Land distribution battle re-visits Parliament

GOTHATAONE MOENG
Staff Writer | Tuesday April 16, 2013 00:00

 

The contentious land distribution motion was in Parliament again this Friday, in a highly charged debate brought about by a motion sponsored by South East South legislator Odirile Motlhale. In a motion, some members of Parliament thought it was unrealistic and others thought it would promote tribalism. Motlhale asked government to consider reserving a quota for locals of any Land Administrative Area when allocating advertised residential plots.The legislator contented that in areas close to major commercial centres, locals are increasingly being left out when it comes to land ownership, with people who come from other parts of the country getting land before those who live in the area.

He used Tlokweng as an example and said increasingly people from Tlokweng have no access to land in their own area, while people from other areas, who may have plots where they come from, also own plots in Tlokweng.  He said in cases such as this, reserving a quota for locals would mitigate resentment felt by locals that others are taking their land, and it would ensure that people in a particular area still have land in their area.  Motlhale said the quota would not just be reserved for the tribe in that area, but also people of different tribes who have made that area their home.

Leading in supporting the motion were Olebile Gaborone and Isaac Mabiletsa, both of whose constituencies are close to Gaborone. Gaborone said it was important to know that people in these areas have children who will need land in their home villages.  He suggested that the Tribal Land Act should be changed to make it such that one Motswana gets one plot.  He said land is running out in some areas because of the greed of some people who want to get as much as possible. He said the demand for land is artificial, and that there is no genuine waiting list in any of the land boards, and that members of land boards themselves own land all over the country.'We have very powerful public servants in this country, who tell you that things are undoable.  Those things that are morally right are undoable, and those that are not right are doable,' he said.

Mabiletsa slammed the ruling party MPs for rejecting Dumelang Saleshando's recent land audit motion, which would have solved all land issues.Kanye South MP Kentse Rammidi confessed that he was conflicted as people in his constituency are in the situation outlined by Motlhale. However, he said that in his view, reserving a quota for locals would not solve the land problems that the country is currently grappling with. He said the best solution would be to make land available by ensuring that land is serviced and ready to be allocated.  'Golo ha ntwa e etla, e kukediwa ke goromente ka go dira gore lehatshe le nne thata go bonwa. If there are two million of us, not everybody is looking for a plot because some people are too young,' he said.  He said reserving a quota would also raise question of purity and about who really belongs to what land.

'Somebody like honourable [Dumelang], where would you reserve land for his kids? In Okavango? Why should they have land reserved for them so far from Gaborone?' he asked.Gaborone West South MP Botsalo Ntuane said if reserving of quota for locals of an area would be considered for land, it would have to be applied for other resources.  He asked if it would then be okay to reserve quota of income for people who live in diamond or tourism-rich areas.'If we agree that this is a way to redistribute resources in our country, then let's be holistic.  We can't do it in a piece-meal fashion,' he said.

MPs also decried the corruption and ineptitude that they said is rampant in land boards.  Pono Moathodi, who supported the motion, said he 'abhors the arrogance of land boards'. Other MPs, such as Abram Kesupile, pointed out that Parliament shot itself in the foot by rejecting the land audit motion, which, they said, could have solved a lot of land issues.The motion was defeated in a 16-12 vote.