Sketchy Details in P1.4b Tati Land Acquisition

Tati Company valued the land at P1.7b Purchase agreement signed Gov’t to start consultative process on usage of land The government has acquired the remaining land belonging to Tati Company, a secretive British-registered company whose colonial-era land holding has been a subject of controversy in the north eastern part of Botswana. Minister of Lands and Water Affairs, Kefentse Mzwinila did not disclose terms of the acquisition but said Tati Company will retain three of the four plots. “The purchase agreement has been signed,” the minister explained, without giving much details on the payment terms, except to say vaguely that government [ihc-hide-content ihc_mb_type="show" ihc_mb_who="2,1,3,4" ihc_mb_template="3" ] has full access to the land. He described the development as a significant milestone as negotiations could have collapsed. In acquiring the land, Mzwinila said the government will pay P1.4 billion which will be paid over two financial years. “The value they had was over P1.7 billion and the valuation we arrived at as the government was P1.2 billion,” revealed Mzwinila. “The differences in valuations were caused by two aspects.” The first aspect he said is the assumption in the growth of Francistown. “If you look to the south of Francistown that is the growth area of the city. We didn’t have plans for Francistown to grow that way because it was not our land,” he said. Mzwinila said the government regarded the said area as farms while Tati Company viewed the area as a township. The second aspect he said there is a nature reserve within the place. “So, they valued what they knew was there which we didn't know.” The land, in Francistown and surrounding areas, was conceded in the late 19th century by the king of Matabeleland, Lobengula. The Tati Company was incorporated in 1914 when Tati Concession Ltd ran into financial difficulties. It passed into the hands of South African multimillionaire Bernard Glazer, whose ownership was confirmed in a controversial deal with Botswana’s first president, Sir Seretse Khama, after the country gained independence. Glazer died in 1984. The Tati Company is registered in the United Kingdom, but its holding company is a mysterious vehicle registered in the tax haven of Panama, Amarena Holdings, which is ultimately controlled by the The Bernard Glazer Will Trust, incorporated in South Africa, according to publicly available documents seen by The Business Weekly & Review . Mzwinila said government will consult the public on ways to develop the land. He said the newly acquired land is state land and that a nation-wide consultation will determine how it will be used. Land transfer delays plot allocation Meanwhile, Mzwinila has blamed land transfers for the delay in residential plots allocation. The ministry has embarked on an ambitious exercise to allocate 100,000 residential plots this year. So far, the ministry has allocated 58,000 plots according to Mzwinila. However, he said the ministry has seen an increase in land transfers, which in turn causes delay in plot allocation. “We have had a challenge because when we increase our pace of allocating land, we have more transfers because the same people tasked with land allocation are also tasked with land transfers.” According to the minister, evidence shows that once people are allocated residential plots, they immediately sell them which delays the process of allocating those on the waiting list. In addition, he said the ministry now has clear data on the waiting list which he said has been severely exaggerated. About two years ago, the then Permanent Secretary in the ministry, Bonolo Khumotaka, told the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) that there are over 620, 000 Batswana waiting to be allocated land across the country with almost 60 percent of the number being the youth. However, Mzwnila said this is not a true reflection of the facts as it has emerged that some of those in the waiting have already been allocated residential plots. “We call people for interviews to allocate them plots,” he said. “On the day of the interview, out of maybe 100, you will find that we allocate only 20 or 30.” He explained that this is because some people would have already been given plots somewhere else. “Our system can identify those who already have plots,” said the minister. “We have empirical data which indicates that the waiting list is hugely distorted.” On the contrary, Mzwinila said the ministry has a waiting list of plots waiting to be allocated to the people. “This is something that has never happened before and indicates the level of progress we have made.” Another challenge that Mzwinila spoke about is land surveying which is considered a costly exercise and estimated to cost around P150,000 to survey a single plot. “One of the components of plot allocation is surveying and another one is conveyancing,” said Mzwinila. To alleviate the situation, Mzwinila said the ministry had to engage the private sector by issuing an Invitation to Tender (ITT). To this end, he revealed that 72,000 plots have been surveyed and await allocation. [/ihc-hide-content]

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Sketchy Details in P1.4b Tati Land Acquisition

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