About 65,784 applicants continue to wait for plots in Tlokweng
Tlokweng Landboard is currently facing an acute shortage of land to allocate residential plots to 65,784 applicants on the waiting list.
Giving an update on land management issues on Wednesday, Tlokweng Landboard Chairperson, Elijah Katse revealed that the current waiting list will need approximately 11,430ha of additional land. He said the development plan proposes settlement expansion into the Maratadiba and Sefoke areas, which is expected to yield about 4,700 plots.
The revised Tlokweng Development Plan (2001 – 2030) has been finalised and approved by the Minister of Land Management, Water and Sanitation Services. The plan is expected to facilitate the Land Board, the District Council and other stakeholders in addressing a lot of inherent development control and land use issues in the area including allocation, land use conflicts and land development.
“This will only cater to 7% of our waiting list so it shows we have reached a point where we should just stop receiving applications. The total area to be covered by the residential expansion areas is 877Ha, with another 588Ha designated as an Economic Free Zone along the Zeerust Road towards the border. Layouts have been prepared for the expansion areas and are at various stages of the land delivery process stated above. However, the Land Board will be working around the clock to facilitate their allocation this financial year (2023/2024). Action Plan for implementation of the Plan has been developed to guide progress,” said Katse
The Landboard Chair went on to explain that in addition to the identified village expansion areas, the Tlokweng Development Plan proposes intensification of developments within the built up area. According to Katse, the Land Board continues to explore the old unplanned land with the view to identify unused spaces for possible survey, demarcation and allocation of residential plots.
Katse said the existing village boundary will be expanded by up to five times and the government is expected to provide services like roads, water, and sewer networks.
Giving an update on the revenue collection, Katse said for the current financial year, the board has planned to collect a total amount of P3, 355,474.78 and so far P341 672,79 has been collected from 1st April 2023 to 9th June 2023 which represents 10% collection rate against a target of 16% which should have been collected by end of May 2023.