Kweneng Land Board goes after land grabbers
Friday, April 21, 2023 | 190 Views |
Kweneng Land board chairperson Kgang addressing the media. PIC: PHATSIMO KAPENG
According to the Kweneng Land Board chairperson Kgang Kgang, involved parties include councillors, judges, lawyers, former Land Board employees, Board members, and high-ranking members in the military.
In 2019, the Mogoditshane Sub-Land Board announced that when one surrenders their ploughing field, he or she would get six residential plots as compensation. This was coined into a policy called Compensation-In-Kind and while residents ululated at the development, a trend of land grabbing emerged within the system and the policy was suspended. The policy provided a loophole for some corrupt Land Board officers to acquire fields through dubious means to get compensation in kind. There was an influx of people buying the ploughing fields at around P100,000 a hectare only to later sell their six residential plots for around P250,000 each.
When claims of such gravity are made, especially by a sitting Assistant Minister they cannot be brushed aside, delayed, or treated as routine political noise. Even the Ombudsman has confirmed receipt of a report from a political party and a review of these complaints is now underway. That is a necessary first step. But it is only the beginning. The seriousness of the allegations demands urgency, transparency and clarity. The public is entitled to...