Thamaga, Ngwaketse landboards suspend applications

NNASARETHA KGAMANYANE and
SYLVIAH DISELE
Correspondents | Wednesday January 23, 2013 00:00

The Thamaga Sub-Landboard stopped receiving applications for land use in August last year to deal with pending applications that have breached the 40,000 mark, while in Ngwaketse the authorities are surveying the land first to ensure orderly allocations. However, the Mogoditshane/Thamaga Sub-District council chairperson, Driver Motlokwa said on Monday that the moratorium on applications in the area does not affect ploughing fields and land sought by youth to run agricultural projects such as piggery, poultry, horticulture and dairy. He told the ongoing full sub-council meeting in Mogoditshane that so far, 80 ploughing fields have been demarcated and allocated around Tshegwe and Kubung areas. He urged councillors to encourage youth to apply for land for agricultural projects. He said the sub-landboard has not secured adequate funding to compensate farmers whose ploughing fields were acquired for expansion of villages in the past two years.

He informed the council that the sub-landboard would embark on systematic registration or adjudication on tribal land in April this year.  “This exercise aims at registering all plots in the village, including fields. A similar exercise has been carried out at Lekgwapheng ward, Molepolole and other parts of the country,” Motlokwa said. He said that Gakgatla would be demarcated through consultation with the village leadership. He said the sub-landboard is currently identifying and mapping plots that will be needed by Botswana Power Corporation (BPC) for power lines in Thamaga and Kumakwane villages.

“Relocation of either the property or power line comes at a huge cost. The sub-landboard has embarked on mapping and identifying those affected,” he explained. He said that some of the landowners could not be identified especially in non-demarcated plots, which contributed to delays in the exercise.

Motlokwa pleaded with the councillors to notify the plot owners to cooperate with the sub-landboard.

Meanwhile, the Ngwaketse Landboard spokesman, John Motsatsing has told Mmegi that the suspension of applications and the subsequent land survey is meant to enhance the smooth connection to the sewage and water systems and electricity besides ensuring orderly allocations. He explained that previously, they allocated plots to individuals who had secured empty places for themselves. He said suspension of applications is meant to ensure easy access to facilities when land is in a certain arrangement.

After the survey, the landboard will assess if the land is available and the number of plots that can be hived from it. “We are not talking about chunks of land, even small ones can be surveyed,” he explained.

Motsatsing said that the demand for land in Ngwaketse is overwhelming. He cited Kanye and Moshupa, saying that they have a waiting list of 14,000 and 10,000 respectively. He said they would make a plan in other Ngwaketse settlements on how to meet the demand for plots.

“Just before freezing the allocations, people were still coming in large numbers to collect application forms,” he said. Motsatsing was hopeful that the surveying and identification of free land would not take long. He told Mmegi that in places where land is still available, they would resume allocations soon. He said that in Kanye, they hope that the expansion plan will rescue the landßboard.