08 Aug 2022

Structural development is no longer a requirement for transfer of land to be processed, Letlhakane Sub-land Board secretary, Ms Ntebaleng Thapelo has revealed.

Ms Thapelo told a kgotla meeting in Orapa recently that instead, a valuation report and a clearance letter from the Botswana Unified Revenue Services (BURS) would be needed to effect a transfer.

She explained that the applicant was expected to engage a valuer to value threir  property and request a clearance letter from Botswana Unified Revenue Services.

Ms Thapelo stated that there would be no charge for property worth less than P1 million, while those exceeding P1 million would attract a five per cent charge.

She clarified that an application could not be inherited, as each and every individual was allowed to apply for plot allocation.

Ms Thapelo further explained that in the case of a spousal death, there was no need for another spouse to apply for inheritance of land as the system would pick them automatically.

She stressed that according to Section 37 of Tribal Land Act of 2018, transactions carried out without consent of the land board were declared void.

The section, she said, shall not apply to a transactions in land, by virtue of a will or intestacy of a deceased person, unless that transaction would result in division of land into two or more parcels, held under separate titles.

For his part, Letlhakane Sub-land Board chairperson, Mr Ketshabamang Kethanyegile stated that people had been given six months to register plots with deeds registry. 

He revealed that beacon identification for residential and commercial plots and a sketch plan was P500 each.

Mr Kethanyegile said beacon identification in a ranch was P2 500 plus the cost of distance per kilometre and night out charges, adding that a charge for lost title deed would now be P1 500.

One of the residents, Mr Moroka Bogosi had asked the land board to explain how a surviving spouse could be assisted to inherit the property of a deceased spouse.

He was also of the view that people should be given a limit of the number of plots they could buy.

Another resident, Mr Phillip Malinga expressed concern that most of the land was in the hands of foreigners. Ends