KNIVES OUT FOR LAND
Land allocation rot by Land Board stirs residents to anger
When Kweneng Land Board officers led by chairman Kgang Kgang arrive in Mmopane this Wednesday morning to address land compensation-in-kind issues, they better have convincing answers to give residents of the village because they are running out of patience.
Land issues are some of the topics that get people in this area angry and all worked up. They believe that the land allocating office is one of the rottenest government offices around. This is worsened by the ugly land theft scandal that saw about 30 Kweneng land board employees slapped with suspension letters and others fired a few years ago for suspected maladministration. The suspended were suspected to have used inside information to acquire land and benefited greatly and fraudulently from the in-kind compensation model that was in place.
Back then, the compensation-in-kind scheme model was such that landowners could surrender one hectare of their ploughing fields in exchange for six residential plots.
What some Kweneng Land board employees are alleged to have done was use the inside information to purchase the hectares for themselves from elderly men and women then surrender the land to Land board as owners of the land. The said officers would then allocate themselves plots in prime areas such as Ledumadumane and Mogoditshane Block 9. This is what frustrates many people in the Kweneng District. They feel greatly robbed and it does not help that some have had their land taken back from them many years ago when the rot was exposed - many were affected and Land Board halted everything while investigations began.
But for others, their land was taken at the time when government wanted to develop the area and part of those plots is where now sits Sir Seretse
Khama International Airport. Headman of Records Kgosi Babedi James Manthe is aware that it is never a smooth meeting whenever Land board is involved. “Our people are angry, whenever they hear the word Land board, their faces turn sour. It is always ugly, our people are always attacking them because they are frustrated,” Kgosi said this week, adding that the frustration is mostly caused by the delays that have seen many people go without homes.
“They are impatient and rightfully so. We believe Land Board has to speed up things, their name has been tarnished already and it is time they make the public trust them again,” he said. Kgosi is worried that the delays have impoverished his people, saying in the past, people used the land that was taken from them for ploughing but now they don’t plough anymore. He explained that youngsters in his area are also growing restless as they want to be allocated plots and they want them now. It is sad being on the waiting lists for years, he says, adding that this has led to the young people crowding at their parents’ homes leading to family disputes.
Nonetheless, Kgosi knows well that some young people really do not want to own plots, all they want is to be given plots so that they sell the land. Money is all they want but cannot invest it well. All they do is buy flashy cars for social status. Once the cars break down, they park them under trees and start complaining of hunger and how the government is failing them, this is the mindset of youngsters that the elderly have to deal with. Kgosi however advises his people to be calm this Wednesday - he knows they are itching for answers but wants issues to be addressed in a sober manner. “What is shocking is that even elders of this community come with knives out to such meetings, but there is no point being angry at people and failing to sit down to find solutions. “I urge them to follow procedure, if needs be, they can even petition land board if their grievances are not addressed. I am aware that government intends to do a lot.
“There is Airport City that will be built near the airport, those are developments that are happening because people gave up their land,” he said.