Mzwinila talks tough on land
Govt. to repossess undeveloped land Govt.’ s Achilles Heel has been its compassion and empathy Devise methodology to repossess undeveloped freehold land
Government has threatened to start repossessing undeveloped land from the owners. According to Minister of Land Management, Water and Sanitation Services Kefentse Mzwinila the time has come for “us to start repossessing land.”
He said there are vast tracts of land in the country, especially agricultural land which lie idle. “I think the compassion of Government in allowing people to continue with undeveloped land, needs to be tempered with the need at present, for land,” the minister indicated.
Mzwinila stated that there are vast tracts of land where one would think it is just a bush, but actually there are people who have been placed there in the 1970s, 80s or 90s.
“So, we are going to go about in the reform agenda getting back this land, so that we can re- allocate it. As I said, our Achilles Heel as the Government has always been compassion, our empathy. “The development covenant clearly states that, if you do not develop your land within two years or five years, we take it back. We have had cases where people have undeveloped or not developed their land for five, 10, 15, 20, 30, 40 years, and yet there are people who are waiting for land for 24 years. “So that challenge will be addressed in the Land Reform Management Agenda as launched and articulated by His Excellency the President. “We are going to assertively and aggressively do this, and this is a word of advice to all land owners who have undeveloped land, that we cannot continue to have people on waiting lists while you have land which you are
just holding,” the minister said when responding to State of the Nation Address. He explained that land is entrusted to the Government, it is the Government which holds land in trust for future generations and it is not individuals who hold land in trust for future generations.
Thus, that land has to be returned to Government, so that those who have been in the waiting lists for years or even decades can be allocated land accordingly and effectively, Mzwinila who is Specially Elected MP posited.
“We are also looking at enhancing the facilitation of land usage, change of land use, specifically in terms of how Batswana can obtain or derive maximum benefit from their land.
“We have said that they can use up to 50 per cent of their agricultural land for ancillary usage. Now we are going about renewing conformity in terms of homesteads in that agricultural space.
“In terms of homesteads, different land boards have been agreeing or practicing different models of how to approve what type of homestead, but we have now given direction or instruction that in an agricultural piece of land, you can have the homestead which will be a single family residential, workers’ quarters, as well as farm managers’ homesteads in an agricultural piece of land,” he said. According to Mzwinila this will also help in terms of enlightening Batswana about the value of being productively employed and engaged on a piece of land, “because now you can actually have a residence that has been prescribed and formally recognised by the land board as being an official residence that is ancillary to the agricultural use of that particular piece of land.”
The minister indicated that the Land Management Reform Agenda is also going to focus on the manner in which Batswana are treated and interact with their land managers, which are the land boards or the state land departments.
Part of this, he said will involve how the land boards treat their customers, and that is why elements of community participation, Botho and engagement were part of the recruitment process for the present land boards. “Also, since we are heading towards a Constitutional review, there are elements of our land tenure system which we will need constitutional guidance. One of those is the issue of freehold land, how we are going to go about the continuation of freehold land.
“Freehold land is not much in this country, it is around 5 to 6 percent, but we need a methodology in which we can finally address some burning issues in terms of freehold land such as the issue that people on freehold land can continue for years without developing their land, unlike in state land and tribal land. “So we will have to come up with the methodology to seek constitutional approval that we can actually start monitoring those who have freehold land and ensure that they comply,” the minister told Parliament.