Syndicate members in court overpiece of land

Tsaone Basimanebotlhe | Monday June 15, 2015 15:52

 

The Kweneng Land Board allocated the farm, which is at Moretshwane, to the eight-member Baitiki Syndicate in 1981 and it is now at the centre of court battle.

The applicants, Ntwaetsile Tiro, Charles Mapitse, Andrew Kolobe, and Oratile Tau have taken other members of the syndicate Nikerson Tau, Kobedi Seribe, Alfred Baikakedi and Tshimologo Bolele to court seeking to evict them from the farm.

According to court papers filed in 2013 before Justice Tshepo Motswagole of Gaborone High Court, the applicants are seeking to evict the respondents from the Moretshwane farm. The applicants alleged that the respondents lost their membership to the syndicate when they left the syndicate farm and never participated in the syndicate meetings since 1985.

They also alleged that over the years they paid off the syndicate loan with National Development Bank and that only two of the respondents paid the first instalment then left the syndicate before the loan could be settled.

“The syndicate was originally formed by eight members and some members left and were replaced by applicants, Mapitse, Kolobe, and Tau who joined the syndicate in 1981 after the farm was allocated to Baitiki Syndicate by the Kweneng Land Board,” reads the court papers. The court papers further alleged that one respondent, Baikakedi is principal legal officer at Kweneng Land Board.

The applicants have further filed supporting documents with court indicating that they have paid off the loan to build the syndicate borehole without the contribution of all the respondents.

However the respondents in the matter comprising of some original members and their sons, have filed a counter application to evict the applicants alleging that they were not members of the Baitiki Syndicate therefore  should not claim any right to it.  “The farm was never allocated to the syndicate, but to a group of farmers and we that never lost the membership to the syndicate.The applicants were simply given the right to water the animals, (go nosa),” further reads the papers.  Onalethata James Kambai represents the applicants while Kgalalelo Monthe is for the respondents in the matter.

The case has been scheduled to continue in December 2015.