The North East District's land question and chieftaincy: some critical lessons

On January 30, 2013, I received an unexpected call from a journalist working for Mmegi newspaper. The journalist desperately sought my views on the chieftaincy and the land issues in the North East District (NED), former Tati District. The journalist explained that there is a certain Nhlanhla Simon who claims to be the Induna (Chief) of the 'AmaNdebele of Botswana'.

The youthful Simon, described in Mmegi of February 1, 2013 as a "University of Botswana dropout", further claims that the NED belongs to the AmaNdebele and he is the Chief of the NED. Between December 5th and 10th  2012, Mmegi claims to have received three letters from Simon directed to the Minister of Local Government and Rural Development, the Minister of Lands and Housing, and Kgosi Thabo Masunga. I read the contents of the said letters in Mmegi of 18 December 2012. In the letter(s), Simon threatens the government to cease allocating land in that part of Botswana because the NED and its bogosi "belong" to the 'AmaNdebele of Botswana'.