Mogoditshane’s 420 squatters on eviction notice
Innocent Selatlhwa | Monday June 29, 2026 06:00
Kweneng Land Board secretary, Pilane Morokotso, told Mmegi this week that the Board has begun summoning squatters to appear before it and explain their circumstances before formal eviction proceedings commence.
Morokotso said the current Board sitting is dealing exclusively with squatter cases, with affected individuals being given what could be their final opportunity to justify their occupation of the land.
'We have called them exclusively during the current 10 day sitting to explain the procedure and hear them out. However, we intend that in no time, those who fail to give admissible reasons will be taken to the Land Tribunal to get eviction orders against them,' he said.
According to Morokotso, they have profiled 420 squatters and the Board is currently handling 83 cases and expects to bring more before future sittings. 'We will have normal sitting in July to attend other clients and call more of them in the August sitting,' he said. He added that out of the 83 called during the current sitting, 14 did not show up.
The move forms part of a broader effort by the Board to tackle what it describes as rampant illegal land occupation in Mogoditshane, one of the country's fastest-growing peri-urban villages.
'Squatting, though illegal, is rampant in Mogoditshane, and we should not entertain it. Nobody has a right to squat while other people are waiting to be allocated land, despite the fact that the Land Board took a long time to allocate them land,' Morokotso said.
He said preliminary investigations have revealed that many of the individuals occupying land illegally already own property elsewhere.
'Some of them have plots in Gaborone and other areas around Gaborone and from their home villages. This shows that some of them do not really need to do it. Not that others are excused from following procedures,' he said.
Morokotso explained that once the 30-day notice period expires, officials will conduct inspections to determine whether affected individuals have vacated the land.
Should they fail to comply, the Land Board will approach the Land Tribunal for eviction orders and authority to remove any structures erected on the land.
The planned evictions come as pressure continues to mount on the Kweneng Land Board to address long-standing delays in land allocation and growing demand for residential plots around Greater Gaborone.
Morokotso acknowledged that when the current Board assumed office, it inherited two major challenges: widespread squatting in Mogoditshane and unresolved disputes arising from the Compensation in Kind policy.
The policy, introduced to unlock land for residential allocation, allowed landowners to surrender a portion of their holdings to the government in exchange for serviced plots.
Under the arrangement, a landowner could receive six plots out of every 10 created from a hectare of land, with the remaining plots retained by the government for allocation.
However, the programme became mired in controversy following allegations of abuse by some officials.
'Even though the policy would have benefited the government by availing land for allocation to those on the waiting list, some of our employees abused their office, and more than 30 were fired,' Morokotso said.
He explained that many of the dismissals resulted in lengthy court battles that stalled progress on some projects.
'The cases went to court and returned, and we are in the process of closing such cases, and we have made decisions on most of them,' he said.
Morokotso believes the conclusion of those matters will unlock additional land for allocation.
He said some of the plots obtained through the Compensation in Kind programme would soon be allocated, although the numbers remain limited.
The Board is also hopeful that land recovered from illegal occupiers will help ease pressure on the ever-growing waiting list.
Despite these efforts, Morokotso admitted that land allocation remains painfully slow in parts of Kweneng District.
'We have some allocations going on in Molepolole after more than 16 years since the last one. We started in February and hope they will continue until the end of the financial year,' he said.
The Board is also carrying out allocations in settlements such as Motokwe and Takatokwane, while continuing to issue Secure Land Titles to qualifying beneficiaries.
However, land scarcity remains one of the biggest obstacles facing the Board.
Morokotso said they are increasingly being forced to purchase ploughing fields from private owners in order to create new residential areas.
'We have to first negotiate with land owners, then do land mapping before allocating plots. We currently have some fields we have purchased and also continue engaging land owners to sell us their land,' he said.
He urged Batswana to consider applying for land outside high-demand areas around Gaborone, arguing that opportunities remain available in less congested locations.
'We understand people go to such areas for economic reasons, but people nowadays can commute from other areas to Gaborone. Chances to get land around Gaborone will always remain slim,' he said.