Forest Hill Farm Land Saga Still Haunts Balete Chief
Although the Court of Appeal has upheld an earlier ruling of the High Court to give Balete their land back in 2023,the issue of Forest Hill 9-KO Farms seems to be giving Kgosikgolo of Balete, Kgosi Mosadi Seboko sleepless nights.
Since 2017 Balete were involved in a bitter fight with the government through Bamalete Land board which called for the cancellation of the title deed of the concerned farm arguing that Landboard was the the authority in charge of all land in the tribal territory and not the tribe.
While Kgosi Seboko as the custodian of the tribe’s assets was instructed to hand over the title deed for the concerned piece of land, that never happened as Balete had the last laugh following the High Court of Appeal ruling affirming Balete as the rightful owners of the piece of land.
Fast forward to 2024, the matter seems to have settled, but it seems like Kgosi Seboko is yet to heal from the bruises suffered while fighting for her tribe as evidenced by her outburst concerning the issue on Monday during the 58th Independence Day celebrations at Ramotswa kgotla.
In front of a fully packed kgotla, Kgosi Seboko expressed her disappointment and pain at how the issue had played out in the public domain.
Kgosi Seboko boldly asserted that the land belongs to Balete and they should be left alone to decide on how they use their land.
“If you say no one was born into this earth owning a piece of land,what do you actually mean by that? I took that as an insult which gives me sleepless nights because this land belongs to Balete .I don’t like being insulted while I’m innocent. This land was bought ,if you are born after 1925 just know you were born owning this land. So it’s imperative that Balete are left alone to benefit from their land. If possible let there be proper dialogue such that we know what we stand to benefit if as Balete we want to give the land away,” said Kgosi Seboko without revealing who said those disturbing words.
According to Kgosi Seboko, the land was acquired by the tribe in 1925 following contributions such as livestock and money from morahe.
Therefore this made the piece of land more of a freehold land than tribal land.
“There is a law in Botswana which allows for government, if they want to acquire this farm to meaningfully engage Balete in a proper way such that we gauge the benefits which are likely to come out of such a deal for the tribe. There are many white people who own freehold land in this country and use that to their benefit and make money out of it. So why are Balete not allowed to do the same,why does it seem like it’s a problem if its Molete doing the same,” lamented Kgosi Seboko highlighting that there should be no interference on how Balete want to use their land.” said Kosi Seboko who went on to urge the tribe to be united.
The Forest Hill farms include some part of Kgale Hill, Mmokolodi village and Rankoromane farms in Otse which are assets owned by Balete.
