�Allow us to bury our dead�

Tsaone Basimanebotlhe | Friday June 27, 2014 17:29

 

Adding fuel to the fire is that the villagers have run out of burial ground at their former cemetery in Masu-a-Ditshwene, which is a distance from the ward, while reports are that new owner, Clement Kgosiemang, intends to rear animals on the land.

Yesterday morning, Mmegi found a heated Kgotla meeting in session, with villagers demanding answers on a dispute that has run for three years.

With President Ian Khama in attendance, teary-eyed villagers recounted how the previous land board allocated Kgosiemang their plot without their knowledge.

They said they had run out of options as Kgosiemang had proceeded to fence and lock up his plot, while the land board failed to give answers on how it had allocated the farmer the plot.

The plot was the subject of a Magistrate Court ruling last December which ordered the land board to hold discussions towards resolving the matter within two months.

The Court also barred any burials from taking place on the land in the interim.

“Re a rapela mong wame, bogolo a Kgosiemang a re bulele setsha sa gagwe re ntshe direpa tsa rona (we plead with you our President to convince Kgosiemang to open his plot so we can at least remove our dead),” said Keithe Kgositladi.

“Just imagine our headman lying with camels that are being reared by Kgosiemang?”

She added:

“We feel that the land board employees are hiding something from us.”

Another villager, Segametsi Matlhaope pleaded with the President to push the land board to resolve the long-running matter.

“Mr President, the cemetery we were using in Masu-a-Ditshwene is full and we were supposed to have begun using this land in Magokotswane,” she said.

“Now we wonder that as this issue drags on, where are we going to bury our deceased?

“Tsholofelo ya rona e mo go wena (our hope is on you).”

Addressing the villagers’ concerns, Kweneng Land Board chair, Moemedi Babitseng, said the farmer would be subpoenaed to attend a resolution meeting.

Babitseng said the old land board was responsible for the situation, but pledged to address it promptly.

“We were supposed to have a meeting with Kgosiemang on June 23 but this failed to happen because he did not show up,” he said.

“We will resolve this matter amicably.”