Battle royale erupts over Kgale Farms
Tsaone Basimanebotlhe | Friday December 1, 2017 16:45
The Land Board is demanding the deeds in order to negotiate through the Botswana Investment and Trade Centre (BITC), which has reportedly received lucrative offers from investors across the border in South Africa. Balete, led by Kgosi Mosadi Seboko, are resisting the legal challenge and say the Farms are critical for land-hungry villagers and grazing pasture. The explosive developments came to the fore at an emergency kgotla meeting called by Seboko’s deputy, Kgosi Tsimane Mokgosi in Mogobane on Wednesday, where he briefed villagers about the court challenge and the Land Board’s demands. Land Board officials were present at the meeting, but declined to comment saying the matter was before the courts.
“Balete are under attack,” Mokgosi declared.
“This is the time for Balete to be united and support each other.
“Our chief, (Mosadi) Seboko and the trust have been dragged to court by the Land Board which wants us to give them the title deed for Kgale Farms. We understand that around 2014, the Land Board decided to give BITC our land without consulting us,” Kgosi Mokgosi told the villagers. He called on Balete to make donations to help in the response to the Land Board’s legal challenge. “The matter is already there and the Land Board chairperson who is here can attest to that. Balete have sacrificed a lot by giving out their land for development and Kgale Farms cannot be taken just like that without us being consulted,” he said.
The royals have called all Balete men to an emergency meeting on Sunday at Ramotswa kgotla where the matter will be thrashed out further. “Women should remain in their respective dikgotla. They will be briefed when men come back from the consultative meeting,” Mokgosi said.
The Kgotla meeting was told that Kgosi Seboko has refused to hand over the original title deeds for Kgale Farms to the Land Board.
“Our people do not have plots and we want them to be given land. The Land Board wants to take a piece of land that we had. Balete bought some of these farms with their own money,” he said.
The meeting agreed to urgently engage an attorney who will represent the tribe in the matter. Later, the chairperson of the South East District Council Phenyo Segokgo, told Mmegi that the local authority had secured investors who wanted to utilise Kgale Farms. He said the investors came forward in March or April this year. “Councillors then suggested that the area could be used to allocate plots for Balete while allocation could also be made for the investors who are looking at tourism. We were not informed about the owner of the land.
“I cannot comment much, but the way I hear things forces me to support Balete. There is a serious shortage of land. Why can’t they be given first priority?' Segokgo queried.