Kweneng landowners threaten court action
Innocent Selatlhwa | Tuesday May 9, 2023 06:00
A notice of motion has been issued to the Attorney General on behalf of the Ministry of Lands and Water Affairs and the Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development.
In March, Sesinyi and several disgruntled landowners wrote a letter requesting clarity over legal land use on a development plan. According to Sesinyi, for the past month, he and his clients have been visiting the Ministry of Lands and Water Affairs seeking clarification over an eminent question of land parcels situated in development plans. “We wrote a letter to this effect and shared related information in the form of a Land Tribunal Judgment that has never been challenged or set aside that explains the answer to this question.
The answer has not been forthcoming from the ministry. Meanwhile, Land Boards are pressurising members of the public to repossess their land parcels under erroneous land uses which is a colossal violation of rights,” he said. Letter to the ministers Sesinyi said the ministry has kept sending them back as it is their habit to do so hence they have now reserved the right to approach the courts and seek declaratory relief.
“This letter serves to request the intervention of your esteemed office on what we believe is gross injustice by Kweneng Land Board against us as Batswana in our different categories as clients of Land Board.
Our agony is generally concerning the value of tribal land that is within a development plan or a planning area. As the public, we would like to know whether the legally recognised land use of parcels of land on an approved development plan such as the Mogoditshane, Gabane, Metsimotlhabe, Mmopane, Mmokolodi, and Tloaneng Development Plan (2021–2025) or the use as per Land Board leases and or certificates issued post the approval of the development plan,” reads the letter.
They stated that in their understanding, the only legally recognised use of a parcel of land is that which is encapsulated in a development plan or as sanctioned by the minister in terms of the Town and Country Planning Act. The landowners called for a public statement to answer the question because it has a direct bearing on the compensation that recognises the market value to be one of the considerations as per the new Tribal Land Act No1 of 2018. “There is an apparent impasse between some members of the public and the land authorities on what the legally recognised land use is and this is a cause for a national scale impasse that can be resolved by your esteemed office with the assistance of the Office of Attorney General. Many Batswana cannot afford to hire private valuers for this purpose and would be more than grateful if there is a public statement or answer to this national question. Bearing in mind that land use is a direct function of land market value,” the letter stated.
The demands “Our advice to the client was that we and him should engage with yourselves, to establish a common ground, which may entail your joint clients issuing a directive to the Land Boards and District Council; to take heed of our concerns and therefore advise, and; issue a directive to the Land Boards and District Councils to assist all and any concerned landholder in the manner suggested in our letter. It is our considered view that a constructive engagement will not only assist and benefit our Mr Sesinyi’s clients but all Batswana,” Attorney Isaac Seloko wrote.
Sesinyi demands that the ministers reconsider their position within 30 days of service of his notice, and that should he fail to do so, they shall, upon the expiry of the statutory time limit provided for, consider proceeding to apply to the High Court for declaratory orders that; “The respondents to regularise/align/conform/comply the land use for the ploughing fields of applicants clients to be in harmony and in terms of the respective development plans that they are situated in; and that the respondents allow applicants clients to fully enjoy their land right, by allowing applicants clients to proceed with utilisation of their land in terms of the zonation stipulated by the respective development plans that they are situated in.”