Ministry of Lands and Agriculture, is committed to take decisive steps to allocate land orderly, transparently and equitably to all citizens, says acting minister, Dr Edwin Dikoloti. 

Responding to parliamentary question on the status of residential plot allocation in the Lentsweletau/Lephephe constituency on Tuesday, Dr Dikoloti said in relation to 2022 population and housing census, Lentsweletau had a population of about 6 665 and the current waiting list stood at 10 082. 

To date, he said a total of 5 259 plots had been allocated in the village and the last allocation was undertaken in March 2023 for applicants who applied on November 18, 2009. 

He added that surveying and demarcation of 674 plots was completed in November 2025. 

He said Kopong, inclusive of Sasakwe ward, had a population of 13 823 and a waiting list of 13 564 applicants, reflecting demand that was nearly equivalent to its population size. 

He said 5 517 plots had been allocated and the last allocation took place in March 2023 for applicants who applied on June 19, 2007 and surveying and demarcation of 1 117 plots would be scheduled for April 2026. 

As for Mmatseta, he said it demonstrated an extreme high demand with a waiting list of 20 843 applicants versus the population size of 2 120. 

He said 1 314 plots had been allocated and the last allocation was undertaken on March 2023 for applicants who applied on June 5, 2008. 

He explained that a base map was submitted in May 2023 for layout detailing and finalisation of the layout designs remained a prerequisite for further surveying and allocation. 

The minister said with a population size of 3 218 bearing a waiting list of 21 779 applicants, which he said was deemed the most highly pressured village in the district. 

He noted that 1 744 plots had been allocated and the last allocation was undertaken in August 2020 from applicants who applied in June 2008, while Ditshukudung had a population size of 270 and a waiting list of 1 249 applicants. 

He said 412 plots had been allocated and the last allocation was undertaken in October 2022, reaching applicants who applied on April 14, 2011 and Kgope, with a population of 534, has a waiting list of 5 927 applicants and so far, 533 plots had been allocated. 

Dr Dikoloti said the last allocation was carried out in December 2025 reaching applicants who applied on June 16, 2008. 

He maintained that allocation across those places was evident that residential land demand significantly exceeded available supply. 

He alluded that the main constraints affecting allocation included, limited availability of readily serviced land, delays in layout detailing and approvals, environmental clearance requirements, overlapping land rights and lengthy repossession processes. 

He however, said to address such challenges, the ministry had intensified planning, that would accelerate surveying, through an operationalised war Room for Secure land Title Production with effect from February 16, 2026. 

He explained that the war room pool officers from Deeds Registry, Surveys and Mapping Geospatial Information Centre, Town and Country Planning, Land boards and Department of Lands to oversee the entire Secure land Title value chain from development planning and survey approvals to conveyancing and registration. 

“Its mandate is to deliver at least 48 569 secure land titles within three months beginning with priority areas, including, Mogoditshane, Ramotswa, Tlokweng, Palapye Maun and Oodi,” he said. 

He further emphasised that the intervention was designed to eliminate bottlenecks, compress processing timelines and strengthen inter-departmental coordination to improve overall land administration performance. 

In addition, Dr Dikoloti said the ministry was in the process of establishing a Land lab facilitated by Botswana Economic Transformation Programme (BETP). 

The lab, he said was intended to address structural inefficiencies to ensure that land allocation processes became faster, more predictable and more transparent over the long term. 

Lentsweletau/Lephephe legislator, Mr Tshenolo Bogatsu had asked the minister to update Parliament on the state of plot allocation in the villages of Gakuto, Mmatseta, Kopong, Sasakwe, Lentsweletau, Kgope and Ditshukudung where there seemed to be discrepancies in land allocations. 

Mr Bogatsu had also asked the minister whether there were some systems that he would put in place to ensure seamless plot allocation. ENDS