Mogoditshane illegal land occupation continues
Illegal occupation of land continues in Mogoditshane even though allocation by the Land board has been suspended. This was revealed by Kweneng Landboard Chairman Kgang Kgang this week.
According to Kgang, they have realised that from the 800 plots which were to be soon allocated to deserving applicants on the waiting list, already there are people who are illegally occupying the plots. He stated that the 800 plots include a plot for the building of Mogoditshane-Thamaga Council Chambers.
For a long time now, Mogoditshane has faced a problem of illegal land occupants or squatters some of whom are said to have been assisted by the local leadership and landboard officials.
Kgang, who was updating residents of Mogoditshane on land matters challenged them to work with the landboard to remove the structures that have been put up by illegal occupants.
“With all the good news we have about available plots which we will soon allocate, we are worried about the continued illegal occupation. We have to go there and remove those corner poles that people have erected at the plots that we did not allocate them. What these people are doing is slowing down developments in your village. We have to act now before it is too late,” Kgang told residents.
He indicated that the layout plan of Mogoditshane had to change because now it is a fully fledged council. He revealed that about 1 600 plots will be availed near Bokamoso Private Hospital for allocation.
According to the chairman, there is too much congestion in Mogoditshane and the plan is to allocate those in the waiting list plots in nearby villages. He called on the public to apply for plots in other areas under the Kweneng landboard.
“We have managed to reduce our waiting list. When we got into office the waiting list stood at 140 000. We realised that most of those people are not residents of Mogoditshane.
“We discovered that in Mogoditshane 54 590 already owned plots and we had to remove them from the waiting list. In addition to that, 6000 were deceased,” he told the meeting.
They have also discovered that some Dikgosi are implicated in the illegal allocation of plots. It also emerged from the meeting that even landboard officials are involved in the illegal occupation. Residents revealed that landboard officials connived to issue fake certificates.
It was further revealed that owners of the houses that were marked for demolition have removed the marks and it is business as usual. The allocations are allegedly allocated under the cover of darkness.
Kgang has argued that those who do such will not be acting on behalf of the landboard. While he maintained that there are no allocations taking place now, residents maintained that allocation continues on a daily basis where even landboard officials are playing a part.
Kgang revealed that Dikgosi are making things difficult for them in monitoring the land. He told the meeting that Dikgosi long stopped having land allocation powers. He accused Bazezuru of being at the top when it comes to squatting.
“Bazezuru top the chart when it comes to squatting. I am not saying this out of hate because I have nothing against these people. There is a genuine concern because of what we see on the ground. If you can see what is happening in Ledumadumane area, you will understand what I am talking about,” he emphasised.
Illegal occupation of land in Mogoditshane is said to have been at an alarming rate in 2020 when the country was battling COVID-19. It is alleged that many allocations were made during that period and many of the homesteads were able to secure water and electricity connection through dubious means and fake certificates.