the monitor

Estate executor demands land back for unpaid balance

Justice zein Kebonang. PIC MORERI SEJAKGOMO
Justice zein Kebonang. PIC MORERI SEJAKGOMO

Justice Zein Kebonang will this week deliver a ruling in a case where an executor seeks a joinder in a land sale dispute involving three Batswana.

Louisa Urquilla (in her capacity as Executor of the Estate of the late Johannes Welhemus Moller) wants to be a party in a case in which the trio is attempting to stop the transfer of a sale of a lucrative 1,730 hectares horticultural farm to a non-Motswana. In the tussle, three residents, Keitumetse Thamane, Ofentse Jacob, and Keletso Maribe, are taking legal action against government officials and private entities. The trio through Dinokopila Mmipi Attorneys, filed an urgent application on May 31, 2024, on an urgent basis to interdict the implementation and execution of the decision of the minister, made on March 6, 2024. The minister’s decision was to approve a controlled transaction for the sale of immovable property, being Portion 36 (a portion of 34) of the consolidated farm Stevensford No.5, 5-MQ, to Darn Co and Versfeld in disregard of the applicants’ objection as citizens.

Upon reading about the matter on The Monitor's sister title, Mmegi, Urquilla would apply to the court for a joinder in the matter as an applicant. Thamane, Jacob, and Maribe, who are applicants in the main case, are first to third respondents respectively. The Attorney General, Minister of Lands and Water Affairs, Permanent Secretary, and Ministry of Lands and Water Affairs are fourth to sixth respondents respectively. Darn Co Proprietary Limited, Frederick Pieter Versfeld and Dalene Goosen are seventh to ninth respondents while the Registrar of Deeds is the tenth respondent in the matter. Through Kebabonye Attorneys, Urquilla filed an urgent application to court that she be joined as the fourth applicant in the main proceedings. According to court documents, on or around December 14, 2018, at Francistown, the late Moller entered into a written Agreement of Purchase and Sale of Shares with Lodewikus Johannes Janse Van Vuuren in respect to the late Moller's entire shareholding in the company called Darn Co Proprietary Limited. Some of the terms were that the late Moller shall sell to Van Vuuren, who shall buy a total of 100% of the entire shareholding of the Dan Co Proprietary Limited.

Editor's Comment
Micro-procurement maze demands urgent reform

Whilst celebrating milestones in inclusivity, with notably P5 billion awarded to vulnerable groups, the report sounds a 'siren' on a dangerous and growing trend: the ballooning use of micro-procurement. That this method, designed for small-scale, efficient purchases, now accounts for a staggering 25% (P8 billion) of total procurement value is not a sign of agility, but a 'red flag'. The PPRA’s warning is unequivocal and must be...

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