Batswana challenged to be informed on Land Rights
Customary land is inheritable but the State holds the ownership
More Batswana need to be informed on land policies and understand that some of them are merely ‘ manuals of the law’, says Masuku Comfort Masuku of Masuku Survey and Civil Giants.
Masuku said some Batswana are not clued up on land rights, regulations and the Acts that are used for Land Management include the Tribal Land Act, the Survey Act, Deeds Registry Act and the Town and Country Planning Act, among others.
He said these Acts serve different purposes and Batswana should make it a point to know which of the Acts and laws are applicable for them to be granted land, or on what grounds their applications are rejected or land revoked, instead of always rushing to say ‘ we have the right to own land’ without seeking clarity on common and customary law.
Masuku said the widespread mistake many Batswana make was holding on to a plot certificate for years on end, without converting to title deed. Masuku said a plot certificate has less security, as it can be tampered with compared to the title deed.
“A certificate can be easily faked. The title deed is better as it is registered at the Deeds Office. Having a title deed over a piece of land is surety, and can be used as security when seeking a loan from commercial banks.”
He explained that customary law certificate is regulated by the Tribal Land Act, which regulates the land board to procedures and structures including the procedure to carry out certificates of customary land grants and grants of common law lease.
“Customary land grant or law can solitary be carried out to the citizens of Botswana only, and cannot be assigned for commercial purposes. Customary land grant is inheritable but the State holds the ownership.
“The holder of the certificate cannot transfer the rights bound to the certificate by selling or exchange, without the consent of the Land board,” he said.
Masuku pointed out that in accordance with the Land Act of Botswana, the land board has the right to take back the plot when the land parcel is used for purposes than those that have been stated in the certificate, or if the holder does not develop the piece of land within the set time period.
In terms of property or land ownership, Masuku explained that lease is issued under common law as opposed to a certificate, which is issued under customary law. He said a lease can be registered at deeds office and converted to what is known as a title deed.
For one to register a lease one needs to survey that piece of land with a registered surveyor and have approved diagrams form Surveys and Mapping, which should be submitted to the Deeds office for assessment.
Masuku said having a title deed is an advantage as it gives an individual the right to ownership of the property, and enables them to approach financing institutions for funding to be used to develop the property, or start a business on the land zone.
“Title deed can unlock the economy through loan facility, and also, builders are employed, architects are hired to produce drawings, people get employed in building materials and retail stores and so forth – so the benefit of the valuechain cannot go unnoticed.
“Most notably, through the title deed, more people get to own structures of value. The title deed also comes in handy when it comes to valuation of a piece of land, developments within the plot,” he said.
Masuku said to obtain title deed, one would need to get a lease first, which is known as converting customary certificate to common law, which is done at the Tribal land administration level.
A small fee would be paid to produce sketch plans at the Land board, which will be attached to the common law certificate.
“After obtaining the common law certificate, one would then be eligible to convert it to a title deed, with the help of a registered land surveyor,” he said.
Masuku however explained that plots that are in state land, for example, in Francistown and Gaborone, don’t require one to have a lease or agreement of grant of lease to obtain the title deed.
“Rather, you use the certificate that you obtained from the council administration, for example, the Gaborone city council, then you proceed to engage the registered land surveyor to produce diagrams.”