Traversing the boundaries of Forest Hill 9-KO
Mompati Tlhankane | Monday March 13, 2023 06:00
This week, CoA ended the decade-long feud when a five-judge panel affirmed Balete as the rightful owners of the farm, which was purchased by the tribe in 1925. Fresh from their victory at the CoA on Tuesday morning, Bamalete royal uncles Kgosi Tsimane Mokgosi and Kgosi Nakedi Mokgosi that afternoon took time off their busy schedule to show the Mmegi team what they have fought for and won.
From Ramotswa village where Kgosi Mosadi Seboko had just thanked Balete for overcoming great odds at the Main Kgotla, we headed towards Gaborone on the A1 road.
The royal uncles showed us the Forest Hill 9-KO boundary which starts right at the Mokolodi Nature Reserve gate. On the other side of the A1 road is part of the farm, which according to the royal uncles ends at the railway. There is a Mascom Tower on the hill across the road and according to Kgosi Nakedi, Balete are getting paid because the tower is in their farm.
“Beyond the railway is where the old road used to be before the Gaborone Dam was expanded. We were also paid because the dam was expanded towards our farm.
The road was moved as a result of the dam expansion and the road cuts through our farm,” Kgosi Nakedi revealed. There is a straight line going uphill along the fence of the property, which belongs to former President of the CoA Ian Kirby and this is the boundary that leads to Mokolodi village. We then took the Quaries of Botswana tarred road, which runs through Mokolodi village and the Farm.
This is the same road which Bamalate Trust unsuccessfully tried to prevent a company operating a granite quarry and its use of heavy haulage trucks on it in the 2011 Quarries of Botswana case.
“Here is a road that is within our farm and it was constructed without servitude therefore, the road is now ours. We have always contended that this is our land and no one should cross it without our permission,” Kgosi Tsimane told the Mmegi news crew as we drove towards the village. He said the road has always been there, but back then it was used by villagers to travel to various work places like the Roman Catholic.
He said people used the road to ride bicycles and donkey carts and Balete did not have a problem with it because there was no harm to their land. Kgosi Tsimane emphasised that the Trust did not want to allow heavy haulage traffic to use the road to cross the farm hence the Quarries of Botswana case.
Right at the Mokolodi village entrance we made another stop where the border of the farm diverts towards the Mokolodi Reservoir.
There is a mini tarred road which passes in front of some private properties like Mokolodi Indigenous Nurseries and Madison Sqaure just to name but a few. Kgosi Tsimane indicated that the road acts as a border line but it is also their road because it was constructed on their side of the land.
“It was built for us by others,” he emphasised.
He says the road was constructed on their farm because owners of the nearby private land were sold plots without considering road access. We then followed the road in front of the private properties and drove towards the village.
As we passed the last private property on the left, the boundary redirected in the form of a dusty road heading towards Gaborone specifically Kgale View. Kgosi Nakedi said the road separates the farm from Mokolodi village. He says Mokolodi villagers have always respected this boundary and their farm because they know that the land belongs to Balete.
“They use this farm as a grazing area for their livestock but you can never see any kraals on this side of our farm; they respect our land,” he indicated. Speaking of livestock, Kgosi Nakedi revealed that the farm is currently used for pastoral farming by some Balete tribesmen including himself. He said they will sit down as Balete and consider other uses for the farm now that they have won the case.
From there we took the dusty road with Mokolodi village on the left and the Balete farm on the right. We made another stop at the power lines, which also cut through the farm heading towards Game City. Kgosi Tsimane was quick to also indicate that Botswana Power Corporation (BPC) did not acquire a power line servitude clearance when they put up power lines in their land.
He said BPC spent money to erect a fence which was then vandalised by Mokolodi community. “They have to do the right thing and apply for servitude. We cannot block projects that are in the best interest of the nation as long as we sit on the table and negotiate,” he highlighted. For his part, Kgosi Nakedi said there has never been at any point where they stood in the way of national development. “We refuse only when you try to take our land. We cannot deny Batswana access to water, for example, no wonder we allowed these pipelines to pass through our land,” he highlighted.
We then returned to the A1 road where we headed towards Gaborone for the final periphery which separates the farm from the Roman Catholic’s land, basically where Gaborone begins. We stop at St Joseph’s Primary School where Forest Hill 9-KO ends.
Both Kgosi Tsimane and Nakedi looked at the chunk of land on the both sides of the A1 road and said, “This is what we have been fighting for all these years and are happy to have finally gotten back what is ours.” Bamalete’s foresight in 1925 resulted in the acquisition of the farm and now that they have emerged victorious, the royal uncles said Balete will finally use the land for the broader benefit of the community. Overall Forest Hill 9-KO measures 2,229 hectares and is that land locked between Mokolodi Nature reserve, Mokolodi Village, the Roman Catholic land and the railway.