Kweneng Land Board walks tightrope
Abang Tapologo | Monday June 26, 2023 06:00
Last Monday, the Kweneng Land Board finally acted on its eviction notice only to face resistance as Nkoyaphiri squatters stopped the yellow monster from demolishing their structures. When the squatters put up some fight, the bulldozer had already torn down fences for some illegal plots. The expectation was that the residents would have taken heed of the Board’s notice to vacate the area last week Friday, but the defiant squatters were adamant of keeping what they see as their rightful land. There was no room for negotiation with the squatters.
The Land Board had enough of the defiant group of squatters who had constantly resisted the Board’s efforts to retake the land for nearly nine months. Kweneng Land Board chairperson, Kgang Kgang was adamant on reposing the land. “Go ahead and destroy,’’ Kgang instructed the bulldozer driver. The yellow monster swung its shovels and began to tear down their fences all willy-nilly. “If a person was not allocated {the land} by the land board we have to remove you so you can register with the Land Board lawfully. Some of you set up here since COVID-19, but because of that we decided not to dismantle anyone’s home instead we went around marking the houses then we talked to each of you to pack up your belonging but now it’s escalating because you have decided to build further. As the Land Board we have been singing this for nine months,” said Kgang as he addressed the distraught crowd this week.
Tensions grew high as the bulldozer kept destroying fences like nothing. The crowds were steaming with rage and lashed out on the bulldozer driver, Thuso Tau and one of the squatters even took the key off the machine as threats came flying in directed towards him. “At this point I fear for my life because they don’t understand that I am simply here to do my job but now they want to beat me,” Tau lamented. “Re seka ra go tshwara monna tlogela selo se! (We shouldn’t catch you man leave this thing!),” one squatter yelled. With a show of force befitting a small invasion, Kgang then decided it was time to call in the police. Moments later, 10 members of the Botswana Police Service riot division arrived on the scene armed with their gear to keep the crowd from the yellow monster. Even clad on their riot gear the police were no match for the crowd of squatters. A brief impromptu meeting was then convened between Kgang and the police to try to find an amicable solution to the delicate situation. One councilllor, Mpho Magibizela was then requested to leave. “Please leave, you too have illegal plots here, people told us you are also part of the illegal squatters,” Kgang uttered.
Asked to confirm the allegations that he had occupied land illegally as well, Magibizela declined to comment on the matter. A decision was made on Monday this week that the yellow monster’s shovels will return to work the same week on Thursday. Following closed door meetings attended by Kweneng Land Board authorities, the Lands minister Kefentse Mzwinila and area legislator Tumiso Rakgare, it has since emerged that the illegal squatters will be given more time as solutions are sought for the impasse. “I am engaging with the Land Board internally, the issue we have to understand is that Mogoditshane has always had challenges of land. Remember the Kgabo report. This matter needs to be resolved, our people need to have land but also we have to obey the law,” Kgang said.
In late 2021, Kweneng Land Board announced that from April 2019 to January 2021 there had been 137 illegal occupants registered by Mogoditshane Sub Land Board. Most of the affected areas were Tsolamosese, Mogoditshane, Nkoyaphiri, Mmopane, Ledumadumane and areas near Mogoditshane Senior Secondary School. From way back, land occupation by squatters has been prevalent in the Kweneng area especially around Tsolamosese and Nkoyaphiri in Mogoditshane. In 2016, Land Boards across the country were verbally instructed to halt eviction of squatters by the then Ministry of Lands and Housing pending consultations with political leadership. During that period, there were no consequences for the illegal occupants and more people continued to occupy land illegally. According to the Land Board, the same squatters would turn to the board asking for pardon to regularise the plots. Kweneng Land Board is currently walking a tightrope as squatting is on the rise and at the moment it is reported that there are about 400 squatters. It seems like the more they delay evictions the more they increase.