The tiny Kgatleng rural village is situated about 35 kilometres south of Artesia through a dirt road. The residents, led by Ompegile Ratsie, Gofaone Leburu, Lorato Leburu and Bonolo Modise, have filed an urgent application through Ndzinge Makhamisa Law Group against the Kgatleng Land Board, the Bodungwane Farmlands Borehole Syndicate, seven members of the syndicate being Ramonaka Ruele, Solomon Ruele, Olefile Ruele, Otukile Ruele and Mphoentle Kwapa and the Deputy Sheriff, Lotty Manyepetsa, arguing that they are facing imminent eviction without a court order. In a founding affidavit before the Lobatse High Court’s Justice Ranier Busang, Ratsie argues that the threatened eviction violates their constitutional rights and ignores legal procedures that require every affected person to be heard before being removed from land they occupy. "Our homes, livestock, fields, graves and livelihoods are all located at Bodungwane. We have nowhere else to go," Ratsie states in the affidavit.
The residents say they have lived at Bodungwane for generations, tracing their occupation back to around 1901 when, according to the affidavit, Kgosi Isang Pilane allocated the land to their forefathers under customary law. According to Ratsie, the applicants are descendants of Basarwa families who have continuously occupied the area long before the establishment of the modern land administration system. He argues that the absence of formal Land Board allocation certificates does not make them illegal occupiers. Instead, he says their occupation predates the Land Boards Act and has continued uninterrupted for generations.
