Tati acquisition: Inside gov’t bloodless land coup
The government’s recent revelation that it has successfully reclaimed 45, 000 hectares of land in the North East District from Tati Company (TC) at the cost of P1.4 billion might bring ululations all around because Batswana have finally regained the land of their forefathers after 153 years, a place their identity sprang from. But, above all, the ancestral connections to this land and victory that is finally here, Mmegi staffers MOMPATI TLHANKANE and TSAONE BASIMANEBOTLHE trace the ancient colonial error which was monetarily corrected by a ‘gesture of goodwill’
Indigenous people will feel their feet on the ground once again and this time it won’t be some entity’s land, it is theirs. No one drove Batswana from their ancestral lands, but it surely felt like it for 153 years when they had to watch as some private entity occupied their land.
With the shortage of land and no room for village and city expansions, the people in the north eastern part of Botswana have been dreaming about this milestone for years. For some who have been landless for their entire life, it would feel as if their tears of sorrow will turn to joy because they will finally benefit from their land. Some are tied to the land in the same manner the latter is also tied to them in some way.
For those who would feel this is too good to be true, Land and Water Affairs minister, Kefentse Mzwinila assured the nation this week that this is a done deal because the purchase agreement has been signed, and the government now has access to the land. Mzwinila said at a media briefing government will pay a 3.5 percent deposit by December and seal the purchase of 45, 000 ha of the last remaining land of Tati Company.
Purchase marks the end of Tati
The billion pula purchase of the land is set to mark the end of the era of the Tati Company. According to Mzwinila, Tati Company will be left with just three plots which are one fuel station, a shopping complex and another commercial plot. “All of its last land has been purchased by the government. This is a prime land,” he said. While over the years there were widespread allegations that Tati Company’s main client was the government and that it overpriced the land it sold, Mzwinila clarified that between 1970 and 1972 various tracks of land were sold at nominal value and donated to the government. He said all of the villages in the North East District like Francistown City and other constituencies are on land that belonged to the Tati Company and the latter left their best land for themselves. He said during the whole process there were suggestions that the government should shut down Tati Company but it chose not to. “It is not our company, they will choose to close it eventually.”
How Tati came to own land the size of a country
The 45, 000 ha land that Tati Company owned in the north eastern part of Botswana is almost equivalent to Seychelles, a country in East Africa. Asked how much land they have regained from Tati, Mzwinila told the media this week that it was ‘bigger than some countries’. Of course, he was right, the size of the land that Tati occupied is bigger than some Caribbean countries such as Barbados and Grenada. Looking back, according to the government, the starting point was in 1870 when Cecil John Rhodes claimed land (vast tracks of land being the whole of the North East District) for his company which was called Tati Concessions Limited. In 1911, Tati Concessions Limited was granted the land rights initially given as a concession and this solidified the whole of Tati Concessions Limited, and this was done in accordance with the Tati Concessions Land Act of 1911.
“The Tati Concessions Limited, its successors and assigns, is hereby confirmed in the full, free and undisturbed possession as owners of all the land within the Tati District, the limits of which district are as follows, viz.: From the place where the Shashe River rises to its junction with the Tati and Ramokgwebana Rivers, thence along the Ramokgwebana River to where it rises and thence along the watershed of those rivers, subject to all the terms and conditions of this Act and in accordance with the laws now or hereafter in force within Botswana,’’ read the Tati Concessions
Land Act (Chapter 32:05).
The Tati Concessions eventually became Tati Company with full rights to that land. The land was initially not part of the Bechuanaland Protectorate, “Nothing in this Act shall affect or interfere with any of the provisions of Her Majesty’s Charter granted to the British South Africa Company, but the said provisions shall in so far as they relate to or affect the Tati Concessions Limited, or the Tati District be and remain operative”.
In 1914 the company formally changed its name to Tati Company Limited and it continued to be owned by Rhodes until 1954 when there was a hostile takeover of the company by the Glazer brothers, Bernard and Sam Glazer, on the London Stock Exchange. At independence in 1966, one of the conditions for negotiation for independence was that there should be security of tenure of freehold land (occupied by the British settlers) meaning that Botswana must ensure the perpetuity of freehold land. This was further confirmed in an agreement with Tati Company in 1970 thus the largest private land owner in Botswana was established. The first President of Botswana, the late Sir Seretse Khama oversaw this and over the years it had come to be known as a ‘sweetheart deal’, a regrettable colonial error. Over the years, the government confessed that it donated various tracks of land within the Tati Company chunks of land which regularised and established various villages in the North East District including the City of Francistown. However, Tati remained with most of its prime land.
