Public outcry over exorbitant land charges

Law calls for transfer fee of P3000 per property Finance, Lands Ministries in discussions over concerns on valuations for different transfers

It remains to be seen if government will succumb to the public outcry calling for the reduction of the exorbitant prices charged by the Land Boards for transfer of property.

The respective Ministries of Lands and Water Affairs and Finance reported to currently be in discussions to address concerns raised by the nation including valuations for different types of transfers.

The Tribal Land Act of 2018 regulations, states that as a cost recovery measure on applications for transfer of land rights in tribal land, the transfer by sale or donation should be charged at P3000, while transfer by inheritance be charged at P200. The nation is of the view that this development is regressive as most beneficiaries of such pieces of land are broke.

There is a call that widows and widowers should not be requested to value the plot upon requesting to transfer their plots into their respective names.

For now, this law will remain as is. This despite the fact that legislators on both sides of the aisle agree that the Tribal Land Act of 2018 re- enacted as one of the major reforms in the administration and management of tribal land, has negative effects for Batswana.

The debate on this critical issue continued in Parliament this week triggered by a question from Member of Parliament for Nkange, Dr. Never Tshabang.

Tshabang under the theme; ‘ Negative effects of the amended Tribal Land Act of 2018’ asked the Minister of Lands and Water Affairs if he is aware of Batswana’s outcry regarding the adverse effects of the implementation of the amended Tribal Land Act of 2018, among other things.

In his response, Acting Minister Mabuse Pule said the Act of 2018 was re- enacted as one of the major reforms in the administration and management of Tribal Land in Botswana. He explained that contrary to popular view, this law was a response to Batswana’s outcry on the low status associated with tribal land as compared to other land tenures. To that end, the new Act has removed some of the major impediments in transacting with tribal land.

He said in the repealed Act, development of a plot was a requirement before it can be transferred except where the title owner was deceased. In addition, the plot owners were required to register for common law leases before they could use them as collateral.

Now with the ongoing registration of a Secure Land Title, the title owners can directly approach financial institutions without reference to the Land Board for a common law lease. Furthermore, the model of compensation for repossession of tribal land has been changed to the use of market rates as opposed to the standard prices prescribed in the guidelines.

Pule informed the House that among the objectives of the land reforms was to bring Tribal Land status and nature of rights to be competitive with other Land Tenures. In the process, Botswana Land Policy as revised in 2019 made pronouncements in the packaging of Tribal Land for allocation to citizens. Further, that amongst these is that for any parcel of land to be allocated, it should be planned, surveyed and registered at the Deeds Registry offices.

Tribal Land continues to be allocated to citizens free of charge, but with improved value and certainty of rights, making it directly useable as security in accessing financial facilities, unlike what obtained in the old Tribal Land Act.

He said the costs involved in the processes of planning, surveying and registration are all borne by the Government, for both old plots and new allocations across all land uses.

Previously, an individual who wanted to register his or her property would be subjected to a lengthy and costly process; where a private surveyor would be engaged and Attorneys engaged for conveyancing where applicable, now these cost are assumed by government and individuals are directly issued with Secure Land Titles. He said it is worth noting that an individual will be allocated a piece of land by Land Boards at no cost.

However, when the same individual transfers land rights over that piece of land to a third party, the Land Board would incur additional cost in administering the transfer of such rights. It is therefore proper that Land Boards introduce some cost recovery measures for this process.

“The issues of Transfer Duty and Valuations are requirements brought up by the Transfer Duty ( amendment) Act, 2019, which is administered by the Ministry of Finance”.

Pule added that where there is transfer of land title between individuals and entities, the value of the land must be known. However, the concerns regarding transfer duty have reached their offices, and “I therefore wish to assure the house that my Ministry and that of Finance are currently in discussions to address these concerns including valuations for different types of transfers”.

This engagement will be concluded soon and Parliament and the public will be duly informed on any changes that will be made. He said an application fee is not necessarily an allocation fee; it is an administrative fee which is intended to cover the processing of an application through the different steps.

It is currently charged at a nominal fee of P50, which by all intents and purposes, should not be perceived as prohibitive for one to apply to be allocated land free of charge. It is not tied to the success of the application.

“Charging the fee to successful applicants will be tantamount to selling tribal land to Batswana”. He said his Ministry is concerned about long and unrealistic waiting lists at our Land Boards. These lists are due to repeat applicants and applicants who do not qualify to be allocated land.

The current waiting list is a product of the applications which were received without a system. The introduction of the Land Information System which has automated the land delivery process through creation of databases will enable instant vetting of applicants as the system will have information on the existing land rights of the applicants.

The ongoing land registration exercise will contribute to the success of this system. Pule revealed that since they embarked on this automation drive, the national waiting list was vetted and numbers dropped from about 1,400,000 applications to about 500,000. Vetting continues and it is expected that the waiting list will drop to realistic figures as the exercise progresses.

“When my Ministry completes vetting legacy waiting lists; the automated land delivery process will assist in attaining near instant vetting or continuous vetting, which would help in keeping a relatively lower number of applications. Therefore the plots waiting list will be maintained for fewer people”.