The recently released results of the 2021 national census have declared Mogoditshane to be the biggest village in Botswana. In the overall the population has not grown exponentially. I wonder what has slowed population growth to the AIDS pandemic years. I will be interested in the answer.
Growing at the fastest rate of 4%, the village has scored 88 098 from 58 079 ten years earlier. One would be further interested in knowing whether this significant demographic change has occurred as a result of successes in baby making or migration. The demographers must tell us.
Going forward this village will not be overtaken by any other. But what is it that citizens of Mogoditshane should look forward to? I still dispute the idea that Mogoditshane is a village. We must accept that because of the demand for plots, this place has been turned into a township by all measure.
Government should declare this place a township and accept that this place has now transformed into an urban area. In my wisdom as the former chairman of the corrupt Mogoditshane Subordinate Land Board, I would like to advice government to declare all parcels of land in the jurisdiction of this land authority to be state land. If the land tenure of all areas under this subordinate land authority would be declared such, then the development pattern would change forever.
What is really inhibiting the growth of this locality is the way land is administered. Imagine that since I left the land board in 2012, they are still allocating people, who applied on 11th January, 1994. This is ridiculous and if this is allowed to continue, we will be breeding corruption further. So in the last ten years the waiting list hasn’t moved a day more. Ao bathong!
Because the land management through the tribal process has utterly failed us, the land needs to be declared state land and administered in that manner. Plots have not gone missing under this arrangement managed through the Department of Surveys and Lands, whatever it is called now. Otherwise keeping the land under the current administration is just insanity.
If Mogoditshane is declared a township, people will begin to pay rates for their properties and that will help with government earnings. There is so much revenue lost just because the place is still regarded rural.
People from other countries still don’t understand why we call such a metropolis a village. I do not understand why either. In other countries, villages like Molepolole and Mahalapye are actually regarded as towns.
The benefits of declaring Mogoditshane a township at the stroke of a pen will be varied. Currently businesses are running away from Gaborone in favour of cheaper business accommodation in this place. This could be exploited by government because there is still land available for commercial and industrial plots.
Refuse collection is currently madness in this town as it remains uncoordinated and haphazard. It is supposed to be the preserve of those who have paid, not those who can afford it. People see no need in paying because it can take up to three weeks before refuse collection is done. Those who have not paid usually dump at the bus stops or in front of yards of those who have paid the council for refuse collection.
Currently it is better not to subscribe for refuse collection because the system is in a mess. Imagine that when you subscribe, the customer is charged according to the number of drums or refuse bags one expects to generate. It escapes my mind how on earth people devised such a system which is far from workable. If you subscribe, usually the whole street comes to dump at your gate.
But interesting enough, the rubbish dumped along the road is collected with a very interesting frequency. If this rubbish is not collected on time, stray dogs come every night to come and scavenge on the heap. It’s not only stray dogs that end up at these street dumps, even those from the most expensive houses come for dinner here.
On another note, I support the dog tax. It should not be much, just P25 per dog will do. Don’t tell me about the poor who cannot pay. People in this village just let their dogs roam around especially at night. Most dogs are guard dogs. No wonder there. are so many break ins at night. It happens when their dogs have gone on a hunting spree.
There are so many motorists who are paying insurance for the repair of their vehicles after hitting a dog. It is an immense bill. The reason why I advocate for dog tax is that these canines can be very dangerous when left to free range. Some can be hosts of the dangerous rabis virus which is incurable.
The declaration to township status will help with better roads. Right now people have invested heavily on expensive properties and in some places, getting access to a road or sewer system is a dream. At least in a township like Kasane, when one is allocated a plot, they are sure of a road and sewer connection.
An even more controversial suggestion that should come with the establishment of a township is the purchase of plots. If government could sell plots for P1 000 per square metre, then development and services would not be an issue. That would translate to P90 000 for a standard 900 square metre plot. Currently people are prepared to pay as much as P260 000 for the same size of a plot and they are selling so fast.
Ten years ago government made an arrangement for Gaborone expansion by annexing some land from Kweneng Tribal Territory. The land is still idle and Zimbabweans have turned it to a dumping site. The best expansion for the capital city is for Mogoditshane to be declared a township. Let’s begin constructive public discourse discussions on these issues that affect us all.
