'Yellow monster' is coming, warns Seretse

TSHIRELETSO MOTLOGELWA
Staff Writer | Wednesday November 28, 2007 00:00

 

He told the residents that painful as it was, his ministry would have no option but to demolish the shacks if owners did not leave the area. 

Addressing a heated Kgotla meeting in the village yesterday, Seretse informed residents that people who illegally settled in the area after 1992, as the Kgabo Commission Report indicates, would be ejected if they did not leave voluntarily.

Seretse advised the settlers to therefore contact the Land Board offices to lodge their applications.

'We should not pander to populist sentiments and we should not let political point-scoring get in the way of the truth. The truth is that people who settled after the stipulated period fall outside of the commission and they will have to be removed,' he told a restless gathering.

Seretse spoke cautiously and patiently to an openly unhappy crowd. He advised the Kweneng Land Board to be more expeditious in its dealings with complaints arising out of land allocation so as to satisfy the needs of the people.

In other matters, the minister stated that a study would be conducted by the Mogoditshane Sub-Landboard to establish the number of squatters in the area.

Residents presented many complaints to the minister among them the slow processing of applications at the sub-landboard. Others indicated that their concerns were not addressed satisfactorily even where there was no apparent reason.

Batlhalefi Molebatsi, a resident, complained that although government took her tshimo in 1991, she has not been yet compensated.

Minister Seretse urged the landboard to deal with the case timeously given that 'there are files' to verify its authenticity.

Keobiditse Kgaswane, another resident, said although her parents had been allocated a plot by a land overseer, her siblings were being threatened with eviction. 'We have witnesses to show that our parents were allocated this piece of land but we have been asked to pay P6,000 by the landboard,' she added.

Residents asked the minister to reconsider government's drastic move to forcibly remove settlers. But Seretse explained that it would send the wrong message to potential illegal settlers.

MP Patrick Masimolole, councillors and the traditional leaders attended the Kgotla meeting.