Tlokweng School Saga Rages On

By Monkagedi Gaotlhobogwe
Staff Writer | Monday September 1, 2008 00:00

Dintwe told Monitor over the weekend that TDS does not owe the Botswana Bible Training Institute (BBTI) a single thebe. The school admits 500 students and its future remains bleak as the impasse between the two parties rages on.

Dintwe said when they received a letter from the landlord threatening to close the school, he instructed the school administration to shut the school a day earlier to avoid embarrassment. ' The landlord had said they would close in four days. But they did not. It was not the first time they had threatened to close the school, but they never do,' the PTA chairperson told Monitor in a telephone interview recently.

' The fact is that the two parties do not have a formal agreement on rentals. The first draft lease agreement of 2000, demanded P14,000, but it was never signed. There was a clause that the school administration was uncomfortable with,' Dintwe said.

He also told Monitor about some minutes from an April 2000 meeting between the landlord and the school administration, where the current P8, 000 monthly rental was agreed, adding that there has never been any other agreement to the best of his knowledge.

'TDS has written to say that we are willing to negotiate further. My issue is that the school is not closing; it is not owing anything. The school wants this thing to be resolved amicably. We do not want to go to court,' he said.

Dintwe also said the school administration is to meet with lawyers representing the landlord and its own lawyers to negotiate. ' The landlord is demanding P45, 000. The last offer was P25,000, so we are looking into that. The school was ready to pay P16,000 from August this year, rising to P18,000 in 2008, and P20, 000 in 2009. Dintwe added that the school has already paid P16,000 for August, which has been received by the landlord.

The PTA was to hold a meeting with the parents at the school on August 28, with the lawyers representing the school. ' There is no threat of the school closing, if it closes we will challenge that', Dintwe said.

Meanwhile, Secretary for the board of the BBTI Rev John Philip denied receiving P16, 000 rent for August. ' We have not received anything from anybody as we speak. We have not received any communication from TDS. In fact we are expecting the TDS board to respond to our communication. This dialogue has been going on for five years. The BBTI board will issue a statement during the course of the week,' he said.

The BBTI, on whose land the former missionary, Dwayne Byers operates the school, says the tenant has been defaulting on P45, 000 a month for five years, and instead paying a meagre P8,000 a month.