Dreams come true, opportunity to buy the land back
When Bernard Glazer passed away he is said to have transferred the ownership of Tati Company to a Trust. This Trust, according government, controlled the two largest private land owners in Botswana which were Tati Company and Sam Estates (Sister Company to Tati). The Trust was due to be wound down and the government is reported to have noticed this. Sometime back the company approached the government to give the latter right of first refusal, which was the right to refuse to purchase the remaining land as the Trust was winding up. “If we refused to purchase the land, they would be able to approach the market and they already had people who were interested. Because 45, 000 ha of prime land is very important, as a government we had to react and take a decision as to whether we are going to purchase this land,” Mzwinila further told journalists.
Tati offer and what government purchased
What government is purchasing is a township development scheme of around 399 hectares (size of a constituency). The scheme will see the expansion of Francistown City to the south with the establishment of a new township which will comprise residential plots, commercial, industrial and civic and community plots. Also what is included in this purchase is the remainder of Tati concessions, potions of land within the City of Francistown which comprises 122 hectares. The initial title deed on which Francistown is situated is title deed 159, which was registered in the name of Tati Company and the establishment of some sections of Francistown were taken out of title deed 159. The government is taking all of this land and the purchase includes 16 very large farms of size 6, 000 ha to 14, 000 ha which totals about 41, 000 hectares.
In terms of the offer, Mzwinila revealed that in Francistown South Tati Company was offering various farms and Shashe River plots, plots along the A1 and on the other side of the A1 (as one enters and leaves Francistown), Shashe fields and its extension (a number of plots), Tati Siding east, the remainder of Tati side concession within the city of Francistown, Monarch Phase 5 (14 ha), Monarch 9 (35 ha), Area A (7 ha), Riverside (1 ha), Satellite North (21 ha), Satellite South (23 ha), various Blocks in Francistown amounting (22 ha), Tati town (2.2 ha) and the Francistown quarry.
Government boasts doing better in negotiations
Although he declined to disclose when the negotiations with Tati started and how long it took to seal the deal, Mzwinila has since revealed that the valuation of the land came in excess of P1.7 billion (base valuation). After Tati did its valuation, the minister said they agreed on a purchase price of P1.412 billion to be payable over two financial years. In terms of the determination to arrive at the value, he said there were two considerations being assumptions for the Francistown extension and considerations for territorial integrity.
“Tati Company and Sam Estates had done plans already for the expansion of Francistown and thus they had valued their plans. We had no plans because the land was not ours and that made a variance in terms of the valuation. Their valuations are correct because we are going to expand Francistown there. During negotiations we refused because we could not agree on something that is not ours,” Mzwinila recalled. He said in negotiations the one who concedes less is the one who has done better. In theory, he said the government did better because it conceded less while Tati conceded more.
“The other issue was consideration for territorial integrity. This land has not been in the hands of Batswana for 153 years, thus it was imperative for us to ensure that we maintain our integrity and sovereignty as a nation for Batswana and as precedent for this territorial integrity,” the minister emphasised. He said just like what they did with the Sedudu Island they wanted to ensure that the land was in their hands. The former Mmadinare legislator said if Tati Company had gone to sell the land to a foreign entity it would have aspects bordering on national security issues. “In terms of regaining our land, which was dispossessed, we ensured that we considered the sovereignty of the republic.”
Tasks ahead: Illegal mining
With reports of illegal mining reported in the area and some especially foreigners from neighbouring Zimbabwe already convicted over crimes of illegal mining, Mzwinila admitted that there is illegal gold mining happening in that land. He said therefore now that they have access to the land the government will address the problem. He said in the negotiation process it became clear to them that there is illegal gold mining there. “We are going to stop this illegal mining. Historically it was a mineral concession, therefore now that the land is ours, we will liaise with the Ministry of Minerals to find out if there are more minerals.”
What will happen to the land?
With many now hopeful that the land will address various shortages and perhaps return the land to the tribes, the government says the land will be transferred to the State and Batswana will be consulted on what to do with it. “The land will be State land because it is of national strategic importance, therefore it cannot be tribal land and it cannot go to Tati Land Board. Batswana must be consulted as to what happens to the land. It was not ours by independence, so we have to consult all Batswana,” Mzwinila told Parliament recently. He also disclosed that in this land there is Tachila Nature Reserve and they are going to decide on it. “The Land Board will take Batswana’s views. It is important to have a national consultative process for Batswana to have an input. We are not going to limit it to nearer constituencies, but it is going to be national. We are correcting a historical wrong done by Rhodes,” he further indicated.
Mzwinila said there were times when they thought this would fail, but President Mokgweetsi Masisi gave an order that Batswana’s land should return to them. He said the history of African countries shows that they had to fight for their land and there was bloodshed. “Land is what nations go to war for and what causes civil wars. Fortunately, there was no bloodshed, it was a peaceful transition with certain conditions.” He said they have made amends for events of the past which saw Rhodes whittling away Batswana’s land.