Only 2% on Lands waiting list allocated plots
Lesedi Mkhutshwa | Tuesday August 23, 2022 06:00
The plots were allocated in the last five years in Francistown, Gaborone, Selebi-Phikwe, Ghanzi Township, Lobatse, Sowa Town, Jwaneng, and Kasane.
He was addressing the media on residential land allocations in urban areas here on Thursday at Cresta Thapama Hotel.
In his address, Mabaila said only 1,543 against 73,046 on the waiting list for plots have been allocated land in urban areas as of July.
The waiting list dates back to 1990.
According to Mabaila, government has not allocated plots because it is expensive to service land.
The estimated cost of servicing a plot is P175,000.
He, therefore, said the government is considering the Public Private Partnership model to address the land allocation situation.
Speaking about the plot allocation status in urban areas, the director of Lands said there are currently 632 plots available in Francistown’s Gerald Estate.
These plots are being offered to applicants from urban areas since priority waiting lists in Francistown upper-income categories have been exhausted, he added.
In addition, he stated that 260 plots are at the provisional offer stage and the allocation process is expected to be complete by end of October.
“There are currently 420 plots in Selebi-Phikwe (Mekoro area) which are ready for allocation and 170 plots which are at a provisional offer stage with formal offers to be issued this September,” said Mabaila.
Furthermore, he shared that 167 plots were allocated in Gaborone in the last five years.
The Lands director added that 10 plots were provisionally allocated on July 11 in the capital city, which withdrawals were realised either due to non-acceptance of provisional offers or failure to comply with the development covenant.
He further said 11 high-income large and high-density plot units have been realised in Tsholofelo Extension.
Mabaila indicated that the government has acquired 5,000 hectares in Kweneng tribal territory to augment the land shortage in Gaborone.
He also highlighted that the ministry is in the process of servicing the Nnyungwe layout in Kasane for 874 plots.
When breaking down the numbers, he indicated that 556 would be directed to single-family residential, 61 multi-families residential, and 257 non-residential.
He elaborated that the servicing of the components is at different stages of procurement as currently one component, water supply, is underway.
Mabaila said: “A batch of 20 plots was provisionally offered to Lobatse applicants in July 2022. While in Jwaneng 26 plots were allocated in June 2022 out of the 33 offered. The remaining plots will be offered by August 2022.”
In Sowa Town, there are currently no available plots for allocation but there are 202 plots for SHHA beneficiaries who have been delayed by litigation, he said.
He also indicated that the department has offered 568 plots to Ghanzi Township applicants.
Out of these, he said that 499 have been allocated as at July from two runs.
He added that the department embarked on the third circle on August 4 and offered 65 of the remaining plots to the next batch of applicants on the waiting list.
Mabaila also shared that the servicing of about 2,300 new plots in Ghanzi Township is at the design stage.