Skeletons tumble out of Kgalagadi Landboard The dispute over Tsabong West farms that were allegedly allocated illegally is far from over as two of the appellants in the matter, William Matswiri and Richard White, intend taking the matter to the High Court. By Zolani Kraai, Sat 05 Oct 2013, Matswiri and White revealed to Mmegi in separate interviews recently that justice had to be served so that the truth may prevail. What really happened between 2001 and 2007 regarding the Tsabong West farms will eventually be known by Batswana and government will probably realise that the Kgalagadi Landboard destroyed the lives of farmers in Kgalagadi by overstepping the various procedures in the Tribal Land Act, said a fuming Matswiri. He further said he (and other appellants), Edward Bojang and White would meet and agree on the strategy to apply when seeking the High Court to hear the matter soon. The Land Tribunal dismissed the three mens case in 2012 on technical grounds that they had not exhausted the available statutory remedies provided for in the Tribal Land Act. The ruling of the case, made by Court President Phetsolo Nare, was that the three never made a formal complaint to Kgalagadi Landboard to afford it an opportunity to respond. Further the Tribunal declined jurisdiction over the matter in the absence of a decision by the landboard. There has never been a landboard decision on any complaint as no grievances were ever filed with the landboard, the Tribunal said. It further ruled that Matswiri had not produced or demonstrated that he had a water right or that he had lawfully acquired the borehole in question in accordance with the provisions of the Water Act. It ruled that Matswiri had no right, in respect of the alleged borehole known to law, and that he had abandoned it since 1992 due to salinity, which the law is capable of protecting, and therefore the Tribunal should dismiss the appeal in respect of Matswiri. Other respondents in this matter were Kgalagadi Sand Dunes (Pty) Ltd, Animal Care Agency Board and Kgalagadi Tourism and Recreation Ltd. Were are aware of the technicalities that surfaced during the Tribunal ruling but we are more determined to go to court and explain that we encountered some financial constraints which prevented us from pursuing the matter at that time, said White. These guys are bad. They sold our land and one of them still works for government and is promoted almost every year despite his bad record, an irate White continued. He says he is confident that the matter will address a lot of undisclosed issues as well as expose the wrongdoers. A Mmegi source in South Africa (name withheld) revealed that some of the owners of the farms in this transaction once boasted that they had bribed the landboard officials with about P500,000. Mmegi has learnt that one of the bribery beneficiaries (a landboard employee) was given a new Toyota Hilux, which some of his former colleagues say he would not have been able to buy based on the salary he was earning as a junior officer with the landboard. Other sources also told Mmegi that one of the senior officials benefited from the transaction by getting a house in Gaborone. Matswiri also concurs with some of the allegations by stating that he knows of an instance where some landboard members were given some sleeveless safari shirts and coats which they were advised not to wear by their superior. It is also said that drivers were given handkerchiefs.
Posted on: Tue, 01 Jul 2014 03:34:07 +0000