MPs approve amendment of Tribal Land Act
Pini Bothoko | Thursday August 10, 2017 17:11
The Bill, presented by the Minister of Land Management, Water and Sanitation Services Prince Maele, seeks to improve the administration of the tribal land. Parliament had earlier on referred the Bill to Ntlo ya Dikgosi for further recommendations as it affects the administration of tribal land.
The Tribal Land Bill provides for, amongst other things, the grant of customary land rights and introduces the requirement that the Registrar of Deeds must register all customary land rights and forbid the occupation of newly allocated land unless it has been registered.
It also provides that all persons who are already in occupation of land granted to them under the repealed Act must apply, within six months of the commencement of the new Tribal Land Act, to have their land registered by the Registrar of Deeds. Maele also presented the Deeds Registry Amendment Bill saying it is a reenactment of the tribal land Act of 1968 to update it in line with contemporary land management practices.
He said the Bill addresses key issues that were raised in the Land Policy passed by Parliament in August 2015. Maele said amongst the challenges faced by Batswana are unplanned allocation of un-surveyed plots making subsequent provision of land servicing expensive and difficult. “Batswana had also raised a concern of previous and un-documented allocations and un-secure title, loss of land rights to non-citizens, inadequate record keeping and uncoordinated land delivery process,” Maele said.
He said that over the years, there have been emerging economic opportunities that cannot be easily addressed by the current legislation.
“The country has experienced social and economic growth which necessitates review of land related laws such as tribal land Act to address these issues, unlock economic value of tribal land and facilitate the ease of doing business,” Maele said.
The Deputy Speaker of the National Assembly, Kagiso Molatlhegi who is also the Gaborone South MP, supported the Bill stating that it will indeed improve the lives of Batswana, as they will be able to register their land with title deeds used as security to acquire loans from commercial banks.
He said people are flocking Old Naledi in high numbers in a bid to buy plots because they have realised how important the land is. “I have pleaded with my constituents not to sell their land, especially to a certain foreign nation that currently owns a number of plots there,” Molatlhegi said.
He also stated that couples used to sell plots without the consent of their partners, but that will come to an end with this new Bill.
The MP for Gabane/ Mmankgodi Pius Mokgware also supported the Bill saying that it will address a lot of complaints previously raised by his constituents. He was also happy that the Bill will address injustices that women have been subjected to as a result of unruly husbands, as well as reduce the money Batswana had to pay to lawyers to process land transactions.
The MP for Gaborone North Haskins Nkaigwa agreed with other MPs supporting the Bill, but cautioned that Batswana may end up losing their land to the banks.