Sometime in 2009, Chief Justice Maruping Dibotelo refused to recuse himself from presiding over a matter involving Kgosi Kgafela ll with whom he had a very close relationship. The matter was heard at the High Court in Lobatse. The state had strongly argued that Dibotelo recuse himself because Kgafela had acted for him at the time Dibotelo was suing Mmegi newspaper. The other reason advanced by the state was that Dibotelo had previously been invited to the wedding of Kgafela in Mochudi. Not only that, Dibotelo gave Kgafela a goat as present. Dibotelo admitted all those grounds but refused to do as requested on the grounds that he would look at the matter on its merit than anything else. He went on and released Kgafela from prison and granted him bail.
I find myself in a situation similar to Dibotelo’s predicament. I am an interested party in the story I am about to introduce. This is the story about land grab in the Senamane area of the Kgatleng District which borders the Kweneng District in the western side. I am a cattle rearer and arable farmer at the same time. In the story I will present facts, allegations as they are. I will make sure that my opinion stands out clearly.
Here it begins. Deputy Kgosi Sekai Linchwe and the Chairman of the Kgatleng District Council, Daniel Molokwe are angry with the Kgatleng Land Board to the extent that they want it dissolved and the staff either fired or transferred from Mochudi to other areas. They want completely new faces in the executive and in the entire Board. The two leaders were at the right spot at the right time to voice their concerns recently. It was at an occasion where Minister Kefentse Mzwinila whose portfolio responsibility includes land management was present. It was real ambush. Mzwinila was caught off guard as Sekai launched a scathing attack on the behaviour of the Land Board and its officials. They accused the Board of being there to serve its own interests.
The two Kgatleng leaders’ outbursts were captured in the recent issue of the Botswan Gazette newspaper. According to the Gazette story, Mzwinila responded by promising investigations into the concern raised by the two leaders. He is said to have mentioned some challenges faced by Land Boards and appealed for patience. The newspaper quotes an unnamed Land Board official as rejecting accusations leveled against them by Sekai and Molokwe on the grounds that Kgatleng’s proximity to Gaborone makes it the target of land speculators and gentrification. Oh God, does this now mean the Kgatleng Land Board is unable to deal with this influx? They can’t even tell applicants that some sections of the land are for grazing purposes? If this is the case, the community in this district is in trouble. They have entrusted their land in nobody’s hands. One way of dealing with land speculation is making it compulsory for newly acquired land, either for residential or ploughing purposes, not to change hands for a period of 20 years. Sekai’s outburst had been expected. A group of livestock owners in the Senamane area where ploughing fields have been mapped for more than 275 applicants had earlier sent him a safe our souls (SOS) message alleging the Land Board’s improper motive. The Council Chairman for Kgatleng District, the area MP Mmusi Kgafela and the District Commissioner were also lobbied. The mapping exercise was carried out in the area during the month of May and the beginning of June. The exercise threatened the survival of livestock in the area as it was done without taking into consideration grazing for livestock. The council Chairman was already battling with a similar issue in the Marokolwane area which is adjacent to Senamane.
Senamane which is part of an area called Kgope is historically a cattle post area. The first ploughing fields were established in an area inhabited by the people of Rasesa. They made representation for small gardens to Kgosi Molefi. He granted them permission on the understanding that none of them would ever complain should cattle destroy their crops. Over the years a significant number of ploughing fields emerged without anybody pushing them back. In 1983, the situation worsened. More and more plough allocations were carried out until the only borehole in the area was surrounded. The borehole belonged to Kgosi Linchwe ll. Following his complaint, the Kgatleng Land Board annulled those allocations. The biggest mistake they made was failure to repossess the certificates they had issued. Following Kgosi Linchwell’s death in 2007, jubilant individuals returned to the area they had been evicted from and the Land Board shamelessly recognized or issued new ones. This is another borne of contention.
The mapping exercise was smoothly concluded. But it had a few incidents. At one stage, the two ladies manning it, Mrs. Molebatsi and Mrs. Ndlovu were nearly manhandled by an irate farmer for mapping his compound. That was unfortunate. The two ladies did not deserve such a treatment. I was particularly impressed by the coolness they displayed throughout the excirse. They steadily answered questions put to them. They explained every little detail to ensure that order prevailed. They heard stories of money changing hands between some applicants and their sponsors. I did not count but I am of the view that three people in the area sponsored more than 60 applicants each. Isn’t this surprising? Is it possible that they were just volunteering their services for a month without something in return? We will wait to hear. The other question which needs to be interrogated is whether dissolving, firing and transferring is the panacea. The present Land Board inherited the mess from the previous one which also probably inherited it from predecessors. Concerning the staff, the buck should stop with the Land Board Secretary if the whip is to be cracked.
Similarly, the Land Board policies should be examined to identify weaknesses. For instance, the Kgatleng Land Board has a document they call Kgatleng Land Management Policy of 2012. You may call it land mismanagement policy if you like. Some of its contents are what British Novelist, Salman Rushdie would call “satanic verses.” One such evil policy comes under Cattle Posts and Livestock Water Points clause. It reads, “cattle posts moraka/lesaka shall not be allocated and shall be considered a temporary grant which is not certificated and may be moved when there is need for land. No compensation shall be paid in such a case”. According to this clause, you are allocated land to drill a borehole to water your livestock. The said livestock must be kraaled but you are not allocated a site for that. You are also not allocated a site to build a home. They say you should not construct a permanent dwelling place but they don’t explain the sort of temporary shelters they see suitable for a cattle post man. When I grew up at the cattle post in 1958, some people had maobo (shelters) as their homes and would during bad weathers rush to neighbourhood to seek protection. Perhaps this is what the Land Board had in mind when they drafted this uncivilized and degrading clause in their Land Management Policy. How then does one care for his livestock and himself or herd boys? This type of policy seems to suggest that herd boys at the cattle posts are superfluous apendenges.
The Land Board says it does not want permanent structures at the cattle posts. On the other hand, the Department of Animal Health encourages construction of toilets at the cattle posts to minimize the spread of measles on beef. Is this the case of the right hand not knowing what the left is doing? The international community encourages better housing for all. Here the Kgatleng Land Board seems to be saying one needs better housing only in the villages. When you are out there in the cattle posts, they appear to be saying you can stay like wildlife and hope you will withstand the ever changing hot and cold or rainy weather. If indeed people are not expected to have descent housing while at the cattle posts, it may be better for those whose livestock were recently removed from villages by the Kgatleng District Council to return them if they have to live a descent life.
Under the Youth Development Fund, government spends P100 000.00 on an individual for economic reasons. Most of the beneficiaries opt to buy livestock from this programme. Where does the Kgatleng Land Board expect these beneficiaries to keep their livestock if it maintains this evil policy. If Minister Mzwinila was serious when he told Sekai and Molokwe that he has heard their concerns, this is the time some of the clauses in the Land Management Policy are thrown out with immediate effect. If what is happening at Senamane is to be carried out all over the district, many people will be left homeless in the cattle post areas. To add more pain to the livestock owners, they are not consulted on the intentions of the Land Board.
The Tribal Land (Amendment) Act of 1969 recognizes grazing areas. Under Grazing Areas it shows that wisdom prevailed when the Act was enacted. It reads, “A Land Board shall not grant rights under this part to use any land in a grazing area so notified for arable or horticultural purposes without the approval of the District Council”. What we are seeing being done at Senamane is madness. It kills the livestock industry. This is being than at the time President Mokgweetsi Masisi is exploring market possibilities all over the world.
