Africa-Press – Botswana. To recover P15 million in lease rentals owed to Kgalagadi Land Board, it is critical to engage communities through public education on the importance of paying their dues.
Kgalagadi Land Board chairperson, Mr Sylvester Tselaesele said this during a press conference in Gaborone on Monday, where he implored debtors to approach the land board to make payment arrangements to clear their arrears, adding that by far over P2 million had been collected from the initial over P18 million.
He said the Land Board was also conducting public awareness on the revised Tribal Land Act mainly through kgotla meetings, where communities were encouraged not to sell plots, but sub lease or partner with developers to get value of their Land.
He said in response to the consultations, there was a high turn up by the public to re-register their plots for both customary and commercial use as per the requirements of the re-enacted Tribal Land Act, 2018.
For the financial year 2022/23, Kgalagadi Land Board was to allocate 4 325 plots, but as at March 31, plots allocations stood at 1 640, which represented 37.9 per cent and a shortfall of 2 685 plots.
“Surveying should have been complete by November 2022, but due to a lawsuit by some companies, the tender was suspended by the High Court.
The matter has however been resolved and the companies that were awarded are now on site to complete the work and by the end of April the target will be reached,” he said.
For his part, Kgalagadi Land Board secretary, Mr Nicholas Motlogelwa said there were 985 available plots in Draihoek, Maralaleng, Omaweneno, Maleshe and Middlepits with no applications in those villages and he encouraged communities to apply.
He further said those who still owed the land board should pay to avoid accumulation of interests, which could make it difficult for them to settle their debts.
He said in the worst case scenario, the land board would confiscate the plot for failure to honor lease conditions.
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