Land standoff: Kweneng illegal settlers fight eviction
Land is in high demand, and the poor have resorted to illegally allocating themselves pieces of land to build themselves homes as they cannot keep up with the high rental rates especially in peri urban areas.
If the recent demolition attempt by the Kweneng Landboard is anything to go by, then it is evident that people would rather die than be tossed to and fro by a government that has been accused of being lax in land allocation.
Kweneng Land Board Chairman Kgang Kgang, has noted time and again that he has inherited a problematic Landboard and he and his team are clearing out the mess. In the Gabane-Mankgodi area, the last allocation was done in 1993, and those that applied then have not been allocated land to date.
In another instance still in the Kweneng area, a family of 20 people lost the land they have been calling home since 2000. As far as they are concerned, the land is legally theirs. The sad part is that they did not have any time to salvage their belongings when the ‘yellow monster’ destroyed their abode.
To indicate utter desperation, after the demolition exercise, the family did not move away, but rather built shacks to live in with elderly and disabled family members.
This week’s attempt by the Kweneng Landboard to demolish houses in Mogoditshane was met by an angry mob of people that inevitably chased the police away. The Kweneng Landboard did not have any court order as Kgang said they are empowered by the new Tribal Land Act of 2018.
The residents did not take lightly eviction orders from the Landboard officials with a brawl almost breaking out between them. They said they have long demanded answers from the Landboard about where they should go, and why it takes forever to be allocated land.
Some residents said they have bought the land they have built on and are questioning how they were given certificates by the Landboard if at all the land they occupy is not rightfully theirs.
This week, Minister of Lands resorted to pleading with Landboard officials to rather ask the people to move out of the homes voluntarily. Kgang relented and took a decision to temporarily halt the demolition exercise that will eventually have to take place to clear the land out for proper allocation to deserving applicants currently in the Mogoditshane waiting list.
Kgang's contention is that the Landboard cannot buy land whilst the town planning map indicates that there is still available land in the area. This essentially means that while the minister has bought time for illegal settlers, they will eventually be moved by force. He promises that next time they go and evict illegal settlers they will bring adequate security forces to back them up.
The Ministry of Lands has a target of 100 000 plot allocation and for the first time in history people are receiving land in record numbers. The Mogoditshane illegal settlers will make way for 500 plots.
Perhaps the government will reach its allocation target, but it will be at the expense of those that have built on land that is legally theirs.