Yellow monster bulldozes 1,000 squatters in Ngamiland
Boniface Keakabetse | Thursday December 8, 2016 17:01
On Tuesday, bulldozers, notoriously referred to as yellow monsters, descended on the squatters in the Sedie ward, tearing down their structures and razing property to the ground.
The family of one Gabothusiwe became the first to face the dreaded machines as deputy sheriff Mokiya Mokiya and the Land Board oversaw the demolitions. Salto Gabothusiwe (21), one of the family members, shared their ordeal.
“My mother was the one who settled our family here. She died on November 4 this year leaving us to face the wrath of the evictions,” she said. According to Gabothusiwe, on Monday afternoon a man, who identified himself a deputy sheriff, visited their yard and warned that homes would be demolished on Tuesday.
“We are squatting here and we have spent sleepless nights waiting for the dreaded machines to come. In the morning they came and wiped away all the four houses in our yard leaving us homeless,” she said.
Gabothusiwe explained that the homestead was occupied by seven people, including five primary school students, who are all now homeless. Mmegi team also found Gaolefufa Itumeleng crying next to her belongings, after the yellow monsters had razed her structures to the ground.
She explained that the yard had been her mother’s who died in 2013 and left her in the care of her sisters.
“When we came to live here, my mother had been chased away by her sister in whose yard we stayed. Now we have to go back and ask for accommodation, but I am not sure if she will take us in.” Itumeleng explained that squatters were given notice on Monday evening about the imminent demolitions.
“My mother applied for a residential plot, but the Tawana Land Board sent her from pillar to post. By the time of her death, she had registered a matter at the Land Tribunal after the Land Board reversed a decision to grant her a piece of land,” Itumeleng said.
Sedie ward councillor, Kaukapita Kaukapita however stated that 22 people in his ward faced evictions.
He claimed that he and the Village Development Committee were not notified of the demolitions. “I just heard this morning that there are ongoing demolitions here,” Kaukapita said.
During a recent stakeholder meeting, the Land Board’s attorney, Tobokani Chilume expressed concern about the incidence of squatting in Ngamiland.
“We are experiencing an influx of illegal land occupation within our area of jurisdiction especially in Maun,” he said.
According to Chilume, the district has 942 registered squatters, with the hardest hit areas being Sexaxa/Lekhawa with 537 squatters, Botshabelo with 40 and Sedie with 86 squatters. During a recent visit to Maun, Land Management, Water and Sanitation Services minister, Prince Maele vowed to clamp down on rampant squatting in the district.
Efforts to get a comment from the Land Board yesterday provide futile yesterday. However, sources close to the matter said paramount Chief Kealetile Moremi had made a last ditch attempt in vain, to postpone the demolitions until after the rain season, arguing that immediate action would negatively affect the squatters.